Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist NunsWomen played major roles in the history of Buddhist China, but given the paucity of the remaining records, their voices have all but faded. In Daughters of Emptiness, Beata Grant renders a great service by recovering and translating the enchanting verse - by turns assertive, observant, devout - of forty-eight nuns from sixteen centuries of imperial China. This selection of poems, along with the brief biographical accounts that accompany them, affords readers a glimpse into the extraordinary diversity and sometimes startling richness of these women's lives. A sample poem for this stunning collection: The sequence of seasons naturally pushes forward, Suddenly I am startled by the ending of the year. Lifting my eyes I catch sight of the winter crows, Calling mournfully as if wanting to complain. The sunlight is cold rather than gentle, Spreading over the four corners like a cloud. A cold wind blows fitfully in from the north, Its sad whistling filling courtyards and houses. Head raised, I gaze in the direction of Spring, But Spring pays no attention to me at all. Time a galloping colt glimpsed through a crack, The tap [of Death] at the door has its predestined time. How should I not know, one who has left the world, And for whom floating clouds are already familiar? In the garden there grows a rosary-plum tree: Whose sworn friendship makes it possible to endure. - Chan Master Jingnuo |
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abbess autumn bamboo Baochang became birds blossoms Blue Cliff Record breeze bright moon Buddha Buddhist Buddhist nuns Ch'an Chan Buddhist Chinese Buddhist cliffs clouds collection compiled Confucian Convent daughter death Dharma heir Dharma transmission disciples Dragon dream emperor emptiness enlightenment enter the religious extant famous female flowers halls Han-Shan Hangzhou heaven Jiangsu Province Jiaxing Jiuhua Jizong koan Lianghai lineage Linji Linji Chan master lived Longlian Lotus Lotus Sutra male meditation Miaozhan mind Ming Mingyuan shiwei Miyun Yuanwu Monastery monastic monks Mount Mount Emei Mount Heng mountain nuns Nuns in China palace pine poems poet poetry Pure Land Qing Qing yishi hui Shenyi Song spiritual Sutra Suzhou Tang dynasty teacher tonsure tradition translation trees University Verses Wan Qing yishi Wang Duanshu wind wisdom woman women worldly writings Wujin Xingche Xu biqiuni zhuan Xu Shichang young girl Zhejiang Province Zhenhua Zhiyuan Xinggang Ziyong