---
product_id: 8030451
title: "Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China"
brand: "david hinton"
price: "$48.39"
currency: USD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/8030451-mountain-home-the-wilderness-poetry-of-ancient-china
store_origin: US
region: United States of America
---

# Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China

**Brand:** david hinton
**Price:** $48.39
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China by david hinton
- **How much does it cost?** $48.39 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.us](https://www.desertcart.us/products/8030451-mountain-home-the-wilderness-poetry-of-ancient-china)

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## Description

Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Opaque Wonder Clunk
  

*by B***N on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 24, 2018*

I reallyreallyreally wanted to love these poems. I'm a spiritual dude who loves to wander through the hills and meditate beside streams, basking in the luminous beauty which abounds. I count Chuang Tzu as my lost grandfather and Whitman as my uncle. But I didn't love these poems. I didn't hear in them the familiar voice of my long-lost kindred. What they wrote about - yes, that was as intimate as my own hand, but how they wrote - or more accurately how Hinton translated it - was clunky and lifeless.  Before I dwell on that, I would like to pay my respects to the immense amount of work and love which this book so clearly demonstrates.Hinton is, to me, another kindred spirit. We share similar views and interests, and in many ways this collection is the culmination of that - an offering of the poetry which has been the source of much inspiration and wisdom and sheer delight for him over the years. Translation is challenging, and to do so on the scale which he's done is a testament to his love for these authors. The Introduction and the smaller intros for each writer are little pieces of art themselves which demonstrate his knowledge and intimacy with not only the material but also their worldview, one which he does not study objectively as an academic but inhabits personally as a disciple. They are beautiful and illuminating.At the back there's also Notes to the individual poems along with a section on Key Terms which helps clarify the poems, the former in their historical and cultural context and the latter in terms of their philosophical context. Again, much work and helpful in engeging more deeply with these authors and their worldviews.Because Hinton has managed to give voice to these authors and their views in a robust manner, giving us a glimpse into their world, this collection is highly commendable. Especially at this time of supreme alienation from both the natural and the spiritual world which all developed countries are confronted with, the messages contained herein are much needed.Despite this, the actual translations struck me as painful and awkward.  I enjoyed few poems in the collection at the level of poetry. I enjoyed all at the level of being able to connect to ancient figures and their lives - troubled, serene, sorrowful, conflicted.In terms of style, awkward enjambments abound.  He uses clunky phrases when simple ones would do just as well. There's little sense of lyricism or rhythm. In terms of conveying directly what the authors intended - at least as far as I could descry, he does not usually succeed. One example of this from the Li Po section shows the awkwardness of his style:Alone, searching for blue-lotus roofs, / I set out from city gates. Soon, frost / clear, East-Forest temple bells call out, / Tiger Creek’s moon bright in pale water. / Heaven’s fragrance everywhere pure / emptiness, heaven’s music endless, / I sit silent. It’s still, the entire Buddha- / realm in a hair’s-breadth, mind-depths / all bottomless clarity, in which vast / kalpas begin and end out of nowhere.Rather than filling me with a sense of mystic rapture, I feel appalled at how opaque and clunky the language is.  I feel like, perhaps, he chose to be too faithful to the Chinese and lost the heart of what was being communicated.  Many of the other poems in the Li Po section come-off as similarly clunky and lifeless, rather than exuding the vitality and playfulness for which he's so renowned. The other poets suffer a similar fate.There are some good poems in the collection and some good lines, like this one:gaze deep into wind and cloud / and you know this realm utterlyBut even this suffers from lyrical constipation.  As a point of reference for a translation which does an excellent job of conveying the spirit of the author and his words, I would suggest looking at Sky Above, Great Wind by Tanahashi.If you're looking for a doorway to these men and their lives, though, this book provides a good one, but if you're looking for a book to capture and express their poetic genius, look elsewhere.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Great introduction to classical Chinese Poetry
  

*by U***. on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 27, 2021*

Bought this because I was interested in Classical Chinese poetry and finding it myself was hit and miss.  I used it as a way to find books by the poets I liked.  I got interested in the poems by reading David Budbill, who tried to emulate their lifestyle and mentions them a lot in his own works.  If you are at all interested in this kind of poetry, this is a fine place to start.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    a spiritual gift
  

*by C***H on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 18, 2015*

These Taoist, early 5th century poems are a gift to anyone who has had an experience of what Thich Nhat Hanh calls interbeing,  and who wants to spend more time in that place where we can merge deeply into the natural world that we have disconnected ourselves from.It's for others to say if Hinson's translations are "accurate" (apparently some have criticized them for all sounding as if written by the same person).  From a spiritual or poetic point of  view it would scarcely matter if they were all written by Hinson.  They are stunningly beautiful, and we sorely need what they can evoke in us.  They open us to another way of being in the world that  allows us to be more in tune with reality, because it frees us from the limitations of our conditioned minds and loosens the tight boundaries we have erected between ourselves and the rest of creation.  Thank you, David Hinson and Mountain Home,  for creating this space for us.

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*Product available on Desertcart United States of America*
*Store origin: US*
*Last updated: 2026-02-12*