Which name sounds better to you in
English?
Ezra-Pounds-Chinese-Friends-Stories-in-Letters
P.
Very respectfully yours Chao Tze-chiang
If you don't receive the ivory ball by next Monday, please let me know so that I shall inquire at the San Francisco Post OYce.
? ? 9
From Poetry to Politics
''Wang's middle name not in Mathews''
Among Pound's disciples of the St Elizabeths period was David Wang. Born in Hangzhou, China, David Hsin-fu Wang (Wang Shenfu ? ? ? , 1931-77) immigrated to the US in 1949, where he attended La Scuola Italiana of Middle- bury and completed his BA degree in English at Dartmouth College in 1955 (see Figs. 9. 1 and 9. 2). He contacted Pound after writing poetry in his shadow for several years. In his Wrst letter (July 1955) he claimed that Pound's wisdom had ''surpassed that of Confucius'' (Letter 141), which only prompted Pound to state: ''Mencius had the sense to say there was only one Confucius'' (Letter 142).
While Pound was not impressed by Wang's compliments, he was charmed by his middle name. The shen ? character was not in Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary. He at once wrote to David Gordon, Tze-chiang Chao, and Willis Hawley, inquiring about that word. Chao was the Wrst to respond: the Shuowen dictionary deWned it as ''Xourishing or prosperous'' and the Guangyun ''Xame (Wre burning on a piece of wood)'' (Beinecke). Thus on 13 July Pound was able to write back to Wang, addressing him as ''Mr Flame-style King'' (Letter 142).
The ideogram of Wang's middle name, Wre burning on a piece of wood, came back to Pound when he opened Thrones with enlightened monarchs from Martel to Charlemagne. It was logical to insert in this context: ''Wang's middle name not in Mathews ? '' (Canto 96/673).
The correspondence between Pound and Wang initially focused on literary interests. Wang sent Pound drafts of his poems and translations, which Pound returned with suggestions. Through Pound Wang got to know Noel Stock, who printed his ''Tang & Sung Poems'' in Edge, 3; Chao, who collaborated with him on a Chinese heritage project; and Marcella Spann, who shared with him the reading list of her college comparative literature course.
In early 1957 Pound was gathering material from F. W. Baller's edition of Sacred Edict (1907) for a new section of The Cantos. Slim though it appears, the volume contains two Chinese versions of Emperor Kangxi's ''Sacred Edict,'' a literary version by Emperor Yongzheng and a colloquial version by Salt-Commissioner
from poetry to politics 173
Wang Youpu. Baller provides only a translation of the latter. Pound advised Wang to render into English Yongzheng's text ''BOTH because I shd/ like it, and because Stock cd/ print it'' (Letter 148). Wang obviously was not interested in the task. Although he kept saying that he was working on it, he never turned in his translation.
Their correspondence became more political than literary during 1957-8. As a refugee from China, Wang was anti-Communist. From enthusiasm for eugenics he moved on to regard some races higher than other races. His pride in his ''high'' breeding and his false sense of injury, combined with the inXuence of segregation- ists like John Kasper, fed his anti-Semitism. In exchanges with Pound he indulged in his master's unabashed, oVensive rhetoric. Some of his statements are neo-fascist. In a letter of 12 July 1957, for instance, he said: ''My impression of the French is that they are of all Europeans the closest to the kikes in spirit and nature . . . I am for a united Europe under the rule of either Germany or Italy. Adolf [Hitler] and Benito [Mussolini] were certainly close to saints'' (Beinecke). Whether he was speaking his mind or aiming for shock value could only be conjectural.
In October 1957 Wang organized a club called ''North American Citizens for the Constitution: An AYliation of the Whib Party. '' There were no more than a dozen followers in the band. The name ''Whib'' or ''Wheat in Bread'' was taken from Pound. Wang was soon in trouble. A former classmate of his, David Rattray, after interviewing Pound, published an article in The Nation (16 No- vember 1957), in which he accused Wang of protecting ''white supremacy. '' Wang wrote to Pound on 14 January 1958, complaining that the accusation made him fear deportation ''to RED China'' (Letter 160).
A good service Pound rendered Wang was putting him in touch with William Carlos Williams. After a visit to the ailing poet in Rutherford, New Jersey, Wang began collaborating with him on some thirty-eight translations from Chinese poets, which eventually appeared in New Directions, 19 (1966). Williams proved a better inXuence on Wang. From the Williams-Wang correspondence (Beinecke and Dartmouth College Library) we see that Wang regretted to a degree his past doings. In one letter (30 June 1959), he expressed contempt for his former friend David Horton, referring to him as still ''promoting the elimination of Jews, Negroes, and other 'inferior' people'' (Beinecke). In another letter (27 January 1961), he told Williams that he had lent his name to get a place for an African American friend. ''Maybe, someday,'' he wrote, ''there will be a Jewish or a Chinese president who will do something for the Negroes'' (Beinecke).
Wang took his MA at San Francisco State College in 1961 and his Ph. D. at the University of Southern California in 1972. In April 1977 Wang's body was found outside a hotel in New York City. He had stayed in that hotel for a meeting of the Modern Language Association's Commission on Minority Groups. That story, along with Wang's entire career, has been treated by Hugh Witemeyer in ''The Strange Progress of David Hsin-fu Wand [Wang]'' (Paideuma 15/2 & 3 (1986)).
? Fig. 9. 1. David Wang, c. 1955. (Dartmouth College Library)
Fig. 9. 2. David Wang, c. 1955. (Dartmouth College Library)
? from poetry to politics 175
141 Wang to EP (TLS-2; Beinecke)
Dearborn, Michigan
Dear Mr. Pound,
I sincerely hope that this letter will reach you without interference, for about
two weeks ago, while I was in Hanover, New Hampshire, I mailed a little book of my verse, The Goblet Moon, to the following address:
Mr. Ezra Pound
Creator of World Literature Washington D. C.
