Unearthing proverbs, essential to life but hard to swallow
Japanese translation
Sunday, March 4, 2007
By MARIKO KATO
ZEN OF VEGETABLE ROOTS, calligraphy by Siu-Leung Lee, paintings by Fu Yi Yao, translated by Siu-Leung Lee. Yuzankaku, 2006, 254 pp., 2,800 yen (paper)
The original "Zen of Vegetable Roots" integrates the philosophy of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism in a collection of more than 750 Chinese proverbs dating from the 14th and 15th centuries.
As a guide to the art of living, the proverbs contained were considered fundamental, but hard to take -- like the title's "Vegetable Roots," which are the most nutritious parts of a plant but also have the most unpalatable textures and flavors.
As the popularity of these proverbs spread over Japan, Buddhist priests aligned them with their teachings; and more recently, they have provided the moral backbone for many businessmen and politicians. This feature has alienated the proverbs from the young modern reader despite their convincing profundity.