“Adventures of the Mad Monk Ji Gong”

The Drunken Wisdom of China´s Famous Chan Buddhist Monk.

Translated by John Robert Shaw

Introduction by Victoria Cass

This is the first complete English translation of a Chinese classic work that is sure to amuse and enlighten modern readers. It tells the story of the mad old Zen Buddhist monk Ji Gong, who rose from humble beginnings to become one of China´s greatest folk heroes.

Jin Gong studied at the great Lingyin Monastery, an immense temple that still ranges up the steep hills above Hangzhou. The Chan (Zen) Buddhist masters of the temple tried to instruct Ji Gong in the spartan practise of their sect, but failed. The young monk, following in the footsteps of other great ne´er do wells, distinguished himself mainly by getting drunk and being expelled. He left the monastery, became a wanderer with hardly a proper piece of clothing to wear, and achieved great renown – not in holy temples, but in seedy wine shops and drinking establishments.

This could have been where Ji Gong´s story ended. But his unorthodox style of Buddhism soon made him a hero for popular storytellers of the Song dynasty era. Audiences delighted in tales where the mad old monk ignored – or even mocked – authority, defied common sense, and never neglected the wine, yet still managed to save the day.

Ji Gong remains immensely popular in China even today, where he regularly appears as a wise old drunken fool in movies and TV shows. Ji Gong has a rogue´s knack for exposing the corrupt and criminal while pursuing the twin delights of enlightenment and intoxication.