U. S. A.
and it was sent back to me a few days ago with a note that the directory service in Washington has been discontinued. To me, it seems that the post oYce in Washington is appallingly ignorant. For how on earth could they (the postmen) be totally uninformed about your whereabouts in Washington, while they have no diYculty in forwarding any letters to a congressman or a senator? Literature may not be important at all to the average person, but to be ignorant of a man of genius living in their midst is unforgivable.
Though I do not have the honor of ever meeting you in person, I have always been fascinated by your works as well as by your personality. I know some of your friends at Harvard, and have met Signorina Aida Mastrangelo, who promised to introduce me to you sometime. In my opinion, you are doubtless the greatest poet writing in the English language, in spite of some unkind attempts by trivial persons to bury your accomplishments under layers of smearing mud.
As one of the younger generation, I am most grateful to you for what you have done for English poetry as well as world literature in general. Americans may try to forget you and your contributions, but as a Chinese I feel myself forever in your debt. You open my eyes to a world which I shall never be able to envision without guidance and stimulate me to venture into regions of daring endeavors. I proclaim you the maestro [master] of modern Chinese literature and consider your wisdom to have surpassed that of Confucius.
I shall soon remail my booklet of verse to you, if I can be sure that it will reach you. It contains three translations from the Chinese and ten of my original poems. None of these poems has appeared in a professional poetry journal, though practically all of them were printed in the Dartmouth Quarterly. In fact, I have sent them to Mr. Richard Ashman's New Orleans Poetry Journal, but he declines to print any of them, saying that they reminded him too much of your writing. I hope I am not ''plagiarizing'' you. Of course, I cannot help being inXuenced by you to an extent, but to copy your style is, to say the least, a monstrous crime.
3515 West Point July 10th, 1955
? ? ? 176 from poetry to politics
May I have the pleasure of hearing a word or two from you? I have never had any wish to get acquainted with any literary personages except you and the late Bernard Shaw. Although drama and poetry enrich my life, I am bound by Wnancial limitations to a humdrum existence. My Xights into fancy can never exceed the journey of the mythological bird, Peng (? ).
With my best wishes to both you and Mrs. Pound--
Yours gratefully,
[signed] DR Wang ?
David Rafael Wang ? (Wang Hsin-Fu) ?
The Goblet Moon: The Goblet Moon (Lunenburg, Vt. : Stinehour Press, 1955). An inscribed copy of this privately printed book is kept at HRHRC.
Aida Mastrangelo: Aida Juliett Mastrangelo corresponded with EP from 1950 to 1964 (Lilly).
142 EP to Wang (TL-2)
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] 13 July [1955]
Dear Mr Flame-style King
I can't Wnd your admirable HSIN [? ] ideogram in ''Mathews'' so, please
correct me if I am misled in interpretation.
BUT you can not have it both ways. I cannot be more intelligent [than]
Confucius and less intelligent than Mencius, and Mencius had the sense to say there was only one Confucius. Without KUNG one would not see that it was ''there'' in the Shu [Book of History]. But the enemy is very active, cheap books about ISM confucianISM, to get the mind oV lucidity and focus it on all the irrelevancies of all the idiots who have pullulated in China for 2500 years.
The London Slimes [Times] has reached a new low in criticism of the ODES and the New Statesman like unto it. Sharrock in the Tablet and an anonymous writer in the Listener have seen the root ''No twisty thoughts. '' Harvard has printed the translation minus the apparatus and the seal text. I do not see any reason to forgive them, unless it will arouse someone to the deplorable condition of U. S. universities.
If you are ever in Ann Arbor, you might cheer D[onald]. Pearce 1317 Minerva Av. , you could discuss style with him.
cordially but anonymously yours
Miss Mastrangelo is busy seeing ALL the ''terza pagina,'' all the advertised writers in Italy, and having no end of a time. Her heart is in the right place.
? from poetry to politics 177
if Mr Wang is looking for a career or even a livelihood.
When Byzantium fell in A. D. 1205 or thereabouts, the greek emperor lost control of the gold coinage, but the prefect's edict, already 700 years old (approx) lasted on and was still functioning when Kemal took over. This is the <book of> guild regulations. It has been printed in english and french, but I have not yet got hold of a copy.
The point is that NO ONE in the occident knows ANYthing about chinese trade guild organizations.
There is an open and exciting Weld of research. It takes a life-time to perfect one's prosody, but one can start research at once on any subject.
reached a new low: cf. Confucius, 191.
Sharrock: the British poet and critic Roger Sharrock corresponded with EP from 1955 to 1957
(Beinecke).
Pearce: the Michigan professor Donald Pearce co-edited with Herbert Schneidau Pound/Theobald
(1984).
Kemal: Mustafa Kemal Atatu ? rk (1881-1938), founder of the modern Turkish Republic.
143 EP to Wang (TL-1)
Will be
Deelighted to see Hnbl/Wang
whenever he gets here. Finale to VISIT, as from
of His Excellency etc.
quite lively/
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] 11 Ap [1956]
see no way of shortening unless you omit the Wrst ''forever'' and show pause by spacing
sic: He shall live forever.
by no means sure this is any improvement.
Hnbl/Wang gives me credit for knowing a great deal more than I do re/ Chinese.
Know only Fenollosa's notes, and the Classic Anthology and have probably forgotten all I learned from F[enollosa]/ during past 40 years.
can only impart by example and by a few remarks in my criticism ABC etc.
178 from poetry to politics
beware dictionary equivalents/ weight etc/ 2000 years diVerent emotional tone/ relation to social or unsocial order.
? ? may be it was a night-club ? ?
144 Wang to EP (ALS-2; Beinecke)
Apt. 9, 242 Mulberry n. y. 12, n. y. October 8, 1956
Caro maestro [Dear master],
Chao called me about a week ago concerning the plan which you and he had
discussed. After listening to what he intended to do, I suggested that we should perhaps start a journal in English to facilitate the exchange of Chinese and American thoughts. It should cover Chinese literature, art, music, economics, medicine, cooking, etc. The expenses of such a publication should be kept at the minimum. Chao and myself will try to enlist patrons to support the publication-- with your help. We will also get responsible and capable contributors to write about the topics in which they excel. What think you of this suggestion?
