Keisei sanshoku (Shōbōgenzō)
Keisei sanshoku (
Title
The name keisei sanshoku is a paraphrase from the
The voices of the river valley are the [Buddha's] wide and long tongue,
The form of the mountains is nothing other than his pure body.
Through the night, eighty-four thousand verses.
On another day, how can I tell them to others?[2]
Although the title consists of only four Chinese characters (谿声山色), they have been translated into English in many different ways. While the third character (山) is always unambiguously translated as "mountain", the other three have more diverse interpretations. The second character (声) indicates either "sound" or "voice, while the final character can mean "form" or "color".[2] The many English translations of the title are listed below:[1]
| Author(s) | Title Translation | Publication Year |
|---|---|---|
| Carl Bielefeldt | Sound of the Stream, Form of the Mountain | 2013 |
| Gudō Wafu Nishijima and Chodō Cross | The Voices of the River Valley and the Form of the Mountains | 1994 |
| Kosen Nishiyama and John Stevens | The Sounds of Valley Streams, the Forms of Mountains | 1975 |
| Yuho Yokoi | Sound of a Rill and the Figure of a Mountain | 1986 |
| Thomas Cleary | Sounds of the Valley Streams, Colors of the Mountains | 1992 |
| Hubert Nearman | The Rippling of a Valley Stream, The Contour of a Mountain | 2007 |
| Kazuaki Tanahashi | Valley Sounds, Mountain Colors | 2010 |
Regardless of the particular translation, the title is ultimately
References
- ^ a b c Bielefeldt, Carl (2013), "Sound of the Stream, Form of the Mountain: Keisei Sanshoku" (PDF), Dharma Eye (31), Sotoshu Shumucho: 21–29
- ^ ISBN 1-4196-3820-3
