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L'éternité n'est pas de trop
In a medieval abbey near Paris, in a room piled high with old Chinese texts, lies a manuscript gathering dust. Though ordinary in appearance, it first captures the eye of the narrator of François Cheng's novel. Then, once he begins to read, it captures his imagination and his heart. The book dates from the mid-seventeenth century, during the twilight of the Ming Dynasty. Barbarian armies are massing along the Empire's Northern borders, and a vast and sophisticated civilization-during whose heyday China had begun to emerge from its long isolation and undergone an explosion in the arts equal in its way to Europe's Renaissance-teeters on the brink of monumental and perhaps catastrophic change. Yet rather than filled with lore of military heroism, or with tales of palace intrigue, or with nostalgic memories of better days, the book tells a simple and very powerful love story.
It opens to a spring day, when a middle-aged doctor named Dao-sheng leaves the mountaintop Taoist monastery where he has been living and sets out for the Region of the South, to the city he had once visited thirty years earlier and where his life had been irrevocably changed. He had then been a strapping but poor young musician traveling with theater troupe. One evening, during a performance, he caught the eye of well-born young woman named Lan-ying. Their contact lasted but a minute, but to them it felt like an eternity. For this act of audacity he was banished to hard labor by the girl's jealous fiancée, the dissipated scion of a powerful family, who had witnessed their exchange and grasped its significance. Across the decades of a life spent either on the run or hiding out in monasteries, where he mastered medicine and divination, Dao-sheng never forgot Lan-ying. One exchange of glances had sealed something forever, something whose enduring power would decide their fates.
Written with radiant simplicity and wisdom, simultaneously heartbreaking and heart-warming, Green Mountain, White Cloud is a suspenseful tale of passion and revenge set against the backdrop of a great empire's last days. François Cheng gives us star-crossed lovers whose rekindled passion makes the pages of this novel glow. More than a love story, it takes us on a quest as much spiritual as physical, exploring the very essence of love's ageless and transformative power.
It opens to a spring day, when a middle-aged doctor named Dao-sheng leaves the mountaintop Taoist monastery where he has been living and sets out for the Region of the South, to the city he had once visited thirty years earlier and where his life had been irrevocably changed. He had then been a strapping but poor young musician traveling with theater troupe. One evening, during a performance, he caught the eye of well-born young woman named Lan-ying. Their contact lasted but a minute, but to them it felt like an eternity. For this act of audacity he was banished to hard labor by the girl's jealous fiancée, the dissipated scion of a powerful family, who had witnessed their exchange and grasped its significance. Across the decades of a life spent either on the run or hiding out in monasteries, where he mastered medicine and divination, Dao-sheng never forgot Lan-ying. One exchange of glances had sealed something forever, something whose enduring power would decide their fates.
Written with radiant simplicity and wisdom, simultaneously heartbreaking and heart-warming, Green Mountain, White Cloud is a suspenseful tale of passion and revenge set against the backdrop of a great empire's last days. François Cheng gives us star-crossed lovers whose rekindled passion makes the pages of this novel glow. More than a love story, it takes us on a quest as much spiritual as physical, exploring the very essence of love's ageless and transformative power.
Hardcover
First published January 4, 2002
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674 people want to read
About the author
François Cheng
78 books78 followersFrançois Cheng is a French academician, writer, poet and calligrapher. He is the author of essays, novels, collections of poetry and books on art written in the French language, and the translator of some of the great French poets into Chinese.
Born in China and taking French citizenship in 1973, he was elected to the Académie française in 2002, and was the first person of Asian origin to be a member of the Academy. He was the winner of the 1998 Prix Femina for Le Dit de Tianyi ("The saying of Tianyi")
When Cheng arrived in France in 1948, on a study grant, he did not speak a word of the language. He subsequently adapted quickly and profoundly. In his speech to the Académie française, he explained, "I became a Frenchman in law, mind and heart more than thirty years ago [...] especially from that moment when I resolutely went over to the French language, making it the weapon, or the soul, of my creative work. This language, how can I say everything that I owe to it? It is so intimately bound up with the way I live and my inner life that it has proved to be the emblem of my destiny." It took many years before he became a novelist. His first works were on Chinese poetry and painting. Later he began to write works of poetry himself, before finally turning to the writing of novels.
