Mountain Songs

"For a few years he worked and lived in Shanghai, where I met him. We would talk about poetry and poetry translation over dim sum, but he passed away over a year ago. I chose his website because he so selflessly dedicated his time, energy and money to create it. He collected translations by other translators, and also published some of his own. The website is still available because a friend of his, in memory of him, is keeping it up. Poetry translation is difficult, and he did it simply because of his passion for it. Anybody who loves Chinese poetry can go to the website. So I felt I had to mention it in his memory. Yes, they did a wonderful job. I think it’s because it expresses something that is universal. We have this universal feeling, and to hear it expressed in such a different way is special. And it’s not only like this for western readers. It’s also true for a Chinese person like me. Today, our modern poetry is completely different. We can’t write this kind of poetry anymore. Perhaps it was a form that was only reachable at certain points in history, that reached its perfect peak. Chinese people today, especially kids – even if they don’t understand the meaning they recite the poems, and it appeals to them in a lot of different ways."