The Five Houses of Zen

March 15, 1997
One of the foremost contemporary translators of classical Buddhist and Taoist literature, Cleary has made another valuable body of work available to Western readers with this collection of writings and teachings of some of the great Zen masters of China from the ninth and tenth centuries. The five houses of Zen that arose at that time were not actually separate schools or branches but instead represented distinctive styles of teaching carried out by certain Chinese Zen masters and perpetuated by their students. Cleary's introduction provides useful historical information on the development of Zen in China during the T'ang Dynasty (619-906). His translations shine with clarity and express the insights of these great teachers with beauty and understanding. Highly recommended for academic libraries with collections on Buddhist philosophy.--Elizabeth Salt, Otterbein Coll. Lib., Westerville, Ohio