黄河之旅

by Bill Porter, 比尔·波特, 曾少立 (Translator)

《黄河之旅》是比尔·波特继《空谷幽兰》和《禅的行囊》之后再次为广大读者带来的充满文化底蕴的行走笔记。书中记录了比尔于1991年春进行的一次追寻中国母亲河——黄河源头的旅行，在这次旅行中，他探访了黄河沿岸的重要历史遗迹和自然景观。凭借着对中国文化的执著与热情和对黄河之源的强烈好奇，比尔从黄河入海口出发，战胜重重困难，最终到达了约古宗列盆地的黄河源头。

Genres: Travel, China

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2013

About the author

Bill Porter is an American author who translates under the pen-name Red Pine (Chinese: 赤松; pinyin: Chì Sōng). He is a translator and interpreter of Chinese texts, primarily Taoist and Buddhist, including poetry and Sūtras.

He also wrote books about Buddhist hermits(Road to Heaven) and his travels in China(Zen Baggage: A Pilgrimage to China; Yellow River Odyssey).

Reviews

[Dmitri · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1991 Bill Porter traveled from Shanghai to Qingdao, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Yan'an, Inner Mongolia, the Gobi Desert, Lanzhou, Xining and the source of the Yellow River. On the way he visited Confucian temples, Taoist mountains, Buddhist monasteries, Communist redoubts, and shares his impressions. He writes with humor and insight, and the journey moves forward at a good pace.

Porter is also known as Red Pine, a translator of ancient poetry and religious texts, in addition to writing these travel memoirs. In this series he uses an earlier method of Chinese transliteration that makes it difficult to recognize names now familiar in Pinyin. This is a minor distraction, and checking the internet has also helped me to confirm the places he describes.

If your interests lie in travel to China and the culture of the region, this series is worthwhile. I've seen much in eight trips, except the southeast (Fujian, Hunan and Guizhou). I hope to visit this area soon. For my purposes Bill Porter is an excellent guide. There is almost no practical information here, but for descriptions of historical and religious sites it is a great resource.

[Steve]

So I've read a few travel books in China by Bill Porter/Red Pine and I keep reading them because they're interesting, and I look up places he goes to get more photographs and information from Wikipedia. It's a great springboard for further studying the history of Buddhism, and learning about Chinese culture isn't bad. They are a bit dated, he traveled in the early 1990s. This one had more about Taoism and Confucianism in the beginning. He gets back on the silk road, and I just read that one. He tries to find hermit monks in the mountains. He travels to the south of China. He visits all the major Buddhist temples in Zen Baggage. I count up 5 travel books with this one, and there are 2 left I haven't read. I really enjoy his translations of Stonehouse and Cold Mountain and other poetry books. I'm a big fan of his travel writing and poetry translations, and I read his book on the Heart Sutra, but I can't remember much from it, maybe I'll try to reread that one again. I read his translation of a Bodhidharma book, and some other poets. I like it when I feel positive about every book I've read of an author.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bill Porter is known for his translations of Chinese poetry and religious texts, as well as his travel books, especially Road to Heaven. Yellow River Odyssey fits into the latter category and is a recounting of a journey Porter made in 1991 for a radio station in Taiwan. The aim of the trip was to track the Yellow River from its mouth to its source and it resulted in a series of radio scripts which now, more than twenty years later, have been transformed into this book.

Porter has given us a first person recounting of his journey complete with a sprinkling of photos. The narrative flows along smoothly and contains many details and images of interest. It's a good read. However, readers who are familiar with Road to Heaven will need to lower their expectations if they pick up Yellow River Odyssey.

Road to Heaven has two great advantages over its successor. First, it is not a simple travel book. It has a theme – hermits in China – which holds together the narrative from beginning to end. Second, its focus is not Bill Porter but other people: the hermits Porter sought out and interviewed. Porter's encounters with these Chinese hermits resulted in a fascinating set of personal stories and perspectives on religion and life. Those two elements – an overarching theme and other people's stories – are missing from Yellow River Odyssey. And it shows.

With that caveat, anyone interested in China is likely to find Yellow River Odyssey of interest. Times have changed since Porter took his trip up the Yellow River. But the perspective this book brings to the past and the present is definitely worth the reading journey.

[Tony Gualtieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a look at the traces of classical Chinese civilization along the length of the Huang He. The various historical sites the author visits are impeccably chosen, and his synopses are well-informed and capture something of the fascination of this culturally rich area. There is also thankfully little of the condescension towards the modern world that can mar travelogues of this sort. Unfortunately, the book felt a bit perfunctory and outside of a few descriptions and photographs it lacked the vitality of the best travel writing. There was little here that could not have been written by scholar sitting at home at his desk.

[Paul Mnich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating journey and an easy read in a better than averagely produced book. Although he describes his adventures eloquently, I would love to have seen more of Porter’s excellent photographs and in colour.

[Marla Carew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining Porter/Pine as usual, though lacking some of the textual depth of Zen Baggage and Road to Heaven. Still quite good!

[Curt]

Stopped reading after 72 pages. I was bored and I love Asian history.