Road to heaven : encounters with Chinese hermits
Bill Porter (Author), Steven R. Johnson (Photographer)
"In 1989, Bill Porter, having spent much of his life studying and translating Chinese religious and philosophical texts, began to wonder if the Buddhist hermit tradition still existed in China. At the time, it was believed that the Cultural Revolution had dealt a lethal blow to all religions in China, destroying countless temples and shrines, and forcibly returning thousands of monks and nuns to a lay life. But when Porter travels to the Chungnan mountains--the historical refuge of ancient hermits--he discovers that the hermit tradition is very much alive, as dozens of monks and nuns continue to lead solitary lives in quiet contemplation of their faith deep in the mountains. Part travelogue, part history, part sociology, and part religious study, this record of extraordinary journeys to an unknown China sheds light on a phenomenon unparalleled in the West. Porter's discovery is more than a revelation, and uncovers the glimmer of hope for the future of religion in China"--Publisher's website
Print Book, English, 2009
Counterpoint : Distributed by Publishers Group West, Berkeley, CA, 2009
Interview
viii, 220 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm
9781582435237, 1582435235
308207371
Hermit heaven
Mountains of the moon
If the world is muddy
On the trail of the Tao
Sound of the crane
Road to heaven
Cloud people
The bird that is a mountain
Crossing heartbreak ridge
Home of the evening star
Visiting Wang Wei, finding him gone
When the Tao comes to town
Originally published: San Francisco : Mercury House, 1993