The Mountain Poems of Hsieh Ling-Yun [Paperback]

Hsieh Ling-yün (Author), David Hinton (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2001 | Series: New Directions Paperbook

In our own time the "wilderness" has emerged as a source of spiritual renewal, both as idea and in actual practice. But Hsieh Ling-yün (385-433 C. E.) was there before us. 

During the last decade of his life, living as a recluse high in the mountains of southeast China, he initiated a tradition of "rivers-and-mountains" (shan-shui) poetry that stretches across the millennia in China, a tradition that represents the earliest and most extensive literary engagement with "the wild" in human history. These poems were hugely popular in Hsieh's own time and established him as one of the most innovative and influential poets in the history of Chinese poetry as well as a founder of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. Once again David Hinton, a recipient of fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts and The National Endowment for the Humanities and the winner of a Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from The Academy of American Poets, has produced a fluid and supple translation that does full justice to the rivers-and-mountains of Hsieh Ling-yün's inspiration.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"There are waters tumbling a thousand feet in flight/ and forests curtained high over countless canyons" in The Mountain Poems of Hsieh Ling-yin, newly translated by David Hinton. Exiled from the Chinese court, Hsieh (385-433 C.E.) explored the wilderness and composed verse about it, inaugurating over a thousand years of Chinese nature poetry. Hinton whose other translations include the classical Chinese poets Li Po and Tu Fu renders Hsieh in an English both concise and flowing.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

[Hinton's] translations...are consistently imaginative in language and effective as English poetry. -- Burton Watson

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: New Directions; Uncorrected Proof edition (November 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811214893
• ISBN-13: 978-0811214896
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Gem From Hinton, January 28, 2010

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This review is from: The Mountain Poems of Hsieh Ling-Yun (Paperback)

I was so moved by Hinton's other translations that I decided to give this a try. Reading it late at night and alone it brought some truly spiritual moments. If you like Hinton's other translations, then I highly recommend this one. In fact, I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in zen, spiritual, mountain, wilderness or Chinese poetry. There is much to be admired. It's an excellent small volume and I will return to it again and again. Hsieh Ling-Yun deserves a much wider readership. He had many moments of absolute clarity, as this book attests.

Note: An online bio claims that Hsieh Ling-Yun was China's first wilderness poet. Whatever the case, he left it all behind and immersed himself in the wild. It gives you a sense of what type of person he was...