SONGS OF THE PHOENIX (1) 鳳鳴篇（1）

About the Book

This is an anthology of ancient Chinese poems from the famous Tang, Song, and Qing dynasty poets that were translated showing similar rhyming and rhythmic constructions not very different from the versification in the West. Hence, it may be shown that versification in poetry is a universal practice occurring both in the East and the West, the common goal of which has been identified as the attainment of the supreme mathematical relationships—the ultimate expression of beauty. The translated poems still retain some of the incredible charm in the original native forms.

About the Author

Ben Lau is the third son of General Lau Tung Choi, the commander of the Sixty-Third Chinese Nationalist Army (circa 1948). Originally from China, Ben Lau was proclaimed the greatest Oriental painter since Hokusai by Knox Martin while still a student at the Art Students League, New York. In Ben’s works there can be found strong calligraphic and poetic elements. He will tell you that the true artist is a natural mediator between beauty and the material world. The ability of alpha seeing is native to him. Such an artist is able to work magic with his subjects. For example, the material apples in Cezanne’s painting and the material sunflowers in Van Gogh’s has transcended to take on a spirituality that cannot decompose and have become timeless.