David R. Knechtges
| David R. Knechtges | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
1942 (age 71–72) Great Falls, Montana |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Fu (poetry), Han Dynasty and Six Dynasties literature |
| Institutions |
University of Washington Yale University Harvard University |
| Alma mater |
University of Washington Harvard University |
| Doctoral advisor | Hellmut Wilhelm |
| Other academic advisors |
James Robert Hightower K.C. Hsiao Li Fang-Kuei |
| Notable students | Stephen Owen |
| Spouse | Tai-ping Chang (張泰平) |
David R. Knechtges (Chinese: 康達維; pinyin: Kāng Dáwéi; born 1942) is an American sinologist and professor of Chinese literature at the University of Washington. An expert on Han dynasty and Six dynasties period literature, Knechtges' studies of Chinese fu poetry are largely responsible for the revival of Western academic interest in the subject, a major genre which had become largely neglected until the mid-20th century.
Knechtges was born in Great Falls, Montana, but grew up in Kirkland, Washington. After graduating from Lake Washington High School in 1960, Knechtges earned a BA in Chinese from the University of Washington in 1964, followed by an MA from Harvard University in 1965 and a Ph.D from Washington in 1968. He taught at Harvard and then Yale University for several years before joining Washington's Asian Languages and Literature faculty in 1972.[1]
Knechtges has written or edited a number of books on ancient Chinese literature, and is best known for his ongoing translation of the Wen xuan (Selections of Refined Literature), a major collection of early Chinese literature, which is the work's first ever full translation into English. His wife, Tai-ping Chang Knechtges, is an affiliate assistant professor at Washington, and often serves as Knechtges' co-editor. They have one daughter together.
In 2006, Knechtges was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Selected Works
- Author
- Yang Shyong, the Fuh, and Hann Rhetoric (1968). Ph.D dissertation, University of Washington.
- The Han Rhapsody: A Study of the Fu of Yang Hsiung (53 BC – AD 18) (1976). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Wen-xuan or Selections of Refined Literature, vol. 1: Rhapsodies on Metropolises and Capitals (1982). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- The Han Shu Biography of Yang Xiong (53 BC – AD 18) (1982). Tempe, Arizona: Center for Asian Studies, Arizona State University.
- Wen xuan or Selections of Refined Literature, vol. 2: Rhapsodies on Sacrifices, Hunts, Travel, Palaces and Halls, Rivers and Seas (1987). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Wen xuan or Selections of Refined Literature, vol. 3: Rhapsodies on Natural Phenomena, Birds and Animals, Aspirations and Feelings, Sorrowful Laments, Literature, Music, and Passions (1996). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Court Culture and Literature in Early China (2002). Variorum Collected Studies Series. Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing.
- "From the Eastern Han through the Western Jin (AD 25–317)", The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature (2010). Kang-i Sun Chang, Stephen Owen, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 116–198.
- Translator
- Gong Kechang 龔克昌 (1997). Studies on the Han Fu (Han fu yanjiu 漢賦研究). American Oriental Series 84. New Haven: American Oriental Society.
- The History of Chinese Civilisation, 4 vols. (2012). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Editor
- with Paul Kroll (2003). Studies in Early Medieval Chinese Literature and Cultural History: In Honor of Richard B. Mather and Donald Holzman. Provo, Utah: T'ang Studies Society.
- with Eugene Vance (2005). Rhetoric and the Discourses of Power in Court Culture: China, Europe, and Japan. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
- with Taiping Chang Knechtges (2010, 2013). Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide (2 vols.). Leiden: E.J. Brill.
References
External links
- Works by or about David R. Knechtges in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Audio of David Knechtge's lecture "How to View a Mountain in Medieval China" delivered at the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities on April 28, 2009.
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