On “Nineteen Ancient Poems”

Of pre-Tang poetry, the “Nineteen Ancient Poems” (古詩十九首) is regarded as one of the three most prominent poetic classics of Chinese literature. The nineteen poems of the sequence were written sometime during the Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 AD)—most likely in the middle to late Eastern Han—and canonized three hundred years later in Xiao Tong’s celebrated literary anthology, the Wen Xuan (Selections of Refined Literature). Liu Xie (ca. 465–522) writes in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons that “they are the crown of pentasyllabic verse.” Zhang Jie of the twelfth century gushes, “These poems are written from the heart.” Hu Yinglin of the sixteenth century takes it to another level: “These poems appeal to the spirits and gods and move heaven and earth.” Wang Shizhen of the Qing doubles down: “The ‘Nineteen Ancient Poems’ are as beautifully woven as garments made by unearthly hands. Blockheads who came later tried in vain to imitate them.” As a poet and brave translator of these poems, one mustn’t forget the advice of painter and writer Zhang Geng: “Those who intend to pursue the art of poetry should give these poems lifelong study.”