This volume is a collection of translations from Classical Chinese of the extant poems of the Tang Dynasty poet, Meng Haoran. From the translator’s introduction: “Eldest of the major High Tang poets, Meng Haoran came from the city of Xiangyang, south of the Han River (a tributary of the Yangzi), in the modern province of Hubei. As can be seen in his verses, Meng remained strongly attached to this area and its scenery throughout his life. He was born in 689 CE during the reign of Empress Wu and died in 740 near the apogee of the reign of Emperor Tang Xuanzong (713-756 CE), the “brilliant emperor.” Thus, Meng Haoran spent his youth and maturity in one of the most prosperous and glorious eras in Chinese history and died before the crises and catastrophes that beset the dynasty after his death. He lived his life during an ‘Augustan’ age, to make a Roman parallel, and was an important figure in the development of the ‘Augustan’ literature that accompanied it, the golden age of Chinese poetry.”

The translator, Bradford S. Miller, is a retired librarian and archivist. Early studies in East Asia led to a lifelong engagement with the Classical Chinese language and its literature. His anthology of translations of Tang Dynasty poetry, “The Shattered Lute,” was also published by Outskirts Press.