tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19151341.post8654746477099494429..comments2024-03-16T16:12:13.296+00:00Comments on some LANDSCAPES: Sea of InkPliniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529481330530614513noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19151341.post-32605538672851334542014-02-08T11:21:21.430+00:002014-02-08T11:21:21.430+00:00China, and ancient Chinese texts, seem a perfect c...China, and ancient Chinese texts, seem a perfect canvas for the free play of western fantasies -- the ultimate in "orientalism", I suppose.<br /><br />I was reading a review of the 2011 re-issue of the "classic" photo-illustrated Tao Te Ching (another 1970s thing) by Gia-Fu Feng, Jane English, and Toinette Lippe. It seems no one, including contemporary Chinese, has much of a clue what many of the characters signified.<br /><br />I hadn't realised how much the poetry of Tu Fu, Li Po and those other much-translated T'ang poets is actually a grid of characters -- very Hamish Fulton, very 1970s!<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19151341.post-4236089630380739582014-02-07T23:00:36.468+00:002014-02-07T23:00:36.468+00:00No, feel free to lower the tone, although I'm ...No, feel free to lower the tone, although I'm afraid I'm a bit too young to remember this programme. I did worry reading 'Sea of Ink' that a lot of it felt rather familiar. It is poetic, but you don't get actual characters or a sense of the real texture of life at the time. It occasionally feels more like the idea of China you would read about in, say, Kafka or Calvino.Pliniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06529481330530614513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19151341.post-67570790213032783662014-02-07T17:27:38.656+00:002014-02-07T17:27:38.656+00:00I'm afraid the barefoot walk along the roll of...I'm afraid the barefoot walk along the roll of paper reminds me irresistibly of the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu"...<br /><br />Apologies for lowering the tone, but it is interesting how these tropes migrate between cultures and "texts".<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.com