APPENDIX A Select List of Widely Available Translations of Prose Personal Accounts to 1880

This list is limited to prose works because so much of Chinese poetry is autobiographical that it would be difficult to draw the line on which pieces to include. We have included both short and long pieces, as well as full translations and excerpts from longer works available in anthologies.

Abbreviations

ABI	Cook, Constance A., and Paul R. Goldin, eds. A Source Book of Ancient Chinese Bronze Inscriptions. Berkeley, California: Society for the Study of Early China, 2016.
ACL	Owen, Stephen, ed. and trans. An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.
CA	Mair, Victor, ed. The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.
CCS	Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, ed. Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. 2nd ed. New York: Free Press, 1993.
CE	Pollard, David, ed. The Chinese Essay. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
CP	Wu, Pei-yi. The Confucian’s Progress: Autobiographical Writings in Traditional China. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989.
EMC	Swartz, Wendy, Robert Ford Campany, Yang Lu, and Jessey J. C. Choo, eds. Early Medieval China: A Sourcebook. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014.
GCT	Mirsky, Jeannette, ed. The Great Chinese Travelers: An Anthology. London: Allen & Unwin, 1965.
HR	Mair, Victor H., Nancy S. Steinhardt, and Paul Goldin, eds. Hawai’i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2005.
HT	Cai, Zongqi, ed. How to Read Chinese Prose: A Guided Anthology. New York: Columbia University Press, 2022.
IL	Strassberg, Richard E. Inscribed Landscapes: Travel Writing from Imperial China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.
RB	Idema, Wilt L., and Beata Grant. The Red Brush: Writing Women of Imperial China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2004.
SCT	de Bary, William T., and Irene Bloom, eds. Sources of Chinese Tradition. Vol. 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
UCE	Mann, Susan, and Yu-yin Cheng, eds. Under Confucian Eyes: Writings on Gender in Chinese History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
WW	Chang, Kang-i Sun, and Haun Saussy, eds. Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999.

Zhou Period

Li Gui (11th c. BCE), ABI, 11.
Zhong Xian (10th c. BCE), ABI, 54.
Hu Ding (9th c. BCE), ABI, 130–35.
Duo You Ding (8th c. BCE), ABI, 158–59.
Zifan Bianzhong (7th c. BCE), ABI, 265.

Qin and Han

Sima Qian (ca. 145–ca. 86 BCE), “Letter to Ren An,” ACL, 136–42; SCT, 372; HR, 179–82; HT, 163–6; Stephen Durrant, Wai-yee Li, Michael Nylan, and Hans van Ess, The Letter to Ren An & Sima Qian’s Legacy (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2018).
Sima Qian, “The Sacred Duty of the Historian,” SCT, 370–71.
Ban Jieyu (48 BCE–2 CE), “Self-Mourning Rhapsody,” RB, 80–82.
Ma Dibo (1st c. CE), excerpt from “A Record of the Feng and Shan Sacrifices,” IL, 59–62.
Ban Zhao (45–117), “Rhapsody on a Journey to the East,” RB, 23–26.
Feng Yan (later Han), “Letter,” CCS, 74–75.

Six Dynasties and Tang

Zhuge Liang (181–234), “Memorial on Deploying the Army,” HT, 155–7.
Ji Kang (223–262), “Letter to Shan Tao Breaking Off Relations,” HT, 168–71.
Li Mi (ca. 225–ca. 290), “Memorial Expressing My Feelings,” HT, 157–8.
Shi Chong (249–303), “Preface to the Jingu Garden Poems,” EMC, 533–34.
Shi Chong, “Preface to the ‘Song of Longing to Return,’” EMC, 534–35.
Ge Hong (283–343), “Autobiography,” CCS, 91–96; James Ware, Alchemy, Medicine, and Religion in China of A.D. 320 (Cambridge, MA: MIT University Press, 1966), 6–21.
Faxian (337–ca. 422), A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fâ-Hien of His Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399–414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline, trans. James Legge (1886; repr., New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corporation, 1965); Records of Buddhist Countries, in Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-yun: Buddhist Pilgrims from China to India (400 AD and 518 AD), trans. Samuel Beal (London: Trübner, 1869), 1–174.
Tao Qian (365–427), “Biography of the Master of Five Willows,” EMC, 385–86.
Tao Qian, “Requiem for Myself,” CE, 29–30.
Bao Zhao (ca. 414–466), “A Letter to My Younger Sister from the Bank of Thunder Garrison,” IL, 74–76.
Yuan Can (421–478), “Biography of the Master of Wonderful Virtue,” EMC, 386–87.
Jiang Yan (444–505), “His Own Preface,” EMC, 392–95.
Zhang Chong (449–489), “Letter to Wang Jian,” EMC, 81–86.
Songyun (Sung-yun, 6th c.), The Mission of Hwui Seng and Sung Yun to Obtain Buddhist Books in the West, in Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-yun: Buddhist Pilgrims from China to India (400 AD and 518 AD), trans. Samuel Beal (London: Trübner, 1869), 175–208.
Yan Zhitui (531–590s), full translations: Family Instructions for the Yan Clan and Other Works by Yan Zhitui (531–90s), trans. Xiaofei Tian (Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2021); Family Instructions for the Yen Clan, trans. Teng Ssu-yü (Brill, 1968). Excerpts: SCT, 541–46; EMC, 499–510.
Wang Bo (ca. 650–ca. 676), “Preface to Poems from the Pavilion of the Prince of T’eng,” IL, 106–9.
Li Bo (701–762), “Letter to Han Jingzhou,” CA, 556–59.
Lu Yu (733–804), “Autobiography,” CA, 699–702.
Han Yu (768–824), “Goodbye to Penury,” CE, 35–37.
Bo Juyi (772–846), “Letter to Yuan Zhen,” ACL, 603–5.
Liu Zongyuan (773–819), “Eight Pieces from Yung Prefecture,” IL, 141–47.

