Essays in Idleness – The Tsurezuregusa of Kenko: The Tsurezuregusa of Kenkō (Translations from the Asian Classics) - Softcover

Keene, Donald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0231112556 ISBN 13: 9780231112550

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Despite the turbulent times in which he lived, the Buddhist priest Kenko met the world with a measured eye. As Emperor Go-Daigo fended off a challenge from the usurping Hojo family, and Japan stood at the brink of a dark political era, Kenko held fast to his Buddhist beliefs and took refuge in the pleasures of solitude. Written between 1330 and 1332, Essays in Idleness reflects the congenial priest's thoughts on a variety of subjects. His brief writings, some no more than a few sentences long and ranging in focus from politics and ethics to nature and mythology, mark the crystallization of a distinct Japanese principle: that beauty is to be celebrated, though it will ultimately perish. Through his appreciation of the world around him and his keen understanding of historical events, Kenko conveys the essence of Buddhist philosophy and its subtle teachings for all readers. Insisting on the uncertainty of this world, Kenk? asks that we waste no time in following the way of Buddha. In this fresh edition, Donald Keene's critically acclaimed translation is joined by a new preface, in which Keene himself looks back at the ripples created by Kenk?'s musings, especially for modern readers.

About this title

Review

A most delightful book, and one that has served as a model of Japanese style and taste since the seventeenth century. These cameo-like vignettes reflect the importance of the little, fleeting futile things, and each essay is Kenkō himself.--Asian Student

If you enjoy things briefly told, if you want to try the prose equivalent of waka and haiku, if you already know Montaigne and would like to meet a spiritual kinsman, then you might want to take an evening and read Essays in Idleness.... [A] superb translation.--Washington Post

A sensitive, personal reading.--Journal of Asian Studies

The Tsurezuregusa is a key instrument in attempting to teach the classical Japanese tradition to the modern Western student.... This is indeed a welcome volume.--Monumenta Nipponica

Synopsis

Written sometime between 1330 and 1332, the "Essays in Idleness" hardly mirror the turbulent times in which they were born. Despite the struggle between the Emperor Go-Daigo and the usurping Hojo family which rocked Japan during these years, the Buddhist priest Kenko found himself "with nothing better to do, jotting down at random whatever nonsensical thoughts have entered my head." The resulting essays, none of them more than a few pages in length and some consisting of but two or three sentences, treat a variety of subjects in a congenial, anecdotal style. Kenko clung to tradition, Buddhism and the pleasures of solitude, and the themes he treats are all suffused with an unspoken acceptance of Buddhist beliefs. He gives voice to a distinctively Japanese aesthetic principle: that beauty is bound to perishability.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0231112556
• ISBN 13: 9780231112550
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240