Today's Cornell Classical Chinese Colloquium's guided reading as described by Hoai Khai Tran:

“Expressions of the heart from the exuberances of wind, clouds, moon, and dew”: encounters with a poetess in the Record of Lingering Fragrance (1814)

The preface to the Record of Lingering Fragrance 瑠香記 (1814) contains some of the only biographical information about the Sino-Vietnamese poetess Hồ Xuân Hương 胡春香, who flourished during the early nineteenth-century in Thăng Long (Hanoi), northern Vietnam.  In the preface, an admirer of Xuân Hương intimates a culture of literary entertainment that found expression through wine, song, and literary composition at establishments such as Xuân Hương’s Ancient Moon Studio.  The preface further suggests that the main participants in these activities were sojourning scholars who flocked to Thăng Long to participate in the limited and irregular civil service examinations during the early Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945).

Hoai Khai Tran 陳啟懷 is pursuing a doctorate degree in Asian Studies at Cornell University with the guidance of Professor Keith W. Taylor.  Hoai specializes in Sino-Vietnamese studies (Hán Nôm học); he researches unofficial narratives, vernacular histories, and premodern literature in Vietnam.  In his dissertation, Hoai explores the life, oeuvre, and reception of the scholar Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm in northern Vietnam from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries.    In addition to his dissertation research, Hoai is interested in Vietnamese uses of the Yijing, esoteric Buddhism, and indigenous religious traditions.

CCCC is a reading group for students and scholars interested in premodern Chinese studies. All are welcome, at any level of experience with classical Chinese. 

At each session one participant presents a text in classical or literary Chinese. Attendees discuss historical, literary, linguistic, and all other aspects of the text, and work together to resolve difficulties in comprehension and translation. Presentations include works of all sorts, from the earliest times to the twentieth century. 

No preparation required: all texts will be distributed at the meeting.