Yesterday I called upon the two young ladies from Texas. They are charming and patrician, as compared with the typical New York product of Brooklyn, Staten Island, etc. Miss Marcella Spann had the good fortune of attending a school where an intelligent instructor was given the freedom to teach what he considered to be the best instead of the ''great books'' recommended and prescribed by the college authorities. I read the reading list of her Comparative Literature course. It was a challenging but not overwhelming list. Among the authors included there were Shakespeare, Voltaire, Confucius, Pound, Joyce, Eliot and Wyndham Lewis. There were no Feodor ''Idiot'' Dostoevski, no Thomas ''Magic Button'' Mann, no Joseph ''Jungle Jim'' Conrad, and above all, no John ''Archangel'' Milton. I always pray for the day that there will be another ? ? ? (the Wrst emperor of Ch'in Dynasty bc 221-210) who burnt all the reference books and literary ''masterpieces'' that had cluttered up the libraries and buried alive in mud all the ancient and doddering scholars. My cry is let there be another ?
?
? !
For eugenics' sake, please tell me what the best books on money issue are.
I plea to translate the complete poetical works of ? ? [Wang Wei] of ? ? (Tai Yu ? an, Shensi), T'ang Dynasty poet and one of my ancestors. ? ? is generally known as WANG WEI in English, but I think it should be spelt as WANG FEI or WANG FAY.
Which name sounds better to you in English?
May I visit you again within three weeks?
? from poetry to politics 179
Kindest regards to Mrs Pound-- [signed] ?
P. S. Enclosed a new poem. Please suggest possible improvements!
Marcella Spann: see Glossary on Spann, Marcella.
Dostoevski: Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-81), The Idiot (1868-9). Mann: Thomas Mann (1875-1955), The Magic Mountain (1924). Conrad: Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), Lord Jim (1900).
WANG WEI: see Glossary on Wang Wei.
145 EP to Wang (TL-2)
Note the most eYcient method used by E. P. for putting over authors: Joyce, Eliot, W. Lewis.
This was not done by starting NEW mags/ but by entering and strengthening mags/ already there and which had printers and mild distribution etc.
Ergo, for consideration C[hao] & W[ang]. NOTE that an excellent venzuelan Francisco Rivera (no relation of Primo)
is at 2604 Fulton Av. Berkeley, Calif.
he invites, what he cant have, contribution from E. P. for a new magazine, strictly literary.
starting with St J. Pearse, which is excellent in so far as it is respectable, non- committal, guaranteed to keep OFF and away from all vital issues sticking to culture.
I suggest yu send him yr/poem, / say that a group of Han [Chinese]/ could greatly strengthen their mag/
(opinion of competent, if anonymous critic)
You cannot put over chinese interests save a CULTURE at this moment.
It is no TIME to start anything by plunging into the abyss of Chinese politics
as of 1956.
Ergo, say you have been ASKED to inquire if the mag/which Rivera recom-
mends would devote 8 pages monthly to the best chinese tradition.
You can call his attention to the Chinese World for 1 Oct. Confucius' birthday
issue.
Say that some chinese scholars cannot aYliate with the Ch. World at this time. But that they could presumably come to focus on a scholarly or poetic review
of autochthonous nature.
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] 11 Oc [1956]
? 180 from poetry to politics
Rivera has not given name of mag/ nor of poetry edtr. It should at least provide outlet for C. and W.
not committing them to inconvenient or impolitic views as to immediate events.
Alzo/ the gt/ tradition comes via the written word. There are millions of $ ready to yatter about art/ Metropolitan museum Hsu ? an-tsung etc.
Whatever you are able to do in 20 years time/ a START/ with 8 pages or even 4, at no expense to C & W. can be solidly made IF Rivera can swing it: i. e. a section under advisement of C & W.
Chao even moving forward as from Chiang [Kai-shek] and the Ch[inese]. World. without going into opposition, always with due respect to respectable elders Chao endorsing what is good in Chiang, W[ang]. observing the virtues of
Chao that he happens to approve, and restraining himself temporarily re/ points of diVerence.
Gli uomini vivono in poshi [Men live in small groups]. IF three eVective issue [s] of X. appear it cd/ be drawn to the attention of [Achilles] Fang and [Joseph] Rock.
one can only procede BY INDIVIDUALS. name, cognomen and address (when the hell-hounds aren't on the trail of the protagonists)
I shd/ more relish NAMES than general subjects, such as cooking (needing speciWc demonstration and certainly dealt with in the restaurant ads/ in Ch/ World, not to say their sumptuous representation of pantomime)
Hawley can be considered AFTER you see whether Rivera can be useful. which i request you do AT once by airmail.
yes, of course glad to see you in 3 weeks, one week, or whenever you can raise
the car fare/ no need of special permission etc. on regular days, Sat/Sun/Tu/Th/ no one likely to be here whom you shd/avoid.
I shall be interested in prompt reports on progress/i. e. toward a LIST of
speciWc individuals who can write in a way to cause readers to READ re/ the Celestial tradition.
Many Wnd Fang unreadable. Others are bloody well bored at hearing about the dullest european philosophers, or having chinese light correlated to euro- pean obfuscation etc. Cooking is to EAT. economics are likely to be KILLED, I mean any ref/ to them shd/ be made AFTER the seed of kulch has at least sprouted an inch or two.
benedictions.
Rivera: in his reply of 22 October 1956 Francisco Rivera states that he ''is NOT directly connected with any literary magazine'' (Beinecke).
Chinese World: in 1958 David Wang became a reporter and translator of the San Francisco bilingual newspaper.
Hsu ? an-tsung: Tang emperor Xuanzong or Tang monk Xuanzang. Rock: see Glossary on Rock, Joseph F.
Rivera's letter: see Letter 145 n. Kasper: see Glossary on Kasper, John.
from poetry to politics 181
146 Wang to EP (ALS-1; Beinecke)
c/o Dartmouth Club 37 E. 39th St. n. y. 16, n. y. Dec. 5, 1956
Enclosed you will Wnd a copy of Rivera's letter. I am not sure if he is mad or he is only mad at you.
