Where the Yuan Brothers Do Not Disappoint

Pilgrim of the Clouds by Hung-Tao Yuan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this slim book of Ming poetry (and prose) by the Yuan brothers--Yuan Hung-tao, Yuan Chung-tao and Yuan Tsung-tao. Although I was initially disappointed to see how much of the book was prose, since that wasn't the reason I bought the book, I found that the prose parts were surprisingly entertaining and informative.

One of the things I like about poetry, and Chinese poetry in particular, is how the reader can so often say, "I feel like that too!" or "That's a lot like me," despite the huge distance between us in time, space, and culture. That is still present in the poetry found here, which I liked, but it's found even more in the short essays. Like so much Chinese poetry of any dynasty, this collection demonstrates the customary strong Romantic (-ish) interest in natural places and man's connection to them, but this is more Wordsworthian even than that; it emphasizes not only nature but common people, their interests, and everyday lives: noisy pilgrims and tourists at monasteries; beggars; popular ghost stories; crickets and how to raise them; popular trails and historical sites; and much more. There's a gritty realness to much of the prose pieces that I find appealing.

All in all, this book offers an interesting look into the lives of Ming Dynasty folk. Of course, we still mostly get insights into the scholarly class, the exact kind of people who are able to write poetry and prose for us to read hundreds of years later, but there is a much better share of other people her than is usually the case, along with window into the Cedar Points and Colonial Williamsburgs of the Ming Dynasty--the mountains, monasteries, caves, historic sites, and other travel destinations that drew people out of their homes onto boats and trails in that era. I was surprised by how familiar it felt, how modern and middle class. It was an education.

Worth looking into, if you have any interest in the time and place. I woulda liked it to be twice as long.

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