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The Silent Traveller in Lakeland
The Silent Traveller in Lakeland is the first of the Silent Traveller series and one of Chiang Yee's most personal and moving books.
Chiang visited the English Lakes in the 1930s, following a particularly claustrophobic period in the 'smoky and foggy atmosphere' of London. Amid the tranquility of Wastwater, Windermere and Crummockwater and the grandeur of Scafell, his search for peace contrasts starkly with the conflict in China and the impending European war. Deeply sensitive to the relationship between man and his environment, Chiang's views on society, conflict and solitude are both poignant and perceptive.
Illustrated with the author's delicate monochromes of Lakeland scenes, painted in traditional Chinese style with brush, ink, and soft paper, this edition has a new foreword by Da Zheng, Associate Professor of English at Suffolk University, Massachusetts.
Chiang visited the English Lakes in the 1930s, following a particularly claustrophobic period in the 'smoky and foggy atmosphere' of London. Amid the tranquility of Wastwater, Windermere and Crummockwater and the grandeur of Scafell, his search for peace contrasts starkly with the conflict in China and the impending European war. Deeply sensitive to the relationship between man and his environment, Chiang's views on society, conflict and solitude are both poignant and perceptive.
Illustrated with the author's delicate monochromes of Lakeland scenes, painted in traditional Chinese style with brush, ink, and soft paper, this edition has a new foreword by Da Zheng, Associate Professor of English at Suffolk University, Massachusetts.
82 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 2005
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About the author
Chiang Yee
38 books16 followersChiang Yee (simplified Chinese: 蒋彝; traditional Chinese: 蔣彝; pinyin: Jiǎng Yí; Wade–Giles: Chiang I; 19 May 1903 – 26 October 1977), self-styled as "The Silent Traveller" (哑行者), was a Chinese poet, author, painter and calligrapher.
The success of The Silent Traveller in London (1938) was followed by a series of books in the same vein, all of which he illustrated himself.
The success of The Silent Traveller in London (1938) was followed by a series of books in the same vein, all of which he illustrated himself.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 17, 2020
This is a beautiful book, short but perfectly formed, and I read it in one sitting.
Chiang Yee travelled to the Lake District in the late 1930s and this is his poetic/artistic journal of his fortnight's travels.
It is a fascinating read on many levels, especially reading about the Lakes in the thirties. There are some interesting post Great War and pre WWII references (though by no means are they the main focus of the book). From a tourist point of view, not much has changed! Familiar places are referred to with the usual crowds, in the streets of Keswick, or by the launches at Derwentwater, He is constantly hopping on and off buses, included my favourite route between Seatoller and Keswick. If you know the area well, this book is a little like time-travel; reading about a familiar place but ~80 years ago.
Beauty really is the main focus of his travel writing, and he explains the differences between the Chinese and British approach to painting; the former is more about recreating the atmosphere and feel of a place, rather than reproducing geographical accuracy. His own paintings in the book are as interesting as his writing; here are familiar views; Buttermere, Catbells, the shores of Derwentwater, but they are somehow infused with a poetic freedom that other, more accurate paintings arguably don't have. It's refreshing to see a perspective on the Lake District that isn't of Ransome or Wainwright, as much as I enjoy these authors too!
As someone who gets almost teary when I see a beautiful view in the Lake District, I appreciated how deeply emotional his writing is about the area. He's unashamedly affected by it, and writes movingly about how it reminds him of his childhood and home in China.
I didn't realise until today that this was just one of a series of his travel books, so I will be hunting the others down. My copy is from 1948, so hopefully the other books will be relevantly straightforward to find!
Chiang Yee travelled to the Lake District in the late 1930s and this is his poetic/artistic journal of his fortnight's travels.
It is a fascinating read on many levels, especially reading about the Lakes in the thirties. There are some interesting post Great War and pre WWII references (though by no means are they the main focus of the book). From a tourist point of view, not much has changed! Familiar places are referred to with the usual crowds, in the streets of Keswick, or by the launches at Derwentwater, He is constantly hopping on and off buses, included my favourite route between Seatoller and Keswick. If you know the area well, this book is a little like time-travel; reading about a familiar place but ~80 years ago.
Beauty really is the main focus of his travel writing, and he explains the differences between the Chinese and British approach to painting; the former is more about recreating the atmosphere and feel of a place, rather than reproducing geographical accuracy. His own paintings in the book are as interesting as his writing; here are familiar views; Buttermere, Catbells, the shores of Derwentwater, but they are somehow infused with a poetic freedom that other, more accurate paintings arguably don't have. It's refreshing to see a perspective on the Lake District that isn't of Ransome or Wainwright, as much as I enjoy these authors too!
As someone who gets almost teary when I see a beautiful view in the Lake District, I appreciated how deeply emotional his writing is about the area. He's unashamedly affected by it, and writes movingly about how it reminds him of his childhood and home in China.
I didn't realise until today that this was just one of a series of his travel books, so I will be hunting the others down. My copy is from 1948, so hopefully the other books will be relevantly straightforward to find!
October 30, 2017
This is a deceptively simple book. The author (who I infer was a political refugee from mid-1930s China) was a poet, landscape painter, and calligrapher, who became an author. He wrote a series of books entitled 'The Silent Traveller in ...', of which this is the first. It is based on a short visit that he made to the Lake District in August 1936, ill-prepared and unequipped for walking or for the rain.
For anyone used to modern travel writing, this book will appear extremely naïve: 'I went for a walk around the lake, it was very beautiful, it was raining, I sheltered under a tree, I met some people, I ate my sandwich', and so forth. In places, I confess, I found it boring. But Chiang Yee looks at the landscape with the painter's and poet's eye of someone who is familiar with his home landscapes in China that are similar but different; he helps one look at the Lake District with a stranger's eye. He also has some rather ascerbic remarks about the tourist visitors to Dove Cottage, and at one point allows himself a mild political tirade. He is inspired to write poems, and to paint the landscapes he observes. Both paintings and poems are charming: the book is worth owning if only for the paintings of familiar landscapes done in a Chinese style.
For anyone used to modern travel writing, this book will appear extremely naïve: 'I went for a walk around the lake, it was very beautiful, it was raining, I sheltered under a tree, I met some people, I ate my sandwich', and so forth. In places, I confess, I found it boring. But Chiang Yee looks at the landscape with the painter's and poet's eye of someone who is familiar with his home landscapes in China that are similar but different; he helps one look at the Lake District with a stranger's eye. He also has some rather ascerbic remarks about the tourist visitors to Dove Cottage, and at one point allows himself a mild political tirade. He is inspired to write poems, and to paint the landscapes he observes. Both paintings and poems are charming: the book is worth owning if only for the paintings of familiar landscapes done in a Chinese style.
July 20, 2016
It's a short poetic piece by a deep admirer of nature, Foreword and introduction are really worth reading, they explain circumstances and tradition very well, so you'll definitely get a deeper understanding for the Silent Traveller. It was interesting to see the Lake District through the eyes of a Chinese artist, especially in combination with his ink paintings in classic Chinese style. One of two books to be read when visiting the Lake District (The other being Tom Holman: A Lake District Miscellany)!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews