The poems in this book were written in Chinese, in the classicshih form.1 Their authors were Japanese Zen monks whose livestogether span the years from 1278 to 1429, for Japan a time ofturmoil but also of growth. Although ten of these sixteen menvisited China, all were born and died in Japan: for all, Chinesewas an acquired tongue. Most of their very many poems, and forthat reason most of the poems translated here, are on subjectsthat have little directly to do with religion. A Buddhist monas-tery is a place that by its very existence magically enhances thewelfare of the state; it is a place where the individual is aided tostrive for enlightenment; it is simultaneously a place where menlive together hierarchically in order that they may liveharmoniously — a place therefore where restraint, obedience,and not least courtesy must govern the relationships among theinhabitants.