Xuedou's 100 Odes to Old Cases: A Translation with Commentary

Xuedou's 100 Odes to Old Cases is recognized as the seminal discourse in Chan Buddhism, one that has exerted significant influence on the way stories of former teachers (guze) have been appreciated and appropriated for the past thousand years. In this volume, Steven Heine offers a much-needed translation of this pivotal work along with extensive background and commentary. Heine brings important perspective to a 1000-year old text that became the basis for the Blue Cliff Record, which continues to have a profound impact on the overall legacy of East Asian Buddhist intellectual history and religious literature. Xuedou's verses reflect the author's unique capacity for taming through elegance the undisciplined and deluded minds of followers struggling with self-imposed obstacles to discern reality and thereby discover inner peace. Xuedou cites multiple Chan sources, uses irregular meter to disrupt the reader's expectations, and evokes unusual allusions to Chinese lore while often interjecting personal comments or lyrical imagery that goes beyond a reliance on doctrine. Xuedou's work is timeless, informative, and extremely influential. Heine offers us a glimpse into his mind and work, as we are taken back in time to the birth of the most essential aesthetic qualities of Chan and Zen Buddhist discourse.

Table of Contents:
Preface Part I. Background Chapter One. Historical and Rhetorical Foundations of Xuedou's 100 Odes Chapter Two. On Reading the Text Part II. The Text Chapter Three. A Translation of Xuedou's 100 Odes with Interpretative Comments Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Steven Heine is Professor of Religious Studies and History and founding director of the Asian Studies Program at Florida International University. He has published three dozen monographs and edited volumes on the history and thought of Zen Buddhism in East Asia, with a special emphasis on the role of poetry in expressing Zen philosophy. Heine is the recipient of Japan's Order of the Rising Sun Award in recognition of a lifetime of service to promoting Japanese culture in the west.

Review :
Heine's book is a major contribution to our understanding of Chan and of Chinese literary achievements...This important book is abundantly endowed with what Chinese poetry critics call shenyun -marvelous resonance! Xuedou's 100 Odes to Old Cases: A Translation with Commentary, it is an autonomous text that deserves careful study. With a full translation and an insightful commentary, Steven Heine's Xuedou's 100 Odes to Old Cases provides superb access to a seminal Chan Buddhist text that gave rise to a literary and religious tradition unparalleled anywhere in the world...This important book is abundantly endowed with what Chinese poetry critics call shenyun-marvelous resonance! The book's introduction includes two masterly written chapters on the main protagonist and his work, as well as on the text itself. Chán studies scholarship at its best. [Heine's] book's introduction includes two masterly written chapters on the main protagonist and his work, as well as on the text itself. Chán studies scholarship at its best.