“From a semi-fantastic tale out of Younghusband’s expedition to Lhasa to a surreal delve in the language of scholarship; fantasy academies and subtle sexualities; exile anomie and bumptious confidence; from apartments in Berkeley to memoirs of harmless aesthetes trapped by the Cultural Revolution, this anthology is a window into the minds and lives of some of the world’s finest young writers.” — Gary Snyder
This is the second in a series of book-length biennial anthologies which will select the best writing which The Chinese literary magazine TODAY has published since its relaunch in 1989. The first volume is still available, and was published as Under-Sky Underground. The series offers a unique opportunity to read, in good English translations, a selection of fiction, poetry, prose and criticism by some of the best contemporary Chinese writers, bringing some of these authors to international attention for the first time.
Fiction by:
Ge Fei, Bai Guang, Zhu Wen, Nan Fang, Hong Ying, Duo Duo,
Xu Xiaohe, Liu Zili, Hu Dong
Poetry by:
Song Lin, Wang Yin, Xi Chuan, Zhang Zao, Bei Dao, Bai Hua,
Duo Duo, Ouyang Jianghe, Dean Lu, Zhang Zhen, Han Dong, Ge Mai,
Yang Lian, Zhong Ming, Yan Li, Hong Ying, Zhu Zhu, Hu Dong, Gu Cheng
Belles-Lettres / Criticism by:
Gu Cheng, Liu Zaifu, Yi Ping, Chen Jianhua, Lee Yu, D J Liu,
Tang Jie, Zhang Zao, Huang Ziping
314 pp, 20x13.
ISSN 0968-4670
GBP£8.95 / US$16.95 pbk ISBN 0 948454 24 5
Released Dec. 1996.
Our knowledge of the history of religion under the T'ang dynasty (AD 618-907), during the golden age of Chinese history, has been sketchy at best. More particularly in the case of Taoism - China's 'own higher religion' (if we see Confucianism as an ethics and Buddhism as 'foreign') - we have had a limited understanding of an important aspect of China's social and political life, let alone its religious practice. Professor's Barrett's study now helps to fill the gaps in our knowledge.
Publication of his work in this field has been long anticipated and will eventually form a contribution to a forthcoming volume of the Cambridge History of China. Thus, the late Anna Siedel's call for the general availability of Barrett's researches, in her 'Chronicle of Taoist Studies in the West,' has been answered with the publication of this book.
T. H. Barrett has been Professor of East Asian History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, since 1986. Previously, he lectured at the University of Cambridge. He publishes widely on East Asian history and religion, especially Taoism and Zen.
110 pp. 3 b/w illustrations. Glossary/Index. 20 x 13.
GBP£15.00 / US$ 27.95 hbk ISBN 0 948454 98 9
Now Available
Yang Lian
WellSweep Chinese Poets 6+
translated by Brian Holton
Sample Poem
Yang Lian (born 1955) is one of the best-known of the so-called
'misty' or 'ambiguist' poets who came to prominence in China during
the 1980s. He has published six collections of poetry and two
anthologies of prose in Chinese. His work has been translated into
many European languages, and English versions of his poems have been
widely published in magazines. WellSweep brought out a
book-length collection of his shorter poems, Non-Person Singular
in 1994. 'Where the Sea Stands Still' is the first complete publication
of Yang Lian's most recent work. It is the most important piece he
has written since leaving China. Yang Lian's ever-moving 'sea' stands
still in the midst of its restlessness; it is here in the midst of
nowhere; and in the space of the poem, time is swept away. Because of
Odysseus, the sea began its endless ebb and flow; when this sequence
was written, the sea stood still, and became an illusion.
Brian Holton teaches Chinese at the Universities of Newcastle and Durham. He is also the translator of WellSweep's first collection of Yang Lian's poetry, Non-Person Singular.
The book reproduces paintings inside and on the cover by Gao Xingjian, a pioneer of avant-garde literature in China who is best-known internationally as a dramatist. In 1989 Gao moved to Paris as a political exile and in 1992 he was made Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France. His paintings have been exhibited in numerous one-person and group exhibitions, and are held in the collections of many public galleries throughout Europe.
On May 27, 1997, Yang Lian and John Cayley performed ‘Where the Sea
Stands Still’ live in a cybertextual and audiovisually
enhanced version, at the
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK. At
the same type a web version of the piece was made and now resides
at the ICA web site.
Please visit.
32 pp, 21 x 13 cm, parallel text. 4 b/w illustrations.
GBP£2.95 pbk ISBN 0 948454 25 3
This edition is strictly limited to 200 copies. It is only
available direct from the publisher.
Selected Poems by Yang Lian
WellSweep Chinese Poets 6
translated by Brian Holton
Yang Lian is one of the best-known of the so-called 'misty' poets who came to prominence in China during the 1980s. His work, which has found rich sources at the margins of Chinese culture - the south, the far west and Tibet - and in ancient Chinese cultural forms - such as his reading of The Book of Changes - is wide-ranging, exploratory, linguistically rich and deeply rewarding.
Brian Holton teaches Chinese at the Universities of Newcastle and Durham. Amongst other projects, for some years he has been engaged in producing a splendid, fast-moving translation of one of China's best known early folk novels, The Water Margin, into Lallans Scots.
See also 'Where the Sea Stands Still' by the same poet.
128 pp, 21 x 13 cm, parallel text.
GBP£7.95 / US$14.95 pbk ISBN 0 948454 15 6
GBP£14.95 / US$23.95 hbk ISBN 0 948454 85 7