Ezra Pound's Chinese Friends

• 162 previously unpublished letters between Ezra Pound and his Chinese friends from 1914 to 1959
• Provides exceptional glimpses of Pound's private dialogues with the Chinese, his shifting visions of China, and the evolution of his China-related works
• Includes numerous photographs not seen before
• Accompanied by a general introduction, introductions to each chapter, notes, and a glossary

Readership: Scholars and students of modernism, especially those with an interest in Pound; scholars and students of East/West comparative literature and East Asian humanities.

Zhaoming Qian, Y. C. Tang Chair Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Zhejiang University, China and University Research Professor of English, University of New Orleans

"Zhaoming Qian has brought to the foreground not ony an essential source for Pound's oriental thinking but a necessary chapter in cross-cultural endeacour." - Ian F. A. Bell, Modern Language Review

"162 letters were tracked down over 15 years by Professor Zhaoming Qian of the University of New Orleans. "For a long time people were wary of writing about Pound because of his fascist beliefs. From these letters we can see he realised his mistakes."" - Andrew Johnson, The Independent

"A timely addition to any library already invested in Pound's correspondence." - Jordan Davis, Times Literary Supplement

"Qian's book helps to deliver new and subtler understandings of Pound's postwar writings by showing us quite how serious were Pound's studies of China and Confucianism" - Nick Selby, Times Higher Education

"This is an important collection of mostly unknown letters, expertly presented. Taken together they reveal the depth and the development of Pound's engagement with the Confucian tradition of China, and with its language, beginning in 1914 and intensifying through the following five decades. The book will be welcomed by Pound scholars and students, and more broadly by anyone concerned with cultural exchanges between China and the West." - A. David Moody, author of Ezra Pound: Poet. A Portrait of the Man & His Work

"Ezra Pound's Chinese Friends fills out our understanding of Pound's fascination with China and Japan through original documents. It reveals glimpses of this opinionated, questing man in dialogue with people he respected (not a frequent situation in Pound's correspondence). Chiefly it shows one of the major Modernists in his time of isolation, trying to 'make it new' by engagement with an unfamiliar language and culture." - Haun Saussy, Yale University

List of Illustrations
Introduction
Notes on the Text
1: F. T. Sung's China Plan for Pound: "China is interesting, VERY"
2: Miss Tseng and the Seven Lakes Canto: "Descendant of Kung and Thseng-Tsu"
3: Yang as Pound's Opponent and Collaborator: "To sacrifice to a spirit not one's own is flattery"
4: Achilles Fang and Pound's Bilingual Confucius: "All answers are in the FOUR BOOKS"
5: Pound as Miss Jung's Dissertation Adviser: "One's opinions change"
6: Between Pound and Carsun Chang: "Confucianism as Confucius had it"
William McNaughton's Memoir: What Pound and Carsun Chang Talked about at St. Elizabeths
7: Achilles Fang and Pound's Classic Anthology:"The barbarians need the ODES"
8: Pound's Discovery of a Seventh-century B.C. Economist: "Chao ought not to be wasted"
9: From Poetry to Politics: "Wang's middle name not in Mathews"
10: P. H. Fang and the Naxi Rites in The Cantos: "I have found your Muen BPo & KA MA gyu"
Appendix: Ezra Pound's Typescript for "Preliminary Survey"
Glossary
Works, Libraries, and Collections Cited