Born in China and taking French citizenship in 1973, he was elected to the Académie française in 2002, and was the first person of Asian origin to be a member of the Academy. He was the winner of the 1998 Prix Femina for Le Dit de Tianyi ("The saying of Tianyi")
When Cheng arrived in France in 1948, on a study grant, he did not speak a word of the language. He subsequently adapted quickly and profoundly. In his speech to the Académie française, he explained, "I became a Frenchman in law, mind and heart more than thirty years ago [...] especially from that moment when I resolutely went over to the French language, making it the weapon, or the soul, of my creative work. This language, how can I say everything that I owe to it? It is so intimately bound up with the way I live and my inner life that it has proved to be the emblem of my destiny." It took many years before he became a novelist. His first works were on Chinese poetry and painting. Later he began to write works of poetry himself, before finally turning to the writing of novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
March 17, 2014
i will write a full review at some point, but i'm really at a loss of time and can only scramble up a few words:
i generally dislike love stories. not because of their cheesy value, but because the ones that appear in books are not realistic. now, i know that some could argue with me that based on that reason, i shouldn't read fantasy anymore, but that's not how i see it. love stories are 60% wrongly depicted in literature, in my opinion. the best ones that i have seen are the dramatic kind, the sacrifice type of love that adorned the 19th and 20th centuries, because love was somewhat of an illegal subject .
nonetheless, this wasn't one of those works. i genuinely liked the characters, their love story seemed plausible and the writing itself was worth three stars to say the least.
once again, i was pleased with the translation done on it, as it was especially expressive in dialogue and you rarely find that anymore.
a pleasant surprise, really, and i'm glad i was given it.
i generally dislike love stories. not because of their cheesy value, but because the ones that appear in books are not realistic. now, i know that some could argue with me that based on that reason, i shouldn't read fantasy anymore, but that's not how i see it. love stories are 60% wrongly depicted in literature, in my opinion. the best ones that i have seen are the dramatic kind, the sacrifice type of love that adorned the 19th and 20th centuries, because love was somewhat of an illegal subject .
nonetheless, this wasn't one of those works. i genuinely liked the characters, their love story seemed plausible and the writing itself was worth three stars to say the least.
once again, i was pleased with the translation done on it, as it was especially expressive in dialogue and you rarely find that anymore.
a pleasant surprise, really, and i'm glad i was given it.
Read
April 2, 2022Très contemplatif, des fois trop à mon goût. Mais la relation entre le personnage principal et son amoureuse est précieuse. 🥺 Il y a aussi des discussions sur l’amour et Dieu entre Dao-sheng et un étranger (un Américain). Elles sont assez drôles, tout en étant intéressantes.
December 19, 2012
I picked up the French version of this in Paris. Written by a Chinese man who was a member of l'academie Francais about love in Ming China it sounded lovely. I got about half way through the French book and then stopped reading it as I had to do uni prep, and then discovered that SOAS had the English translation. I thought I'd read the first half of the English translation to remind myself what happened and then go back to the French and read the rest. What actually happened was I sat down last night and read the whole thing cover to cover!!! Everything was so lovely! I was already appreciating the story from the French version, but it was so touching and so beautiful. It's like a novel set in Chinese poetry. There are unpleasant things, like rape, kidnappings, and being sold into prostitution but it is such a beautiful portrayal of love and longing. I absolutely devoured it. The only part I wasn't sure about was the Jesuits showing up and their discussion of christian love linking in with the true love of Dao Sheng but even that was ok. A wonderful read, the English translation is very good, though if you can read the French I'd of course recommend that. I'm now going back and reading the rest in French
October 20, 2025
Une très belle histoire très bien écrite 🌸
July 26, 2025
Très beau livre dans si belle écriture !
February 6, 2017
Sigh I wish my French were better!!! I can read wonderfully scholarly books on Taoism but struggle so much with novels! I tried to read this several years ago and gave up and read the English translation. (Which was WONDERFUL) I thought as I'd been reading lots more French this years I'd have an easier time with this now but still couldn't manage it! The was a beautiful story and lovely prose, even in translation but I'd much prefer to be able to read the original. Having to rethink my French reading again to actually start improving.
December 30, 2017
Je ne serais certainement pas partie chercher ce roman toute seule. On me l'a conseillé, je l'ai lu.
Certes, lire François Cheng, c'est se laisser porter par les mots, par des descriptions si poétiques qu'on voit les mots dessiner les images entre les pages. Je suis admirative de son travail avec la langue, de la puissance qui se dessine alors que le tout forme un roman d'une délicatesse presque aérienne.
Pourtant, cette histoire d'amour m'a ennuyée. J'ai savouré le texte mais j'ai vite délaissé l'histoire.
