Court Culture and Literature in Early China

David R. Knechtges, University of Washington, USA

• Contents: Preface; Court Literature in the Former Han: Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju's Tall Gate Palace Rhapsody; The emperor and literature: Emperor Wu of the Han; The fu in the Xijing zaji; The poetry of an imperial concubine: the Favorite Beauty Ban; Yang Xiong, A Court Poet of the Late Western Han: Narration, description, and rhetoric in Yang Shyong's Yeu-lieh fuh: an essay in form and function in the Hann fuh; Uncovering the sauce jar: a literary interpretation of Yang Hsiung's Chü Ch'in mei Hsin; The Liu Hsin/Yang Hsiung correspondence on the Fang yen; Themes and Problems in Fu Studies: Problems of translating descriptive binomes in the Fu; Poetic travelogue in the Han fu; To praise the Han: the eastern capital fu of Pan Ku and his contemporaries; A journey to morality: Chang Heng's The Rhapsody on Pondering the Mystery; Pao Chao's Rhapsody on the ruined city: date and circumstances of composition; Food and Literature: A literary feast: food in early Chinese literature; Gradually entering the realm of delight: food and drink in early medieval Chinese literature; Index.

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