Examines seminal works and themes in Chinese poetry from its inception in the ancient Shijing [Book of Odes] and Chu Ci [Elegies of Chu] to the Tang, Song, and through the Qing, Republican, and contemporary eras as well as literary theory from the Shi pin [Categories of Poetry] and the Wen xin diao long [The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons] down to the critical and theoretical writings of Wang Guowei, Lu Xun, Wen Yiduo, Qian Zhongshu, and Liu Zaifu on poetry, poetics, literary and cultural criticism. Also critically examines the theory and practice of translation of Chinese poetry into English from Ezra Pound to Stephen Owen.