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Apr 14, 2015 | ISBN 9781611801798 Buy
Apr 14, 2015 | ISBN 9780834800175 Buy
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Apr 14, 2015 | ISBN 9781611801798
Apr 14, 2015 | ISBN 9780834800175
A graphic novel portrait of the wild antics and legendary poetry of the “Laughing Pair”—Han Shan and Shih Te, two of China’s greatest poets. This is a smart, funny graphic novel exploring the life, legend, and lore of two of the greatest poets in Chinese history—Han Shan (known as “Cold Mountain”) and Shih Te—who reportedly lived during the Tang dynasty (618-906 CE). They were critics of authority (both secular and religious) and champions of social justice who left their poetry on tree trunks and rocks. They were also reportedly monastics, drunks, cave dwellers, immortals, and many other wild and wondrous things. There is much delightful uncertainty about this “Laughing Pair”—including whether or not they actually existed. What is known is that the poetry attributed to them was greatly influential in both China and Japan, and to the Beat writers in the United States during the 1950s and ’60s. Acclaimed manga creator Sean Michael Wilson has brought these renegade poets to life, showing the places they went and the philosophical and meditative aspects of their lives, as well as revealing their humor and wackiness and their penetrating insights into the human condition.Their poetry is interwoven throughout—translations by J. P. Seaton, one of the most respected tranlsators of Chinese poetry in the United States.
Here is a graphic novel portrait of the wild antics and legendary poetry of two of China’s greatest poets. Han Shan (known as “Cold Mountain”) and Shih Te lived during the Tang dynasty (618–906 C.E.) and were critics of authority (both secular and religious) and champions of social justice. They left their poetry on tree trunks and rocks, and they were also reportedly monastics, drunks, cave dwellers, immortals, and many other unconventional and wondrous things. There is much delightful uncertainty about this “Laughing Pair”—including whether or not they actually even existed. What is known is that the poetry attributed to them was hugely influential in both China and Japan, and to the Beat writers in the United States during the 1950s and ’60s.Acclaimed manga creator Sean Michael Wilson, along with illustrator Akiko Shimojima and expert translator J. P. Seaton, brings these renegade poets to life, revealing their humor and wackiness and also their penetrating insights into the human condition.
“The poetry of the manga here expresses the poetry of this pair of ‘mad men’ of Cold Mountain. Read the wise verses of Han Shan and Shih Te and, like the sage, your face will also break into a great big smile.”—Paul Gravett, author of Comics Art and editor of 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die“Overall, an excellent graphic novel about these almost mythical figures which may have very well birthed modern philosophy. The story by Wilson and Seaton is smart, funny, and engaging. The art by Shimojima is sophisticated. Altogether, it’s an elegant tome which pays tribute to the godfathers of ‘dharmic bliss.’”—Graphic Policy
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