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Hojoki : visions of a torn world

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Japan’s capital city of Kyoto was devastated by earthquake, storm, and fire in the late 12th century. Retreating from “this unkind world,” the poet and Buddhist priest Kamo-no-Chomei left the capital for the forested mountains, where he eventually constructed his famous “ten-foot-square” hut. From this solitary vantage point Chomei produced Hojoki, an extraordinary literary work that describes all he has seen of human misery and his new life of simple chores, walks, and acts of kindness. Yet at the end he questions his own sanity and the integrity of his purpose. Has he perhaps grown too attached to his detachment?

japanese title: Hojoki
notes: Japanese title: Hojoki. Illustrations by Michael Hofmann.
subjects: Buddhist monks
genre: Biography/Memoir
ISBN: 9781880656228
OCLC number: 605217366
publisher: Stone Bridge Press, 1996, 2009
publication place: Berkeley, CA, New York
japanese publication date: 1212
english publication date: 1996
document type: Book
description: 91 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
related: Rock spring collection of Japanese literature.