Certes, lire François Cheng, c'est se laisser porter par les mots, par des descriptions si poétiques qu'on voit les mots dessiner les images entre les pages. Je suis admirative de son travail avec la langue, de la puissance qui se dessine alors que le tout forme un roman d'une délicatesse presque aérienne.
Pourtant, cette histoire d'amour m'a ennuyée. J'ai savouré le texte mais j'ai vite délaissé l'histoire.
August 19, 2017
Arghhhh.... I hate saying this, but reading this book wasn't a pleasure at all.
I did not get into the story, i tried... hell yeah i tried !! But nothing...
So the storyline is great, the characters are really interesting, but I still wait for the spark...
I recommend it anyway !
I did not get into the story, i tried... hell yeah i tried !! But nothing...
So the storyline is great, the characters are really interesting, but I still wait for the spark...
I recommend it anyway !
June 26, 2024
Green Cloud, White Mountain was written by Francois Cheng. A legendary French writer, he is the first person of Chinese origin to be invited into the French Academy of Arts (He came to French as a young adult). Written in French, this Ming dynasty love story would have been pretty dull were it not very the long philosophical asides (It was written in French after all), lyrical sentences and wildly shifting points of views—even within a page. If we had been stuck inside one protagonist’s head, walking around feeling everything he felt, the story would have been really reduced to a basic love story—but in Cheng’s meandering hands we have a profound meditation on Chinese poetry and religion.
For those interested, Cheng wrote the famous biography of the Chinese painter Shitao which was one of the books that really changed the course of my life when I was young. Empty and Full: the Language of Chinese Painting Empty and Full: the Language of Chinese Painting
He also wrote The Way of Beauty: Five Meditations for Spiritual Transformation and Chinese Poetic Writing (Calligrams)— these three are all books I specifically chose to bring with me on this residency. Green Mountain is the first novel I have read by Cheng and I want to read his other one The River Below.
For those interested, Cheng wrote the famous biography of the Chinese painter Shitao which was one of the books that really changed the course of my life when I was young. Empty and Full: the Language of Chinese Painting Empty and Full: the Language of Chinese Painting
He also wrote The Way of Beauty: Five Meditations for Spiritual Transformation and Chinese Poetic Writing (Calligrams)— these three are all books I specifically chose to bring with me on this residency. Green Mountain is the first novel I have read by Cheng and I want to read his other one The River Below.
July 30, 2020
Als junger Mann hat Dao-sheng, damals Musiker, auf einem Fest Lan-ying, die hübsche Tochter einer reichen Familie, kennengelernt und sich augenblicklich in sie verliebt. Doch das Fest endete nach einer Schlägerei tragisch für ihn - er wurde in ein Straflager geschafft.
Ihm gelang die Flucht in ein taoistisches Kloster, wo er die chinesische Heilkunst erlernte und sich als Arzt einen Namen machte. Doch 30 Jahre nach der Begegnung mit Lan-ying treibt es ihn in die Stadt, wo er seine Dienste als Wanderarzt und Wahrsager anbietet.
Unverhofft kommt es zu einem Wiedersehen mit Lan-ying, die mittlerweile mit einem Mann verheiratet ist, den sie nicht liebt, und schon Schweres durchmachen musste. Sie ist vor Erschöpfung und Unglück krank geworden, Dao-sheng soll ihr nun helfen.
Obwohl die gesellschaftlichen Konventionen es eigentlich nicht erlauben, entspinnt sich zwischen den beiden eine ganz zarte Liebesgeschichte, die Francois Cheng wunderschön in poetischen Bildern aus der Sicht von Dao-sheng erzählt.
Ihm gelang die Flucht in ein taoistisches Kloster, wo er die chinesische Heilkunst erlernte und sich als Arzt einen Namen machte. Doch 30 Jahre nach der Begegnung mit Lan-ying treibt es ihn in die Stadt, wo er seine Dienste als Wanderarzt und Wahrsager anbietet.
Unverhofft kommt es zu einem Wiedersehen mit Lan-ying, die mittlerweile mit einem Mann verheiratet ist, den sie nicht liebt, und schon Schweres durchmachen musste. Sie ist vor Erschöpfung und Unglück krank geworden, Dao-sheng soll ihr nun helfen.
Obwohl die gesellschaftlichen Konventionen es eigentlich nicht erlauben, entspinnt sich zwischen den beiden eine ganz zarte Liebesgeschichte, die Francois Cheng wunderschön in poetischen Bildern aus der Sicht von Dao-sheng erzählt.