Liao, Song, Jin, and Yuan

Weiming Yuanhao (r. 1032–1048), “Letter to the Song Emperor Renzong,” CCS, 140–41.
Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), “Biography of the Retired Scholar of Six Ones,” in The Literary Works of Ou-yang Hsiu (1007–72), by Ronald Egan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 223–24. Other autobiographical essays translated in this book include “Pleasure Boat Studio,” 211–12, “Pavilion of Good Harvests and Joy,” 214–15, “The Old Drunkard’s Pavilion,” 215–17, and “The Three Zithers,” 221–22.
Sima Guang (1019–1086), “Account of a Debate at Court,” CCS, 151–52.
Su Shi (1037–1101), “Account of Stone Bell Mountain,” ACL, 622–24.
Su Shi, “Account of the Terrace ‘Passing Beyond,’” ACL, 665–67.
Li Qingzhao (1084–ca. 1151), “Afterword to Records on Metal and Stone,” ACL, 591–96; CA, 569–72; RB, 207–14; Ronald Egan, The Burden of Female Talent: The Poet Li Qingzhao and Her Story in China (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013), 192–99.
Li Qingzhao, “Letter to Qi,” RB, 215–16.
Meng Yuanlao (1090–1150), “Preface to A Record of Dreaming a Dream of Splendors Past in the Eastern Capital,” HT, 275–9.
Lu You (1125–1209), South China in the Twelfth Century: A Translation of Lu Yu’s Travel Diaries, July 3–December 6, 1170, trans. Chang Chun-shu and Joan Smythe (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1981).
Fan Chengda (1126–1193), On the Road in Twelfth Century China: The Travel Diaries of Fan Chengda (1126–193), trans. James M. Hargett (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1989).
Fan Chengda, Riding the River Home: A Complete and Annotated Translation of Fan Chengda’s (1126–193) Diary of a Boat Trip to Wu (Wuchuan lu), trans. James M. Hargett (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2008). Excerpt in CA, 616–23.
Fan Chengda, Stairway to Heaven: A Journey to the Summit of Mount Emei, trans. James M. Hargett (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006).
Zuqin (1216–1287), “Autobiographical Sermon,” HR, 432–36.
Ma Ke (early 13th c.), “Dragon Mountain,” IL, 246–50.
Wen Tianxiang (1236–1283), The Account of the Compass (excerpts), ACL, 705–20.
Yuanmiao (1238–1295), “A Letter to Master Xueren of Yangshan Expressing Doubts about Succeeding Him,” CP, 239–42.
Guo Bi (1280–1335), “A Scholar-Painter’s Diary,” CCS, 199–201.
Zheng Yunduan (ca. 1327–1356), “Preface to Suyong ji,” WW, 677–78.

Ming

Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398), “Ancestral Instruction,” SCT, 780–83.
Zhu Yuanzhang, “Proclamations,” CCS, 205–7.
Empress Xu (1362–1407), “Preface to Nei xun,” WW, 679–81.
Zheng He (1371–1433), “Stone Tablet of the Miracles Performed by T’ien Fei in Ch’ang-lo,” trans. Eduard B. Vermeer, in Chinese Local History: Stone Inscriptions from Fukien in the Sung to Ch’ing Periods (Boulder: Westview Press, 1991), 112–20.
Xu Yikui (d. ca. 1400), “What the Weaver Said,” CCS, 221–22.
Wu Yubi (1392–1469), The Journal of Wu Yubi: The Path to Sagehood, trans. Theresa M. Kelleher (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 2013). This also includes several of Wu’s letters.
Cheng Minzheng (ca. 1446–ca. 1500), “Night Passage over Two Passes,” ACL, 625–27.
Gui Youguang (1507–1571), “The Xiangji Studio,” CE, 75–77; HT, 366–8.
Gui Youguang et al., Vignettes from the Late Ming: A Hsiao-p’in Anthology, trans. Yang Ye (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999).
Yang Jisheng (1516–1555), “Final Instructions,” UCE, 122–29.
Hu Zhi (1517–1585), “A Record of Learning through Difficulties,” CP, 243–51.
Li Zhi (1527–1602), A Book to Burn and a Book to Keep (Hidden), trans. Rivi Handler-Spitz, Pauline C. Lee, and Haun Saussy (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016). Particularly autobiographical sections include some of the letters and “A Sketch of Zhuowu: Written in Yunnan,” 75–83. For a smaller sample of Li Zhi’s letters, see CCS, 258–62.
Hu Shengbao et al. (late 16th to early 17th c.), “Tenant Contracts,” CCS, 223–25.
Xu Xiake (1586–1641), The Travel Diaries of Hsü Hsia-k’o, trans. Li Chi (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press of Hong Kong, 1974).
Shen Yixiu (1590–1635), “A Biography of My Youngest Daughter Qiongzhang,” RB, 400–406.
Gu Ruopu (1592–ca. 1681), “Letter to My Sons,” UCE, 151–52.
Gu Ruopu, “Letter to My Younger Brother,” HT, 338–39.
Gu Ruopu, “Preface to Drafts from the Reclining in the Moonlight Studio,” RB, 415–18.
Shang Jinglan (1602–1676), “Preface to the Remaining Drafts of Zither Tower,” RB, 429–31.
Jizong Xingche (b. 1606), “Autobiographical Account,” RB, 464–67.

