Hsi-wei Tales

After performing a perilous service for the future Emperor, the peasant Chen Hsi-wei turns down the customary rewards in favor of receiving an education. The Court is astonished by this unheard-of request, but orders the strict teacher Shen Kuo to do what he can with the boy. In the course of copying out the words of the ancient masters, Hsi-wei begins writing poems of his own. As a young man, Hsi-wei leaves the capital for a vagabond life, supporting himself by making straw sandals. He encounters people of all stations and occupations, trekking through landscapes both flat and mountainous. He learns of the terrible price of building the Grand Canal, the miseries caused by floods, droughts, and endless wars. To his astonishment, Hsi-wei gains a degree of fame, first as a curiosity, then as a writer whose poems are beloved by the people and pass into the vast life of China.

"Hsi-wei Tales is an imaginative, vivid creation that brings historical Sui Dynasty China alive: the rich, the educated, the politically privileged, the working class, and the poorest of the poor, all are tied together by a humble, itinerant shoemaker who is a skilled craftsman and a famous (yet unassuming) poet." Michael L. Newell , poet, whose most recent works are Meditation of an Old Man Standing on a Bridge , and Traveling without Compass or Map, "Still, courage, wit, and beauty make their appearance in Hsi-wei Tales, nourishing a troubled world and helping to preserve some of its more admirable inhabitants. Both the poetry and the prose in these tales offer gem-like images of nature... a delight to read." Robert Knox , author of the novels Suosso's Lane and the forthcoming Karpa Talesman., "Dear Hsi-wei, from your ancient land of misted mountains and still lakes where you cross borders and thresholds full of strife, leaving poems and peace in your wake, I welcome you to our time. ...Long may your poems be sung!" Elizabeth Cunningham , author of The Maeve Chronicles , The Wild Mother , and others, "Wexelblatt's Hsi-wei Tales is a wonderful fusion of poetry and prose that captivates and holds nuggets of wisdom far beyond the fortune cookie kind. ...Like a pair of Hsi-wei's durable sandals, this is a collection worthy of praise and preservation." Nicholas Litchfield , Colorado Review

Robert Wexelblatt is a professor of humanities at Boston University's College of General Studies. He has published six fiction collections; two books of essays; two short novels; a book of poems; stories, essays, and poems in a variety of literary and scholarly journals; and a novel awarded the Indie Book Awards first prize for fiction.