Description
Book SynopsisShows how readers not only experience authors but produce them by shaping texts to their interpretation. This book examines the mechanics and history of textual transmission in China by focusing on the evolution over the centuries of the reclusive poet Tao Yuanming into a figure of epic stature.
Trade Review"At once a study of manuscript culture's fluid nature and an excavation of forgotten dimensions of the poet through a study of the variant words and phrases that were not adopted in the standard readings..Tian's sensitive weighing of the alternatives is persuasive— and who would not be drawn to the irony, humor, and struggle of the more complex Tao that emerges from her discussions? An original and evocative study, this book cogently demonstrates the difference that words can make."
* The Journal of Asian Studies *
"Tian demonstrates that instead of being dry and reductionary, philology can be enriching and illuminating and bring about a revolution in how scholars approach traditional literature. The book sets a high standard not only for scholars of Tao Yuanming but also for all traditional Chinese research by arguing for the importance of Chinese manuscript study."
* China Review International *
"Tian tackles a problem that all scholars of traditional Chinese literature must eventually confront: how does one deal with medieval Chinese texts that were copied and recopied over centuries, in which both errors and deliberate editorial changes were introduced? Tian's findings have broad implications that extend far beyond Tao Yuanming. This seminal work will remain of critical importance in the China field for many years to come."
* Choice *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. Possession & Loss
2. "Who the Master Is, No One Knows"
3. Lost Homesteads: Returning to Tao
4. Food, Death, & Narration
5. Becoming a Vessel
6. Hard Evidence: Reading a Stone
Conclusion
Notes
Chinese Glossary
Editions of Tao Yuanming's Collection
Selected Bibliography
Index
