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In the Voice of Others: Chinese Music Bureau Poetry . By Joseph R. Allen. [Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan (Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies, No. 63), 1992. 293 pp. $25.00. ISBN 0–89264–096–0.]

literary thought in general. For his part, Owen keeps his nerve and plays with the same chips to the end of the game, even though he must have itched at times to translate more "readably" (his own word). At the same time as admiring such resolution, one cannot help wishing he had given way more often to that inclination where key concepts are not involved. For example, tuo ni dai shui (p. 416) is translated literally as "drag it through water and mud," through which the intended meaning of "fidgety" or "fussy" can be perceived only very dimly. Owen's Readings start with Confucius and end with Yeh Hsieh (Ye Xie) in the 17th century. Eight major works and three assorted text types are dealt with. The longest, Wen-hsin tiao-lung (Wenxin diaolong) takes up 115 pages, followed by Yeh Hsieh's "The origins of poetry" of 89 pages. All the longer compositions are subject to excisions, as is implied in "readings." Lest I be misunderstood, I should make it clear in conclusion that Owen is on his own account a master of words. And if this book taxes its readers, that is fair enough: its author has not spared himself.