Niu Gensheng came to Zhongnan Mountain in a sleepwalk, where the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant, the mountains and rivers are beautiful, like Tao Yuanming's paradise! Niu Gensheng saw a wild man named Xingxing! Niu Gensheng asked him: "Are you happy and happy to live here?" Happy said: "It doesn't matter!"

A long-haired young man walked by, and Niu Gensheng said, "What has this benefactor gained by practicing here?" The young man said lightly: "I have harvested a sky full of stars!" Niu Gensheng asked: "Don't you want to go home?" The young man said: "The end of the world is my home!"

Another old man walked by: "Picking chrysanthemums under the east fence, leisurely seeing beautiful women! Dog meat has passed through the intestines, and my Buddha has left it in my heart?" I said: "Aren't you a master outside the mountain, you shouldn't eat fireworks in the world!" He laughed and said: "Others laugh at me for being too crazy, and I laugh at others for not eating cigarettes!"

A nun-like woman said: "I love nature, and I love the spring flowers even more, and it is better to have a wild man to woo her! Fill the sky with stars! Give birth to a white fat boy and live a full life!" Niu Gensheng called Long Chunfeng and asked the woman why she came to Zhongnan Mountain to live in seclusion! The woman said: "Because of love!"

She sang a song "See the Cooking Smoke Again"! That singing voice is sweeter than Faye Wong! See the cooking smoke again - Teresa Teng

Words: Zhuang Nu Song: Minoru Uminuma

And I saw the smoke rising

Twilight covers the earth

I want to ask about the smoke of the cooking

Where are you going

The sunset is poetic

Dusk is picturesque

Poetic though beautiful

I only have you in my heart

And I saw the smoke rising

It brings back memories for me

May you become Caixia

Fly into my dreams

The sunset is poetic

Dusk is picturesque

Poetic though beautiful

I only have you in my heart

The sunset is poetic

Dusk is picturesque

Poetic though beautiful

I only have you in my heart

Poetic though beautiful

I only have you in my heart

Niu Gensheng pulled Niu Yansheng and Long Chunfeng to Zhongnan Mountain, this green mountain and flowing water, the fragrance of birds and flowers, and the murmuring of the stream, so beautiful! Niu Gensheng leisurely chanted poetry: "Song of the End of the South Mountain" "Knot Lu is in the fairyland, the heart is far away from the name! The sound of the mountain is high and the water flows, and the poem is drawn into the picture book!" Niu Gensheng has a lot of associations:

Hermit culture has a long history in China. In the hinterland of China, the Zhongnan Mountain, which stretches across and divides the climate and geography of the north and south, is not just a natural existence. In ancient times, Zhongnan Mountain was a place for scholars and intellectuals to retreat from the government and the opposition, and "if you are poor, you will be good to yourself, and if you are good, you will help the world". Today, it is still one of the few places in the country and the world where there are still mountain hermits.

Among these hermits are monks, nuns, Taoists, and laymen who come for their faith, as well as ordinary people who come to pursue a pure and modest life; there are elderly people, there are young people who have just left school; in addition to Chinese, there are also "foreigners" from Japan, South Korea, France, and other countries. According to incomplete statistics, there are about four or five hundred hermits who have lived in Zhongnan Mountain for a long time. Why did they come here, and what kind of hermit life did they lead? What kind of continuation of the ancient hermit culture went through here? Under the leadership of a layman named Zhijun, this newspaper's exclusive reporting team went to Zhongnan Mountain and visited several thatched hermits, and the life of the hermits in Zhongnan Mountain gradually became clear.

From today's Xi'an City, through the Meridian Avenue, less than 40 kilometers to the south, you can see a number of undulating mountains, stretching endlessly. In cloudy weather, it is hazy and ethereal. And on a clear day, it can be seen leisurely from the urban area of Xi'an. This is Jungnan Mountain. Zhongnan Mountain, in ancient times, was also known as Taiyi Mountain, Nanshan, and Dilung Mountain. Today refers to the Qinling Mountains in the south of Xi'an, the main peak Taibai Mountain (Taiyi Mountain) is 3767.2 meters above sea level. China's hermit culture has a long history, from the ancient legend of the nest father, Xu You to the present various hermits, the number of which reaches tens of thousands, of which there are thousands of traces.

