{"id":3671,"date":"2017-04-10T09:30:01","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T01:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3671"},"modified":"2017-04-23T15:44:56","modified_gmt":"2017-04-23T07:44:56","slug":"john-bradley-on-burton-watson-1925-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3671","title":{"rendered":"John Bradley on Burton Watson (1925 \u2013 2017)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In honor of Burton Watson\u2019s passing, <\/span>I am collecting statements and memories from friends and fans, to be posted as they come in. The following remembrance is by John Bradley, from his review of <\/em>Salutations; a Festschrift for Burton Watson<\/a> (Ahadada \/ Ekleksographia, 2015), originally published in Rain Taxi #81 <\/a>(21.1, Spring 2016):<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Empty hills, no one in sight,<\/em>
\n only the sound of someone talking;<\/em>
\n late sunlight enters the deep wood,<\/em>
\n shining over the green moss again.<\/em><\/p>\n

This famous poem by Chinese poet Wang Wei displays the craft not only of the author but also\u2014we all too often forget\u2014of the translator. Burton Watson translated this poem with such craft that some may say \u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d as indeed a student of Lucas Klein\u2019s did, as he relates in his essay \u201cTranslation and Translucence in the Work of Burton Watson,\u201d one of the offerings in this festschrift.<\/em><\/p>\n

Watson certainly deserves acclaim for the quality and the breadth of his Asian translators. His works are much too long to list here, but a few titles will give an idea of his productivity: <\/em>Cold Mountain: 100 Poems by the T\u2019ang Poet Han-shan, <\/em>The Selected Poems of Du Fu, and the <\/em>Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. These are just a fraction of his translations from classical Chinese works. Some of his translation from classical and modern Japanese literature include: <\/em>From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry (collaborating with Hiroaki Sato), <\/em>Ryokan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan, and <\/em>Saigyo: Poems of a Mountain Home.<\/em><\/p>\n

Salutations offers seventeen contributions, each by a different writer, with some of the texts consisting of scholarly papers on Asian literature, and others offering personal reminiscences of Burton Watson or poems dedicated to him. The scholarly papers cover such topics as \u201ca cultural history of Wenren,\u201d which, as Victor H. Mair and Timothy Clifford explain, refers to a \u201cliterary man\u201d (22). While these papers would have interest to Asian scholars, for the non-specialist the personal memories of encounters with Burton Watson are more engaging.<\/em><\/p>\n

… Perhaps the best remedy will be to turn to one of Burton Watson\u2019s many Asian translations and savor his skill.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Contact me if you would like to add your own remembrance.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In honor of Burton Watson\u2019s passing, I am collecting statements and memories from friends and fans, to be posted as they come in. The following remembrance is by John Bradley, from his review of Salutations; a Festschrift for Burton Watson … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1774],"tags":[436,1784,1528,180,1529,1744,1592,1492,462,1785,1786,1634,454,344,453],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8srwF-Xd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3753,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3753","url_meta":{"origin":3671,"position":0},"title":"Burton Watson Obituary in NYTimes Books Section","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"May 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York Times books section has published an obituary of Burton Watson, over a month after he passed away. William Grimes writes: Burton Watson, whose spare, limpid translations, with erudite introductions, opened up the world of classical Japanese and Chinese literature to generations of English-speaking readers, died on April\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Burton Watson remembrance"","block_context":{"text":"Burton Watson remembrance","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=1774"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/05\/04\/arts\/04watson-obit\/04watson-obit-blog427.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3676,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3676","url_meta":{"origin":3671,"position":1},"title":"Sam Hamill on Burton Watson (1925 \u2013 2017)","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"April 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In honor of Burton Watson\u2019s passing, I am collecting statements and memories from friends and fans, to be posted as they come in. The following poem is by Sam Hamill, his entry in Salutations; a Festschrift for Burton Watson (Ahadada \/ Ekleksographia, 2015): Salutation to Burton Watson So very much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Burton Watson remembrance"","block_context":{"text":"Burton Watson remembrance","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=1774"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3678,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3678","url_meta":{"origin":3671,"position":2},"title":"Jonathan Chaves on Burton Watson (1925 \u2013 2017)","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"April 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In honor of Burton Watson\u2019s passing, I am collecting statements and memories from friends and fans, to be posted as they come in. The following remembrance is from Jonathan Chaves, professor of Chinese at George Washington University: I am deeply saddened by the death of Burton Watson. He has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Burton Watson remembrance"","block_context":{"text":"Burton Watson remembrance","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=1774"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3716,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3716","url_meta":{"origin":3671,"position":3},"title":"Burton Watson NYTimes Obituary","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"April 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York Times has finally published an obituary of Burton Watson. It reads: Burton Dewitt Watson, scholar and translator of Chinese and Japanese literature, died on April 1, 2017, in Japan at the age of 92. As winner of the PEN\/Ralph Manheim Medal in 2015, Dr. Watson was regarded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Burton Watson remembrance"","block_context":{"text":"Burton Watson remembrance","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=1774"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ak-cache.legacy.net\/legacy\/images\/Cobrands\/nytimes\/Photos\/185122853.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3665,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3665","url_meta":{"origin":3671,"position":4},"title":"Victor Mair on Burton Watson (1925 \u2013 2017)","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"April 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In honor of Burton Watson's passing, I am collecting statements and memories from friends and fans, to be posted as they come in. The following remembrance is from Victor Mair, professor of Chinese at University of Pennsylvania: Sometime around the mid-70s, I had the great, good fortune to be invited\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Burton Watson remembrance"","block_context":{"text":"Burton Watson remembrance","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=1774"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3701,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3701","url_meta":{"origin":3671,"position":5},"title":"Hazard & Wallwork’s Cold Mountain Documentary","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"April 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In honor of Burton Watson\u2019s passing, I am collecting statements and memories from friends and fans, to be posted as they come in. In line with such remembrances, I am posting the documentary Cold Mountain: Han Shan, directed by Deb Wallwork and Mike Hazard, a film portrait of the Tang\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Burton Watson remembrance"","block_context":{"text":"Burton Watson remembrance","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=1774"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/R3OWTwGdGmo\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3671"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3671"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3732,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3671\/revisions\/3732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}