Qing

Wang Shimin (1592–1680), “Self-Account,” CP, 253–62.
Wang Xiuchu (17th c.), Ten Days in Yangzhou, CCS, 271–79; ACL, 826–33; Lynn A. Struve, Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm: China in Tigers’ Jaws (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 32–48.
Mao Xiang (1611–1693), “Reminiscences of the Plum Shadows Convent,” in Plum Shadows and Plank Bridge: Two Memoirs about Courtesans by Mao Xiang and Yu Huai, ed. and trans. Wai-yee Li (New York: Columbia University Press, 2020), 1–64.
Ji Xian (1614–1683), “Record of Past Karma,” UCE, 139–44.
Wu Xiao (mid-17th c.), “Preface to Xiaoxue an gao,” WW, 690.
Yu Huai (1616–1696), “Miscellaneous Records of the Plank Bridge,” in Plum Shadows and Plank Bridge: Two Memoirs about Courtesans by Mao Xiang and Yu Huai, ed. and trans. Wai-yee Li (New York: Columbia University Press, 2020), 65–183.
Wang Duanshu (1621–before 1685), “Preface to the Together with Autumn Poetry Collection of Xuan Huazi,” RB, 449–50.
Yikui Chaozhen (1625–1679), “Autobiography,” RB, 457–59.
Qian Fenglun (1644–1703), “A Letter to Lin Yaqing,” RB, 483.
Qian Fenglun, “A Letter to My Younger Brother,” RB, 485.
Zhang Maozi (mid-17th c.), “A Record of Life beyond My Due,” HR, 528–38.
Kangxi (1654–1722), Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K’ang-His, trans. Jonathan D. Spence (New York: Knopf, 1974).
Fang Bao (1668–1749), “Life in Prison,” CE, 101–5; Pei-kai Cheng, Michael Lestz, and Jonathan D. Spence, The Search of Modern China: A Documentary Collection (New York: Norton, 1999), 54–58.
Xu Si et al. (18th c.), True Crimes in Eighteenth-Century China: Twenty Case Histories, trans. Robert E. Hegel. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009).
Shen Fu (1763–1808?). Six Records of a Floating Life, trans. Lin Yutang, The Wisdom of China and Japan (New York: Random House, 1942), 964–1050; trans. Leonard Pratt and Chiang Su-hui (London: Penguin, 1983); trans. Graham Saunders (London: Hackett, 2011). Excerpts in CA, 709–46 (from Lin Yutang).
Wanyan Yun Zhu (1771–1833), “Preface to Guochao guixiu zhengshi ji,” WW, 711–12.
Luo Qilan (late 18th c.), “Preface to Tingqiuguan guizhong tongren ji,” WW, 703–6.
Gong Zizhen (1792–1841), “Passing through Yangzhou Again in the Sixth Month of the Year Jihai,” IL, 418–22.
Sample confessions (ca. 1813), in Susan Naquin, Millenarian Rebellion in China: The Eight Trigrams Uprising of 1813 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976), 271–79.
Guangxi Roving Bandit Group (mid-19th c.), “A Statement of Voluntary Surrender,” CCS, 320–21.
Hong Daquan (1823–1852), “Confession,” trans. Franz H. Michael, in The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, vol. 2, ed. Franz Michael and Chung-li Chang (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1971), 187–91.
Shi Dakai (1831–1863), “Confession,” trans. Franz H. Michael, in The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, vol. 3, ed. Franz Michael and Chung-li Chang (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1971), 1200–1203.
Zhang Daye (b. 1854), The World of a Tiny Insect: A Memoir of the Taiping Rebellion and Its Aftermath, trans. Xiaofei Tian (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2013).
Su Wanlan (19th c.), “Preface to Guiyin jixiu,” WW, 707–8.
Li Shuyi (19th c.), “Preface to Shuying lou mingshu baiyong,” WW, 713–14.

Index

Notes

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