Customer Reviews

The Mountain Poems of Meng Hao-jan

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This book is great, spellbinding. I would particularly recommend this to anyone who lives in a city and daydreams about being out hiking. The poet's words instantly transported me to the mountains. The poems are presented simply and speak for themselves. If you have any interest in poetry or writing about the beauty of nature, or questions of human existence, get this book right away. I intend to check out the translator's other collections as well - I had no idea this kind of poetry existed!

Meng Hao-jan (689-740 C.E.) is one of China's greatest poets during the illustrious T'ang Dynasty. A man who was deeply influenced by Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism and provides unique insights encapsulated by succinct language. Now expertly and deftly translated into English for the first time by David Hinton, the poetry of this esteemed elder in the pantheon of China's greatest poets is readily available and accessible to a grateful and appreciative American readership. Adrift at Wu-ling: Wu-ling's river thinned out, my long-ago/boat glides on into peach-blossom forests//where headwaters harbored such quiet/mystery: immortal families so deep away.//Water meanders, blurs into blue cliffs,/darkens green beneath a crossing cloud.//I sit listening. Idle gibbons cry out, mind/sudden clarity far beyond a world of dust.

The insights and zen in these poems is very subtle and deep and anybody interested in the inner soul would get a great experience out of this book. The more study you have done the more you would get out of this. If you have no previous zen experience this is a lovely book of nature, kindness, sadness and friends.

The translation which, I assume by his background, is well done, leaves one guessing as he finishes sentences at the start of a new line and uses unusual phrases to substitute for the chinese poetry.

I am delighted to have this book in my collection and it will be one I will pick up and read over and over.