I have been prevented from coming to see you mainly because of an urgent matter which developed in my apartment. My present roommate, a Jew of Polish descent, has rummaged my collection of nationalist literature. And, I believe, he has come across such lines as
''Decadence sets in
When kikes and niggers
Became overseers,'' in my writing.
I tolerated him up to very recently because I needed someone to share my
rent after Bob Sharp, my former roommate, had left for his truck-driving job and because he asked to stay on after he had sublet my apartment during the summer. Now I have to keep an eye on him until he is out of this place. I asked him to move out yesterday, and he begged to stay on till the 1st of January.
I don't understand why Kasper does not devote more energy to uprooting the polluting elements in the United States.
I may have to use force to evict this nasty little Jew, Karler (Korowitz). I wonder if I can get some help in this respect.
Sempre [as ever], Hsin
147 EP to Wang (TL-2)
For a little serious conversation re/points not covered during Wang's visit. O. K. eugenics/ very necessary /
endocrinology not kikietry.
spot distractions /
WHIB. Wheat in bread party.
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] [January 1957]
182 from poetry to politics
a concept the incult should agree on/
and comprehensible at all levels.
Unfortunate that J. K[asper]. shd/ be on local line, not on universal slogan / What they get diverted FROM is issue of money.
& tax SYSTEM.
both of which need INTELLIGENCE on the part of anyone who is generating
resistance.
ergo there are items for aristos.
all the mutt can object to is the AMOUNT of the taxes.
NO publicity will be given these issues by the Meyerblatt and similar sewers. AND very few people either understand or are LIKELY to understand them. the secret doctrine is necessarily secret NOT from desire to monopolize it. Does R[alph]. R[eid]. yet understand ANYthing about history?
his ethic seems O. K.
Has Wang himself digested the Sq $ series?
A magazine shd/ be organ of something.
hence q. proper to want a manifesto.
let me see draft of it as soon as posbl/
WHEN possible avoid american tendency to split/
cannot admit corruption/ that we agree on.
BUT should not exclude useful parts of a mechanism
such as production facilities.
keep eye out for paper-MANUfacturer /
only material component
i. e. human component in material process who has NO interest in worse
letters <rather> than in better.
from econ/ angle
He alone WANTS more printed matter to be in course of becoming without regard to its being monotonous
to him 100 books selling 1000 each are as good as one book that sells 100 thousand. he don't OBJECT to someone he don't understand doing something good.
i. e. QUA paper manufacturer.
Basic principle autarchy and local control of local aVairs unfortunately
weakened by issue that cannot be universally accepted.
WHICH is universal to any sane human being. it eliminates Miltons and Ikes.
J. K. : see Glossary on Kasper, John.
Meyerblatt: Eugene Isaac Meyer (1875-1959), American banker and owner of Washington Post and
Washington Times-Herald.
R. R. : Ralph Reid, a regular visitor, contributed ''Opus 1, no. 1'' and ''excerpts from F. L. Wright'' to
Edge, 5 and 7.
Ikes: in an undated letter to EP, Wang writes: ''I had never dumped Dulles with Eisenhower:
I consider him to be one of the few Conservatives left in Ike's regime of 'modern Republicanism' '' (Beinecke).
Ouang-iu-p'uh
from poetry to politics 183
148 EP to Wang (TL-1)
Baller, 1892 and 2nd/ edn. 1907 printed Wang iu p'uh's ?
?
?
comment on, or expansion of, the Sacred Edict, but does not give translation of Iong Cheng's [Yongzheng's] text.
It would be advisable for Hsin to make THE authoritative translation, BOTH because I shd/ like it, and because Stock cd/ print it, AND because it cd/ be useful in disciplining bullyumaire Xoundstions etc.
VERY hard to distinguish lyric poets suYciently to discipline publishers (even when the latter are better than crablice).
16 pages, a convenient length.
Three respectable Emperors / wd/ be useful to get 'em back on the map and the respected W[ang]. iu-p'uh was a credit to the ? [Wang] family
re/ Hsin's question of a week or so ago / more expensive to maintain twins
AND a putative father, than to maintain twins alone.
this may not be the comfort the unfortunate are asking for.
? ? ? : Shanxi Salt Commissioner Wang Youpu's colloquial expansion of Kangxi's ''Edict'' is included in F. W. Baller, ed. , Sacred Edict. Cf. Canto 98/708:
?
?
On the edict of K'ang-hsi
in volgar' eloquio taking the sense down to the people.
149 EP to Wang (TLS-2)
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] 18 Feb [1957]
some Yong Ching [Yongzheng] very damnbiguous/
Salt commissioner [Wang Youpu] much needed. also Wang now. interesting see where come out Hsin view
also some very Gemisto
Ez view.
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] [February 1957]
184 from poetry to politics
or if not damnbiguous, various inclusions possible but salt commission was needed.
Wang poems Edg 3. O. K.
Hsin's zillusions re/ celerity of postal service that takes 3 days to get letter from Cong. Heights to Wash/D. C. oYce comes ON Monday to ask about permit fer ManGawd to git on on the Sunday preceding.
If you dont turn up THIS sunday / will send a few IDEAS, fer yu to try on London Soc. Crediters etccyroar.
I dont spose YOU have copy of TIME fer 9th inst. which no one here has seen or procured?
news of its copying Tempo mendacity arrives from Orstraliar.
ZO Sd P. S.
Yong Ching
I think him
write
?
? ?
Canto 61?
W. L[ewis]. for long time/ lot undigested wrong reading matter in gullet / NOT by any means / ? or ? [gentlemanly]
mind active, not stop in same mess
but lot mess ergo cf/ Hroobloody/hrussian [Russian]
Sacred Edict/ bilingual for Wang's comment
Chinese only for Iong Ching [Yongzheng]
2nd edtn Shanghai 1907/ Presbyterian Mission.
Baller trans/ the Wang
Gemisto: the Byzantine philosopher George Gemistus Plethon (c. 1355-1452) is listed in Canto 98. Wang poems: ''Tang & Sung Poems,'' Edge, 3 (February 1957).
:EP's seal with which he signed letters. It has his Chinese name ? ? ? (Bao En-de; Preserve Grace-virtue).
