China and the West

Ezra Pound was engrossed in Confucian translations. Apart from making draft versions of The Analects and the Odes he prepared the bilingual edition of The great digest & The unwobbling pivot with reproductions of rubbings from the Tang Stone-Classics. Willis Meeker Hawley (1896-1987), a Hollywood bookseller and sinologist have him the idea of the Stone-Classics. James Laughlin of New Directions forwarded him a letter from Fang Achilles, suggesting consistent and correct spelling of Chinese names in Cantos 52-61. Fang offered to compose a note on the Stone-Classics and decided to come to Washington to meet Pound. During this meeting, Fang handed over to Pound a list of recommended changes in the Romanization of Chinese names and Pound accepted them. The first meeting was followed by vigorous exchanges of letters. Fang sent him the Shu-jing in the original and at Pound's request Fang gave him an account of the 'Thirteen Classics'. After reading though some of these volumes, Pound came to the conclusion "All the answers are in the FOUR BOOKS". As a dictionary compiler, Fang was able to answer Pound's trying queries about Chinese dictionaries, evaluating in specific terms their respective strengths and weaknesses. With Mathews' Chinese-English dictionary he was able to study Chinese sound, even its tone.