Canglang's Remarks on Poetry likens writing poetry to Chan Buddhism, and it influenced many later poets.
Tips
history
严羽, active in the early 13th century, wrote under the literary name 沧浪. The book's five sections argue that poetry depends on 妙悟 'wondrous awakening', as in Chan, and hold up the poets of the High Tang as the model to follow.
culture
The idiom 一知半解 'half-knowledge' comes from its section on poetic discernment, which sets thorough awakening against an awakening that understands only half.
