The Blue-Cliff Record, a twelfth-century collection of Zen koans, is a treasure of world religious literature. Like any such text, it operates at several levels: it is a remarkable example of classical Chinese literature and poetry, a philosophical text of profound power, and an active practice guide in use by Ch'an and Zen Buddhists all over the world.

In this innovative rendering, renowned translator David Hinton pares the Chinese original down to its earliest and most essential version--the sangha-cases (koans) and brief poetic responses (or gathas, meaning a Buddhist "sutra-poem") compiled by the great master Snow-Chute Mountain (Hsüeh Tou, 980-1052). In doing so, he brings the reader closer to the Taoist cosmological framework that lays at the foundation of the entire Ch'an tradition--revealing a whole new understanding of this seminal text.

In these one hundred classic koans, beginners will discover a strange, funny, and provocative world of quixotic exchanges and penetrating insights, and longtime koan practitioners will find themselves challenged anew by Hinton's masterful translations.