Zhaoyuanxiang photography

This kind of hermit is generally called a hermit, and there are certainly not many who can be hermits now.

For example, a hermit in Zhong Nanshan.

Liu Jingchong, from Foshan, Guangdong, gave up his million-dollar annual salary, lived a frugal life and grew vegetables himself.

The painter Zhang Erdong bought the right to use a house for 20 years with 4000 yuan, and raised a group of small animals.

Photographer Zhao Yuanxiang once called himself Xiangzi. 20 13, she found an earthen house in Zhong Nanshan, where there was no electricity, running water and internet. She was 23 years old that year.

Miss Zhong Nanshan made me want to cry, as if it had been waiting for me, and I had waited for several lifetimes to see it. Xiangzi fell in love with this place the first time he came to Zhong Nanshan. "My soul is probably sick and lovesick. 』

Before, she had never heard the story of Zhong Nanshan, and she didn't know that it was the center of hermit culture in China.

New Express reporter Liu Ziheng

Xiangzi fell in love with Zhong Nanshan the first time he saw him. "It has an unspeakable power."

Xiangzi is easy to recognize when he comes out of the subway. She looks like a weak woman in a white coat and skirt, but the huge backpack behind her and the bag in her hand make her look like a moving luggage rack.

She just returned to Xi 'an from her hometown of Taiyuan, Shanxi, and then went to Zhong Nanshan's residence, which took an hour by car.

In 20 13, a good friend of Xiangzi invited her to visit this mountain outside Xi' an. Unexpectedly, she fell in love with it, always feeling that this mountain has different characteristics from other places, "with an unspeakable power", which calmed her heart.

At that time, Xiangzi was a freelance photographer, walking around and taking pictures of people. After walking so far, she felt tired and needed a rest. At this time, Zhong Nanshan appeared.

Xiangzi was a different person before and after the college entrance examination, but not because of how he did in the exam. When talking about future volunteers before the exam, her parents insisted that she study accounting, but she didn't like it and resolutely disagreed.

Xiangzi used to be an introverted girl who always listened to her parents' decisions, but during that time, she thought it over and over again and began to have a sense of self, and didn't want to spend four years on things she didn't like. She decided to rebel-not to take the exam.

But what can you do without going to college? Her parents asked her to learn to make clothes with her sister. She worked for two months, but she felt really uninterested and resigned.

She became interested in photography. She took the initiative to go to Liuxiang Street in Taiyuan Photo Studio and went door to door to ask if she wanted an assistant. The people in the studio looked at her, a little girl with no professional knowledge and work experience, and naturally refused.

Finally, a photo studio finally saw her sincerity and accepted her as an assistant, but only gave her 500 yuan a month.

Xiangzi doesn't mind. She thinks she can do what she likes. This is the first step, which is enough.

When she first learned photography, her parents were extremely opposed. They think such a career is not suitable for girls. In order to stop their daughter, they first came hard, scolded and quarreled. "If you want to learn, don't go back to this home." After a while, the hard one failed, and it came back soft. "As long as you don't learn photography and don't buy anything, we will promise you."

But Xiangzi had only one answer: "No discussion".

After staying in Taiyuan's studio for a long time, she began to try to go to Beijing and applied for a job as a studio photographer. In the second year, I went south to Shenzhen and applied for a photographer again.

Everything seems all right. Even Xiangzi's parents began to change their attitudes, but she was bored.

"The world is a monastery and the south is a crown." There are no exact figures about how many people live in seclusion in Zhong Nanshan. It is generally believed that the number is 5000.

The Orchid in the Empty Valley is the first contemporary work that systematically displays Zhong Nanshan's reclusive culture. However, according to the author's concept, Zhong Nanshan is not limited to the mountainous areas in the suburbs of Xi. More accurately, it is called the Zhong Nanshan Mountains, that is, the Qinling Mountains, including Cuihua Mountain, Nanwutai Mountain, Taibai Mountain and Guanyin Mountain.

Apart from the farmers who grew up in Sri Lanka for generations, there are generally three types of people who come to Zhong Nanshan voluntarily: monks, Taoist priests and hermits.

There have been many monks and experts here. Master Yin Guang, the thirteenth ancestor of Pure Land Sect, and virtual cloud mage, the great Zen master, both practiced here. The Taoist classic Tao Te Ching originated from Hangu Pass here. Later generations produced Han Zhongli and Lv Dongbin, and Wang Zhongyang also founded Quanzhen religion here. As for the hermit, Sean chose Zhong Nanshan after retirement.

