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Cover image for book Ikkyu: Crow With No Mouth

Ikkyu: Crow With No Mouth

15th Century Zen Master
By:Stephen Berg
Publisher:Copper Canyon Press
Print ISBN:9781556591525
eText ISBN:9781619320765
Edition:0
Format:Reflowable

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When Zen master Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481) was appointed headmaster of the great temple at Kyoto, he lasted nine days before denouncing the rampant hypocrisy he saw among the monks there. He in turn invited them to look for him in the sake parlors of the Pleasure Quarters. A Zen monk-poet-calligrapher-musician, he dared to write about the joys of erotic love, along with more traditional Zen themes. He was an eccentric and genius who dared to defy authority and despised corruption. Although he lived during times plagued by war, famine, rioting, and religious upheaval, his writing and music prevailed, influencing Japanese culture to this day.

Stephen Berg is the Editor and founder of American Poetry Review.

Also available by Stephen Berg
Steel Cricket
PB $16.00, 1-55659-075-X • CUSA
New & Selected Poems
PB $12.00, 1-55659-043-1 • CUSA

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