Category: China

Hermits, a 2015 documentary film directed by Shipig He and Chengyu Zhou, follows author and translator Bill Porter’s three decades’ long journeys in search for modern Chinese hermits in the Zhongnan mountains of China. The film is based loosely on Porter’s classic book Road to Heaven, and includes some hermits who appeared in the film Amongst White Clouds.

Information about the film is scanty (Internet Movie Database IMDb lists the several film festival showings around the world) FilmFreeway includes a 4+ minute trailer and the director’s summary “13 Commandments” for hermits.

URL: https://filmfreeway.com/project/423180

A colorful overview of Chinese hermits today is presented by the View of China website. Highlights the famous Mt. Zhongnan (Mt. Chung-nan) and its long history of nurturing hermits. Discusses professional hermits, Buddhist and Daoists, as well as casual hermits who visit the mountains on weekends to meditate and absorb the atmosphere of the famous Zhongnan.

URL: http://viewofchina.com/modern-chinese-hermits/

The Daily Mail (UK) offers a summary (originally Agence France-Presse) of contemporary hermits in China’s Zhongnan Mountains, profiling several in an article titled “China’s mountain hermits seek a highway to heaven.” Among hermits in the article: Master Hou (pictured above), Wang Gaofeng, Liu Jingchong, Li Yunqi, and Gao Ming — the latter two are women, and, surprisingly, half of the hermits of Zhongnan are women.

Almost all the hermits are younger aspirants quitting their congested urban homes for the freedom of the mountains. Some are part-time dabblers who come to the mountains on a weekend to try out the hermit life. Bill Porter has become an inspiration to many thoughtful Chinese men and women curious about Taoism, Buddhism, and eremitism.

URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-2875587/Chinas-mountain-hermits-seek-highway-heaven.html

The Beijing Review Facebook page includes a series of 5 photos of Yang Zhongyou, an 82-year-old recluse in the Qinling Mountains, southern Shaanxi Province. He is shown “splitting wood to heat his lodge, nestled deep in the mountains.” Other photos feature his hut and sleeping place. The entry adds: “A number of secluded old men have been discovered inhabiting the Qinling Mountains in harsh conditions.”

URL: https://www.facebook.com/BJReview/posts/884058288292304