Virgil in Chinese

This chapter, which deals with the reception of Virgil in the Chinese world, takes us into the realm of ‘other Virgils’. This is a very different universe, neither conditioned nor influenced by the typically European concerns that animate most other renditions of Virgil’s Latin text. While the Chinese engagement with this poet is limited, it is nonetheless a remarkable phenomenon—and one well worth knowing about, insofar as it sheds light on how a non-European culture might engage with Virgil. This kind of poetry was foreign to the Chinese literary culture in every single aspect, from genre and metre to plot, representation, and aesthetics. Liu tries to answer the important question of Virgil’s ‘translatability’ and significance in non-Western contexts.