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  • Published: 5 December 2013
  • ISBN: 9780141957876
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 254

Essays in Idleness

and Hojoki



New to Penguin Classics, these two Japanese texts are timeless reflections on Buddhism, nature and the value of being idle

These two works on life's fleeting pleasures are by Buddhist monks from medieval Japan, but each shows a different world-view. In the short memoir Hôjôki, Chômei recounts his decision to withdraw from worldly affairs and live as a hermit in a tiny hut in the mountains, contemplating the impermanence of human existence. Kenko, however, displays a fascination with more earthy matters in his collection of anecdotes, advice and observations. From ribald stories of drunken monks to aching nostalgia for the fading traditions of the Japanese court, Essays in Idleness is a constantly surprising work that ranges across the spectrum of human experience.

  • Published: 5 December 2013
  • ISBN: 9780141957876
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 254

About the authors

Yoshida Kenko

Kenko was a monk and a noted calligrapher, remembered today for his wise and witty aphorisms.

Chomei

Chomei (1155–1216), born into a family of Shinto priests, became an important poet, and at the age of fifty withdrew from the world to become a tonsured monk.