Básně z Ledové hory

The legendary Chinese poet, hermit and practitioner of Chan lived in the 7th or 8th century during the Tang Dynasty. Later he was revered as a Buddhist saint, and the Taoists considered him one of their immortals. His life and work also inspired Japanese Zen and 20th century beatniks in the USA and Europe. Translated and annotated by Alena Bláhová and Olga Lomová, who also wrote the foreword.

Chan Shan was a Chinese sage who was getting fed up with the big city and the whole world, so he suddenly gave up and went into the mountains... and the only person he was friends with was the Zen fool Sh'Te, a big joker whose job was to sweep the monastery with a rice broom. Sh'Te was also a poet, but he usually didn't write it down. From time to time, Chan-Shan would come down from Cold Mountain, dressed in bark clothes, go to the warm kitchen and wait to get some food, but none of the monks ever gave him any because he didn't want to join the order and be called by the bell to meditate three times a day.

Czech edition