Burton Watson's Views On The Background Of Chinese Poetry

With an introduction vital to understanding his translated poems, Burton Watson creates a solid foundation that enlightens readers on the background of Chinese poetry. First, Watson addresses the “antiquity and remarkable continuity” and the universal appeal of Chinese poetic tradition (1). Composed by people of different working classes, especially the scholar-officials, from around 300 B.C, poetic output in China has never stopped. Further fuelling the spread and preservation of poetry were the inventions of paper and printing in China (2). However, one most note that there is more than one form of poetry in Chinese literature. Shih, one of the earlier principal forms of poetry, became less dominant by the thirteenth century and gave way to other forms such as drama and fiction (2). …show more content…
Romantic love was a theme more prevalent in China than Europe; moreover, it was presented from mainly a woman’s point of view in the later centuries (2). Intrinsic to Chinese philosophy, the link between the emperor and Heaven is also evident. Like the West, there are references to myths and legends; however, Chinese poetry is “unusually humanistic and commonsensical”, far more so than that of the West (3). Watson supports this by describing the air of “restraint and decorum” in Chinese poetry (3). With little on war and violence and a restraint on sexual appeal, epic poetry glorifying heroic deeds or war victories is absent from Chinese poetic tradition (3). These characteristics can be seen in Confucianism, with an emphasis on civility and propriety. In addition, unlike the Western poets, intent on capturing the universal truth, Chinese poets tended to capture the sentiments of the moments they described. They did not “self-consciously” address a large population; they were more likely writing poetry for friends or expressing their feelings to themselves