Poetry China

In a radically new translation and interpretation of the I Ching, David Hinton strips this ancient Chinese masterwork of the usual apparatus and discovers a deeply poetic and philosophical text. Teasing out an elegant vision of the cosmos as ever-changing yet harmonious, Hinton reveals the seed from which Chinese philosophy, poetry, and painting grew. Although it was and is widely used for divination, the I Ching is also a book of poetic philosophy, deeply valued by artists and intellectuals.

Du Fu (712-70) is one of China’s greatest poets. His career coincided with periods of famine, war and huge upheaval, yet his secular philosophical vision, combined with his empathy for the common folk of his nation, ensured that he soon became revered. Like Shakespeare or Dante, his poetry resonates in a timeless manner that ensures it is always relevant and offers something new to the modern generation. Broadcaster and historian Michael Wood follows in his footsteps to try to understand the places that inspired Du Fu to write some of the most famous and best-loved poetry the world has known.

A dive into one of China's great poets by the first great populariser of Chinese literature, Arthur Waley.

People, art, and life. A record of a particular space in time. Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Sukhothai, Honolulu, Mexico City, northernmost Scotland, Andorra. Intimates and strangers. A mother and son seen for some seconds on a bridge in Shanghai. The emotions flowing between performer and conductor throughout a concert. The interpretation one creative artist gives to that of another's work. Gillian Bickley values the records we all make.

Ogni poesia inizia con una citazione, letterale o meno, tratta da opere diverse. Ogni composizione inizia, come omaggio floreale e non. Non ho voluto creare una nuova specie, trapiantando su di un tronco vetusto il fiore della modernità, o almeno così credo.