A Drifting Boat: Chinese Zen Poetry

Book Overview

Poetry. This anthology gathers together over 1500 years of Chinese Zen (Ch'an) poetry from the earliest writing, including the Hsin Hsin Ming written by the 3rd Patriarch, to the poetry of monks in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1877727377
• ISBN13: 9781877727375
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: White Pine Press (NY)
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

TRULY SPECIAL LANGUAGE

This is a great read. The spare images have such power and rightness. A kind of serenity too. Might go well with Poems of the Late T'ang (Graham)and Stranger by the River (Twitchell).

Great poetry anthology !

Quite by accident I discovered the book "Mountain Home; the Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China" translated by David Hinton. That got me started on a search of nature and Zen poetry of China and Japan. So far I have read at least a few dozen books and this is my favorite! The anthology covers from 4th century to modern and has quite a few authors represented. The sensitive translations are what, I am sure, attracts me to re-read and highlight this book. This book is a keeper!

Drifting..

A Drifting Boat includes Chinese Zen poems that have been gathered over 1500 years. The book has been divided into six sections, each one covering the poets of a different dynasty.The poems themselves are beautiful, simple yet complex, elegant. The words just seem to flow from the pages. A delightful reading experience."as I wonder aimlessly under a frozen moon a flute poors its beauty from a nearby tower. then morning breezes begin to rise and gust - the river already a carpet of scattered white blossoms." --Kuan Hsiu

Excellent broad anthology of Chinese Chan (Zen) poetry

Yes, I'm picky and had a quarrel with the introduction's reference to religious institutions without a recognition of the interplay between Nestorian Christianity and Chan Buddhism but such a point is of no interest to the general reader. The book is a wonderfully broad selection of poets and styles including poets with a strong Taoist bent - a happy addition illustrating the coexistence of multiple religious traditions within single individuals. There are differing styles of translation - from the more literal to the more poetic - but only two poems in the entire book that leave me wanting to read the original Chinese because the translation seems too free. The book as a whole is a marvelous example of the force of poetry that is rooted in experience rather than metaphor; as such it should be read by those without a specific interest in Buddhism.My criticism? Too many poets are represented by only one or two poems.