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“Paradise Found” – Wen Zhengming

China Daiy offers a comprehensive essay on the painter Wen Zhengming (1470-1559) titled “Paradise Found.” Wen Zhengming was noted for “the public perception of him as a man of high moral standards who disavowed the seedy side of politics in favor of a secluded existence in the garden abode he built for himself.” In the tradition of reclusion, however, “Wen Zhengming’s self-imposed exile, as those orbiting around him might wish to call it, was lived out not in sheer harshness, but amid the many enjoyable things that Jiangnan had to offer, including its spring.” Jiangnan was a region of the southern Yangtze River Delta.

A clear inspiration for both Wen Zhengming’s artistic depiction of this paradise but also of the life of deliberate reclusion is the famous hermit Tao Chien or Tao Yuanming (365-427). In a fable, Tao Yuanming described Peach Blossom Spring as an idealized paradise . Wen Zhengming evokes this paradise in paintings of contemporary Xiaoxiang, as the region came to be known. In his paintings, he, too, presents “a place of reclusion and longing in view of its natural beauty.”

URL; https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202401/06/WS6598b0b9a3105f21a507adcd_1.html

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Richard Dawson’s song “The Hermit”

British musician Richard Dawson is described as composing and performing “prog folk” or progressive folk. His music treats and exhausts the traditional English folk devices, melodies, and textures, adding touches of more familiar “prog rock” or progressive rock elements overlapped with psychedelia. His recent (2022) The Ruby Cord includes a 40-minute section titled “The Hermit.”

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXfDNVcUA90

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Leonid, Siberian hermit

Granted that the US Sun is a celebrity-gossip source, here is an interesting item on a Russian hermit named Leonid, who lives in Siberia, lost his fingers to frostbite, and dreams of living in a real cabin with a few amenities. The article is part of the Sun‘s “Out in the Cold” series, the article title: “I turned my back on society 25 years ago to live as hermit — I’ve lost all my fingers to frostbite but won’t go back.”

URL: https://www.the-sun.com/news/9958677/hermit-for-25years-lost-all-fingers-but-wont-return/

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Ludwig, Flanders hermit

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La Vioix du Nord offers a n article about a hermit titled “Ma rencontre avec Ludwig, qui a choisi une vie d’ermite.” The article profiles German-born sculptor Ludwig, who is 80 years old, and has lived in rural Flanders for a decade. Ludwig is a hermit. The jornalist who discovered Ludwig reflects on the simplicity and possessions of the hermit. He reflects, too, on Ludqig’s life in the cold and rainy days in Flanders after departing from the hermit’s home. Article in French.

URL: https://www.lavoixdunord.fr/1414422/article/2024-01-01/mon-reportage-marquant-de-2023-ma-rencontre-avec-ludwig-qui-choisi-une-vie-d

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Hikikomori – Update

A collection of recent items on unconventional hikikomori, : female, aging, and not necessarily from Japan.

From Japanese news site Mainichi: “‘Not alone’: Growing number of middle-aged female ‘hikikomori’ shut-ins in Japan.”
URL: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230815/p2a/00m/0na/003000c

From Japan News:”Older,Female, and Hikkikomori: Japan’s Newly Precarious Population.”
URL: https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/editorial/cultural-viewpoints/20230518-110226/

From Financial Express (Bangladesh): “Why thousands of Japanese stay isolated from the society?”
URL: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/lifestyle/culture/why-thousands-of-japanese-stay-isolated-from-the-society

From BBC: “Hikikomori: Why S Korea is paying young recluses to leave home.” From the article:

“A growing number of young South Koreans are choosing to isolate themselves, withdrawing fully from a society that exacts a high price for failing to conform to expectations.

“These recluses are known as hikikomori, a term first coined in Japan in the 1990s to describe severe social withdrawal amongst adolescents and young adults.

“In South Korea, which is battling the world’s lowest fertility rate and declining productivity, this has become a serious concern. So much so that authorities are offering young recluses who meet a certain income threshold a monthly stipend to coax them out of their homes.”
URL: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65554271

From Newsweek magazine: “The South Koreans Who Won’t Leave Their Rooms.”
URL: https://www.newsweek.com/south-korea-reclusive-youths-acute-social-withdrawal-isolation-1797787