Chinese Songs in a French Key - by Pauline Yu

About the Book

Chinese Songs in a French Key tells the extraordinary story of the birth, rebirth, and rich afterlife of Judith Gautier's The Book of Jade, which introduced readers throughout Europe to classical Chinese poetry.

Book Synopsis

In early 1867, a book of poems stunned the French literary world. Titled The Book of Jade, it featured Chinese calligraphy and named ancient Chinese poets as sources, leaving readers uncertain whether the collection was a translation or a French author's invention. Though the book was published under a pseudonym, the author was quickly recognized as Judith Gautier, the young daughter of a prominent writer. Resembling neither contemporary French verse nor any conventional translation of the day, The Book of Jade opened the eyes of readers throughout Europe to classical Chinese poetry.

Chinese Songs in a French Key tells the extraordinary story of the birth, rebirth, and rich afterlife of The Book of Jade. Pauline Yu traces the research and creative process behind the book, including Gautier's collaboration with a Chinese refugee known as Tin-Tun-Ling. She shows, through juxtapositions with original Chinese texts, how Gautier's imaginative strategies conveyed core elements of Chinese poetry to a European audience. Yu explores how the work's influence reverberated across French letters, Anglo-American modernist poetry, and the international history of translation. The story also unfolds within Gautier's network of luminaries--such as Victor Hugo, Richard Wagner, and John Singer Sargent--and against the backdrop of France's "discovery" of China through scholarship and plunder. Drawing attention to Gautier's audacity and accomplishments, this deeply researched and elegantly written book provides new perspectives on the surprising routes cultural transmission can take.

Review Quotes

The Book of Jade, a volume of poems published in 1867 by "Judith Walter," astounded the French literary world. Was it Chinese poetry in French translation? Was its pseudonymous creator the author or the translator? Pauline Yu brilliantly illuminates the history, mysteries, "outsized influence, and robust afterlife" of this extraordinary work.--Jean Strouse, author of Family Romance: John Singer Sargent and the Wertheimers

This book deals with far more than Gautier's Book of Jade--it paints a richly colored portrait of late-nineteenth century French culture, the emerging world of Chinese studies in Europe, and much more. Yu deftly employs the double lens of Gautier's books and her life through which to explore the impact of both, moving between biographical, cultural, and literary frames with grace.--Anna M. Shields, author of One Who Knows Me: Friendship and Literary Culture in Mid-Tang China

About the Author

Pauline Yu is president emerita of the American Council of Learned Societies. She is the author or editor of five books on Chinese and comparative literature. Yu serves on several philanthropic and nonprofit boards and was awarded a National Humanities Medal in 2022.