Book Launch: Cave of the Immortals: The Poetry and Prose of Bamboo Painter Wen Tong

An opportunity to discuss Chinese poetry and literature through Jonathan Chaves book launch and talk back.

Wen Tong (1019-1079) is considered the supreme master of bamboo painting in the history of Chinese art. Wen was a poet as well, and perhaps because of his fame as a painter, his poetry has remained virtually unknown for centuries. This book is the first in any Western language to present translations of selected poems by Wen, over three hundred of them, as well as examples of his prose writings. Wen's poems and prose pieces bring to light aspects of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism that are of great importance in Chinese civilization, but rarely addressed in the literature of the Chinese poets as they involve devotional practices held in suspicion by many of the literati, but seen by Wen Tong in a positive light.

Prof. Jonathan Chaves is a professor of Chinese language and literature at The George Washington University, and a published original poet. He has been awarded the Lucien Stryk Prize for best translation from an Asian work of literature, conferred by the American Literary Translators Association, the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for translation, and has been nominated for the National Book Award in Translation. This event is part of the Elliott School Book Launch series.

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