Author
Mazanec; Thomas J.
Year
2024
Publisher
Cornell University Press
Language
English
Pages
32
ISBN
978-1-50177-385-3
Last Update
20-Nov-2025
Keywords
History ; Asian Studies ; Religion ; Language & Literature
Shiseng (“poet-monk”), like any word, has a history. It emerged at a specific time and place. It is the result of myriad historical, political, and cultural forces that coalesced in southeastern China in the mid-eighth century, and its meaning shifted significantly over the following two centuries. It is best not to take it as a stable, transcendent category of literary actor.¹ Rather, it was a tool used for both the marginalization and self-justification of Buddhist monastics living during the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries who took the writing of poetry very seriously. The first three chapters of this book describe...
