The Way of Ch'an: Essential Texts of the Original Tradition

by David Hinton

This sweeping collection of new translations paints a brilliant picture of the development of Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism, China’s most radical philosophical and meditative tradition.

In this landmark anthology of some two dozen translations, celebrated translator David Hinton shows how Ch'an ( Zen)—too long considered a perplexing school of Chinese Buddhism—was in truth a Buddhist-inflected form of Taoism, China's native system of spiritual philosophy. The texts in The Way of Ch’an build from seminal Taoism through the “Dark-Enigma Learning” literature and on to the most important pieces from all stages of the classical Ch’an tradition. Guided by Hinton’s accessible introductions, readers will encounter texts and authors  

Through this steadily deepening and transformative reading experience, readers will see the profound and intricate connections between native Chinese philosophy, Taoism, and Ch’an. Contemporary Zen students and practitioners will never see their tradition in the same way again.

Genres: Zen, Philosophy, China, Nonfiction, Taoism, Religion, Buddhism

352 pages, Paperback

Published July 25, 2023

About the author

David Hinton has published numerous books of poetry and essays, and many translations of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy—all informed by an abiding interest in deep ecological thinking. This widely-acclaimed work has earned Hinton a Guggenheim Fellowship, numerous fellowships from NEA and NEH, and both of the major awards given for poetry translation in the United States: the Landon Translation Award (Academy of American Poets) and the PEN American Translation Award. Most recently, Hinton received a lifetime achievement award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy, was I primed for this in so many ways. I don't think a book has impacted my thinking this much since perhaps Ehrman's How Jesus Became God, which must have been more than 10 years ago now. I'd already been contemplating starting a blog but Ch'an/Taoist thought has really provided the impetus. I'll add a link to my profile; in the first post I try to sum up a lot of what I got out of this fascinating book.

[Will Cowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of insight here if you are willing to power through, or more accurately let it wash over you. I struggle with some of the translation choices, calling authors by the English-translated names, using some relatively obtuse translations of specific terms that have been long translated in an arguably less specifically accurate but more easily grasped manner in other works. It makes for a slow, dense read that starts out feeling somewhat impenetrable (which is perhaps the point, that the teaching is an experience being words) but begins to gel as one gets further along. Invites a reread thereby, but is so dense that I’ll not come back for some time. Great explanations lead each section of translations, and the chosen examples from each text are uniformly excellent.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5