The Book of Songs & Poetic Paintings (Chinese-English Edition): Xu Yuanchong’s Translation of 80 Classics

This bilingual collection brings together 80 selections from The Book of Songs—the earliest anthology of Chinese poetry, spanning the 11th to 6th centuries BCE—with Xu Yuanchong’s English translations, paired with traditional Chinese paintings that echo the mood of each piece. The selections cover all three sections of the classic: Feng (Airs), Ya (Odes), and Song (Hymns). Xu Yuanchong, the first Asian translator to win the Aurora Borealis Prize, renders the poems into English rhyme, aiming to carry not just meaning but sound and cadence. If you want a readable, image-rich bilingual edition to read, compare, and keep—not a scholarly commentary or annotation-heavy edition—this is it.