China and the West

Ayscough, Florence. Amy Lowell and the Far East [ID D32315].
In the critical analysis bound tob e made of Amy Lowell's contribution to literature, it is important that due stress be laid on her interpretations of the Fartheast East – that is, of China and Japan. The sum total of these interpretations may not be large but the quality is unique. By virtue of her astounding gift of intuition Amy Lowell annihilated time and space, and seemed to comprehend the thoughts of men long dead, and visualize the movement of scenes long past, although both thoughts and scenes belonged to civilizations far removed… If Miss Lowell's approach to Japan sprang from a childish enthusiasm which grew to critical and sympathetic appreciation, her approach to China and its literature was very different. The central Flowery State attracted her, and she loved to read and talk about China. I have lived ther for many years, and when I came to America she always plied me with questions, but until the autumn of 1917 she had not studied it seriously. At that time I happened to pay her a long visit, and I had in my possession some paintings and a number of 'written pictures', examples of that art which the Chinese consider the most perfect medium of aesthetic expression. They are perhaps the least known, and certainly the least understood, of all oriental art forms ; which is a pity, since these 'hanging-on-the-wall-poems' are highly characteristic of the Chinese idea. A beautiful thought perpetuated in beautiful handwriting, and hung upon the wall to suggest a mental picture – that is wha a tzu hua amount to. Mrs. Lowell was immensely interested… I was fascinated by the poems, and, as we talked them over, we realized that here was a rield in which we should like to work… We both realized that it was impossible for her to give an adequate rendering of a poet's thought unless she knew exactly the words in which he clothed it. So ideograph by ideograph, and line by line, we worked together, I translating and she making careful notes. While so working Miss Lowell made a discovery which I believe will be far reaching in its result. She found that, frequently, an analysis of an ideograph in a phrase instead of in a single word made the meaning of the line far more vivid… Later in discussing our collaboration she said : 'The sinologues do not know enough about poetry to make adequate translations and the poets who have done them best are more concerned in making a name for themselves than in rendering the old Chinese people'…