Canto 61 ? ?
Very respectfully yours Chao Tze-chiang
If you don't receive the ivory ball by next Monday, please let me know so that I shall inquire at the San Francisco Post OYce.
? ? 9
From Poetry to Politics
''Wang's middle name not in Mathews''
Among Pound's disciples of the St Elizabeths period was David Wang. Born in Hangzhou, China, David Hsin-fu Wang (Wang Shenfu ? ? ? , 1931-77) immigrated to the US in 1949, where he attended La Scuola Italiana of Middle- bury and completed his BA degree in English at Dartmouth College in 1955 (see Figs. 9. 1 and 9. 2). He contacted Pound after writing poetry in his shadow for several years. In his Wrst letter (July 1955) he claimed that Pound's wisdom had ''surpassed that of Confucius'' (Letter 141), which only prompted Pound to state: ''Mencius had the sense to say there was only one Confucius'' (Letter 142).
While Pound was not impressed by Wang's compliments, he was charmed by his middle name. The shen ? character was not in Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary. He at once wrote to David Gordon, Tze-chiang Chao, and Willis Hawley, inquiring about that word. Chao was the Wrst to respond: the Shuowen dictionary deWned it as ''Xourishing or prosperous'' and the Guangyun ''Xame (Wre burning on a piece of wood)'' (Beinecke). Thus on 13 July Pound was able to write back to Wang, addressing him as ''Mr Flame-style King'' (Letter 142).
The ideogram of Wang's middle name, Wre burning on a piece of wood, came back to Pound when he opened Thrones with enlightened monarchs from Martel to Charlemagne. It was logical to insert in this context: ''Wang's middle name not in Mathews ? '' (Canto 96/673).
The correspondence between Pound and Wang initially focused on literary interests. Wang sent Pound drafts of his poems and translations, which Pound returned with suggestions. Through Pound Wang got to know Noel Stock, who printed his ''Tang & Sung Poems'' in Edge, 3; Chao, who collaborated with him on a Chinese heritage project; and Marcella Spann, who shared with him the reading list of her college comparative literature course.
In early 1957 Pound was gathering material from F. W. Baller's edition of Sacred Edict (1907) for a new section of The Cantos. Slim though it appears, the volume contains two Chinese versions of Emperor Kangxi's ''Sacred Edict,'' a literary version by Emperor Yongzheng and a colloquial version by Salt-Commissioner
from poetry to politics 173
Wang Youpu. Baller provides only a translation of the latter. Pound advised Wang to render into English Yongzheng's text ''BOTH because I shd/ like it, and because Stock cd/ print it'' (Letter 148). Wang obviously was not interested in the task. Although he kept saying that he was working on it, he never turned in his translation.
Their correspondence became more political than literary during 1957-8. As a refugee from China, Wang was anti-Communist. From enthusiasm for eugenics he moved on to regard some races higher than other races. His pride in his ''high'' breeding and his false sense of injury, combined with the inXuence of segregation- ists like John Kasper, fed his anti-Semitism. In exchanges with Pound he indulged in his master's unabashed, oVensive rhetoric. Some of his statements are neo-fascist. In a letter of 12 July 1957, for instance, he said: ''My impression of the French is that they are of all Europeans the closest to the kikes in spirit and nature . . . I am for a united Europe under the rule of either Germany or Italy. Adolf [Hitler] and Benito [Mussolini] were certainly close to saints'' (Beinecke). Whether he was speaking his mind or aiming for shock value could only be conjectural.
In October 1957 Wang organized a club called ''North American Citizens for the Constitution: An AYliation of the Whib Party. '' There were no more than a dozen followers in the band. The name ''Whib'' or ''Wheat in Bread'' was taken from Pound. Wang was soon in trouble. A former classmate of his, David Rattray, after interviewing Pound, published an article in The Nation (16 No- vember 1957), in which he accused Wang of protecting ''white supremacy. '' Wang wrote to Pound on 14 January 1958, complaining that the accusation made him fear deportation ''to RED China'' (Letter 160).
A good service Pound rendered Wang was putting him in touch with William Carlos Williams. After a visit to the ailing poet in Rutherford, New Jersey, Wang began collaborating with him on some thirty-eight translations from Chinese poets, which eventually appeared in New Directions, 19 (1966). Williams proved a better inXuence on Wang. From the Williams-Wang correspondence (Beinecke and Dartmouth College Library) we see that Wang regretted to a degree his past doings. In one letter (30 June 1959), he expressed contempt for his former friend David Horton, referring to him as still ''promoting the elimination of Jews, Negroes, and other 'inferior' people'' (Beinecke). In another letter (27 January 1961), he told Williams that he had lent his name to get a place for an African American friend. ''Maybe, someday,'' he wrote, ''there will be a Jewish or a Chinese president who will do something for the Negroes'' (Beinecke).
Wang took his MA at San Francisco State College in 1961 and his Ph. D. at the University of Southern California in 1972. In April 1977 Wang's body was found outside a hotel in New York City. He had stayed in that hotel for a meeting of the Modern Language Association's Commission on Minority Groups. That story, along with Wang's entire career, has been treated by Hugh Witemeyer in ''The Strange Progress of David Hsin-fu Wand [Wang]'' (Paideuma 15/2 & 3 (1986)).
? Fig. 9. 1. David Wang, c. 1955. (Dartmouth College Library)
Fig. 9. 2. David Wang, c. 1955. (Dartmouth College Library)
? from poetry to politics 175
141 Wang to EP (TLS-2; Beinecke)
Dearborn, Michigan
Dear Mr. Pound,
I sincerely hope that this letter will reach you without interference, for about
two weeks ago, while I was in Hanover, New Hampshire, I mailed a little book of my verse, The Goblet Moon, to the following address:
Mr. Ezra Pound
Creator of World Literature Washington D. C.
U. S. A.
and it was sent back to me a few days ago with a note that the directory service in Washington has been discontinued. To me, it seems that the post oYce in Washington is appallingly ignorant. For how on earth could they (the postmen) be totally uninformed about your whereabouts in Washington, while they have no diYculty in forwarding any letters to a congressman or a senator? Literature may not be important at all to the average person, but to be ignorant of a man of genius living in their midst is unforgivable.
