Because Hanshan is not just a poet, he is a poetic monk, and his poems contain the philosophy he has comprehended. It can be said that it is the spiritual sustenance of American youth. Therefore, it surpassed Du Fu and Li Bai.
Li Bai is a romantic poet, and there is no shortage of him in the West, including Shakespeare. Du Fu is a realist poet, and there is no shortage of him in the West. There are Stendhal and Balzac in the West. But there has never been anyone like Han Shan in the West. It’s just that Christians wouldn’t do such absurd things and let themselves go so freely.
From the late 1950s to the 1960s in the United States, during this period, the reason why American youths were crazy about Hanshan was because of the end of World War II. Nuclear genocide, racial segregation, and the Cold War left most American youth feeling fearful and at a loss. Christianity could not meet their needs, so a new faith was urgently needed.
Hanshan’s poems happened to be introduced to the United States by Japan. The young American generation seems to be attracted by Hanshan’s unruly appearance and philosophical poems. They have better beliefs and more outlets. To vent their escape and dissatisfaction with the current society. Therefore, Hanshan evolved into Zen Buddhism, which was admired among the Beat Generation.
Hanshan’s poems are actually not as attractive as those of Li Bai and Du Fu. However, due to the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, Hanshan is more popular abroad. If it were not for that special period, Hanshan might not necessarily be popular. respected. But it happened that Hanshan was introduced to the United States at this time. There was no way around it. The unprecedented novelty became the belief of the Beat Generation, giving the Beat Generation an outlet.