Vicus Lusorum

05/02/2022

Free on Kindle for 3 days only: “In Praise of Solitude: Two Japanese Classics on Reclusion.” Thanks for leaving a review if you like the book. #池亭記 #方丈記 #英和対訳
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QYQ842F

In Praise of Solitude: Two Japanese Classics on Reclusion. Chiteiki by Yoshishige no Yasutane, and Hōjōki by Kamo no Chōmei

03/02/2022

Chiteiki: “In my dotage, I made a small home. But when I appraise it in light of my needs, it is truly indulgent. I fear the judgment of Heaven from above and feel self-conscious in the eyes of people below. It’s like I’ve built an inn for a traveler or a cocoon for an old silkworm. Just how long will I reside here?”

Hōjōki: “When I had reached the age of sixty / —and the dew of life had disappeared— / I built a hut to be my final refuge. Like a woodsman / Building a boorish shelter / Or an old silkworm / Spinning his last cocoon… The Buddha taught non-attachment. And yet, the way I love my grass hut / That itself is attachment.”

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645393223

01/02/2022

Chiteiki (982): “[T]here are the vulnerable who live in the shadows of the mighty. Although their roofs are damaged and walls crumbling, they dare not re-thatch or repair. They cannot voice their joy when merry or cry out in anguish when overcome by sorrow. Filled with trepidation when coming or going, their hearts are never at peace. They are like sparrows in the presence of a hawk or falcon.”

Hōjōki (c. 1213): “The lowly man who lives in the shadow of the powerful: He cannot rejoice when glad / Or cry out when overcome by sorrow. He is like a sparrow near the nest of a hawk: Always anxious / Always trembling.”
Illustration by Reggie Jackson
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645393223

In Praise of Solitude: Two Japanese Classics on Reclusion. Chiteiki by Yoshishige no Yasutane, and Hōjōki by Kamo no Chōmei

28/01/2022

I’m thrilled to announce the release of _In Praise of Solitude: Two Japanese Classics on Reclusion_.

It is a collection of classic works of Japanese recluse writing from the 10th and 13th centuries. The first, Chiteiki (982), is the memoir of Yoshishige no Yasutane, a mid-level civil servant, deeply disillusioned by the urban decay of the imperial capital. Intent upon simulating the eremitic life, he builds a walled residence in the city’s south. Inside, he indulges romantic notions about a life apart, lost in the pleasures of literature and religious devotion. The second work, Hōjōki (c. 1213), is Kamo no Chōmei’s personal account of a life-long journey toward increasingly remote modes of living. This masterpiece of Japanese renunciate writing exemplifies a medieval Japanese ethos colored by a pervasive mindfulness about the evanescence of existence.

These all-new translations are accompanied by the primary Japanese source texts, detailed scholarly annotations, original maps, and powerful illustrations by Reginald Jackson.
Please check out the website at https://www.vicuslusorum.com/solitude
#方丈記 #池亭記 #英和対訳

01/01/2022

New year, new edition. The third edition of Hojoki: A Hermit's Hut as Metaphor is now available. Improved layout and typography, with several minor corrections!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645393207

Hōjōki: A Hermit's Hut as Metaphor

19/09/2021

19/09/2021