Though I do not have the honor of ever meeting you in person, I have always been fascinated by your works as well as by your personality. I know some of your friends at Harvard, and have met Signorina Aida Mastrangelo, who promised to introduce me to you sometime. In my opinion, you are doubtless the greatest poet writing in the English language, in spite of some unkind attempts by trivial persons to bury your accomplishments under layers of smearing mud.
As one of the younger generation, I am most grateful to you for what you have done for English poetry as well as world literature in general. Americans may try to forget you and your contributions, but as a Chinese I feel myself forever in your debt. You open my eyes to a world which I shall never be able to envision without guidance and stimulate me to venture into regions of daring endeavors. I proclaim you the maestro [master] of modern Chinese literature and consider your wisdom to have surpassed that of Confucius.
I shall soon remail my booklet of verse to you, if I can be sure that it will reach you. It contains three translations from the Chinese and ten of my original poems. None of these poems has appeared in a professional poetry journal, though practically all of them were printed in the Dartmouth Quarterly. In fact, I have sent them to Mr. Richard Ashman's New Orleans Poetry Journal, but he declines to print any of them, saying that they reminded him too much of your writing. I hope I am not ''plagiarizing'' you. Of course, I cannot help being inXuenced by you to an extent, but to copy your style is, to say the least, a monstrous crime.
3515 West Point July 10th, 1955
? ? ? 176 from poetry to politics
May I have the pleasure of hearing a word or two from you? I have never had any wish to get acquainted with any literary personages except you and the late Bernard Shaw. Although drama and poetry enrich my life, I am bound by Wnancial limitations to a humdrum existence. My Xights into fancy can never exceed the journey of the mythological bird, Peng (? ).
With my best wishes to both you and Mrs. Pound--
Yours gratefully,
[signed] DR Wang ?
David Rafael Wang ? (Wang Hsin-Fu) ?
The Goblet Moon: The Goblet Moon (Lunenburg, Vt. : Stinehour Press, 1955). An inscribed copy of this privately printed book is kept at HRHRC.
Aida Mastrangelo: Aida Juliett Mastrangelo corresponded with EP from 1950 to 1964 (Lilly).
142 EP to Wang (TL-2)
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] 13 July [1955]
Dear Mr Flame-style King
I can't Wnd your admirable HSIN [? ] ideogram in ''Mathews'' so, please
correct me if I am misled in interpretation.
BUT you can not have it both ways. I cannot be more intelligent [than]
Confucius and less intelligent than Mencius, and Mencius had the sense to say there was only one Confucius. Without KUNG one would not see that it was ''there'' in the Shu [Book of History]. But the enemy is very active, cheap books about ISM confucianISM, to get the mind oV lucidity and focus it on all the irrelevancies of all the idiots who have pullulated in China for 2500 years.
The London Slimes [Times] has reached a new low in criticism of the ODES and the New Statesman like unto it. Sharrock in the Tablet and an anonymous writer in the Listener have seen the root ''No twisty thoughts. '' Harvard has printed the translation minus the apparatus and the seal text. I do not see any reason to forgive them, unless it will arouse someone to the deplorable condition of U. S. universities.
If you are ever in Ann Arbor, you might cheer D[onald]. Pearce 1317 Minerva Av. , you could discuss style with him.
cordially but anonymously yours
Miss Mastrangelo is busy seeing ALL the ''terza pagina,'' all the advertised writers in Italy, and having no end of a time. Her heart is in the right place.
? from poetry to politics 177
if Mr Wang is looking for a career or even a livelihood.
When Byzantium fell in A. D. 1205 or thereabouts, the greek emperor lost control of the gold coinage, but the prefect's edict, already 700 years old (approx) lasted on and was still functioning when Kemal took over. This is the <book of> guild regulations. It has been printed in english and french, but I have not yet got hold of a copy.
The point is that NO ONE in the occident knows ANYthing about chinese trade guild organizations.
There is an open and exciting Weld of research. It takes a life-time to perfect one's prosody, but one can start research at once on any subject.
reached a new low: cf. Confucius, 191.
Sharrock: the British poet and critic Roger Sharrock corresponded with EP from 1955 to 1957
(Beinecke).
Pearce: the Michigan professor Donald Pearce co-edited with Herbert Schneidau Pound/Theobald
(1984).
Kemal: Mustafa Kemal Atatu ? rk (1881-1938), founder of the modern Turkish Republic.
143 EP to Wang (TL-1)
Will be
Deelighted to see Hnbl/Wang
whenever he gets here. Finale to VISIT, as from
of His Excellency etc.
quite lively/
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] 11 Ap [1956]
see no way of shortening unless you omit the Wrst ''forever'' and show pause by spacing
sic: He shall live forever.
by no means sure this is any improvement.
Hnbl/Wang gives me credit for knowing a great deal more than I do re/ Chinese.
Know only Fenollosa's notes, and the Classic Anthology and have probably forgotten all I learned from F[enollosa]/ during past 40 years.
can only impart by example and by a few remarks in my criticism ABC etc.
178 from poetry to politics
beware dictionary equivalents/ weight etc/ 2000 years diVerent emotional tone/ relation to social or unsocial order.
? ? may be it was a night-club ? ?
144 Wang to EP (ALS-2; Beinecke)
Apt. 9, 242 Mulberry n. y. 12, n. y. October 8, 1956
Caro maestro [Dear master],
Chao called me about a week ago concerning the plan which you and he had
discussed. After listening to what he intended to do, I suggested that we should perhaps start a journal in English to facilitate the exchange of Chinese and American thoughts. It should cover Chinese literature, art, music, economics, medicine, cooking, etc. The expenses of such a publication should be kept at the minimum. Chao and myself will try to enlist patrons to support the publication-- with your help. We will also get responsible and capable contributors to write about the topics in which they excel. What think you of this suggestion?