Hermit culture is a tradition in China. Hermits pay attention to the spiritual world and abandon material needs. Most people who live in seclusion in the mountains live in poverty and have little contact with the outside world. However, they are not ignorant because of this, but have many advantages, and some have become respectable sages. The word "mountain" means evidence, and Jiang Ziya and Zhuge Liang are the representatives.

Contemporary hermits, besides religious practice, are more for purity. Most of them find city life boring. At some point, they want to give up their material desires and return to their inner retreat, so they come to Zhong Nanshan.

Liu Jingchong used to be an enterprise manager in Foshan, Guangdong, with an annual salary of one million. 20 10 Xinjiang to road trip, Tibet via Qinghai, I had an accident and was stuck in a hotel doing nothing. I came across a book by Nan Huai Jin. "I see that everything has a cause and effect. I don't think the past is the life I want."

After returning to Foshan, he resigned and divorced, went to Zhong Nanshan, and had an earthen house as his meditation room.

According to his own statement, the first half of his life is a life of "drinking and drinking", earning much and spending quickly. When I arrived in Zhong Nanshan, I wanted nothing. I ate my own food, bought some rice flour oil, and my friends brought some daily necessities. I couldn't spend a penny. He cooked by himself on the mountain and found that the water was delicious and the dishes cooked by the mountain spring were delicious.

Do it on the mountain at sunrise and rest at sunset. You don't need to look at your watch. Liu Jingchong started the life style of a yogi. "Get up when the sun comes out, exercise your bones and muscles, then make tea and read a book, and then chant Buddhist scriptures and worship Buddha. When the sun reaches the top of that mountain, it's time to eat. When the weather is fine, go for a walk in other places in the mountains; Usually meditate at 90 pm, moxibustion before going to bed, and then sleep. "

The painter Zhang Erdong found a room with a courtyard in Zhong Nanshan. He cleaned it up and spent more than 10 thousand.

Some people want to reach the end of Nanshan, while others are leaving. With the acceleration of urbanization, many villagers moved to cities, and the old houses were abandoned, waiting for new owners.

The painter Zhang Erdong found a house with a yard in Zhong Nanshan. He named it Muxuantang. The right to use for 20 years only cost 4,000 yuan, plus moving and packing things, totaling 1 10,000 yuan. "Facts have proved that it is not so difficult to have a home, a yard and a peach blossom garden."

Of course, you can't live in an old house, and you have to make great efforts to transform it. The first is to tear down the cowshed. The ground is easy to handle, but the stones in the foundation, several hundred pieces in size, have been dug for a whole week. You can do things like painting the walls yourself, but you need to find a professional master to lay the floor and build the roof.

He doesn't like the environment of group society. It's noisy and chaotic, which makes him feel meaningless. On the contrary, life in the mountains is extremely free. You can sing a song when you are happy, and don't worry about other people's eyebrows. The tree in front of the door is not beautiful, so you can climb it and trim it into your favorite shape.

He keeps a group of small animals, a cat, a dog, a goose and a chicken, as well as his own kennel, goose shed and henhouse-cats and dogs live together.

Zhang Erdong is very satisfied with this life. Although there is no heating in winter and there are many mosquitoes in summer, he really likes this quiet place. He once met a monk and looked around for a yard like his. Zhang Erdong told him that water was often cut off here, and he had to go one kilometer away to get water. Hearing this, the monk looked reluctant and then asked: How often do you go down the mountain? Zhang Erdong was a little contemptuous and deliberately replied: One month, it takes two hours for food to be transported from the foot of the mountain. The monk waved. My legs are not good. I'd better find a place where I can drive and practice.

Many people like dragons, and Xiangzi has seen such an example. He was in high spirits when he came. Soon he found that life in the mountains was extremely bitter, not as poetic as in the photos, and he hurried down the mountain.

Xiangzi now spends half his time in the mountains and half his time taking pictures, which is what she likes. Knowing that there are many monks in the depths of the mountains, life is even more inconvenient, so she has time to bring them some dishes.

An equally reclusive person often comes to see her. She asked, what's different about herself? The man told her that you used to be extreme, but after you came to the mountains, you were much gentler than before.