Woven deeply into the martial traditions and folklore of Japan, the feasome Tengu dwell in the country's mountain forests. Mythical half-man, half-bird creatures with long noses, Tengu have always inspired dread and awe, inhabiting a liminal world between the human and the demonic, and guarding the most hidden sectets of swordsmanship. In The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts, a translation of the 18th-centruy samurai classic by Issai Chozanshi, an anonymous swordsman journeys to the heart of Mt. Kurama, the traditional domain of these formidable beings. There he encounters a host of demons; through a series of discussions and often playful discourse, they reveal to him the very deepest principles of the martial arts, and show how the secrets of sword fighting impart the truths of life itself.

The Demon's Sermon opens with The Discourses, a collection of whimsical fables concerned with the theme of transformation-for Chozanshi a core phoenomenon to the martial artist. Though ostensible light and fancifull, these stories offer the attentive reader ideas that subvert perceived notions of conflict and the individual's relationship to the outside world. In the main body of wrok, The Sermon, Chozanshi demonstrates how transormation is fostered and nurtured through ch'i-the vital and fundamental energy that flows through all things, animate and inaimante, and the very bedreck of Chozanshi's themes and the martial arts themselves. This he does using the voice of the Tengu, as the reader is invited to eavesdrop with the swordsman on the demon's revelations of the deepest truths concerning ch'i, the principles of yin and yang, and how these forces shape our existaence. In The Dispatch, the themes are brught to an elegant conclusion using the parable of an old and toothless cat who, like the demon, has mastered the art of acting by relying on nothng, and in so doing can defeat even the wiliest and most vicious of rats despite his advanced years.

This is the first direct translation from the original text into English by William Scott Wilson, the renowned translator of Hagakure and The Book of Five Rings. It captures the tone and essence of his classic while still making it accessible and meaningful to today's reader. Choznashi's deep understanding of Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto, as well as his insight into the central role of ch'i in the universe, are all given thoughtful treatment in Wilson's introduction and extensive endnotes. A provocative book for the general reader, The Demon's Sermon wil also prove an invaluable addition to the libraries of all those interested in the fundamental principles of the martial arts, and how those principles relate to our existence.

Willliam Scott Wilson was born in 1944 and grew up in Fort Laudedale, Florida. As an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College in 1966, he was invited by a friend to join a three-month kayak trip up the coast of Japan from Shimonoseki to Tokyo. This eye-opening journey, beautifully documented in Natinal Geographic, spurred Wilson's fascination with the culture and history of Japan.

After receiving a B.A. degree in political science from Dartmouth, Wilson earned a second B.A. in Japanese language and literature from the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies in Monterey, California, then undertook extensive research on Edo-period (1603-1868) philosophy at the Aichi Prefectural University, in Nagoyia, Japan.

Wilson completed his first translation, Hagakure, while living in an old farmhouse deep in the Japanese countryside. Hagakure saw publication in 1979, the same year Wilson completed an M.A. in Japanese language and literature at the Univrsity of Washington. Two decades after its initial publication, Hagakure was prominently feature in the Jim Jarmusch film Ghost Dog. Wilson's other translations include The Book of Five Rings, The Life-Giving Sword, The Unfettered Mind, the Eiji Yoshikawa novel Taiko, The Flowerng Spirit: Classic Teachings in the Art of No, and Ideals of the Samurai, which has been used as a college textbook on Japanese history and thought. Wilson is also the author of the The Lone Samurai, a best-selling study of the life of legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.

Traveling frequently to Japan for esearach and pleasure, Wilson currently lives ini Miami, Florida.

The Demon said to the swordsman, 'Fundamentally, man's mind is not without good. It is simply that from the moment he has life, he is always being brought up with perversity. Thus, having no idea that he has gotten used to being soaked in it, he harms his self-nature and falls into evil. Human desire is the root of this perversity.'

Contents

Preface
Introduction
I The Discourses
Transformation of the sparrow and the butterfly
The owl's understanding
The seagull and the mayfly discuss the tao
Profit and loss for the bulbul and the wren
The centipede questions the snake
The skills of the heron and the crow
The toad's way of the gods
The greatest joys of the cicada and its cast-off shell
The dream of the cucumber
The ghost at the old temple
Meeting the gods of poverty in a dream
II The sermon
Preface
The demon's sermon on the martial arts
The gist
Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4
Afterword
III The Dispatch
The mysterious technique of the cat
Afterword
Endnotes
Bibliography