Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World

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Written by a recluse Buddhist priest, Kamo-no-Chomei, in the early 13th century, this work is a social chronical prompted by a series of calamities, personally observed by the author, that overtook the old capital of Kyoto. By secluding himself in the forested mountains to the east, Chomei sought escape. By eliminating desire he believed he would be spared the suffering and loss that had befallen the townspeople through starvation, fire, earthquake and typhoon. His literary witness can be read as a scathing commentary on the human condition, but at the end we find Chomei consumed with self-doubt, questioning his own sanity and the integrity of his purpose.