The Old Capital

Kawabata Yasunari / Tan JinghuaHunan Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaJun 2025

Rating 4.7
Word count
106K words
Chapters
29
ISBN
9787572608964

Tags

Foreign Literature Fate and FortuneFamily BondsLife PhilosophySlow ReadingTender SentimentTraditional AestheticsFolk CustomsFemale Perspective

Summary

The novel tells of the vicissitudes of a pair of twin sisters. Born into poverty, the elder, Chieko, was abandoned and adopted by a silk wholesale merchant, growing up a pampered young lady.

The younger, Naeko, though left with her parents, was orphaned in infancy; she grew up in her village, hired out to others and supporting herself.

Both sisters are beautiful and kind-hearted.

Chieko is sensitive, with the delicate feelings of a young girl; Naeko is gentle and simple, like a spirit of the Kitayama cedars—upright, lovely, and full of life.

Kawabata Yasunari likens the sisters' fate to two wild violets growing as parasites on a large maple tree: though close at hand and sure to meet again, they can never truly be united.

Editor's review

The Old Capital is a major work by Kawabata Yasunari, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature; this edition from Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House is a carefully rendered translation by the renowned translator Professor Tan Jinghua. Set against the seasonal scenery of Kyoto, Kawabata depicts the joys and sorrows, partings and reunions of the twin sisters Chieko and Naeko, weaving the characters' fates together with the changing fortunes of the old capital and its traditional seasonal rites to create a distinctive aesthetic world of mono no aware.

The book's literary value lies first in its exquisitely delicate touch: Kawabata's descriptions of Kyoto's landscapes—spring cherry blossoms, summer cedars, autumn maples, winter snow—are not mere backdrop but projections of the characters' inner states. The alienation and elegance felt by Chieko as the adopted daughter of a wealthy Kyoto merchant form a subtle contrast with the plain vitality represented by Naeko, raised in the countryside—a contrast that precisely captures the tension between tradition and change facing postwar Japan in its modernization.

Professor Tan Jinghua's translation deserves particular attention. Long engaged in the study and translation of Japanese literature, he is deeply attuned to the "understated and lingering" qualities of Kawabata's language, preserving the original's mood while allowing Chinese readers to appreciate that Japanese aesthetic of "what is left unsaid." In the depiction of Kyoto's traditional festivals (such as the Aoi Matsuri and the Jidai Matsuri), the translator's notes supply the necessary cultural background to help readers grasp their deeper meaning.

Reading The Old Capital is not only to enjoy a story of parentage and family love, but to experience how Kawabata pushes the aesthetics of mono no aware to its height—capturing, in seemingly ordinary details of daily life, the moments where life's impermanence and eternity intertwine. This edition's elegant design suits the work's temperament and is well suited to quiet, attentive reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Can be read alongside picture books or documentaries on Kyoto's scenery to deepen understanding of the background
  2. Best read slowly in a quiet setting, noting how the changing seasons echo the characters' emotions
  3. After finishing, readers may extend to Kawabata's Snow Country and Thousand Cranes to appreciate the coherence of his aesthetic system

About the publisher

Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1985

Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House is a publisher known for its literary titles, with a catalogue spanning foreign literature, world classics, classical Chinese literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, and mystery and detective fiction. Judging from the more than 1,100 books in the database, the press publishes foreign classics such as Crime and Punishment, Snow Country, The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Letter from an Unknown Woman, as well as Chinese classical and modern literary works including Lu Xun's Wandering and A Madman's Diary and Wu Jingzi's The Scholars. In terms of translators and authors, translations by Cao Guowei and Tan Jinghua appear in its foreign literature titles, and the authors involved include Dostoevsky, Kawabata Yasunari, Conan Doyle and Zweig. Its publishing character lies in introducing Chinese and foreign literary classics side by side, balancing popular and serious works and attending to both readability and literary value. Public information is limited; the above is a brief overview based solely on the books in the database.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 古都
  3. 春之花
  4. 尼姑庵与格子门
  5. 和服街
  6. 北山杉
  7. 园祭
  8. 秋色
  9. 青松
  10. 深秋里的姊妹
  11. 冬之花
  12. 十六岁的日记
  13. 五月四日
  14. 五月五日
  15. 五月六日
  16. 五月七日
  17. 五月八日
  18. 五月十日
  19. 五月十四日
  20. 五月十五日
  21. 五月十六日
  22. 后记
  23. 后记之二
  24. 招魂祭一景
  25. 精通葬礼的名人
  26. 一
  27. 二
  28. 三
  29. 译后记

FAQ

What distinguishes this translation from other editions? Tan Jinghua's translation is grounded in scholarly research, with relatively detailed translator's notes, especially on Kyoto-specific cultural terms; the style seeks to stay close to the original's understatement and lyricism, making it suitable for readers who wish to understand the text's cultural background in depth.
Will not having visited Kyoto affect my reading? It poses no fundamental obstacle. Kawabata's descriptions are highly evocative in themselves, and the translator has added necessary notes. Of course, some familiarity with Kyoto helps in better appreciating the connections between the geographical spaces and cultural atmosphere in the text.
Is the book strongly plot-driven? The Old Capital does not rely on intricate plotting for its appeal; its charm lies in atmosphere, subtle psychological shifts, and details of traditional culture. It is a work that requires patience to savor, sensing the rhythm and mood of the prose.

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古都 朱天心

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About the author

Kawabata Yasunari Author · Japan · 1899–1972

Kawabata Yasunari (1899–1972) was a Japanese novelist and a leading figure of the New Sensationist school, born in Osaka. A prolific writer, he is represented on this site by 147 works, spanning essays and miscellaneous prose as well as foreign literature. His representative works include The Izu Dancer, Snow Country, Thousand Cranes, and The Old Capital; Snow Country in particular exists in multiple editions and translations, a sign of its wide circulation. Kawabata is known for his delicate prose, which interweaves human emotion with natural scenery to express the spiritual character of the Japanese people, and often conveys a sense of the beauty of impermanence in life and death. In 1968 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature, an important landmark in the global recognition of Japanese literature; he died in 1972. Beyond his novels, his essays and miscellaneous writings also deserve attention.

Tan Jinghua Author · China · 1951

Tan Jinghua was born in Shanghai in June 1951. He holds a doctorate in literature and is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Shanghai International Studies University, where he formerly served as executive vice president. He has long been engaged in the study and translation of modern Japanese literature. His publications include a biography of Kawabata Yasunari and A History of Modern Japanese Literature, and he has translated more than 140 major works of Japanese literature. His representative translations include Kawabata Yasunari's Snow Country, The Izu Dancer, The Old Capital, Thousand Cranes, and The Sound of the Mountain, as well as the Selected Works of Kawabata Yasunari and the four-volume Abe Kobo series, and Natsume Soseki's Light and Darkness. He is a former president of the Chinese Association for Japanese Literature and of the Shanghai Translators Association. His works are generally classified under essays and miscellaneous writings and foreign literature, and he has had a broad influence in the translation and introduction of modern and contemporary Japanese literature.