Vegetable Roots Discourse: Wisdom from Ming China on Life and Living

248 Pages·2007·19.139 MB·English

by  Hong Zicheng, Robert Aitken, Daniel W.Y. Kwok

C A1G E N 1AN by H ong Zic hcng
translated and introduced by
Robert Aitken
^
with Daniel W. Y. Kwok
VEGETABLE ROOTS DISCOURSE
Wisdom from Ming China on Life and Living
$24.00 U.S.A.
M
ING CHINA (1 368-1644), a time of politi-
cal intrigue and financial upheaval, was also
a time of astounding accomplishments in art and
literature. In 1403, when Gutenberg was seven
years old, the Ming encyclopedia, Yoncfle Dadian
[Yung Lo Ta Tien) was begun. Completed five years
later, it comprised 22,937 volumes! And around
1590, when Shakespeare finished Henry VI and
Edmund Spenser published The Faerie Queen, a hun-
dred years after Columbus "discovered'' the New
World, an accomplished scholar and philosopher,
HongZicheng, retired from public life and settled
down to write an informal book—a compilation
of his thoughts on the essence of life, human
nature, and heaven and earth. He wrote other
books, now lost, but this one survived, thanks
largely-to its continuous popularity, first in China
and later in Japan and Korea. His book, Caitjentan
(Vegetable Roots Discourse), has been studied and
cherished for four hundred years.
A provocative and personal mix of Daoist,
Buddhist, and Confucian understanding, these 360
observations are direct and timely. Over his life-
time, Hong Zicheng continued the work accom-
plished across centuries in China—integrating
Confucian ideals with Daoist and Buddhist
thought. He leads us through paths as complex,
absurd, and grotesque as life itself. "In the depth
of your mind there is no storm,- everywhere are
green mountains and clear streams. In your innate
realm there is change and growth, everywhere
you see fish leaping and hawks soaring." He
rejects all things false, and instructs us in the art
continued on back flap

VEGETABLE ROOTS DISCOURSE
ALSO BY ROBERT AITKEN
The Morning Star
Zen Master Raven
Original Dwelling Place
The Dragon Who Never Sleeps
Encouraging Words
The Practice of Perfection
The Gateless Barrier
The Mind of Clover
Taking the Path of Zen
A Zen Wave
with David Steindl-Rast. The Ground We Share
ALSO BY DANIEL W. Y. KWOK
Scientism in Chinese Thought: i900—i950, published in Chinese
as Zhongguo xiandai sixiang zhong de weikexue zhuyi
Turbulent Decade by Yan Jiaqi and Gao Gao (ed. and trans.)
The Urbane Imagination
Chinese History, Thought and Culture
with Richard Smith: Cosmology, Ontology,
and Human Efficacy
VEGETABLE ROOTS
DISCOURSE
Wisdom from Ming China on Life and Living
CAICENTAN BY HONG ZICHENG
Translated by Robert Aitken
V^
y*-
with Daniel W. Y. Kwok
^
Translation copyright © 2006 by Robert Aitken and Daniel W. Y. Kwok
Foreword copyright © 2006 by Robert Aitken
Afterword copyright © 2006 by Daniel W. Y. Kwok
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission from the Publisher, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hong, Zicheng, fl. 1596.
[Cai gen tan. English]
Vegetable roots discourse : wisdom from Ming China on life
and living : The caigentan / by Hong Zicheng translated
;
by Robert Aitken with Daniel W. Y. Kwok,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN (10) 1-59376-091-4
ISBN (13) 978-1-59376-091-5
1. Conduct of life. I. Title: Caigentan. II. Aitken, Robert, 1917-
III. Kwok, D. W. Y. (Danny Wynn Ye), 1932- IV. Title.
BJ1558.C5H8525 2005
181'. 11—dc22
2005023930
Text design by Gopa & Ted2, Inc.
Cover art: The picture is adopted from the website asiawind.com with
permission of Dr. Siu-Leung Lee and Ms. Fu Yiyao.
Printed in the United States of America by Worzalla
ii
Shoemaker ■■ Hoard
An Imprint of Avalon Publishing Group, Inc.
Distributed by Publishers Group West
10987654321
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For References:
Norman Waddell, Helen Baroni, Bill Porter (Red Pine),
Jack Shoemaker
For Editing:
Jack Shoemaker, Trish Hoard, Roxanna Font,
and Norman MacAfee
For Personal Support:
Tom Aitken, Lisa Yanagi, Nelson Foster,
Michael Kieran, Ginger Ikenberry, Carolyn Glass,
Unzan T. H. Phennig, and members of the Kaimu
and Palolo Zen Center sanghas
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2017 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/vegetablerootsdiOOhong