Bones of the Master by George Crane
Review by Dwight Huffman
This is the story of George Crane’s friendship with Ch’ang master Tsung Tsai. George, who is a former overseas correspondent and aspiring poet, begins their association by agreeing to translate a poem into English. Tsung Tsai was a monk in Mongolia in 1959 and driven out by the Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward. Tsung Tsai spends a year walking south, escaping to Hong Kong, then eventually traveling to the Catskills Mountains where he constructs his house and meets George in 1987.
Tsung Tsai is a fascinating character. He feels a deep need to return to China and bury the bones of his Master, Shiuh Deng, who was too old to flee the Chinese invasion. George wants to go along, but thinks money for the trip will be an obstacle. Tsung Tsai says: no problem, you write book, get money and we go; which is exactly how it works out.
Tsung Tsai epitomizes the mysticism of a Zen monk and at the same time is a fragile human. They travel to Mongolia to find Tsung Tsai’s original monastery and then seek out Master Shiuh Deng’s grave, all without visas and in disregard of the Chinese government. Then they travel south to Hong Kong trying to retrace Tsung Tsai’s escape route as he narrates incidences that occurred on the yearlong escape.
George Crane’s poetic side shows in his simple, short, incisive descriptions. It is a simple straight-forward read sprinkled with Crane’s interpretations of Tsung Tsai’s poems, and is consistently engaging.