The Poetry of Han-Shan: A Complete, Annotated Translation of Cold Mountain (Suny Series in Buddhist Studies) [Paperback]

Robert G. Henricks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1990 | ISBN-10: 0887069789 | ISBN-13: 978-0887069789

This is an annotated English translation of the poetry of Han-shan (Cold Mountain), a 7th or 8th century Chinese Buddhist recluse who wrote many poems about his life alone in the hills. Many of his poems describe the mountains where he lived in dramatic, yet appealing terms, while at the same time symbolizing in Zen fashion the Buddhist quest for enlightenment. Han-shan became a cult figure in the Ch'an/Zen tradition, and legends portray him and his companion Shih-te as eccentrics who said and did nonsensical things. Han-shan does often write on unusual topics with some of his "poems" being clever insights that just happen to be metric and rhymed. His language is simple and direct; his images and symbols fresh and bold. While the literary value of his work has for the most part been overlooked, this book provides line-by-line literary analysis of some of the more artistically interesting poems. Henricks' work represents, therefore, a major contribution to the study of Chinese literature and Chinese religion.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Chinese (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Robert G. Henricks is Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (December 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887069789
• ISBN-13: 978-0887069789
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,054,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gets at the Essence, January 13, 2005

By 

T. W. (Northeastern United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poetry of Han-Shan: A Complete, Annotated Translation of Cold Mountain (Suny Series, Buddhist Studies) (Hardcover)

This is the edition for a reader seriously interested in Han Shan's poetry. Yes, the only other complete translation (by Red Pine) seems to have the virtue of elegant and readable fluidity, but upon consideration this is not the advantage one might think. Han Shan, while a master of poetic concision (dichten=condensare), differs from his more traditionally esteemed Chinese contemporaries precisely in that he is unembarrassed to express himself in "Tang colloquial: rough and fresh" (as Gary Snyder puts it).

You might be more likely to open up the latest issue of the "New Yorker" and read language like that of Red Pine, who writes "alas such a once-verdant bloom / is now a pile of ashes" for Henricks' "I sigh to see this luxuriant growth / Has today become a big pile of dirt" (#213/215). But the former is false (rushing easily over our ears with words like "verdant" and no punctuation) where the latter is true (capturing the simplicity, even bluntness, of Han Shan's art of contrasts, which consists of being at once philosophical, concrete, and plainspoken).

I also believe that Henricks' annotations do a better job putting the emphasis on the points that add to our understanding of the poet and his place in the wisdom traditions that animated his work. And unlike Red Pine, Henricks provides indices, so if you're interested in notes/poems referring to, say, the Nirvana-sutra, you can find them easily.

If you just want to delight in Han Shan's poetry on as many levels as possible, good Professor Henricks' version, whatever it lacks in glamour, is for you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A real man, with real pain and dreams, November 8, 2010

By 

Steven Forth (Vancouver BC or Cambridge MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Poetry of Han-Shan: A Complete, Annotated Translation of Cold Mountain (Suny Series in Buddhist Studies) (Paperback)

Like many people I first came across Han Shan in Gary Snyder's Rip Rap and Cold Mountain Poems (Cold Mountain translates Han Shan). Gary Snyder is essential reading for the new century (reread it recently when I gave a copy to my son) and his Han Shan is a compelling Tang Zen mystic. Wanting more, and suffering limited Chinese, I read Burton Watson's translations (it is worth searching out all of Burton Watson's work). This still left me with the laughing Zen mountain mystic Han Shan. Recently I read Robert Henricks complete annotated translation. If you think you know Han Shan from the Snyder and Watson translations think again. Reading the complete poems gave me a much fuller understanding of Han Shan the man, the frustrated scholar, the disappointed official, the man missing his family and friends, the quest for deep understanding, the Daoist as well as the Ch'an ... The wonderful comments and annotations that Henricks provided also proved essential to really going deeper into the poems, and they are a great example of how to annotate translations from the Chinese.

I found the translations themselves a bit wooden. They did not open up new possibilities for English, which is a potential of any translation, and I would have loved to have the Chinese text beside the English.

I plan to read the Red Pine translation as well, but the Henricks made this fall a little happier, deeper and more connected to me. Many thanks to the translator and publisher. Time to walk up into the mountains and sit in the mist and rain ...

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cold Mountan like Shakuhachi, June 22, 2006

By 

eurydike (Santa Cruz, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Poetry of Han-Shan: A Complete, Annotated Translation of Cold Mountain (Suny Series in Buddhist Studies) (Paperback)

The great thing about Cold Mountain is that he is transparent to translators. Arguing the merits of one Cold Mountain translation against another is like comparing a Gudo Ishibashi 2.8 shakuhachi to a 2.9 Mujitsu shakuhachi by Ken LaCosse. Both flutes will get you "there." But the journey will be different.

The same is true of Cold Mountain. Snyder is as good as Watson is a good as Red Pine is as good as Henricks.

Or like Dogen translations...

why sink a straw that floats on the water, when the moon itself rides in ripples beside the straw?