Essays in Idleness
and Hojoki
$24.80
- Paperback
224 pages
- Release Date
13 January 2014
Summary
New to Penguin Classics, these two Japanese texts are timeless reflections on Buddhism, nature and the value of being idle.
These two works on life’s fleeting pleasures are by Buddhist monks from medieval Japan, but each shows a different world-view. In the short memoir Hōjōki, Chōmei recounts his decision to withdraw from worldly affairs and live as a hermit in a tiny hut in the mountains, contemplating the impermanence of human existence. Kenkō, however, displays a fascinat…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780141192109 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0141192100 |
| Author: | Meredith McKinney, Kamo no Chomei, Kenko |
| Publisher: | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Imprint: | Penguin Classics |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 224 |
| Release Date: | 13 January 2014 |
| Weight: | 166g |
| Dimensions: | 197mm x 128mm x 14mm |
| Series: | Penguin Classics |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
[Essays in Idleness is] a most delightful book, and one that has served as a model of Japanese style and taste since the 17th century. These cameo-like vignettes reflect the importance of the little, fleeting futile things, and each essay is Kenko himself * Asian Student *
About The Author
Meredith McKinney
Kenkō was born around 1283 in Kyoto. He probably became a monk in his late twenties and was also noted as a calligrapher. Today he is remembered for his wise and witty aphorisms, ‘Essays in Idleness’.
Chōmei was born into a family of Shinto priests around 1155, at a time when the stable world of the court was rapidly breaking up. He became an important, though minor, poet of his day, and at the age of fifty, withdrew from the world to become a tonsured monk. He died around 1216.
Meredith McKinney is a translator of Japanese literature, both contemporary and classical. She lived in Japan for twenty years and is currently a visiting fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra.
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