Guide to Capturing a Plum Blossom

by Sung Po-Jen, Red Pine (Translator)

Guide to Capturing a Plum Blossom aims not at technical artistic training but at the training of artistic not how to hold a brush but rather how to really see a plum blossom.
First published in A.D. 1238, Guide to Capturing a Plum Blossom may be the world's first printed book of art and literature; it is presented here in a fine bilingual edition. Red Pine's delicate, graceful, and learned translation of the historic Confucian work is the first ever into English.

Genres: Poetry, Art, China, Nature

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

Reviews

[Aaron Eames · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the world’s earliest-known printed book of art, Sung Po-jen exhaustively chronicles the plum blossom’s life-cycle, from covered buds to forming fruit, in one hundred ink-brush paintings. Each image is accompanied by a typically connotative and multivalent twenty-character Chinese poem. The text, descended from a single surviving copy of the 1261 edition, minutely observes its subject matter, finding in its transience parallels with contemporary issues and eternal human questions. Every kind of blossom, each stage of growth is depicted with descriptions as curious and delightful as, ‘Tiger Tracks’, ‘New Lily Pads in Pouring Rain’, and ‘Three High-Minded Men of Wuchiang’.

[Sherrie Gingery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning. Masterful.
Originally published in 1261.
For anyone who loves Asian poetry.


This book is a soul stirring glimpse into a lost and long-ago culture.

[Mark Robison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad this book exists - it's a translation of supposedly the first printed art book from 1238. It contains woodblocks and poems. The woodblocks are repetitive and not that interesting -- all different iterations of a plum branch. Even though the translation seems excellent, the poems are dull because what the author is describing is dull. Almost as bad, the poems are incomprehensible because they assume knowledge that modern readers don't have. So where the interest lies is in the translation's back story -- finding a 1928 handbound edition in the early 1980s in a used bookstore in Hangchou and realizing few people knew of its existence and significance, as well as that it'd never been translated into English. Red Pine makes the book as interesting as he can by explaining what the author is talking about in each poem -- and there really are some nuggets here -- but I just found the actual poems unstimulating so I eventually flipped through the remaining poems and called it good.

[Y Thủy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the description of the each poem’s origin and the Chinese characters enclosed. I would definitely give this 5 stars if we can have also Han Nho next to the poems instead labored over these to translate them myself, even though, the process is as bitter sweet for time crunching.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 3/4 stars

[Scott Pomfret · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times, exquisite and delicate imagery layered with some fascinating explanatory material from the translator and beautiful ink drawings. What strikes one is how modern many of the courtly concerns are; our own leaders of finance and politics could draw simple lessons, most of which add up to humility. I read the hundred poems over the course of a year; they are not the type of poems one does or should plow through. At times, I found the translator's notations a bit cryptic. There were certain times he made an "of course" sort of assertion that seemed at least debatable on its surface. Perhaps he was trying his best not to overwhelm the text with commentary, but certain poems scarcely got a word of context.

[Chrystal Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book I had never even heard of until I found it at a book sale! Written originally by Sung Po-Jen, a Chinese poet and painter, and assumed to be the world's first printed book of poetry and artwork, it is an enthralling experience! Red Pine explains each poem's significance and true meaning at the bottom of the page, which is extremely helpful and makes the book more historically informational. I would totally recommend this book to anyone who loves history, poetry, etc!

-SL

[PEN Center USA · Rating 5 out of 5]

1996 PEN Center USA Award Winner for Translation

[Don]

good book!