Category: China

Posted on

Bill Porter interview

A November 2010 interview of Bill Porter (aka Red Pine) in Beijing, China, can be listened to or downloaded from China International Radio’s CRIEnglish website. Porter is well-known for his books and translations, especially his 1993 Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits. In the interview (in English) Porter reflects on his life and work, and discusses the difference between the “small” hermit and the “great” hermit.

URLs:
website – http://english.cri.cn/8706/2010/11/17/1721s605500.htm
listen to audio – mms://media.chinabroadcast.cn/en/features/spotlight/2010/1117redpine.wma
download the mp3 – http://media.iphone.cri.cn/features/spotlight/2010/1117redpine.mp3

Posted on

Chinese hermit among graves

This item from the China Daily website, is reprinted in full because such news items often disappear from the web:

Elderly hermit enjoying life in mountain graves
(China Daily) Updated: 2008-10-28 09:02

A 75-year-old man has been living in open graves for about 23 years in Xinzhou, Hubei province.

Tao Shaotang left his village after quarreling with a neighbor who he suspected of stealing his money in 1984.

Tao remained homeless until 1986 when he built four rooms in unused coffin pits he found on Dahou Mountain.

With tireless effort, Tao transformed a barren hill into a fruit garden after planting scores of peach and Chinese chestnut trees. He has supplemented this income by raising bees.

Tao said he is now accustomed to living alone in the coffin pits and has refused requests of local villagers to move back with them.

(Chutian Jinbao News)

URL: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-10/28/content_7148260.htm

Posted on

“Guests of the Hills”

The Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art presents an exhibition from August 2008 to February 2009 titled “Guest of the Hills: Travelers and Recluses in Chinese Landscape Paintings.” The exhibition, to quote the Gallery’s description,

presents depictions of recluses and recreational travelers in Chinese landscape painting over a seven-hundred-year period, from the mid-eleventh to the mid-eighteenth century. Chinese landscape painting particularly appealed to members of the scholar-official class, who were intrigued by images of the free-roaming mountain sage or retired gentlemen living amid nature’s beauty. Other works depict actual excursions or journeys, or they were created as a gift for someone about to embark on a trip.

URL: http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/current/guests/htm#

Posted on

103-year old Chinese hermit

Since little news stories like this one tend to disappear from the web soon after appearing, here is the item in full. The article is presented under the as “Odd News” category in the original.

Simple life suits 103-year-old hermit
2007-11-01 10:15:50.0 (China Daily)

A 103-year-old man has been living as a hermit for the past 27 years deep in the mountains of Heyuan, Guangdong Province.

Zhang moved to his solitary home when his previous house was destroyed by wild boars in 1980.

Preferring to lead a simple life, Zhang has turned down the offers of villagers in Dongyuan County who wanted to provide free electricity and a water supply.

Zhang, who is healthy and active, picks up waste materials to raise extra cash and supplement his pension of 100 yuan ($13) a month.

(Guangzhou Daily)

URL: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-11/01/content_6222439.htm