20623 – ams – commemoration – Vikram Seth’s Chinese Connections

Vikram Seth likes to do different things. He developed an interest in Mandarin which drew him closer to China. During that time, he read Chinese literature and explored the art of calligraphy. 'Three Chinese Poets' is a book of poetry translated into English from Chinese by Vikram Seth. The three poets in the title are, Wang Wei (699–761 AD), Li Bai (701–762 AD) and Du Fu (712–770 AD). They are regarded as the greatest literary figures not only of China, but also the world. Wang Wei with his quiet love of nature and Buddhist philosophy; Li Bai, the Taoist spirit, with his wild, flamboyant paeans to wine and the moon; and Du Fu, with his Confucian sense of sympathy with the suffering of others in a time of civil war and collapse. They all belonged to the T’ang dynasty. The originals were written in the Northern Chinese, a language that is lost today. In the introduction to the book, Seth talks about the collection of Chinese poetry translated by Ezra Pound labelled as 'Cathay' which was noted for its errors. "The famous translations of Ezra Pound, compounded as they are of ignorance of Chinese and valiant self-indulgence, have remained before me as a warning of what to shun". Vikram Seth also mentions how difficult the process of translation was. "I have tried not to compromise the meaning of the actual words of the poems, though I have often failed".