In a message dated 11/21/2002 1:48:41 PM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > I've just joined the list as I've just begun my studies of Pound's > most famous short poems, esp. 'Ts'ai chi'h'. Could maybe anybody out > there give me some hints to this title, what is its exact meaning, or > any reference study that I might check ? ... > Part of the key and problem of the Poundian quotes is their age. Need to check the old Wade-Giles system of transliterating Chinese for clues and see what texts he had available. Today, most of the text is in flux, either halfway between W-G and modern or fully Pinyin. So even "known" things like the Ghenghis/Chingis, Tao/Dao or Mao Tse-tung/Mao Zedong are different now in their spellings. That might help the search, to look for 1900-esque transliterations and translations for the clues to his many allusions. Cheers, Thomas