Politics

Li Shangyin reads Amanda Gorman’s poem The Hill We Climb

Li Shangyin was taken aback on first reading my translation of The Hill We Climb. “Your structure is completely off!’ he protested, “There are rules!” He was referring to the traditional 7 character per line poetry that is prevalent in classical Chinese poetry. “Your rules are too complex,” I protested. “We live in a different…… Continue reading Li Shangyin reads Amanda Gorman’s poem The Hill We Climb

Philosophy · Religion

Heavenly Questions

When Li Shangyin saw copies of the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible and the Talmud in a local bookstore in Shenzhen’s Book City, he turned to me in astonishment: “The authors of these books must have known Qu Yuan!” (pronounced CHU you AN) “Qu Who?” I said, thinking he had sneezed. “The greatest poet…… Continue reading Heavenly Questions