Chiang Yee (1903–1977)
Author of Chinese Calligraphy: An Introduction to Its Aesthetic and Technique, Third Revised and Enlarged Edition
About the Author
Chiang Yee (1903-1977) was born in Jiujiang, China and lived in London for several years before settling in the United States. A painter, calligrapher, poet, lecturer and travel writer, he wrote the classic textbook Chinese Calligraphy as well as the renowned Silent Traveller series, covering show more cities as diverse as Oxford, New York and Dublin show less
Image credit: Cover, "Chiang Yee, the Silent Traveler from the East"
Series
Works by Chiang Yee
Chinese Calligraphy: An Introduction to Its Aesthetic and Technique, Third Revised and Enlarged Edition (1973) 121 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1903-05-19
- Date of death
- 1977-10-26
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Nanjing University
- Occupations
- poet
painter
calligrapher
professor (college) - Nationality
- China (birth)
USA (passport) - Birthplace
- Jiujiang, China
- Places of residence
- Jiujiang, China
London, England, UK
New York, New York, USA - Burial location
- Jiujiang, China
- Associated Place (for map)
- Jiujiang, China
Members
Reviews
Long ago I discovered the travel books of Chiang Yee, a Chinese-born writer who left China in the 1930s and over the next several decades published his observations of visits to various places in Europe and the Americas. Unlike the typical travel writer who is an adventurous go-getter, Chiang quietly observes and reflects in his writing, poetry, paintings, and calligraphy (hence, "Silent Traveller"). This is the first of his travel narratives based on a two-week visit to the English Lake show more District in 1936. He's more opinionated here than I recall in other books, comparing the Lake District scenery unfavorably to China. His writing style hasn't developed yet either, as this reads more like a daily journal than a composed travel narrative. But there are flashes of humor and warmth that are Chiang's trademarks, as well as disconcerting glimpses of the political situation in Europe and Asia at that time that would explode into the Second World War.
Favorite Passages:
Favorite Passages:
"...I am a man of curious temperment who prefers on most occassions to be dumb. When I was obliged to talk I found my tongue grow curling and painful. None of my friends realised my predicament, for I made efforts to talk easily in case they would drop their friendship with me altogether. It is a selfish trait in my character which I try to master. Whenever I walk or travel I am generally silent; I like to observe the scenery closely, and sometimes I lose all consciousness of myself in it. At such times there is no room in my mind for the external trimmings of history or romance."show less
"My friend was surprised and a little shocked to see so many pieces of land enclosed and marked 'Private," protesting that in China we should never find the public forbidden a free employment of scenery. I acquiesced, and admitted that it seemed money could buy even Nature!"
"We reached the landing-stage at Bowness only to find a long queue of people waiting for the boat; it was at least a quarter of an hour before our turn came. In the meanwhile I watched these holiday-makers with great interest, hurrying, scurrying, everyone in haste and eagerness. I remind myself that never could such a scene be found in China; in the busy West it seems that even merry-making has to be done in haste nowadays!"
I have read just about all of the Silent Traveller books, starting years ago with London, which I purchased from a book catalog not knowing about him or the silent traveller series. It's hard to express how lovely these books are. Chiang Yee is a master of observation and art. I have liked others of his better than this, but the second-to-last chapter in Yorkshire Dales can't be beat.
The year I was born, one of my aunts gave her mother a copy of The Silent Traveller in New York. When I was nearly 20, I consulted the book as my guide for my first, very brief and hurried, visit to the city and found it still quite helpful and of great interest. That's how insightful and timeless the Silent Traveller books are.
Chiang Yee was a Chinese scholar, poet, painter and calligrapher, who taught Chinese first in England, and later in the United States. Over a period of about four decades, he wrote the "Silent Traveller" series, describing his travels in various countries and cities around the world.
The Silent Traveller in Boston was published in 1959, but Yee's descriptions of the important landmarks of Cambridge and Boston are still relevant. I was glad that I had read of his visit to the Isabella Stewart show more Gardner Museum, though I envied him his invitation to dine there!
It was most interesting to read Yee's comparisons of American and Chinese ideas and customs, as when he contrasts the New (and Old) England concept of witches with the Chinese. (At the end of the book, he comments on the McCarthy-ite "witch" hunts earlier in the '50s, and notes that Joseph Welch was a Bostonian and that "[t]he Boston spirit of love of universal liberty had acted again."
Yee has the artist's eye for detail, and he continually surprises by what he notices and the relationships that he sees. He has an intense curiosity and desire to learn all about the places that he visits, and we are fortunate that he shares his what he learns, and, more so, what he thinks, with us. The books are greatly enhanced by Yee's illustrations, both full page color pictures and black-and-white drawings, as well as poems which are given in both English and Chinese.
If you are visiting a city which Yee included in his "Silent Traveller" series, I would strongly recommend that you find a copy of his book and read it before you go. show less
The Silent Traveller in Boston was published in 1959, but Yee's descriptions of the important landmarks of Cambridge and Boston are still relevant. I was glad that I had read of his visit to the Isabella Stewart show more Gardner Museum, though I envied him his invitation to dine there!
It was most interesting to read Yee's comparisons of American and Chinese ideas and customs, as when he contrasts the New (and Old) England concept of witches with the Chinese. (At the end of the book, he comments on the McCarthy-ite "witch" hunts earlier in the '50s, and notes that Joseph Welch was a Bostonian and that "[t]he Boston spirit of love of universal liberty had acted again."
Yee has the artist's eye for detail, and he continually surprises by what he notices and the relationships that he sees. He has an intense curiosity and desire to learn all about the places that he visits, and we are fortunate that he shares his what he learns, and, more so, what he thinks, with us. The books are greatly enhanced by Yee's illustrations, both full page color pictures and black-and-white drawings, as well as poems which are given in both English and Chinese.
If you are visiting a city which Yee included in his "Silent Traveller" series, I would strongly recommend that you find a copy of his book and read it before you go. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 27
- Members
- 823
- Popularity
- #30,997
- Rating
- 3.4
- Reviews
- 12
- ISBNs
- 30
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 2