Taste of Hanshan (Cold Mountain)

By Alexander Goldstein
$12.99 Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: Feb. 15, 2012
Words: 31,568 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781466143630

Short description

Han Shan and Shi De are two inseparable characters in the history of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, forming one of the most favourite subjects of Oriental fine arts: Shi De is often pictured with a broom, and Han Shan with a scroll to represent two of many paths to Enlightenment—honest labour and scriptural studies. Their poems became famous Chan quotations to be a compulsory reading for Chan practitioners.

Extended description

Tian-tai Mountains are famous for their well-known reputation as a residence of saints and immortals. From ancient times adepts engaged in Chinese Buddhism and Daoism all longed for coming to Tian-tai. Richly endowed by nature, the mountain beauty spots produced unique harmonious culture, the striking prototypes of which were vagabond-poets Han Shan (Japanese "Kanzan") and Shi De (Jittoku). Once expelled from Guo-qing monastery Shi De was given a home at Mount Hanshan where Han Shan, his intimate friend and sworn elder brother, had resided for a half of century. Musing on Han Shan's poems one day, while lounging in the hot sun and sitting on a huge stone in front of the thatched hut, Shi De rolled off the top into the grass called by the master "Three Paths"; he then hauled himself back onto the boulder and began writing poems in Han Shan's voice with a bold and shameless humour worthy of his inspirer, deducing a formula that "Man’s life is nothing but drifting in the world." This .. (Read more) Tian-tai Mountains are famous for their well-known reputation as a residence of saints and immortals. From ancient times adepts engaged in Chinese Buddhism and Daoism all longed for coming to Tian-tai. Richly endowed by nature, the mountain beauty spots produced unique harmonious culture, the striking prototypes of which were vagabond-poets Han Shan (Japanese "Kanzan") and Shi De (Jittoku). Once expelled from Guo-qing monastery Shi De was given a home at Mount Hanshan where Han Shan, his intimate friend and sworn elder brother, had resided for a half of century. Musing on Han Shan's poems one day, while lounging in the hot sun and sitting on a huge stone in front of the thatched hut, Shi De rolled off the top into the grass called by the master "Three Paths"; he then hauled himself back onto the boulder and began writing poems in Han Shan's voice with a bold and shameless humour worthy of his inspirer, deducing a formula that "Man’s life is nothing but drifting in the world." This is finely distilled the Daoist thinking of this transitory life; Dao embodies a belief that all our accomplishments, all our strivings and things we hold dear are simply nothing if we don't cultivate our minds. To follow the way of Dao is to calmly, even joyfully, let life have its way with us. The whole things read like a treatise from Han Shan’s hand-scroll written by Shi De’s brush or, rather, his crude broom, with that special feeling that mysteriously refreshes and makes us gladly relaxed. For all their eccentricity and mysterious existence, Han Shan and Shi De exhibited great compassion, wisdom and have always inspired ordinary people to do good, avoid evil, and study the noble Buddha's Dharma. Hence, they were thought to be the reincarnations of Manjusri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva respectively.
(Less)

Tags

chan buddhism, zen poetry, han shan, shi de

Available ebook reading formats

Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.

Format	Full Book	Sample First 10%
Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)	Buy	View sample
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)	Buy	Download sample
Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)	Buy	Download sample
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)	Buy	No sample available
RTF (readable on most word processors)	Buy	No sample available
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub)	Buy	Download sample
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)	Buy	Download sample
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	Buy	No sample available
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)	Buy	No sample available

Reviews

Log-in to write a Review   Log-in to add a Video Review

This book has not yet been reviewed.

Reason for report:
— Select a reason — Book is or contains spam Book infringes copyright Same content is published elsewhere with different author (for ex., by private-label rights) Duplicate Incomplete work (such as sample or serial) Should be marked adults-only Category is inappropriate Poorly formatted Nudity or other inappropriate content on cover Nudity or other inappropriate visual content in book Inappropriate erotica content Cover image is improper Content is inappropriate Other violation of Terms of Service Other reason not shown above.

Additional details: