More Translations from the Chinese

In Short

This volume gathers Chinese verse and prose spanning centuries, focusing heavily on the ninth-century poet Po Chü-i alongside works by Li Po, Yüan Chēn, and others. The text tracks the private lives, bureaucratic postings, political banishments, and romantic entanglements of Tang dynasty scholars. Rather than grand heroic epics, it presents quiet reflections on friendship, aging, domestic chores, and sudden turns of fortune. It has lasted because Arthur Waley renders these ancient Chinese voices with unpretentious, crystal-clear English prose and free verse, preserving their startling human directness.

The Story

The collection begins with the ancient, ritualistic spellcraft of Ch‘ü Yüan’s "The Great Summons," calling back a wandering soul through vivid sensory descriptions of courtly banquets, lavish feast halls, dancing women, and rare garden birds. From this mythical atmosphere, the book shifts to the intimate landscape of the Tang dynasty. Li Po captures the wild lightness of solitary drinking, finding spiritual union with nature through wine, sleeping in quiet woods, and watching the morning light clear over damp fields.

The narrative heart of the anthology lies in the extensive poetic autobiography of Po Chü-i. Through chronological verse, Po Chü-i documents his career as a state official, from passing his civil examinations to holding governorships in distant provinces. He chronicles the modest quietude of planting bamboos at his gate, his frequent illnesses, and his enduring, deep friendship with Yüan Chēn. When political tides turn, both men suffer banishment. Po Chü-i records his life in exile at Kiu-kiang, where he finds peace in cheap wine, good fish, and the comfort of caring for orphaned relatives, even as he mourns his distance from his friend.

Interspersed among these reflective lyrics are two detailed narrative prose stories. Yüan Chēn’s The Story of Ts‘ui Ying-Ying tells of a scholar named Chang who saves a widowed family from mutinous soldiers and falls into a passionate, secret affair with his cousin Ying-Ying. Despite her intense devotion, Chang ultimately abandons her, justifying his coldness by claiming that supreme beauty brings ruin. Years later, both have married others; when Chang tries to visit her, Ying-Ying refuses to see him, leaving behind only a heartbreaking poem on her lost beauty.

Po Hsing-chien’s The Story of Miss Li follows a young candidate who falls hopelessly in love with a celebrated courtesan. Tricked and penniless, he is beaten nearly to death by his father, reduced to singing funeral dirges for an undertaker, and eventually forced to beg in the winter snow. Miss Li discovers him freezing in the street, takes him in, nurses him back to health, and strictly guides his studies until he passes the highest examinations. Reconciled with his father, the young man becomes a high-ranking governor, and Miss Li is elevated to a titled noblewoman.

The volume closes with Po Chü-i’s gentle, stoic reflections on old age, baldness, palsy, and his quiet acceptance of death.

How It Unfolds

Summoning the straying spirit The text opens with an ancient shamanistic chant urging a soul to return from the void to enjoy the physical delights of music, wine, and elaborate gardens.

Finding solace in solitude Li Po abandons worldly cares for mountain streams, getting drunk under the moonlight and letting pine breezes blow through his hair.

Serving the court and facing exile Po Chü-i steps into public service, planting bamboos in his yard to ease his mind before political displacement sends him and his closest friend to distant provinces.

Enduring the hardships of separation Through long letters and exchange of poems, banished scholars track each other's fevers, poor lodgings, and shared memories of better days at court.

Entanglement and betrayal In prose, scholar Chang saves his relatives from mutinous troops and courts the elusive Ts‘ui Ying-Ying, only to desert her out of fear of her beauty.

Ruin and redemption A young student loses his fortune to a courtesan, becomes a beggar in the snow, but is saved and reformed by Miss Li, eventually achieving highest imperial honors.

Greeting the end with quiet grace Po Chü-i faces old age, illness, and the loss of his youth, taking comfort in poetry, warm wine, and the steady cycle of changing seasons.

The People

• Po Chü-i: The central figure of the collection. A conscientious official and prolific poet who seeks emotional balance through Buddhist quietism, friendship, poetry, and wine while enduring political exile and bodily decline.
• Yüan Chēn: Po Chü-i’s closest friend and fellow writer. He lives through years of banishment as a minor court official, exchanging poignant letters and poems across thousands of miles.
• Chang: A calculated young scholar in The Story of Ts‘ui Ying-Ying. He secures his cousin’s love through charm, but coldly abandons her to protect his own social ambitions and peace of mind.
• Ts‘ui Ying-Ying: A proud, passionate, and enigmatic young woman who yields to Chang's courtship, only to be cast aside; she maintains her dignity by refusing to see him after he deserts her.
• Miss Li: A clever courtesan who initially participates in swindling a young scholar, but later rescues him from starvation, nurses him back to health, and rigidly manages his education until he achieves success.
• The Young Scholar (in Miss Li's story): An impressionable candidate who ruins his life for love, hits absolute rock bottom as a street beggar, and is rebuilt into a high magistrate through Miss Li’s devotion.

In Its Own Voice

"If the Fleeting World is but a long dream, / It does not matter whether one is young or old."

Po Chü-i reflects on the passage of time and the solace found in philosophy while his dearest friend lives in distant exile.

"I, for one, could never keep pace with her transformations."

Scholar Chang rationalizes his decision to abandon Ts‘ui Ying-Ying to his friends, claiming her beauty is too dangerous to manage.

"It is my doing that you have been brought to this pass."

Miss Li recognizes her former lover begging in the snow and immediately takes responsibility for his ruin.

What It's Really About

At its core, the volume examines how human beings maintain their integrity, sanity, and warmth in the face of inevitable losses. It contrasts the rigid expectations of public duty with the deep, private need for freedom, friendship, and affection. The poems repeatedly return to the fragile nature of youth, political favor, and physical health, asking how one ought to live when circumstances collapse. The prose tales expose the sharp tensions between social ambition and romantic devotion, showing how hypocrisy and loyalty shape human destiny. Ultimately, the collection argues that small, simple pleasures—a cup of wine, a quiet afternoon with a friend, or shoots of bamboo in a courtyard—are the true safeguards against despair.

Why Read It Today

This book appeals to readers who appreciate spare, elegant writing and clear-eyed observations on human nature. It feels surprisingly modern; there is no dusty archaic diction here, only immediate, conversational verse that reads as though it were written yesterday. Arthur Waley’s translations stripped away Victorian ornamentation, allowing the direct, unvarnished feelings of Tang Dynasty writers to shine through clearly.

Readers should be prepared for the plain, matter-of-fact tone of the narrative prose, which lacks modern psychological melodrama and presents harsh historical realities without apology. Men abandon women out of calculated self-preservation, and family duty overrules personal desire. Yet what remains with you long after reading is the astonishing intimacy of the voices. Whether Po Chü-i is listening to snow tap against his window, warming wine on a winter morning, or worrying over an ill friend thousands of miles away, the book bridges a thousand years effortlessly, reminding us that basic human affection and vulnerability have never changed.