I recently finished the Epic of Gilgamesh, and I’m starting a collection of poems by Rumi.
I’ve previously read Cold Mountain by Han Shan.
Are there any other ancient poets/poems with published work that you’d recommend?
I’m looking for things that are:
- Basically as old as possible
- Poetic/mystic
- Not Christian (or Western, Greek, or Roman).
Thanks!
Tao Te Ching by Laozi (there’s a translation by Ursula Le Guin, and many others besides) — 4th century BCE
Maybe also Art of War, by Sun Tzu (5th century BCE).
Both very influential works in Chinese philosophy and literature.
Nice! I should get a copy of the Tao Te Ching. Thank you!
After you read it, you might like this essay: https://redsails.org/maoist-and-daoist-dialectics/
It looks at the influence of Daoism and The Art of War on Mao’s dialectics, and compares this eastern development of dialectics with the branch of dialectics that evolved in the west (eg Hegel, Lenin). (Though obviously these developments weren’t fully independent.) It was a really helpful essay for me for understanding dialectics.