[(Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China)] [Author: David Hinton] published on (June, 2005) Paperback – 2 Jun. 2005

This is one of the best books I've read, some of the poems are amazingly spiritual and capture the awesomeness of life and nature. I'm finding new poets to buy their books as well from this anthology.

Great service and wonderful book!

I love this old Chinese poetry for its simplicity and naturalness, but also for its un-pin-downable mystery; and English translations of it don't come more simple, natural and mysterious than David Hinton's: Pure enjoyment.

As advertised, very good condition of classic book of poetry.

These Taoist, early 5th century poems are a gift to anyone who has had an experience of what Thich Nhat Hanh calls interbeing, and who wants to spend more time in that place where we can merge deeply into the natural world that we have disconnected ourselves from.It's for others to say if Hinson's translations are "accurate" (apparently some have criticized them for all sounding as if written by the same person). From a spiritual or poetic point of view it would scarcely matter if they were all written by Hinson. They are stunningly beautiful, and we sorely need what they can evoke in us. They open us to another way of being in the world that allows us to be more in tune with reality, because it frees us from the limitations of our conditioned minds and loosens the tight boundaries we have erected between ourselves and the rest of creation. Thank you, David Hinson and Mountain Home, for creating this space for us.

This is pure nature poetry, by which I mean that everything is the thing itself, not a symbol or metaphor. It has a Zen feel. The poems, most of which are short, paint a picture of a scene and invoke shifting moods. They range from the 4th century to the 13th century, and there is an interesting introduction and map of the region where the poets lived, and a short commentary in each chapter about what is known about the poet and the themes of his poetry. It is nice to have on your coffee table or bedside, not stashed on a shelf! A couple of these poems, read slowly and savored, will help you unwind. They are very beautiful.

Bought this because I was interested in Classical Chinese poetry and finding it myself was hit and miss. I used it as a way to find books by the poets I liked. I got interested in the poems by reading David Budbill, who tried to emulate their lifestyle and mentions them a lot in his own works. If you are at all interested in this kind of poetry, this is a fine place to start.

This is a translation of selected poems of the poets of the classical Chinese Rivers and Mountains tradition. The selection of authors is satisfyingly wide. The poems are arranged by author, in chronological order. The translator provides a short introduction to each author which is somewhat helpful. I cannot speak to the adequacy as such of the translations, but Hinton's translations here and in other books of his strike me as clear, simple, free of affectations, and good poetry in English. They also preserve a sense of the differences among the authors, so that the English versions don't come out sounding like they were all written by the same person. The footnotes are helpful. I found this a very satisfying anthology, and recommend it highly.