Choosing to Be Simple - by Tao Yuanming (Paperback)

About the Book

"A collection of poems by Tao Yuanming, translated by Red Pine who is also known as Bill Porter"--

Book Synopsis

Navigating the uncertainty of a divided China wracked by warfare and corruption, Tao Yuanming's poetry--expertly translated by Red Pine--chooses the path walked by China's ancient sages, finding joy in living a simple life.

The latest work in Red Pine's rich career of translation, Choosing to be Simple: Collected Poems of Tao Yuanming, is a definitive portrait of the early Chinese politician and poet. Thoroughly researched and beautifully translated, this bilingual collection of over 160 verses chronicles Tao Yuanming's path from civil servant to reclusive poet during the formative Six Dynasties period (220-589). Familiar scenes like farming and contemplating the nature of work and writing are examined with intimate honesty. As Red Pine illuminates Tao Yuanming's sensitive voice, we find the poet's solace and sorrow in a China transformed by modernity.

Tao Yuanming's distinct verse shows a keen attention to rhythm as he explores the tension of scarcity and indulgence, duty and escape. Reverberating with clarity and sincerity and laced with humor, the poems of Choosing to Be Simple portray a man's timeless desire to live by the principles enshrined by China's sages. Guided by Tao Yuanming's own wonderment, we, too, find ourselves asking: "Why did I ever question my heart"? We are encouraged to find joy in simplicity--the tending of a garden, the sharing of wine with a stranger.

Review Quotes

Praise for Choosing to Be Simple

"Navigating the uncertainty of a divided China wracked by warfare and corruption, Tao Yuanming's poetry--expertly translated by Red Pine--chooses the path walked by China's ancient sages, finding joy in living a simple life. The latest work in Red Pine's rich career of translation, Choosing to be Simple: Collected Poems of Tao Yuanming, is a definitive portrait of the early Chinese politician and poet....We are encouraged to find joy in simplicity--the tending of a garden, the sharing of wine with a stranger."--New York Journal of Books

"Reading a great ancient poet, like the reclusive Tao Yuanming (365-427), is one of the most congenial ways to assess what feels timeless amidst the tumult of our own times: here, the desire for a meaningful life, the disappointment of worldly ambition, the joy of solitude and friendship, even the struggle to overcome addiction. . . . Tao's impeccable translator Red Pine follows the traditional Chinese practice of offering scholarly commentary for each poem, but what persists in the transmutation to present-day English is less the discord of bygone dynasties than the poet's quest for spiritual harmony."--David Woo, Lit Hub

Praise for Red Pine/Bill Porter

"Bill Porter has been one of the most prolific translators of Chinese texts, while also developing into a travel writer with a cult following." --New York Times

"In the travel writing that has made him so popular in China, Porter's tone is not reverential but explanatory, and filled with luminous asides." --The New York Review of Books

"Red Pine's out-of-the-mainstream work is canny and clearheaded, and it has immeasurably enhanced Zen/Daoist literature and practice." --Kyoto Journal

"With its clarity and scholarly range, this version of the Taoteching works as both a readable text and a valuable resource of Taoist interpretation."--Publishers Weekly

"Red Pine introduces Western readers to both the text itself and the traditions it has inherited." --Virginia Quarterly Review

"Red Pine... has given us the first full collection of Han Shan's songs in an idiom that is clear, graceful, and neutral enough to last... His translations are accurate and mirror the music of the originals..." --Bloomsbury Review

"In Red Pine's hands, these poems are revitalized." --Ellipsis

"Effortlessly captures the spirit of this 'farmer-recluse, ' as [Tao Yuanming] called himself. As usual, the much-lauded translator Red Pine brings a deep knowledge of Chinese history and geography to his work, making Choosing to Be Simple not just a 'collected poems, ' but more like a literary biography."--John Bradley, Rain Taxi

About the Author

About the Author

Early fifth-century poet Tao Yuanming (d. 427) was known for his love of rice wine and chrysanthemums, as well as for his disdain of official position. His hometown is Shahe, where the Tao Yuanming Memorial Hall is also located.

About the Translator

Bill Porter, under the pen name Red Pine, is the renowned translator of classic Chinese poetry. His translations have been honored with two NEA translation fellowships, a PEN Translation Prize, and the inaugural Asian Literature Award from the American Literary Translators Association. A Guggenheim Fellow, Porter also received the 2018 Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation bestowed by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A full-length film documentary Dancing with the Dead: The Life and Times of Red Pine is forthcoming in 2023. He lives in Port Townsend, Washington.