Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World (Rock Spring Collection of Japanese Literature)

Japan’s capital city of Kyoto was devastated by earthquake, storm, and fire in the late 12th century. Retreating from “this unkind world,” the poet and Buddhist priest Kamo-no-Chomei left the capital for the forested mountains, where he eventually constructed his famous “ten-foot-square” hut. From this solitary vantage point Chomei produced HOJOKI, an extraordinary literary work that describes all he has seen of human misery and his new life of simple chores, walks, and acts of kindness. Chomei’s verse reveals in its cadence and imagery the sweep of the universe as well as the meanderings of the human heart. (From the back cover.) The single great work of literary witness in medieval Japan, Hojoki is a short social chronicle prompted by a series of calamities that overtook old Kyoto in the late 12th century. By building a rude home in the forest and eliminating desire, poet and Buddhist priest Chomei believed he would be spared the anguish that had befallen the townspeople. Yet at the end we find the author consumed with self-doubt, questioning his own sanity and the integrity of his purpose. His voice reaches out from the distant past and speaks directly to our hearts, surprisingly modern and intensely human. Author Biography: Yasuhiko Moriguchi and David Jenkins are writers, teachers, and translators living in Kyoto. Stone Bridge Press is a leading English-language publisher of Japanese literature in translation. Our ROCK SPRING COLLECTION OF JAPANESE LITERATURE features absorbing and important translations of classical and contemporary Japanese fiction and poetry. We believe that literature is a window into culture and society, and an expression of what is most peculiarly, and universally, human. A luminous translation of the classic Buddhist poem. Japan's capital city of Kyoto was devastated by earthquake, storm, and fire in the late 12th century. Retreating from'this unkind world,'the poet and Buddhist priest Kamo-no-Chomei left the capital for the forested mountains, where he eventually constructed his famous'ten-foot-square'hut. From this solitary vantage point Chomei produced Hojoki, an extraordinary literary work that describes all he has seen of human misery and his new life of simple chores, walks, and acts of kindness. Yet at the end he questions his own sanity and the integrity of his purpose. Has he perhaps grown too attached to his detachment?

Japan's capital city of Kyoto was devastated by earthquake, storm, and fire in the late 12th century. Retreating from "this unkind world," the poet and Buddhist priest Kamo-no-Chomei left the capital for the forested mountains, where he eventually constructed his famous "ten-foot-square" hut. From this solitary vantage point Chomei produced Hojoki, an extraordinary literary work that describes all he has seen of human misery and his new life of simple chores, walks, and acts of kindness. Yet at the end he questions his own sanity and the integrity of his purpose. Has he perhaps grown too attached to his detachment?

A luminous translation of the classic Buddhist poem. Kyoto,Kamo-no-Chomei,Buddhism,medieval Japan,Japanese classical literature,Heian-kyo,earthquake,fire,Japan,meditation,priest,ten-foot-square hut,translation An extraordinary literary work from the 12th century, a meditation on nature and mortality.