Yin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry of Three Daoist Women

“An epoch-making endeavor. The brilliance of the translations in Yin Mountain is breathtaking.”

“How wonderful to meet my long-lost sisters from Tang Dynasty China. They speak to me of their struggle for recognition as women, their love of the natural world, and their commitment to a spiritual path. They inspire with their courageous assertions of autonomy and their longings for connection.”

“This exquisite collection of poems is filled with beauty, surprise, the everyday, and the sublime. It is a book that will move and inspire.”

“With Yin Mountain, translators Peter Levitt and Rebecca Nie invite us into the worlds of three exceptional Tang-era Daoist women poets. Redolent with imagery and metaphor, steeped in the familiar and the strange, the poems in this collection comfort and challenge as they dance between interpenetrating dualities of mind and body, love and loss, yearning and contentment, intimacy and distance. Savor these poems—in translation and the original Chinese characters—with the guidance of Levitt and Nie’s contextualizing notes. Clouds and rain, silk and talons, dragon bells and hawk perches, wild moths and pebble friends—such things will never be the same after reading this book.”

“These beautiful translations reveal the spiritual depth of these powerful women’s poetry, and take us deep inside the mysteries of Daoism’s ancient goddess culture.”

“Yin Mountain is an easily accessible and reliable introduction to the lives and work of three enticing Daoist women poets of medieval China. These elegantly rendered poetic traces of their self-realization in the face of many of the same challenges we face today cannot but comfort and inspire.”

“There is no better way to capture the primordial essence or spirit of things than through the breath of poetry. In Yin Mountain , Levitt and Nie bring to life through poetry the goddess culture not often acknowledged in Chinese Daoism. Here, three Daoist female poets are brought into the light where all can experience the passion of yin and the love and mysticism within it. This book is truly an added gem to the existing ancient teachings of priestesses, nuns, and goddesses around the world.”

“The introduction of women poets from ancient China to Western audiences is itself an epoch-making endeavor. The brilliance of the translations in Yin Mountain and the elucidation of the background material are breathtaking.”

“Ever since Ezra Pound ‘discovered’ Chinese poetry for the English-speaking world, the strange and delicate allure of this subtle tradition has been part of our culture. These versions are lovely—in the fullest sense.”

“I always wondered what was on the other side of China’s Poetry Mountain. Now that I’ve become the guest of Daoist priestesses and courtesans, I have to ask myself whether I should let my friends know or keep this to myself.”

“While male poets of the era are well known, these women have remained virtually unread. These spiritual, sensitive, and surprising poems offer a memorable introduction to three singular women poets.”