Dialogues in the Dark: Interpreting “Heavenly Questions” across Two Millennia

Dialogues in the Dark traces how Chinese readers and scholars since the Han dynasty have variously interpreted the ancient poem “Heavenly Questions” (Tianwen), an enigmatic work attributed to Qu Yuan (fl. ca. 300 BCE). Nicholas Morrow Williams analyzes how the poem’s meaning evolved in different time periods and provides three new translations.

• | Author: Nicholas Morrow Williams
• | Publisher: Harvard University Press
• | Publication Date: Aug 26, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Hardback
• | ISBN-13: 9780674299993
• | ISBN-10: 067429999X