Synopses & Reviews
Written by a scholar in the Ming Dynasty,
Synopsis
Written 400 years ago, by a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, The Caigentan or Vegetable Roots has been a fundamental literary guide for hundreds of years, outlining Asian philosophy. This edition, translated by Robert Aitken and Daniel W.Y. Kwok, contains 360 observations of life: its exaggerations, absurdities, grotesqueries, and falsities. Terse, humorous, witty, and timely, these Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucianist epigrams provide fundamental principles of life. Though often strict, puritan, and tough to live by, they provide the foundation for the art of living. Pocket-sized and agreeing seamlessly with the impulses of all ages, this discourse is read as a set of philosophical notions on personal development for all types.
Synopsis
Written 400 years ago by a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, one hundred years after Columbus and around the time Shakespeare completed Henry VI, accomplished scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng retired from public life and settled down to write an informal compilation of his thoughts on the essence of life, human nature, and heaven and earth. Though he wrote other books as well, only this one has survived--thanks largely to its continuous popularity, first in China and later in Japan and Korea. Entitled
Caigentan (Vegetable Roots Discourse), this book has been studied and cherished for four hundred years.
Terse, humorous, witty, and. above all, timely, this book offers a provocative and personal mix of Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian understanding. It contains 360 observations that lead us through paths as complex, absurd, and grotesque as life itself. While it has been translated into many languages, this comprehensive version will immediately become the standard edition for generations of English readers to come.