Translator’s Notes Unless otherwise stated, translations of the quotations are mine. Except for book titles and long-accepted romanization for geographical names like Taipei, the Yangtze River, and Hong Kong, pinyin is used throughout the trans- lation. In the letters, words in italics (e.g. “urbanity,” “currency,” and “epiphany”) appear in English in the Chinese original. Letter 2 p. 21 Fu 賦 is a genre of traditional Chinese literature, commonly translated as “prose-poem,” “poetic exposition,” “rhapsody,” or “essay.” For the sake of consistency, “prose-poem” is used to refer to fu throughout this book. The quotation comes from “Chibi fu” 赤壁賦 (Prose-poem on the Red Cliff) by Su Dongpo 蘇東坡 (1037–1101). p. 22 The first quotation comes from “Chibi fu” (Prose-poem on the Red Cliff) by Su Dongpo; the other two quotations are from “Hou Chibi fu” 後赤壁賦 (Second prose-poem on the Red Cliff). For a translation of the two prose-poems, see Burton Watson, Su Tung- p’o: Selections from a Sung Dynasty Poet (New York: Columbia University Press, 1965), 87–93. p. 23 The Six Dynasties (220–589) is a collective noun for six Chinese dynasties (the Three Kingdoms, Jin dynasty, Southern and Northern dynasties) during the period between the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 and the reunification of southern and north- ern China by the Sui 隋 in 589. Letter 3 p. 27 The quotation comes from a polymetric poem by Xin Qiji 辛棄疾 (1140–1207) to the tune of “Chou nu’er” 醜奴兒 (The ugly slave). For a translation, see Stephen Owen, ed. and trans., An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911 (New York: Norton, 1996), 584. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004339408_0�� 154 Translator’s Notes p. 28 The quotation comes from “Bainiao shi chu” 白鳥是初 (A white bird is alpha, the origin) by Xiong Hong 敻虹 (b. 1940). Letter 4 p. 32 Lu Ji 陸機 (260–303), Wen fu 文賦 (Prose-poem on literature). For a translation, see Ch’en Shih-hsiang, Essay on Literature Written by the Third-Century Chinese Poet Lu Chi (Portland, ME: Anthoensen Press, 1953), xviii–xxx; the quotation comes from xxvi. p. 32 The quotation comes from “Loushi ming” 陋室銘 (My hum- ble home) by Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫 (772–842). For a translation, see Herbert A. Giles, ed. and trans., Gems of Chinese Literature (New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp. and Dover Publications, 1965), 148. pp. 33–4 The poem “Yi huo ling” 一或零 (One or zero) was written by Lin Yaode 林燿德 (1962–1996). For the entire poem, see Lin Yaode, Yinwan sheng xue 銀碗盛雪 (A silver bowl of snow) (Taipei: Hongfan, 1987), 125–26. p. 34 The quotation beginning with “i am Life” comes from “Yan” 煙 (Smoke) by Yang Ze 楊澤 (b. 1954). p. 34 The quotation comes from “Qiu huai” 秋懷 (Autumn thoughts) by Han Yu 韓愈 (768–824). Letter 5 p. 38 The female author referred to obliquely in this letter is San Mao 三毛 (1943–1991). She is a Chinese travel writer, and her auto- biographical work, Stories of the Sahara, published in 1976, was an immense success in Taiwan. Letter 6 p. 45 Zen 禪 refers to meditation, abstraction, and trance. Zen is a school of Buddhism established in China by Bodhidharma. This .