"Beyond the ordinary"

Author: Gu Cheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Lifelongly summoned by the brilliance of the spirit, unable to enjoy material life; constantly facing the soul, confronting the questions of life's brevity and ultimate fate, finding it hard for the body and mind to rest; possessing sudden and sustained insights into philosophy, literature, painting, and music, along with the ability to grasp them effortlessly and without formal instruction. His surviving poems, paintings, calligraphy, and manuscripts radiate a unique light, simple yet profound and rich, clear yet endlessly.
I have walked through life a thousand times. Then, there were ferns and iron plows on the mountains, books had not yet been born, and characters were still lying small and subtle in the soil. Death had not yet been born, and the pointed towers of the Middle Ages had not yet grown. This is the one thing I know. Life is blind, and ghosts are wandering; while the world is filled with "noise and confusion."
Selected Writings of Gu Cheng: A World Apart collects over seventy essays by the renowned poet Gu Cheng. From these works, one can see the poet's nature and thoughts, making it an excellent piece for understanding Gu Cheng, poetry, and the movement.