November 19, 2008
This is a very beautiful and delicate novel about the enduring power of love, in all its forms. A mature healer monk gets to finally live the love of his life, now a forlorn wife, when he is called upon to take care of her health. They had met once and had felt the immediate burn of love in that one defining moment of their youth. Their love will unfold and bloom in eternity, which will be their time and place.
While Cheng celebrates the couple's mystical union, he creates a counterpoint to the story that declines the very same mystical union, this time of a man and his god, as depicted through the arrival of Jesuits in China.
This is a masterfully crafted novel, full of a profound understanding of man's relationship to loving as an active principle and a path to fullfilment. Francois Cheng is a master craftsman who excels in his nuanced approach to the depiction of the human heart.
While Cheng celebrates the couple's mystical union, he creates a counterpoint to the story that declines the very same mystical union, this time of a man and his god, as depicted through the arrival of Jesuits in China.
This is a masterfully crafted novel, full of a profound understanding of man's relationship to loving as an active principle and a path to fullfilment. Francois Cheng is a master craftsman who excels in his nuanced approach to the depiction of the human heart.
September 2, 2020
Probablement un des plus merveilleux livres de ma vie.
L écriture est un délice .
Francois Chemg est un incroyable artiste, avec très peu de mots il nous fait ressentir tant de choses.
Le livre est à la fois apaisant et exaltant
Je suis complètement abasourdi
L écriture est un délice .
Francois Chemg est un incroyable artiste, avec très peu de mots il nous fait ressentir tant de choses.
Le livre est à la fois apaisant et exaltant
Je suis complètement abasourdi
October 27, 2024
Une belle écriture, quelle poésie. C'est philosophique, ça fait cogiter, c'est ce que j'adore.
Deux passages que je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de copier pour me rappeler:
1)
Un immense désir charnel s'empare de Dao-Sheng, l'allume, l'embrase. Son corps se gonfle, se dilate, s'ouvre au corps rêvé qui se donne à mesure. Il fouille ce corps attendri jusqu'aux os, le pénètre par toutes les failles, se fond en lui, l'entraîne à se fondre dans la mémoire extatique de la laiteuse Origine.
2)
La beauté est fragile à ses dépenses dépens. Elle advient sur la crête de l'instant. La moindre négligence, et elle s'évanouit. Étant donné d'éléments extérieurs, brutaux, cruels, qui viennent l'étouffer. Qu'arrive-t-il lorsqu'on n'est plus {en présence} ? La beauté subsiste-t-elle lorsqu'on ne peut plus le savoir et qu'en est-il de l'amour qui lui est si proche et si lié comme la beauté, l'amour et rencontre qu'arriverait-il si l'amour était privé de la présence.
Deux passages que je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de copier pour me rappeler:
1)
Un immense désir charnel s'empare de Dao-Sheng, l'allume, l'embrase. Son corps se gonfle, se dilate, s'ouvre au corps rêvé qui se donne à mesure. Il fouille ce corps attendri jusqu'aux os, le pénètre par toutes les failles, se fond en lui, l'entraîne à se fondre dans la mémoire extatique de la laiteuse Origine.
2)
La beauté est fragile à ses dépenses dépens. Elle advient sur la crête de l'instant. La moindre négligence, et elle s'évanouit. Étant donné d'éléments extérieurs, brutaux, cruels, qui viennent l'étouffer. Qu'arrive-t-il lorsqu'on n'est plus {en présence} ? La beauté subsiste-t-elle lorsqu'on ne peut plus le savoir et qu'en est-il de l'amour qui lui est si proche et si lié comme la beauté, l'amour et rencontre qu'arriverait-il si l'amour était privé de la présence.
June 16, 2021
Envolveu-me o ritmo, a mentalidade tauísta que nos envolve e transporta para outro tempo, um tempo sem pressa. Bem escrito, profundo, apaixonante. “A verdade é que as meditações lhe tinham dado a clara consciência de que viera ao mundo para conhecer e para cumprir aquilo que o obsidiava. Acontecesse o que acontecesse, aquela paixão que lhe vinha germinando no coração já era impossível de erradicar; nada podia já impedir que ela vivesse até consumar o seu destino.” “-Desta vez será a nona vez que vos apresentais ao exame para mandarim, não é verdade? - Assim é. - Se voltardes a reprovar, achareis que falhastes na vida? - Assim é. Foram os sábios que afirmaram: o homem digno desse nome tem de servir; tem de participar em terceiro lugar na obra do Céu e da Terra. No que me diz respeito, a minha maneira de servir será pela minha função é pelos meus escritos.”
