David Hinton is an American poet, and translator.
He studied Chinese at Cornell University, and in Taiwan. He lives in East Calais, Vermont.
We are all of us indebted to David Hinton for his eloquent and, more importantly, philosophical translations of Chinese poetry. I point this out because while there have been many translations of Chinese poetry over the last century, few have acknowledged and brought to life the philosophical context of the poetry. David Hinton and Bill Porter are important in this respect. This is not to say, however, that there is not room for quibbling....
With David Hinton as our guide, Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology comes across as something akin to a magical artifact, full of potential energies and untapped motes of poetic inspiration. Anyone, especially poets looking outside the western canon for transformative verse and fresh inspiration, should include this book in their library.