Like many young, striving Buddhists and/or poets I first encountered Red Pine (aka Bill Porter) through his seminal translations and commentaries of the Chinese Buddhist poets Cold Mountain (The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain—1983 edition) and Stonehouse (The Zen Works of Stonehouse: Poems and Talks of a 14th Century Chinese Hermit—1997 edition). I later met Bill in person when I was studying at Zen Mountain Monastery and he was teaching a seminar on the Heart Sutra; we had a mutual friend and struck up a conversation that continues to this day.
I caught up with Red Pine in a tea house in his home town of Port Townsend, WA; he was just wrapping up his 60th publication, a biography of poet and statesman Su Dongpo (the most famous figure in Chinese history). We spoke about his two literary personas: Red Pine and Bill Porter. One is more predominantly known in the West (Red Pine) and one (Bill Porter) is substantially more known (to millions) in China—where Bill Porter (author of travel and pilgrimage books—most famously Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits) is recognized in airports and on the street, and perhaps surprisingly (for us in the West), counts books sales in the millions, instead of in the hundreds and at most thousands here in North America.
This interview focuses on Red Pine’s new work, his legacy, his approach to translation, the differences between the translation of Chinese poetry and Chinese Buddhist texts and finding what he calls the “linchpin” (in each Buddhist and Taoist sutra) upon which the “universe of translation” comes alive. For more detailed information on Bill Porter’s unique and fascinating life, I recommend the recent documentary Dancing with the Dead: Red Pine and the Art of Translation by Ward Serrill.
This interview was conducted over a period of two days. It was edited for length and continuity.
JOHN KAIN
John Kain is the author of A Rare and Precious Thing: The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Studying with a Spiritual Teacher (Bell Tower/Random House). He has numerous articles published in various magazines, including Yoga Journal, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Spirituality and Health, Conscious Living and Lion’s Roar. He lived in and practiced at Zen Mountain Monastery in the Catskills for many years; studying with Zen Master John Daido Loori. He now splits his time between the Olympic Peninsula and Japan.