Master of the Three Ways: Reflections of a Chinese Sage on Living a Satisfying Life

Ying-ming, Hung; Wilson, William Scott; Porter, Bill

ISBN 10: 1590309936 / ISBN 13: 9781590309933

Published by Shambhala, 2012

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 9781590309933

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Master of the Three Ways: Reflections of a Chinese Sage on Living a Satisfying Life
• Publisher: Shambhala
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1590309936
• ISBN 13: 9781590309933
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

At once profound, spiritual, and witty, Master of the Three Ways is a remarkable work about human nature, the essence of life, and how to live simply and with awareness. In three hundred and fifty-seven verses, the author, Hung Ying-ming—a seventeenth-century Chinese sage—explores good and evil, honesty and deception, wisdom and foolishness, and heaven and hell. He draws from the wisdom of the “Three Creeds”—Taoism, Confucianism, and Zen Buddhism—to impress upon us that by combining simple elegance with the ordinary, we can make our lives artistic and poetic. This sense, along with a particular understanding of Zen that makes art from the simple in everyday life, has permeated Chinese and Japanese culture to this day.

The work is divided into two books. The first generally deals with the art of living in society and the second is concerned with man's solitude and contemplations of nature. These themes repeatedly spill over into each other, creating multiple levels of meaning.

About the Author

William Scott Wilson is the foremost translator into English of traditional Japanese texts on samurai culture. He received BA degrees from Dartmouth College and the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies, and an MA in Japanese literary studies from the University of Washington. His best-selling books include The Book of Five Rings, The Unfettered Mind, and The Lone Samurai, a biography of Miyamoto Musashi.