Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns

Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns
- Used Book in Good Condition
Women played major roles in the history of Buddhist China, but given the paucity of the remaining records, their voices have all but faded. In Daughters of Emptiness, Beata Grant renders a great service by recovering and translating the enchanting verse - by turns assertive, observant, devout - of forty-eight nuns from sixteen centuries of imperial China. This selection of poems, along with the brief biographical accounts that accompany them, affords readers a glimpse into the extraordinary diversity and sometimes startling richness of these women's lives.

A sample poem for this stunning collection:

The sequence of seasons naturally pushes forward,
Suddenly I am startled by the ending of the year.
Lifting my eyes I catch sight of the winter crows,
Calling mournfully as if wanting to complain.
The sunlight is cold rather than gentle,
Spreading over the four corners like a cloud.
A cold wind blows fitfully in from the north,
Its sad whistling filling courtyards and houses.
Head raised, I gaze in the direction of Spring,
But Spring pays no attention to me at all.
Time a galloping colt glimpsed through a crack,
The tap [of Death] at the door has its predestined time.
How should I not know, one who has left the world,
And for whom floating clouds are already familiar?
In the garden there grows a rosary-plum tree:
Whose sworn friendship makes it possible to endure.

- Chan Master Jingnuo
Country USA
Brand Wisdom Publications
Manufacturer Wisdom Publications
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber illustrations
ReleaseDate 2003-06-15
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780861713622

Country	USA
Brand	Wisdom Publications
Manufacturer	Wisdom Publications
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	illustrations
ReleaseDate	2003-06-15
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780861713622

Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns

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