Zen Poems of China and Japan: The Crane's Bill (Evergreen Book) [Paperback]

Lucien Stryk (Translator), Takashi Ikemoto (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Evergreen Book | Publication Date: January 18, 1994

Capturing in verse the ageless spirit of Zen, these 150 poems reflect the insight of famed masters from the ninth century to the nineteenth. The translators, in collaboration with Zen Master Taigan Takayama, have furnished illuminating commentary on the poems and arranged them so as to facilitate comparison between the Chinese and Japanese Zen traditions. The poems themselves, rendered in clear and powerful English, offer a unique approach to Zen Buddhism, “compared with which,” as Lucien Stryk writes, “the many disquisitions on its meaning are as dust to living earth. We see in these poems, as in all important religious art, East or West, revelations of spiritual truths touched by a kind of divinity.”

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Chinese, Japanese (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (January 18, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802130194
• ISBN-13: 978-0802130198
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,321,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's all in the poems!, June 4, 2001

By 

tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Zen Poems of China and Japan: The Crane's Bill (Evergreen Book) (Paperback)

THE CRANE'S BILL : Zen Poems of China and Japan. Translated by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto with the assistance of Taigan Takayama, Zen Master. 143 pp. New York : Grove Press, 1973 and Reprinted.

Zen poetry is one of the glories of Zen, and yet few in the West seem to care or even know about it. Though undoubtedly sincere in their efforts to understand Zen, most readers seem drawn to prose treatises or explications or analyses of one sort or another, while overlooking the fact that, as Taigan Takayama expresses it : "Zen detests conceptualization" (page xi). Tenzan Yasuda has expressed the same idea this way : "What expresses cosmic truth in the most direct and concise way - that is the heart of Zen art" (page xxxvii).

The poetry of Zen ranges all the way from the tiny seventeen-syllable haiku of a stupendous poet such as Santoka, which have been beautifully translated by John Stevens (in 'Mountain Tasting : Zen Haiku by Santoka Taneda'), through to the Zen verse treatise, of which the finest example is the Third Patriarch Seng-ts'an's 'Hsin-hsin-ming.' This poem brilliantly captures the essence of Zen in its thirty-one verses, and is a text that deserves to be far better known. Although the present book is devoted to shorter poems, an easily accessible translation of the 'Hsin-hsin-ming' will be found in D. T. Suzuki's 'Manual of Zen Buddhism' ('On Believing in Mind,' pages 76-82).

'Crane's Bill' is a collaborative effort which falls into three parts. First we are given, in a Foreword, Preface, and Introduction, 42 pages of interesting and informative material in which a very persuasive case is made for the fact that we should be reading these poems. Then follow 151 poems on enlightenment, death, and general subjects, drawn from a wide range of Chinese and Japanese writers. The book is rounded out with 48 pages of notes on the poems, though it unfortunately lacks both an index and a conversion table of the Japanized Chinese names

The translations, as might have been expected from the present team, read very well. Here is Poem 1, with my slash marks to indicate line breaks:

"The mountain slopes crawl with lumberjacks, / Axing everything in sight - / Yet crimson flowers / Burn along the stream" (page 5).

Here to provide a comment on Poem 1 is Poem 14:

"Iron will's demanded of / the student of the Way - / It's always on the mind. / Forget all - good, bad. / Suddenly it's yours" (page 10).

Compare this with first verse of the Hsin-hsin-ming, the original Chinese of which may be read as follows:

"To realize the Way is not difficult / If you'd only stop choosing; / Just let go of all of your hate, and love, / And everything will be brilliantly clear."

Do we really need to know more? If you don't believe me, here is Poem 97 from the great Japanese Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253):

"Four and fifty years / I've hung the sky with stars. / Now I leap through - / What shattering!" (page 63).

'Crane's Bill' is an extremely interesting and highly successful collaborative effort which no-one who is seriously interested in Zen can afford to overlook. Because it really is all in the poems!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stuff, December 9, 2011

By 

Patrick Allen Wright - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Zen Poems of China and Japan: The Crane's Bill (Evergreen Book) (Paperback)

I owned a copy of this book for years, and I read at it a few times. However, I came back to read it after rounding out my Zen adventures with two and a half years of living and teaching in South Korea. During that time, I read more and experienced more Chan, Seon, Zen, or Thien Buddhism, and I was ready to once again give a read to one of the first books I had ever read about Zen poems. I could not find my copy; it got lost during the hiatus of learning and experiencing more.

So, I bought this book again, and this time I read it with a much fuller appreciation. First, I read the introductions and the poems straight through. When I got to the notes at the back, I read them each with a re-read of the poem annotated. Now that I am finished reading this book again, I can attest that it is one of the best books written about Zen poems. If I had to give it any critique for improvement, I would like a greater emphasis on the Chinese influences, and I would like at least a small mention of Korea's role in the rise of Zen, or Chan-Seon-Zen-Thien Buddhism.

Overall, I recommend it without reservation.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Crane's Bill Thoughts, August 11, 2008

By 

Alan E. Senior (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zen Poems of China and Japan: The Crane's Bill (Evergreen Book) (Paperback)

A useful collection of Zen Poems well translated as always by Lucien Stryk. Manily material from earlier periods of history.