I. BOOK OF SONGS (詩经)
II. SONGS OF CHU (楚辞)
III. POEMS OF YUE FU (乐府)
IV. WU YAN POEMS OF WEI AND JIN (魏 晋五言诗)
V. TANG POETRY A(唐诗 上)
VI. TANG POETRY B(唐诗 下)
VII. CI (词)
VIII. SONG POETRY (宋诗)
IX. SANQU (散曲)
X. NEW POETRY OF LATE QING (晚清新诗派)
XI. NEW POETRY A (新诗 上)
XII. NEW POETRY B (新诗 下)
Dear listeners,
1. One of the first things that impressed me after I came is that Iceland is country of poetry. Thanks to the efforts of your embassy in Beijing and Mr. Sigurdur A. Magnusson and other poets, an anthology of Icelandic poetry was published in China. China is also a country of poetry. I deem it my responsibility to introduce to you some basic knowledge of Chinese poetry. After many nights of thinking, I concluded that the best way is to go through briefly the history of Chinese poetry. The Icelandic-Chinese Cultural Society, The Writers’ Union of Iceland and the Faculty of Literature (Arts) of the University of Iceland warmly responded to my idea of presentation. I would like to thank them for their valuable assistance. The framework of my presentation is based on Professor Wang Yao’s book 《A Talk on the Development of Chinese Poetry》 and I also consulted the volumes of poetry of the Chinese Encyclopedia and other reference books. All poems cited in my talk are my own translations. These translations may not be accurate or good, but they can serve the purpose of a preliminary understanding.
Mr. Arnthor Helegasson suggested to me that I should give you some background knowledge on the Chinese language and the history before I discuss poetry with you. This is a very valuable suggestion. Let me now tell you something about the Chinese language.
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