Gil de Carvalho - Uma Antologia de Poesia Chinesa

"This anthology is panoramic and representative, albeit personal. Chinese poetry is a gigantic mass: here is a drop of water, a brief glimpse so that we can see its greatness. We chose to select poets but also poems, although we did not explore areas that have only recently been more worked on in the West (we refer to poetry after the 17th century). [...]
Starting with the Book of Songs and ending with one of the last great poets of China, Nara Singde [Nalan Xingde], the anthology covers the main genres, authors and modes. Notably, the fu and the long poem (li sao) were excluded for reasons of space. Several anonymous poems and folk songs are included, which are one of the most vibrant treasures of this poetry. The decision to end with Nalan Xingde may seem controversial. It is, however, due to a choice." The fact is, although I know the poetry of this period relatively poorly, it effectively goes into decline, with the vitality of this culture passing to painting, a Shitao (1641-c.1710 or 1720) for example, to the novel, Shitouji (The Story of the Stone), better known as The Dream of the Red Pavilion (Hongloumeng), or to historiography, as in the case of Zhang Xuesheng (1738-1801). Besides, the Manchu poet is a worthy conclusion, and a certain romanticism of his foreshadows that other kind that Europe would soon see. But this encounter is for another time.»
Gil de Carvalho