Yesterday I called upon the two young ladies from Texas. They are charming and patrician, as compared with the typical New York product of Brooklyn, Staten Island, etc. Miss Marcella Spann had the good fortune of attending a school where an intelligent instructor was given the freedom to teach what he considered to be the best instead of the ''great books'' recommended and prescribed by the college authorities. I read the reading list of her Comparative Literature course. It was a challenging but not overwhelming list. Among the authors included there were Shakespeare, Voltaire, Confucius, Pound, Joyce, Eliot and Wyndham Lewis. There were no Feodor ''Idiot'' Dostoevski, no Thomas ''Magic Button'' Mann, no Joseph ''Jungle Jim'' Conrad, and above all, no John ''Archangel'' Milton. I always pray for the day that there will be another ? ? ? (the Wrst emperor of Ch'in Dynasty bc 221-210) who burnt all the reference books and literary ''masterpieces'' that had cluttered up the libraries and buried alive in mud all the ancient and doddering scholars. My cry is let there be another ?
?
? !
For eugenics' sake, please tell me what the best books on money issue are.
I plea to translate the complete poetical works of ? ? [Wang Wei] of ? ? (Tai Yu ? an, Shensi), T'ang Dynasty poet and one of my ancestors. ? ? is generally known as WANG WEI in English, but I think it should be spelt as WANG FEI or WANG FAY.
Which name sounds better to you in English?
May I visit you again within three weeks?
? from poetry to politics 179
Kindest regards to Mrs Pound-- [signed] ?
P. S. Enclosed a new poem. Please suggest possible improvements!
Marcella Spann: see Glossary on Spann, Marcella.
Dostoevski: Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-81), The Idiot (1868-9). Mann: Thomas Mann (1875-1955), The Magic Mountain (1924). Conrad: Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), Lord Jim (1900).
WANG WEI: see Glossary on Wang Wei.
145 EP to Wang (TL-2)
Note the most eYcient method used by E. P. for putting over authors: Joyce, Eliot, W. Lewis.
This was not done by starting NEW mags/ but by entering and strengthening mags/ already there and which had printers and mild distribution etc.
Ergo, for consideration C[hao] & W[ang]. NOTE that an excellent venzuelan Francisco Rivera (no relation of Primo)
is at 2604 Fulton Av. Berkeley, Calif.
he invites, what he cant have, contribution from E. P. for a new magazine, strictly literary.
starting with St J. Pearse, which is excellent in so far as it is respectable, non- committal, guaranteed to keep OFF and away from all vital issues sticking to culture.
I suggest yu send him yr/poem, / say that a group of Han [Chinese]/ could greatly strengthen their mag/
(opinion of competent, if anonymous critic)
You cannot put over chinese interests save a CULTURE at this moment.
It is no TIME to start anything by plunging into the abyss of Chinese politics
as of 1956.
Ergo, say you have been ASKED to inquire if the mag/which Rivera recom-
mends would devote 8 pages monthly to the best chinese tradition.
You can call his attention to the Chinese World for 1 Oct. Confucius' birthday
issue.
Say that some chinese scholars cannot aYliate with the Ch. World at this time. But that they could presumably come to focus on a scholarly or poetic review
of autochthonous nature.
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] 11 Oc [1956]
? 180 from poetry to politics
Rivera has not given name of mag/ nor of poetry edtr. It should at least provide outlet for C. and W.
not committing them to inconvenient or impolitic views as to immediate events.
Alzo/ the gt/ tradition comes via the written word. There are millions of $ ready to yatter about art/ Metropolitan museum Hsu ? an-tsung etc.
Whatever you are able to do in 20 years time/ a START/ with 8 pages or even 4, at no expense to C & W. can be solidly made IF Rivera can swing it: i. e. a section under advisement of C & W.
Chao even moving forward as from Chiang [Kai-shek] and the Ch[inese]. World. without going into opposition, always with due respect to respectable elders Chao endorsing what is good in Chiang, W[ang]. observing the virtues of
Chao that he happens to approve, and restraining himself temporarily re/ points of diVerence.
Gli uomini vivono in poshi [Men live in small groups]. IF three eVective issue [s] of X. appear it cd/ be drawn to the attention of [Achilles] Fang and [Joseph] Rock.
one can only procede BY INDIVIDUALS. name, cognomen and address (when the hell-hounds aren't on the trail of the protagonists)
I shd/ more relish NAMES than general subjects, such as cooking (needing speciWc demonstration and certainly dealt with in the restaurant ads/ in Ch/ World, not to say their sumptuous representation of pantomime)
Hawley can be considered AFTER you see whether Rivera can be useful. which i request you do AT once by airmail.
yes, of course glad to see you in 3 weeks, one week, or whenever you can raise
the car fare/ no need of special permission etc. on regular days, Sat/Sun/Tu/Th/ no one likely to be here whom you shd/avoid.
I shall be interested in prompt reports on progress/i. e. toward a LIST of
speciWc individuals who can write in a way to cause readers to READ re/ the Celestial tradition.
Many Wnd Fang unreadable. Others are bloody well bored at hearing about the dullest european philosophers, or having chinese light correlated to euro- pean obfuscation etc. Cooking is to EAT. economics are likely to be KILLED, I mean any ref/ to them shd/ be made AFTER the seed of kulch has at least sprouted an inch or two.
benedictions.
Rivera: in his reply of 22 October 1956 Francisco Rivera states that he ''is NOT directly connected with any literary magazine'' (Beinecke).
Chinese World: in 1958 David Wang became a reporter and translator of the San Francisco bilingual newspaper.
Hsu ? an-tsung: Tang emperor Xuanzong or Tang monk Xuanzang. Rock: see Glossary on Rock, Joseph F.
Rivera's letter: see Letter 145 n. Kasper: see Glossary on Kasper, John.
from poetry to politics 181
146 Wang to EP (ALS-1; Beinecke)
c/o Dartmouth Club 37 E. 39th St. n. y. 16, n. y. Dec. 5, 1956
Enclosed you will Wnd a copy of Rivera's letter. I am not sure if he is mad or he is only mad at you.
I have been prevented from coming to see you mainly because of an urgent matter which developed in my apartment. My present roommate, a Jew of Polish descent, has rummaged my collection of nationalist literature. And, I believe, he has come across such lines as
''Decadence sets in
When kikes and niggers
Became overseers,'' in my writing.
