The Tsure-Zure Gusa – Yoshida Kenko (1914)

S$98.00

The Tsure-Zure Gusa – Yoshida Kenko (1914)

S$98.00

Title: The Miscellany of a Japanese Priest, being a translation of Tsure-Zure Gusa

Author: Yoshida Kenko, William N. Porter (trans.), Sanki Ichikawa (intro)

Publisher: Humphrey Milford, London, 1914. Possibly the first edition.

Condition: Hardcover, no dust jacket. Very good. With 7 black-and-white woodcut illustrations. 216pp. App. 7″ by 4.5″

About the book (from Wikipedia):

Tsurezuregusa is a collection of essays written by the Japanese monk Yoshida Kenkō between 1330 and 1332. The work is widely considered a gem of medieval Japanese literature and one of the three representative works of the zuihitsu genre, along with Makura no Sōshi and the Hōjōki.

Tsurezuregusa comprises a preface and 243 passages, varying in length from a single line to a few pages. Kenkō, being a Buddhist monk, writes about Buddhist truths, and themes such as death and impermanence prevail in the work, although it also contains passages devoted to the beauty of nature as well as some accounts of humorous incidents. The original work was not divided or numbered; the division can be traced to the 17th century.