Seeking roots of Chinese culture
Print Edition
WITH a keen interest in Chinese poetry and philosophy, American author Bill Porter has spent the past 40 years studying Chinese, practicing Zen Buddhism and researching the masters that played an important role in the formation of Chinese civilization.
On his Weibo microblog, the 70-year-old claimed in May that he finally finished writing “Finding Them Gone,” a book tracing the work of 36 poets. The book spans classic teachings by Confucius (551-479 BC) to the writings of Tang Dynasty poets Du Fu (AD 712-770) and Bai Juyi (AD 772-846).
His visit in the past two years to the graves of some of his favorite poets is seen as a fitting way to ending his publishing career that has seen 15 books in all on China to his name, according to NewsChina.
Porter is said to have performed Chinese sacrificial rituals that featured Kentucky bourbon and reading poems aloud to the spirits.
“I know they are no longer at home. I just want to knock at the doors to their old residences and give them a toast in homage to them,” Porter posted on Weibo.
Born in Los Angeles in 1943, Porter had a good schooling, did a short stint in the US Army and then attended college at UC Santa Barbara. After graduation, he enrolled in graduate school, studying anthropology at Columbia University.
“I picked Chinese for a language fellowship; and my interest in Chinese culture developed while studying Zen, a meditation practice trying to regulate the mind and gain insight in daily life. I would often sit with a monk, who was actually from Shanghai, by the name of Shou-Yeh, who had a temple in New York,” Porter told Shanghai Daily through Skype.
In 1972, he went to Taiwan and entered the famous Buddhist monastery at Foguang Mountain, where he became a full-time Zen practitioner.
After two years of Zen practice, he then landed a job as an English anchor for International Community Radio in Taipei. In his spare time he immersed himself in translations of the work of the hermit poets Hanshan (9th century AD) and Shiwu (1272-1352), whose works draw heavily on Buddhist and Taoist themes, chronicling the pains and pleasures of a Zen hermit’s life.
His interest in Chinese culture took a physical turn in 1989, when he began thinking about the hermit tradition and wondering if any hermits were still practicing on the Chinese mainland.
“… Because I’ve never heard of any great master in China who has not spent some time as a hermit. Chinese thought and religion places great importance on solitude," Porter said.
Setting out from Beijing and heading down through the ancient settlement of Datong, into the Wutai, Hengshan and finally Zhongnan mountains, Porter found a colony of over 100 hermits, both male and female, living on top of the mountain.
His book “Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits,” first published in English in 1993 and later translated into Chinese in 2006, has helped revive interest in that subculture, which in turn inspired a growing number of travelers from both China and abroad to retrace his footsteps to the Zhongnan mountains.
“I didn’t expect the book would sell so well in China. For every book I have sold in English, I sold 10 in Chinese. I feel the hermit tradition is alive and well in China today,” Porter said.
Porter has since returned to China several times in search of spiritual tranquility and literary fulfillment.
In 1991, he went on a trip passing through nine Chinese provinces along the Yellow River. The trip took him into what was once the cradle of Chinese civilization and to the hometowns and graves of great Chinese philosophers such as Confucius, Mencius, Laozi and Zhuangzi.
“I didn’t (do it) for the beauty of the landscape but for the historical depth in places with rich history. The three-month journey gave me a full picture of the humans across China. I was most impressed by the diversity of the people, the complexities and contradictions as if I had been through different countries,” Porter said.
The journey, sponsored by Winston Wong, son of the late plastics tycoon Wang Yung-ching in Taiwan, was turned into a 240-episode, each 2-minute long, radio program in Hong Kong. Last year at the request of Beijing Readers, Porter compiled his experiences into the book “Yellow River Odyssey,” which includes more than 50 black-and-white photographs taken during his trip.
“This book is more of a historical record of China some 20 years ago. Chinese culture had been thoroughly trashed in the past few decades and anything of value had been discarded. I’m glad people nowadays are starting to become interested in knowing what China was, so that they know who they are,” he said.
Porter talks more about his books.
A: Doing time as a hermit is like going to graduate school to gain a PhD degree in the West. It earns respect in Chinese society, it shows sincerity and implies knowledge. The hermit tradition separates the men from the boys. If you don’t spend time in solitude, you have neither profundity nor understanding to find your own voice — you’ve just carried on somebody else’s thoughts.
A: They told me the number of hermits living in the mountains must have at least doubled since the publication of my book. I met some younger hermits who said they had read my book and thought it really a nice way to live in the mountains… However, I could see they are not prepared anyway.
A: China has been changing fast in the past two decades. Everyone is in a hurry to make up for lost time to make money. The small villages that I passed some 20 years ago are now connected by highways. There are big hotels, factories and even high-rises. Young people born today have no idea of what China was like in the past... for them, life is more comfortable but less interesting. But we all make decisions of our own.
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