I tolerated him up to very recently because I needed someone to share my
rent after Bob Sharp, my former roommate, had left for his truck-driving job and because he asked to stay on after he had sublet my apartment during the summer. Now I have to keep an eye on him until he is out of this place. I asked him to move out yesterday, and he begged to stay on till the 1st of January.
I don't understand why Kasper does not devote more energy to uprooting the polluting elements in the United States.
I may have to use force to evict this nasty little Jew, Karler (Korowitz). I wonder if I can get some help in this respect.
Sempre [as ever], Hsin
147 EP to Wang (TL-2)
For a little serious conversation re/points not covered during Wang's visit. O. K. eugenics/ very necessary /
endocrinology not kikietry.
spot distractions /
WHIB. Wheat in bread party.
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] [January 1957]
182 from poetry to politics
a concept the incult should agree on/
and comprehensible at all levels.
Unfortunate that J. K[asper]. shd/ be on local line, not on universal slogan / What they get diverted FROM is issue of money.
& tax SYSTEM.
both of which need INTELLIGENCE on the part of anyone who is generating
resistance.
ergo there are items for aristos.
all the mutt can object to is the AMOUNT of the taxes.
NO publicity will be given these issues by the Meyerblatt and similar sewers. AND very few people either understand or are LIKELY to understand them. the secret doctrine is necessarily secret NOT from desire to monopolize it. Does R[alph]. R[eid]. yet understand ANYthing about history?
his ethic seems O. K.
Has Wang himself digested the Sq $ series?
A magazine shd/ be organ of something.
hence q. proper to want a manifesto.
let me see draft of it as soon as posbl/
WHEN possible avoid american tendency to split/
cannot admit corruption/ that we agree on.
BUT should not exclude useful parts of a mechanism
such as production facilities.
keep eye out for paper-MANUfacturer /
only material component
i. e. human component in material process who has NO interest in worse
letters <rather> than in better.
from econ/ angle
He alone WANTS more printed matter to be in course of becoming without regard to its being monotonous
to him 100 books selling 1000 each are as good as one book that sells 100 thousand. he don't OBJECT to someone he don't understand doing something good.
i. e. QUA paper manufacturer.
Basic principle autarchy and local control of local aVairs unfortunately
weakened by issue that cannot be universally accepted.
WHICH is universal to any sane human being. it eliminates Miltons and Ikes.
J. K. : see Glossary on Kasper, John.
Meyerblatt: Eugene Isaac Meyer (1875-1959), American banker and owner of Washington Post and
Washington Times-Herald.
R. R. : Ralph Reid, a regular visitor, contributed ''Opus 1, no. 1'' and ''excerpts from F. L. Wright'' to
Edge, 5 and 7.
Ikes: in an undated letter to EP, Wang writes: ''I had never dumped Dulles with Eisenhower:
I consider him to be one of the few Conservatives left in Ike's regime of 'modern Republicanism' '' (Beinecke).
Ouang-iu-p'uh
from poetry to politics 183
148 EP to Wang (TL-1)
Baller, 1892 and 2nd/ edn. 1907 printed Wang iu p'uh's ?
?
?
comment on, or expansion of, the Sacred Edict, but does not give translation of Iong Cheng's [Yongzheng's] text.
It would be advisable for Hsin to make THE authoritative translation, BOTH because I shd/ like it, and because Stock cd/ print it, AND because it cd/ be useful in disciplining bullyumaire Xoundstions etc.
VERY hard to distinguish lyric poets suYciently to discipline publishers (even when the latter are better than crablice).
16 pages, a convenient length.
Three respectable Emperors / wd/ be useful to get 'em back on the map and the respected W[ang]. iu-p'uh was a credit to the ? [Wang] family
re/ Hsin's question of a week or so ago / more expensive to maintain twins
AND a putative father, than to maintain twins alone.
this may not be the comfort the unfortunate are asking for.
? ? ? : Shanxi Salt Commissioner Wang Youpu's colloquial expansion of Kangxi's ''Edict'' is included in F. W. Baller, ed. , Sacred Edict. Cf. Canto 98/708:
?
?
On the edict of K'ang-hsi
in volgar' eloquio taking the sense down to the people.
149 EP to Wang (TLS-2)
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] 18 Feb [1957]
some Yong Ching [Yongzheng] very damnbiguous/
Salt commissioner [Wang Youpu] much needed. also Wang now. interesting see where come out Hsin view
also some very Gemisto
Ez view.
[St Elizabeths Hospital] [Washington, DC] [February 1957]
184 from poetry to politics
or if not damnbiguous, various inclusions possible but salt commission was needed.
Wang poems Edg 3. O. K.
Hsin's zillusions re/ celerity of postal service that takes 3 days to get letter from Cong. Heights to Wash/D. C. oYce comes ON Monday to ask about permit fer ManGawd to git on on the Sunday preceding.
If you dont turn up THIS sunday / will send a few IDEAS, fer yu to try on London Soc. Crediters etccyroar.
I dont spose YOU have copy of TIME fer 9th inst. which no one here has seen or procured?
news of its copying Tempo mendacity arrives from Orstraliar.
ZO Sd P. S.
Yong Ching
I think him
write
?
? ?
Canto 61?
W. L[ewis]. for long time/ lot undigested wrong reading matter in gullet / NOT by any means / ? or ? [gentlemanly]
mind active, not stop in same mess
but lot mess ergo cf/ Hroobloody/hrussian [Russian]
Sacred Edict/ bilingual for Wang's comment
Chinese only for Iong Ching [Yongzheng]
2nd edtn Shanghai 1907/ Presbyterian Mission.
Baller trans/ the Wang
Gemisto: the Byzantine philosopher George Gemistus Plethon (c. 1355-1452) is listed in Canto 98. Wang poems: ''Tang & Sung Poems,'' Edge, 3 (February 1957).
:EP's seal with which he signed letters. It has his Chinese name ? ? ? (Bao En-de; Preserve Grace-virtue).
Canto 61 ? ?
