Little is known of Han Shan, not even his given
name.While his poetry is well known and widely
available, his life is shrouded in mystery. The poet
was a Zen Buddhist recluse who lived in the Tientai
(T’ien-t’ai) Mountains of Danxing (Tang-hsing),
China, during the Tang dynasty (618–907); his
name means, literally, “The Master of Cold Mountain.”
Han Shan lived on Cold Mountain with his
friend, Shi De (Shih-te). Known for their lighthearted
manner, the two men were immortalized
in later pictures showing them laughing heartily.
Han Shan’s poetry was introduced to China by a
Tang government official, Lu Jiuyin (Lu Chiu-Yin),
who met the poet while visiting the local Buddhist
temple. Han Shan wrote more than 300 poems,
which he inscribed onto trees, rocks, and walls. Lu
Jiuyin took it upon himself to copy these poems,
along with a few poems by Shi De, and collect them
in a single volume, collectively known as Hanshan
poetry.
Han Shan’s poetry is deeply religious. He wrote
mainly on Buddhist and Taoist themes, specifically
enlightenment, in simple, colloquial language,
using conventional Chinese rhyming schemes
within the five-character, eight-line verse form.Although
his poetry was not groundbreaking, the
imagery and spirit of his poems in creating what
scholar Burton Watson has called “a landscape of
the mind” and his ability to express Buddhist ideals
have given Han Shan a place among the finest of
Chinese poets.
English Versions of Works by Han Shan
Cold Mountain: 100 Poems by the T’ang Poet Han-
Shan. Translated by Burton Watson. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1970.
The Poetry of Han-Shan. Translated by Robert Hendricks.
Albany: State University of New York Press,
1990.