Jade Mountains & Cinnabar Pool: The History of Travel Literature in Imperial China. By James M. Hargett. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2018. 280 pp. ISBN: 9780295744476 (paper)

• Published in: The Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 79; no. 3; pp. 754 - 757
• Main Author: Kindall, Elizabeth
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Duke University Press, NC & IL 01.08.2020; Cambridge University Press
• Subjects: Asian studies; Chinese languages; Dynasties; Emotional responses; Genre; Geography; History; Literary translation; Liu Zongyuan; Monks; Mountains; Narratives; Onsite; Prose; Translation; Travel literature; Writers; Writing; Yuan Jie; China
• ISSN: 0021-9118; 1752-0401
• DOI: 10.1017/S0021911820001357

Yet he takes particular care to integrate lesser-known and previously untranslated authors in light of his goal to “identify exemplar (or prototypical) texts, present them in English translation, and then explicate those texts in such a way as to highlight their contributions toward the development of Chinese travel literature” (p. 13). [...]using motion verbs, similes, and linked text, Liu presented dynamic travel accounts filled with constantly changing views that invited readers to imagine both his physical travel experiences and his emotional responses to them. Hargett relates this trend to the increase in touristic travel enjoyed by both officials and, importantly, private individuals, and the increasing interest these writers exhibited in collecting and verifying geographic knowledge. In the postface, Hargett finds that “Chinese travel literature reveals an overwhelming concern with experience; specifically, human interaction with the things and events (wu) observed in the physical world during periods of movement” (p. 177).