First published in 1960. Over a century ago the Chinese discovered in a sealed-up cave in the west of China a collection of manuscripts dating from the fifth century to the end of the tenth. These included many specimens of popular literature of a kind that was not previously known to exist. Although the find was made long ago, only two or three of these pieces had been translated before. Arthur Waley here translates, whole or as extracts, twenty-six pieces, making an invaluable addition to world literature.

This classic work describes shamanic figures surviving in Japan today, their initiatory dreams, ascetic practices, the supernatural beings with whom they communicate, and the geography of the other world in myth and legend.