Xi'an, in Shaanxi Province, was the capital of thirteen historical Chinese dynasties, beginning with the Qin dynasty of the First Emperor more than two thousand years ago. In the Tang (618-907 CE), lyric poetry flourished, with the city home to the likes of Li Bai and Wang Wei. As a modern metropolis, it is once again the domain of a rich literary circle. However, the twenty-five poets in this collection confront not only the age-old vacillations of romance and career but also how to find expression through free verse, the weight of the cultural past, and the dramatization of ecological and societal change.