May 5, 2024
The story of an everlasting love that began with a glance and would transcend time, tragedy, brutality and loneliness. Such a beautifully written book. So much so that I read it all in a single sitting. I love this so much and knew that it would appeal to my father and so I purchased him a copy. He did the same - read it in a single sitting. It is a love that is warm, encompassing and purely emotional, not physically realized. So bear this in mind when you are thinking about purchasing this book. I have read this book twice since the first time. The last time I read it out loud to my husband. It will always be part of my collection.
July 26, 2021
Because of the mountain, the mist from the sea must stay, rising imperceptibly upward while it waits. Because of the mist, the mountain stays green, using the mist to create and extend life.
One embraces the other, just as the existence of Dao-sheng embraces Lan-Ying, while her existence wraps itself around and caresses Dao-Sheng, giving his life meaning.
This novel, part immersion into life during the Ming Dynasty and part transcendent poetry, rests softly on the soul, providing hope.
One embraces the other, just as the existence of Dao-sheng embraces Lan-Ying, while her existence wraps itself around and caresses Dao-Sheng, giving his life meaning.
This novel, part immersion into life during the Ming Dynasty and part transcendent poetry, rests softly on the soul, providing hope.
February 3, 2023
Delicadísimo libro que muestra la paciencia y el amor de sus personajes hasta unos niveles insospechados.
En el siglo XVII de una China que empieza a recibir misioneros cristianos de Occidente, un monje taoísta con dudas y una señora aristócrata con un pésimo marido se encuentran. A partir de ahí una profunda relación de cariño, amor, respeto y espera comenzará hasta llegar a unos límites casi sobrenaturales.
En el siglo XVII de una China que empieza a recibir misioneros cristianos de Occidente, un monje taoísta con dudas y una señora aristócrata con un pésimo marido se encuentran. A partir de ahí una profunda relación de cariño, amor, respeto y espera comenzará hasta llegar a unos límites casi sobrenaturales.
May 12, 2022
Cerré el libro y lloré. Lloré por todas las cosas que en el mundo de hoy parecen inservibles y que en este libro estan tratadas como necesarias para la vida. Quererse, crecer, entender los tiempos, entender el amor en todas sus formas y poder vivir una vida individual aún cuando a veces se es de a dos.
January 17, 2019
Quoi ? Il n'y a que 5 étoiles ? J'en aurai mis 8... j'ai lu et relu ce livres à plusieurs années d'intervalle et j'ai toujours cette même émotion et ce goût amer quand je l'ai fini (déjà?)... Belle histoire d'amour en Chine. Merveilleusement écrite. Un délice
.
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May 26, 2023
3.5 Gli avrei dato anche 4 stelle se non fosse per i monologhi del protagonista sulla sua amata che, ad una certa, anche basta. Il picco, verso il basso, in una delle scene finali quando lei gli appare annunciandogli la sua morte.
April 2, 2025
3,5⭐️
J’ai beaucoup aimé l’histoire que ce soit l’aspect romantique ou philosophique/spirituel, par contre a certains moments c’etait assez vide, un peu mou.
L’histoire en elle meme elle est super, j’adore la poesie de l’histoire mais la fin m’a un peu decue 😖
J’ai beaucoup aimé l’histoire que ce soit l’aspect romantique ou philosophique/spirituel, par contre a certains moments c’etait assez vide, un peu mou.
L’histoire en elle meme elle est super, j’adore la poesie de l’histoire mais la fin m’a un peu decue 😖
April 23, 2019
Quelle plume magnifique ! Qui ne voudrait vivre une telle histoire d'amour ?
August 2, 2021
Dos livros mais bonitos que já li
January 23, 2022
Un très bon roman d'amour plein de poésie, une passion éternelle, loin des passions charnelles, plutôt spirituelles
July 9, 2022
A beautiful tale from another time, presenting a love story through time and war. Philosophical topic writing in a clear and easy way.
February 10, 2023
« par delà rochers pourris et océans a sec »
« plus durable que ciel-terre »
« plus durable que ciel-terre »
July 20, 2023
Une merveille, un chef d’œuvre 🤗
May 26, 2024
Une jolie histoire, bien écrite.
December 24, 2024
On y retrouve le style poétique de la littérature chinoise, le sens du détail, le temps long... C'était une lecture agréable mais je n'ai pas été subjuguée par le style ni l'histoire.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews