Finished: Journey to the West Volume 1 by Wu Cheng'en translated by W. J. F. Jenner
The other English Translation of this book I mentioned is by Anthony C. Yu
The blog post I wrote years ago in which I complained how people were oblivious to the existence of the Chinese Classics whenever the "diversity in the canon" debate comes up: http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2015/11/so-how-much-do-you-know-about-chinese.html
Here is the written form of some of the names I butchered in the video:
The female Buddha: Bodhisattva--also known in China as Guanyin
She is accompanied by Huian the Novice, who is also known as Prince Moksa. He is also the brother of Lord Erlang
4 comments:
I was not aware of Wu Cheng'En, but the book makes sense. In the 17th Century the whole known world was trying to get to India, and not just the Orient [sic].
I don't think I would have become aware of it myself had I not been living in Asia. You just never hear about the Chinese classics when you're in North America, do you? But it's not a bad read at all. I don't know what you're current reading list is like, but apparently a new abridged translation just came out last year. That's what I gleamed from the substack of our mutual friend Phil Christman, who wrote about his thoughts on this book here. (I neglected to mention it in the video, but Phil's review of this book was yet another reason why I was curious to check it out.
Re: North America I go back and forth on the issue. North America is where I encountered Chan Koonchang and Eileen Chang. But your larger point remains -- these were not writers I encountered at the University of Winnipeg in the mid-80s.
Ah yes, good point.
Yes, school is the worst for this. As I mentioned in the video, I look back with amazement at my education in school, and how literature classes were always taught under the assumption that Asia did not exist.
But, that's not the same as saying it's absent from the culture in general, is it? I have to admit, I was unfamiliar with both of the writers you mentioned. But you've got me thinking about Asian writers that are generally known, and everyone knows Murakami Haruki, or...
...actually maybe it's just Murakami Haruki. If we're counting novelists. But I guess if we're counting culture generally (anime, manga, K-pop) it's much more prevalent.
Post a Comment