Review by Choice Review
In keeping with its venerable tradition of publishing scholarship on China, Columbia has produced a groundbreaking work edited by a respected sinologist and translator. In his lengthy and useful introduction to this collection of essays by 36 Chinese authors, Pollard discusses the important differences between the Western notion of "essay" and its Chinese version--or sanwen (everything that is not a poem)--which is steeped in the classical school curriculum. Arranged in chronological order, the translated essays span 1,800 years of Chinese history. Despite the often-severe political repression that constrained the writers of these essays, the color, texture, and contour of day-to-day Chinese life and interests emerge in Pollard's selections. Additionally, Pollard introduces each author, offering pungent summaries of the writers' backgrounds and historical significance. Pollard's up-to-date, lucid translations of this specialized form of prose can be read effectively as a companion piece to Elizabeth Buckley Ebrey's sourcebook Chinese Civilization and Society (CH, Jul'81) by anyone interested in serious study of Chinese history and culture. This reviewer regrets that Pollack's bibliography is not more extensive and that the book lacks an index. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. B. M. McNeal; Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
