If a Mountain Lion Could Sing

"Bill Porter has been one of the most prolific translators of Chinese texts, while also developing into a travel writer with a cult following."-New York Times

"Tao's impeccable translator Red Pine follows the traditional Chinese practice of offering scholarly commentary for each poem, but what persists in the transmutation to present-day English is less the discord of bygone dynasties than the poet's quest for spiritual harmony, as in the longed-for utopia of 'Peach Blossom Spring': 'I'll go there as soon as the weather is warmer / hopefully with someone who knows me.'"-Literary Hub

"In the travel writing that has made him so popular in China, Porter's tone is not reverential but explanatory, and filled with luminous asides."-New York Review of Books

"The latest work in Red Pine's rich career of translation, Choosing to be Simple: Collected Poems of Tao Yuanming, is a definitive portrait of the early Chinese politician and poet. . . . We are encouraged to find joy in simplicity-the tending of a garden, the sharing of wine with a stranger." -New York Journal of Books

"Red Pine's out-of-the-mainstream work is canny and clearheaded, and it has immeasurably enhanced Zen/Daoist literature and practice."-Kyoto Journal

"With its clarity and scholarly range, this version of the Taoteching works as both a readable text and a valuable resource of Taoist interpretation."-Publishers Weekly

"Red Pine . . . has given us the first full collection of Han Shan's songs in an idiom that is clear, graceful, and neutral enough to last . . . His translations are accurate and mirror the music of the originals."-Bloomsbury Review

"In Red Pine's hands, these poems are revitalized."-Ellipsis