<p><div>This second, revised edition of a pioneering volume, long out of print, presents translations of Japanese Zen poems on sorrow, old age, homesickness, the seasons, the ravages of time, solitude, the scenic beauty of the landscape of Japan, and monastic life. Composed by Japanese Zen monks who lived from the last quarter of the thirteenth century to the middle of the fifteenth century, these poems represent a portion of the best of the writing called in Japanese <i>gozan bungaku</i>, "literature of the five mountains."</div> <div>"Five mountains" or "five monasteries" refers to the system by which the Zen monasteries were hierarchically ordered and governed. For the monks in the monasteries, poetry functioned as a means not only of expressing religious convictions and personal feelings but also of communicating with others in a civilized and courteous fashion. Effacing barriers of time and space, the practice of Chinese poetry also made it possible for Japanese authors to feel at one with their Chinese counterparts and the great poets of antiquity. This was a time when Zen as an institution was being established and contact with the Chinese mainland becoming increasingly frequent--ten of the sixteen poets represented here visited China.</div> <div>Marian Ury has provided a short but substantial introduction to the Chinese poetry of Japanese <i>gozan</i> monasteries, and her translations of the poetry are masterful. <i>Poems of the Five Mountains</i> is an important work for anyone interested in Japanese literature, Chinese literature, East Asian Religion, and Zen Buddhism.</div></p>

Poems of the Five Mountains: An Introduction to the Literature of the Zen Monasteries (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies)

Literature & Fiction

Ury, Marian

Poetry

U of M Center For Japanese Studies

<p>TALES OF TIMES NOW PAST is a translation of 62 outstanding tales freshly selected from “Konjaku monogatari shu”, a Japanese anthology dating from the early twelfth century. The original work, unique in world literature, contains more than one thousand systematically arranged tales from India, China, and Japan. It is the most important example of a genre of collections of brief tales which, because of their informality and unpretentious style, were neglected by Japanese critics until recent years but which now acknowledged to be among the most significant prose literature of premodern Japan. “Konjaku” in particular has aroused the enthusiasm of such leading 20th-century writers as Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Tanizaki Jun’ichiro. The stories, with sources in both traditional lore and contemporary gossip, cover an astonishing range - homiletic, sentimental, terrifying, practical-minded, humorous, ribald. Their topics include the life of the Buddha, descriptions of Heaven and Hell, f</p>

Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-two Stories from a Medieval Japanese Collection

University of California Pre

<p>Tales of Times Now Past: 62 Stories from Medieval Japanese Collection</p>

Tales of Times Now Past: 62 Stories from Medieval Japanese Collection (English and Japanese Edition)

History & Criticism

Univ. Of California Pr.

Poems of the Five Mountains: An Introduction to the Literature of the Zen Monasteries (Volume 10) (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies)

<p>Michigan Classics in Japanese Studies No. 9</p>

Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-Two Stories from a Medieval Japanese Collection (Volume 9) (Michigan Classics in Japanese Studies)