No-Gate Gateway: The Original Wu-Men Kuan

by David Hinton

A new translation of one of the great koan collections--by the premier translator of the Chinese classics--that reveals it to be a literary and philosophical masterwork beyond its association with Chan/Zen.A monk “A dog too has Buddha-nature, no?” And with the master’s enigmatic one-word response begins the great No-Gate Gateway (Wu-Men Kuan), ancient China’s classic foray into the inexpressible nature of mind and reality. For nearly eight hundred years, this text (also known by its Japanese name, Mumonkan) has been the most widely used koan collection in Zen Buddhism—and with its comic storytelling and wild poetry, it is also a remarkably compelling literary masterwork. In his radical new translation, David Hinton places this classic for the first time in the philosophical framework of its native China, in doing so revealing a new way of understanding Zen—in which generic “Zen perplexity” is transformed into a more approachable and earthy mystery. With the poetic abilities he has honed in his many translations, Hinton brilliantly conveys the book’s literary power, making it an irresistible reading experience capable of surprising readers into a sudden awakening that is beyond logic and explanation.

Genres: Buddhism, Zen, China, Poetry, Philosophy

167 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2018

About the author

David Hinton has published numerous books of poetry and essays, and many translations of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy—all informed by an abiding interest in deep ecological thinking. This widely-acclaimed work has earned Hinton a Guggenheim Fellowship, numerous fellowships from NEA and NEH, and both of the major awards given for poetry translation in the United States: the Landon Translation Award (Academy of American Poets) and the PEN American Translation Award. Most recently, Hinton received a lifetime achievement award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zen Koans with this depth of explanation are good for the soul.

[John Fredrickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is difficult to appraise this book. In general, I esteem Hinton's works quite highly, and find them immensely informative. For No-Gate Gateway, the difficulty is presumably the nature of the 'Chan' insights being translated. They are opaque as hell - quite difficult for (the (this!) reader to interpret, even if the translation is superb.

This is a re-read for me, the idea being that on a second reading, it may be more accessible.