Overview
This book provides a translation and critical bilingual edition on the Verse Comments on the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. The Verse Comments by Giun (1253-1333), the fifth abbot of Eiheiji temple, is an important early medieval Japanese commentary on the 60-chapter edition of the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Shobogenzo), one of the main versions of the masterwork written by Eihei Dogen (1200-1253), the founder of the Soto Zen sect in Japan who established Eiheiji in the mid-1240s.Giun's Verse Comments was one of only two commentaries of the Treasury written during the Kamakura era, with the other being a prose analysis of the 75-chapter edition, called Prose Comments on the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, often abbreviated to Distinguished Comments (Gosho). While Distinguished Comments fell into disuse rather quickly and was only revived nearly three hundred years later, the Verse Comments was circulated widely from the time of its composition and read by many Soto monks over the next couple of centuries. Offering poems and cryptic expressions that seek to capture the spiritual flavor and essential meaning of Dogen's thought as suggested in each chapter, the Verse Comments is crucial for understanding how Dogen's Treasury was received and appropriated in the religious and literary context of medieval Japan.In this book, Steven Heine's careful interpretations, historical investigations, and theoretical reflections demonstrate the significance of Giun's writings in light of the history of pre-modern and modern commentaries on Dogen's masterwork, the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye.
Full Product Details
Author: Steven Heine (Professor and Director of Asian Studies, Professor and Director of Asian Studies, Florida International University)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 23.90cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 15.20cm
Weight: 0.544kg
ISBN: 9780190941345
ISBN 10: 0190941340
Pages: 292
Publication Date: 06 October 2020
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
Steven Heine's recent monograph, Flowers Blooming on a Withered Tree, is a welcome addition to his already prolific scholarship on Dogen (1200-1253) and Zen poetry, offering an accessible, engaging, and poetic study that pursues new directions in Dogen studies...Within a relatively slim volume, Heine provides a comprehensive study on the formation of Dogen's Treasury and the significance of its commentarial tradition, along with his lively translations and insightful glosses on Giun's verses. * Christopher Byrne, Reading Religion *
Steven Heine's recent monograph, Flowers Blooming on a Withered Tree, is a welcome addition to his already prolific scholarship on Dogen (1200DS1253) and Zen poetry, offering an accessible, engaging, and poetic study that pursues new directions in Dogen studies...Within a relatively slim volume, Heine provides a comprehensive study on the formation of Dogen's Treasury and the significance of its commentarial tradition, along with his lively translations and insightful glosses on Giun's verses. -- Christopher Byrne, Reading Religion
Author Information
Steven Heine is Professor and Director of Asian Studies at Florida International University, and an expert on East Asian religions, especially the origins and spread of Zen Buddhism from China to Japan. He has published more than thirty monographs and edited volumes, including several works specializing in the life and thought of Zen master Dogen (1200-1253) such as Did Dogen Go to China? and Dogen: Textual and Historical Studies.
