Qian is at Tulane University, I think. But since Guan-shi yin or Kuonon is my absolutely favorite deity (goddess of mercy, and, as Fenollosa notes, patron goddess of those who travel by sea--neat Odyssean link), I have to ask, why is it important to determine whether Pound read all of Fenollosa. Kwannon appears throughought Fenollosa's "Epochs"? Or for that matter, that he needed Fenollosa to know Kuanon at all? Pound went to Lawrence Binyon's exhibit of Chinese or Asian Art at the British Museum, for example, where he saw several statues of Guan-yin/Kuonon. Woo Ping Holiday has a Paideuma article on this exhibit, entitled something like "China through the British Museum." And for that matter, no one can engage Chinese culture without encountering Guan yin everywhere. She is a Taoist deity, a Buddhist deity, a cross between a Hindu male deity and the Buddhist legend of a woman named Maia, or maybe Mishan, who was so devoted to the buddha that she sought a life of contemplation. Her father wanted her married, however, and when she refused, he hired men to kill her. But the Buddha sent a tiger for her, and the tiger wisked her away to an island, where she studied and thought all of her days. When she attained nirvana, and was crosing the threshold into the pure land, she heard the cry of humanity, and so turned back, to become an avatar--one of those who refuses elevation to a spiritual state in order to help humanity. Pound did not even need Fenollosa to know these things (although references to Kwannon as patron deity of those who travel by sea are very rare--Fenollosa and one other, that I have found). What are you trying to do?
>>> <[log in to unmask]> 11/12 9:13 AM >>>
Dr. Hatlen:
I am writing in hopes that you may be able to put me in
touch with Dr. Zhaoming Qian or Dr. Akiko Miyake. My hope is that one or
both of them is a subscriber to the Pound listserv, which you are
listed as
being the monitor for. My current project--tying Pound's depiction(s) of
Kuanon to Fenollosa's discussions of her in his <Epochs>--hinges in
part on
being able to show that Pound read Fenollosa's <Epochs> in its entirety.
Letters both scholars cite in their work imply to varying degrees that
this
is so. Dr. Qian quotes at some length a 5 December 1915 letter from
Pound
to his father, which recommends that Homer read <Epochs>,in his 1995
<Orientalism and Modernism>, page 56. Dr. Miyake has a footnote in her
1981
Paideuma article, regarding a 25 March 1914 letter from Pound to his
father
with a similar quote, although she refers to it only in passing (page
544). Dr. Qian thanks Donald Gallup for "bringing the letter to his
attention," while Dr. Miyake refers to Dudley Paige as the source for
the
letter she uses. Unfortunately, I have not been able to trace a readily
available source for either letter.
If you have e-mail addresses for either or both scholars, would you
be willing either to forward this e-mail note to them, or to pass on
their
addresses so that I might be able to get in touch with them? I am
working
under a bit of a deadline, and it is sometimes difficult to get
libraries
to cooperate in a timely manner...! I feel my article's scholarship
would
be strengthened by a copy of the actual letter. Certainly I am willing
to
incur any financial expenses either Dr. Qian or Dr. Miyake would incur
in
faxing me a copy of their letters, should they be amenable to doing so.
Please let me know if this is feasible, or if you would rather I
post this to the listserv. I'm not currently a member of the list, and
felt
it would be presumptuous to join for the purpose of such a minor
question--however serious it may seem to me!
Thank you very much for your efforts. I appreciate your time.
Sincerely,
Britton Gildersleeve
[log in to unmask]
(918)4928721
5826 East 76th Street
Tulsa, OK 74136
Oklahoma State University
English Department
Stillwater, OK
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Subject: information request
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