Nevertheless, Chinese fiction is not Dr. Holzman's chief field of expertise: "My specialty is the shih and y?eh-fu [learned and popular poetry] of the late Han, Wei, Chin, Northern, and Southern dynasties," he says. And in fact, Denis Twitchett of Cambridge University turned to Dr. Holzman for help with the portion of the Cambridge History of China devoted to the literature of just that period, which extends from the third to the sixth centuries.

Born in the United States, Donald Holzman earned his first Ph.D. at Yale in 1957. Still in his early thirties, he went to France to teach and to study at the University of Paris under the noted French sinologist Paul Demieville. There he earned a second doctorate with a dissertation on the poet Hsi K'ang (also pronounced Chi K'ang), who lived from 223 to 262.

At the time, Dr. Holzman recalls, what he had really wanted to study was the great poet T'ao Ch'ien (365 to 427), but Demieville believed that an understanding of the ch'ing-t'an (pure talk) literati of the earlier Wei and Chin dynasties was a prerequisite to understanding T'ao and let him choose between Hsi K'ang or Juan Chi (210 to 263), two of the "Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove." Young and ambitious, Holzman picked Hsi K'ang because his works are more voluminous. "It was only later I discovered that Juan Chi is actually more difficult!" he says, regretting having "missed a chance at a bigger challenge."

Be it Juan Chi's "Poems from My Heart," Hsi K'ang's series "Suppressed Indignation," or the y?eh-fu of the third to sixth centuries, what Dr. Holzman reads, writes about, teaches, and discusses is ancient Chinese poetry.

"Is Chinese poetry hard to understand?" The question evokes a bitter laugh: "Hard? It's hard all right!"

Dr. Holzman quotes a saying of Demi?ville's: "Chinese culture is like the game of go. The rules are clear and simple and can be explained in half a minute. But it's only after you start playing that you come to appreciate its true subtlety and refinement."

The Chinese language lacks distinctions of tense, gender, and plurality. If speakers want to specify when something happened, all they have to do is add an expression like "just now" or "tomorrow." So Chinese people would seem to be much more fortunate than people who speak a language as grammatically complex as French, for instance.

"But just because there are so few rules, there's a lot of room for flexibility and variation. For foreigners, it gives you a feeling of being left out at sea." And the language of Chinese poetry is yet more laconic and ambiguous. "You may understand the meaning of each character, but when you put them all together you can't make head or tail of it."

Besides the difficulty of grasping the implications of the characters themselves, the complex currents of thought and the numerous allusions to previous works that characterize classical Chinese poetry are other stumbling blocks to foreign scholars.

Another essential requirement is background knowledge—political, economic, religious, and historical—especially since the third to the sixth centuries were one of several periods of disorder in Chinese history. Violent political struggles, the fusion of foreign nationalities with the Han Chinese, and the rise of Buddhism and Taoism all had a deep effect on each poet's personality and thought.

Compared with the shih of the scholars, which are rich in allusions and implications, the y?eh-fu (music-bureau poems) collected from among the people are direct and unembellished. Especially moving to Dr. Holzman are poems describing the hardships of the people in times of disorder, such as "The Orphan," "The Sick Woman," and "They Fought South of the Wall."

"Yueh-fu are China's folk songs. It's surprising, but folk songs the world over all seem to share similar characteristics. It really makes you think," Dr. Holzman remarks. Modestly describing himself as having only a cursory understanding of comparative literature, he says he can't help feeling curious about the "commonalties" of different cultures.

Although folk songs are less freighted with the burden of tradition than the poetry of the scholars, the fact that they describe the daily life of the common people poses the problem of understanding the society and customs of the time.

"Extracurricular" reading outside the scope of literature seems an endless and unfinishable assignment. "I have to spend a lot of time reading the Chinese histories," Dr. Holzman says, but furrows his brow as he recounts his experience with the meaty History of the Former Han and Records of the Grand Historian. "Chinese history is both long and complex. Just trying to remember the names is more than enough for one lifetime."

Besides history, "it's also very important to read the secondary literature written by Chinese scholars," he adds. "No matter how hard a foreigner tries, he can't read with more facility than a Chinese."

Of course, there are also times when papers written by Chinese scholars fail to persuade or convince him. Dr. Holzman feels that Hsi K'ang was primarily an apolitical figure who "sought to transcend the world rather than save it," but some Chinese scholars consider him to have been "a Confucian by nature in the trappings of a Taoist."

"The Chinese critical tradition is a weighty burden that often proves stifling." He believes that this is another difficulty for many foreign sinologists: "It's very hard to escape from the burden, to redefine the literary standing of a minor poet, reverse the opinions of the past, or find new meaning in a work."

Dr. Holzman rather regrets having spent twenty or thirty years researching Hsi K'ang and Juan Chi without ever beginning the formal study of T'ao Ch'ien he originally intended. Along the road of research, frustrations are perhaps inevitable, but he has tasted many rich and unexpected fruits as well. "I may still not have joined the ranks of the 'chosen few' in the study of Chinese poetry," he asserts, "but introducing Chinese culture to the people of the world, arousing interest in it, and earning respect for it are also worthy aspirations!"

[Picture Caption]

An understanding of the ch'ing-t'an literati of the Wei and Chin dynasties being a necessary preliminary to the study of T'ao Ch'ien, Dr. Holzman has spent twenty or thirty years researching the "Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove."

Dr. Holzman's whole life is wrapped up in ancient Chinese poetry.

Renowned sinologists can often be found in Dr. Holzman's office engaged in lofty discussion.

Dr. Holzman's whole life is wrapped up in ancient Chinese poetry.

Renowned sinologists can often be found in Dr. Holzman's office engaged in lofty discussion.