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Zen, Chinese Hermits, Translating the Sutras
- every3rdthought
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11 years 9 months ago #17408
by every3rdthought
Zen, Chinese Hermits, Translating the Sutras was created by every3rdthought
Interesting article about Red Pine (Bill Porter), who's done my favourite translations (from the Chinese) of various major Mahayana sutras (Heart, Diamond, Platform, Lankavatara) and also written a couple of travel books about China, particularly religious hermits, and Chinese Ch'an/Zen. Apparently he now has a huge Chinese following.
For Porter, it all started several years ago, when he was visiting the Monastery of the Cypress Grove (Bailinsi) in Beijing to research Zen Baggage. He happened to meet Tang Xiaoming, the manager of Beijing Reader Publishing, a private press dedicated mostly to business topics. Like many entrepreneurs, Tang was developing an interest in religion and was fascinated to hear that Porter had found hermits in China’s Zhongnan Mountains—a range south of Xi’an long famous as a home for recluses seeking enlightenment. In fact, Porter’s book had been published in China in 2001—as Secluded Orchids in a Deserted Valley (空谷幽兰), a poetic reference to people of noble character—but had only sold a few thousand copies. Tang thought that it had been poorly marketed.
“I knew it would work if people realized what he had found,” Tang told me. “It seemed like the time was ripe.”
The book, which Tang re-released in 2009 under the same title, became a sensation in China, selling 100,000 copies and spurring interest in hermits and other traditions that many Chinese assumed had vanished. The book launched hermit tourism and turned Porter into a celebrity, with his own page on Baidu Baike, China’s version of Wikipedia.
www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/may/2...bill-porter-beijing/
For Porter, it all started several years ago, when he was visiting the Monastery of the Cypress Grove (Bailinsi) in Beijing to research Zen Baggage. He happened to meet Tang Xiaoming, the manager of Beijing Reader Publishing, a private press dedicated mostly to business topics. Like many entrepreneurs, Tang was developing an interest in religion and was fascinated to hear that Porter had found hermits in China’s Zhongnan Mountains—a range south of Xi’an long famous as a home for recluses seeking enlightenment. In fact, Porter’s book had been published in China in 2001—as Secluded Orchids in a Deserted Valley (空谷幽兰), a poetic reference to people of noble character—but had only sold a few thousand copies. Tang thought that it had been poorly marketed.
“I knew it would work if people realized what he had found,” Tang told me. “It seemed like the time was ripe.”
The book, which Tang re-released in 2009 under the same title, became a sensation in China, selling 100,000 copies and spurring interest in hermits and other traditions that many Chinese assumed had vanished. The book launched hermit tourism and turned Porter into a celebrity, with his own page on Baidu Baike, China’s version of Wikipedia.
www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/may/2...bill-porter-beijing/