Stonehouse - The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse (English and Chinese Edition)

If youve never heard of Stonehouse, youre not alone. Not many people have, even in China, even among Buddhists, much less poets. Back in the early 1980s when I was translating the poems of Hanshan (), or Cold Mountain, one of the Chinese editions I was using was published by Taiwans Hsinwenfeng () Publishing Company, and it included the poems of two other Buddhist poets. When I got to the end of Cold Mountains poems, there was Stonehouse waiting for me. I couldnt believe my good fortune. I was captivated by his poems. And yet I couldnt find anyone in Taiwan who had heard of him. Undeterred, once I finished Cold Mountains poems, I translated Stonehouses as well.

Publishing them, though, was a problem. It was hard enough finding a publisher in America for Cold Mountain, who at least had a reputation of sorts. Trying to interest a publisher in Stonehouse was a nonstarter. I ended up publishing his Mountain Poems myself in a limited edition distributed by my friends at Empty Bowl in Port Townsend. Although that edition soon went out of print, I later combined it with Stonehouses other workshis Gathas and Zen Talksand published all three in a single volume entitled The Zen Works of Stonehouse, first with Mercury House and later with Counterpoint Press. The Mountain Poems, though, have remained my favorite, and I have thought about revising my earlier translations and bringing them out again in a separate volume. And now the same press that published my Cold Mountain translations thirty years ago has offered to do just that. So here they are, Stonehouses Mountain Poems, the same poems I translated and published back in 1986. Only now theyre better. But first, let me tell you about the poet no one knows about.

Stonehouse was born in 1272 in the town of Changshu , not far from where the Yangtze empties into the East China Sea. Nothing is known about his family or his early life, other than that his fathers surname was Wen () and his mothers surname was Liu () and that he received the traditional Confucian education for someone from a family of means. No one knows either when he started using the name Stonehouse (Shihwu, ) or why. He probably picked up the name while he was still studying to become an official. It was the name of a cave on Yushan (), just outside his hometown. Yushan was known for its pine trees, its rock formations, and its springs, in particular a spring that flowed out of a cave as big as a house. Locals still call it Stonehouse Cave. Ironically, the scenes of Yushan were among the favorite subjects of Huang Kung-wang (, 12691354), one of the great artists of the time. Huang was also born in Changshu, and his grave is still there on Yushan, not far from the cave from which Stonehouse took his name. It was not uncommon for an educated person to assume such a name. Many people took several names in the course of their careers, especially artists and poets.

Despite Stonehouses Confucian upbringing, when he was twenty, he changed tracks. He quit his studies and became a novice under the guidance of Master Yung-wei at Hsingchiao Chungfu Temple just outside Changshu. After three years, he was formally ordained and given the monastic name Ching-kung . Being a young monk, he did what many young monks did back then and still do today: he sought further instruction. One day soon after his ordination, he saw a monk walk past his door wearing a broad-brimmed straw hatthe kind travelers wore to keep the sun out of their eyes and the rain off their shoulders. The monk also had a hiking staff in his hand. When Stonehouse asked where he was going, the monk said he was going to Tienmushan to see Kao-feng Yuan-miao , a great Zen master of the time. He invited Stonehouse to join him, and the two monks journeyed there together. It wasnt far maybe a four- or five-day journey on foot, assuming they didnt shorten it by availing themselves of the Grand Canal as far as Hangchou. Kao-feng was living on the West Peak of Tienmushan, just south of Hangchou.

Following their arrival, Kao-feng asked Stonehouse why he had come. Stonehouse said, Ive come for the Dharma. Kao-feng said, The Dharma isnt so easy to find. Youll need to burn your fingers for incense. To this, Stonehouse replied, But I see the master before me with my own eyes. How could the Dharma be hidden? Kao-feng nodded his approval and suggested Stonehouse study the koan All things come back to one .

Stonehouse stayed with Kao-feng for three years, serving with diligence but without satisfying his quest for the Dharma. Stonehouse finally decided to leave and went to announce his departure. Kao-feng said, Youre still a blind donkey. But over in the Huai watershed