In the spring of 2006, Bill Porter traveled through the heart of China, from Beijing to Hong Kong, on a pilgrimage to sites associated with the first six patriarchs of Zen. Zen Baggage is an account of that journey. He weaves together historical background, interviews with Zen masters, and translations of the earliest known records of Zen, along with personal vignettes. Porter’s account captures the transformations taking place at religious centers in China but also the abiding legacy they have somehow managed to preserve. Porter brings wisdom and humor to every situation, whether visiting ancient caves containing the most complete collection of Buddhist texts ever uncovered, enduring a six-hour Buddhist ceremony, searching in vain for the ghost in his room, waking up the monk in charge of martial arts at Shaolin Temple, or meeting the abbess of China’s first Zen nunnery. Porter’s previously published Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits has become recommended reading at Zen centers and universities throughout America and even in China (in its Chinese translation), and Zen Baggage is sure to follow suit.

比爾•波特，美國當代著名漢學傢、翻譯傢。他將大量的中國古代佛教典籍翻譯成英文，在歐美引起瞭極大的反響。他曾經以“赤鬆”的筆名翻譯齣版《寒山詩集》《石屋山居詩集》《菩提達摩禪法》等英文著作。從1972年起，他一直生活在中國颱灣和香港地區，經常在中國大陸旅行，寫瞭大量介紹中國風土人文的作品。他的關於中國隱者的作品《空榖幽蘭》在美國一經齣版，即在歐美各國掀起瞭一股學習中國傳統文化的熱潮。2007年《空榖幽蘭》中文新版推齣後，受到國內讀者的熱烈歡迎，一版再版，暢銷至今。