The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces (review)

2?8 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. i, Spring 1996 ists. First, there is the problem ofa revolutionary party and leadership trying to transform themselves into a rulingparty and leadership, engaged in the tedium and challenge of nation building and modernization. There also is the crisis of unfulfilled popular expectations created by the economic-modernization process. This leads to a dissatisfied youthful urban class, which can sometimes be mobilized by disaffected intellectuals or ruling party dissidents. They are often willing and able to challenge the party and the state. MacFarquhar briefly cites another popular theme ofmany modernization specialists: the likelihood ofmilitary intervention as a last resort to rescue the ruling party from ouster. But this often results in the military wing of the ruling party outmaneuvering the civilian wing. It is the contention of The Politics ofChina diat the CCP and PRC have lost audiority and prestige over the last forty years. Attempts by Mao and Deng to correct this problem by reorganizing Party and State institutions, by training a new generation ofParty and State leaders, and even by designating specific heirs have not only failed, but have also made matters worse for the CCP, and its future is therefore called into question. The Politics ofChina thus serves equally as a chronicle of the past and as a primer on the future of Chinese politics. Peter O. Hefron Troy State University, Europe Maynard Mack, general editor. The Norton Anthology ofWorld Masterpieces . Expanded edition. Chinese sections edited by Stephen Owen. New York and London: W. W. Norton, 1995. Vol. 1, 2,979 PP- Paperback $37.95, isbn 0-393-96348-9. Vol. 2, 2,989 pp. Paperback $37.95, isbn 0-393-96346-2. For its newly added two thousand pages alone, the expanded edition of fhe acclaimed Norton Anthology ofWorldMasterpieces (hereafter Norton) deserves hearty applause. These two thousand pages, including works by artists ofAfrica, the Arab countries of the Middle East, Israel, the Caribbean, China, Egypt, India, Japan , Native America, and the Persia that became Iran, are not merely long-overdue recognition and representation of a vast, neglected territory in the concept© 1996 by University an¿ me gei¿ 0fworiQ literature; they also embodylaudable endeavors in abanoj awai ? ressdoning the ethnocentric view ofliterature, breaking the hegemony ofEurocentrism , and bridging the the gap between Western and non-Western worlds. Reviews 209 Since this new edition is die product ofthe collective work ofa group ofdiverse scholars, it is inconceivable for any single critic to assess the entire work. Hence, the current review will confine itselfto the Chinese sections ofthe expansion , compiled by Stephen Owen, Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at Harvard University. The author of several influential books on classical Chinese poetry and literary thought, Owen is ideally suited among Western scholars to compile an anthology of classical Chinese literature for the Western reader. For "Poetry and Thought in Early China," Owen has selected: twenty-five poems from the Book ofSongs (Shijing), excerpts from the Analects (Lunyu), and fifteen pieces from Zhuang Zhou, The Nine Songs (Jiuge); and for China's "Middle Period ," Tao Qian, Wang Wei, Han Shan, Li Bo, Du Fu, Li He, Bo Juyi, Du Mu, Li Shang-yin, Li Qing-zhao, and Yuan Zhen are chosen. Also, selections from Monkey (Xi You Ji), The Story ofthe Stone (Shi Tou Ji), and Kong Shang-ren's The Peach Blossom Fan are included for "Vernacular Literature in China." These disparate and unfamiliar texts from a distant land and an ancient time, albeit finely translated, can only remain Chinese to the Western reader widiout being contextualized. Therefore, the editors wisely preface each section with a briefing on the sociohistorical context of the works, a further reading list, and a time-line chart, all ofwhich provide an indispensable companion to the selected works. What benefits the reader most is that these introductions, written in lucid and elegant language, are presented in a comparative mode throughout the two volumes: Chinese civilization is frequendy compared and contrasted witii Western civilization(s). Against the danger ofblurring native distinctions and glossing over details, die comparisons and contrasts in the introductions contribute gready and immediately to a better cross-cultural understanding. These introductions, based on readings...