The Reading Bud

Book Details:

Author: Susan Wan Dolling
Release Date: 5 August, 2025
Series: Song Dynasty Poets
Genre: Earnshaw Books
Format: E-book 
Pages: 283 pages
Publisher: –
Blurb:
Volume I, Hundred Tongues, enters the world of Nothern Song Dynasty poets. It begins with a romantic warlord followed by “A Short, Short History of Song China”. Then comes a serious scholar-warrior, and a popular poet-songwriter whom some considered “vulgar”. Following them is a pair of good friends who were exiled and separated from each other. Two poets, one called “heroic and unrestrained” and the other, “delicate and elusive,” concludes this selection from the first part of the Song dynasty.

Review

Susan Wan Dolling’s Hundred Tongues is both a doorway and a companion to the lyric world of the Song Dynasty. This first volume, devoted to the Northern Song poets, sets the stage with translations that feel alive while also providing readers with enough context to understand the cultural, historical, and literary forces at play. From Li Yu’s haunting captivity poems to the bold voices of Su Shi and Qin Guan, author Dolling ensures that each poet is introduced as a strong voice with personality, context, and resonance.

What impressed me most is author Dolling’s balance between scholarship and accessibility. The book explains the difference between shi and ci, the intricacies of tune-patterns, and the cultural symbols woven into the lyrics (from wutong trees to migrating geese) but never in a way that alienates a newcomer. Instead, she offers these notes conversationally, as if guiding the reader through a gallery of poems, pointing out details they might have otherwise missed. This makes the translations not only comprehensible but deeply enjoyable, carrying both the music of the originals and the intimacy of personal reflection.

The translations themselves lean toward clarity and lyricism rather than ornament. They are readable aloud, and this simplicity allows the imagery to shine. At times, the commentary repeats information already offered, and some readers may wish for a stronger map or timeline to situate the poets within the dynasty. Still, these are minor quibbles when weighed against the richness the book provides.

On the whole, Hundred Tongues succeeds in what so many poetry collections fail to do, it makes the poems feel urgent and present rather than relics of a distant age. For readers familiar with Tang poetry who wonder what came after, or for anyone curious about the depth and subtlety of Chinese lyric, this book is an illuminating, thoughtful, and highly readable introduction. It is a project that feels both scholarly and personal, and that combination makes it linger. Its a beautiful entry point into Song Dynasty poetry, with translations that are clear, evocative, and anchored by commentary that both informs and invites.

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