Description: Parrots and mynahs have played a unique role in Chinese literature for two millennia. In this wide-ranging thematic study, Wilt L. Idema traces the development of the parrot and the mynah as characters in many forms of poetry and prose of Chinese elite literature, as well as in the long narrative ballads of traditional popular literature.
Brief description: Wilt L. Idema is Professor of Chinese Literature, Emeritus, at Harvard University.
Review Quotes: If there is a distinctive genre we can define as Chinese animal literature in English translation, no one has made a greater contribution than Wilt L. Idema...[his] eloquent and mostly accurate translations help this book lay an important textual foundation for further research on birds in Chinese literature from a transnational perspective.--Huaiyu Chen "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies" (10/6/2025 12:00:00 AM)