Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Hardcover)

by Red Pine (Author) "According to one such story, Cold Mountain once asked Big Stick,"If you don't polish a brass mirror, how can it reflect anything?..." (more)
Key Phrases: cold cliff, magic pearl, cold mountain, Big Stick, Lu-ch'iu Yin, Kuoching Temple (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The Poems Of Big Stick: 1
The Poems Of Big Stick: 2
The Poems Of Big Stick: 3
The Poems Of Big Stick: 4
The Poems Of Cold Mountain: 1
The Poems Of Cold Mountain: 10
The Poems Of Cold Mountain: 100
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The Poems Of Cold Mountain: 7
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The Poems Of Cold Mountain: 98
The Poems Of Cold Mountain: 99
The Poems Of Pickup: 1
The Poems Of Pickup: 10
The Poems Of Pickup: 11
The Poems Of Pickup: 12
The Poems Of Pickup: 13
The Poems Of Pickup: 14
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The Poems Of Pickup: 2
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The Poems Of Pickup: 3
The Poems Of Pickup: 30
The Poems Of Pickup: 31
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The Poems Of Pickup: 33
The Poems Of Pickup: 34
The Poems Of Pickup: 35
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The Poems Of Pickup: 37
The Poems Of Pickup: 38
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The Poems Of Pickup: 4
The Poems Of Pickup: 40
The Poems Of Pickup: 41
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The Poems Of Pickup: 49
The Poems Of Pickup: 5
The Poems Of Pickup: 6
The Poems Of Pickup: 7
The Poems Of Pickup: 8
The Poems Of Pickup: 9
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

This authoritative, bilingual edition represents the first time the entirety of Cold Mountain's poetry has been translated into English.

These translations were originally published by Copper Canyon Press nearly twenty years ago. Now, significantly revised and expanded, the collection also includes a new preface by the translator, Red Pine, whose accompanying notes are at once scholarly, accessible, and entertaining. Also included for the first time are poems by two of Cold Mountain's colleagues.

Legendary for his clarity, directness, and lack of pretension, the eight-century hermit-poet Cold Mountain (Han Shan) is a major figure in the history of Chinese literature and has been a profound influence on writers and readers worldwide. Writers such as Charles Frazier and Gary Snyder studied his poetry, and Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums is dedicated "to Han Shan."

1.B

storied cliffs were the fortune I cast
bird trails beyond human tracks
what surrounds my yard
white clouds nesting dark rocks
I've lived here quite a few years
and always seen the spring-water change
tell those people with tripods and bells
empty names are no damn good

71.

someone sits in a mountain gorge
cloud robe sunset tassels
handful of fragrances he'd share
the road is long and hard
regretful and doubtful
old and unaccomplished
the crowd calls him crippled
he stands alone steadfast

205.

my place is on Cold Mountain
perched on a cliff beyond the circuit of affliction
images leave no trace when they vanish
I roam the whole galaxy from here
lights and shadows flash across my mind
not one dharma comes before me
since I found the magic pearl
I can go anywhere everywhere it's perfect

Cold Mountain

A mountain man lives under thatch
before his gate carts and horses are rare
the forest is quiet but partial to birds
the streams are wide and home to fish
with his son he picks wild fruit
with his wife he hoes between rocks
what does he have at home
a shelf full of nothing but books

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press; 1st edition (November 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0914742698
• ISBN-13: 978-0914742692
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,120,196 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Pine grasps Cold Mountain., December 4, 2000

By	G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Mandarin_chinese Edition) (Paperback)

Twelve hundred years ago, Chinese recluse-poet Han Shan ("Cold Mountain") "fled to the woods to dwell and gaze in freedom" (poem 26), where he also wrote the 307 poems collected here "on trees and rocks and walls" (p. 9) around the cave where he lived. In 1974, while living in a Taipei monastery as a Buddhist monk, Bill Porter (a.k.a. "Red Pine") began translating Cold Mountain's poems.

Red Pine breathes new life into Cold Mountain. "I enjoy the simple life," Cold Mountain writes in poem 224, "between dark vines and mountain caves/ the wilderness has room to roam/ with white clouds for companions/ there's a road but not to town." It is easy to appreciate Cold Mountain's verse not only for its "spiritual honesty, poignancy, and humor" (p. 15), as Red Pine observes, but also for its rich, natural imagery. White clouds cling to dark rocks (poem 1), and old pines cling to crags (poem 256). Cicadas sing (poem 300). Yellow leaves fall (poem 300). "My mind is like the autumn moon/ clear and bright in a pool of jade" (poem 5).

In a recent interview, Red Pine compares Chinese hermits to "a mountain spring that brings fresh water down into town" (Tricycle, Winter 2000, p. 69). Cold Mountain is a good teacher, and his poems offer insightful lessons. He writes: "Trust your own true nature" (poem 2). "Rock sugar and clarified butter/ mean nothing when you're dead" (poem 8). "The moon is the hub of the mind" (poem 10). "Silence thoughts and the spirit becomes clear/ focus on emptiness and the world grows still" (poem 82). "Drop a ball of mud in water/ and behold the thoughtless mind" (poem 86). "Retiring to my hut I accept white hair" (poem 122). "The world is full of busy people/ well-versed in countless views/ blind to their true natures" (poem 132). "People who wander among clouds/ don't have to buy the hills" (poem 219).

Red Pine's collection will become an well-travelled path on your bookshelf to contemplative, Cold Mountain. (It is easy to understand why Jack Kerouac dedicated his DHARMA BUMS to Cold Mountain in 1958.) For those interested in meeting other Chinese hermits, I recommend Porter's ROAD TO HEAVEN: ENCOUNTERS WITH CHINESE HERMITS (1993). For some contemporary poetry reminiscent of Cold Mountain, I recommend David Budbill's recent MOMENT TO MOMENT (2000).

G. Merritt

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterful Translation in a Beautiful Volume, February 8, 2001

By	E. Wallace (PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Mandarin_chinese Edition) (Paperback)

It seems inevitable that something will always be lost in translation. At least I thought this was true until I purchased this volume. Not only does Red Pine stay true to the beauty of Han-Shan's verse, but the underlying Zen essence comes through loud and clear. I have heard it said of the Tao Te Ching that you can spend a day reading the entire work and a lifetime trying to truly understand it. This is also true for these poems. Short verses of simple construction that manage to capture something so vast. No, not capture. Illustrate. In several lines the universe is displayed before us, if only we pause to look. This edition is as much a must for any seek to understand Asian religion as it is for those who love Asian poetry.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last!, November 21, 2000

By	Timothy Cullen (Sevilla Espana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Mandarin_chinese Edition) (Paperback)

The two-year wait for this reissue has been well worth it; the book is as well done as Mr. Porter's Zen Works of Stonehouse. I have all Mr. Porter's work and will acquire anything he publishes. This is what translation should be! The books are superbly annotated, as is this one. I've for years enjoyed Burton Watson's Cold Mountain translation, but with all due respect to the venerable Mr. W., Red Pine has given us a truly thorough and thought-provoking work that goes far beyond earlier translations both in style and content.

The themes of the poems are likely well known to the interested reader; what places this book at the top of its class are the annotations, the facing text in Chinese and the evocative, excellent photos by Steven Johnson that have graced other books by Mr. Porter.

This book is a work to be read and reread: in short, it's a keeper.