Legend has it that Jiang Ziya, the founding father of the Western Zhou Dynasty, lived in seclusion in the Qiangxi Valley of Zhongnan Mountain before entering the dynasty, and then went out of the mountain at the age of 80, ended his life in seclusion, assisted King Wu to cut down the war, made meritorious contributions, and became a generation of famous ministers; at the end of the Qin and early Han dynasties, there were four gentlemen, Dongyuan Gong, Xia Huang Gong, Qili Ji, and Jiaoli, who were called "Si Hao" at the time, first lived in seclusion in Shangshan, and then lived in seclusion in Zhongnan; Zhang Lianggong, who was the "Three Masters of the Early Han Dynasty", retreated to "Bigu" in Zibai Mountain at the southern foot of Zhongnan Mountain, and died a good death; Sun Simiao, the medicine king of the Sui and Tang dynasties, Zhong Liquan, Lu Dongbin, and Liu Haichan and Wang Chongyang, the founder of Quanzhen Dao, all lived in seclusion in Zhongnan Mountain; Li Xuemu, a famous scholar in Guanzhong during the Kangxi period, in order to escape the call of the Qing court, hid in the area of Taibai Mountain, the main peak of Zhongnan. In the period of the Republic of China, Mr. Gao Henian, a great layman, also visited the Tao in Jiawutai and Nanwutai in Zhongnan Mountain in his later years, and the thatched house where he lived in seclusion is still there.

Reasons for retreat

Talking about the reason for choosing to retreat on Mount Jungnam, Tibetan Buddhist Guru Yixi Ningbao Khenpo shared his views. Since 2003, Lama Khenpo has been walking on Chungnam Mountain for nearly 10 years. He told reporters that since the end of the Sui Dynasty, Jingwei led the disciples into the Nanxi Valley to live in seclusion and built 72 thatched tents, the wind of living in seclusion in the mountains has never stopped, and an important reason is that the humanistic environment of Zhongnan Mountain provides a basic guarantee for the hermits. The talkative Khenpo Lama sighed, "There has been a tradition of seclusion on Mount Jungnam since ancient times, and the mountain people here also have great respect for hermits. The construction of a thatched hut in Zhongnan Mountain often has the support of local mountain people, and the forestry department does not interfere too much. Nowadays, the phenomenon that you can build a thatched tent at will in the mountains without any interference may only appear in Zhongnan. ”

For the choice of Zhongnan Mountain to practice in seclusion, Master Benru, a disciple of Mr. Nan Huaijin, a master of Chinese culture and the abbot of the Pure Industry Temple of the ancestral court of Buddhism, also has his own experience. Venerable Benru, who has practiced in Zhongnan Mountain for nearly 20 years, said: "Zhongnan Mountain reaches the Yellow River in the north, the Yangtze River in the south, Kunlun in the west, and the sea in the east. The great masters of the ancestors are mostly gathered here. The hermits who practice here are of high standard, generally at the national teacher level, and there have been many eminent monks such as Zhizheng, Jingyuan, Pu'an, Jingai, Lingyu, and Xuyun. Moreover, Zhongnan Mountain has an 'aura', which can go straight to people's hearts, and it is easy to cultivate here. As Mr. Gao Henian wrote in "Travels to Famous Mountains": Famous mountains are cultivated, and the south is the crown. ”

In most people's imagination, the life of the hermits must be as described in Tao Yuanming's poems, "picking chrysanthemums under the east fence and leisurely seeing Nanshan". And what kind of life did the hermit of Zhongnan Mountain live?

Along the way, we saw that each hermit had cultivated small plots of land around his thatched tent, cultivated vegetables, melons and fruits, and lived by hard labor. In addition to getting food from nature, the oil, salt, rice, flour, and clothing they need for their lives mainly come from the charity of the surrounding mountain people, or the supply of relatives, friends, and laymen outside the mountains. Even these are hard-won. Follow the rugged and steep mountain road and walk to the thatched tent closest to the mountain pass, which takes at least 1 hour. Due to the extremely inconvenient transportation, all their daily necessities had to be carried up from the bottom of the mountain.

Although the superior geographical location and unique climatic conditions of Zhongnan Mountain provide an ideal objective environment for living in the mountains and retreating, it is difficult to really live in the deep mountains and old forests for a long time. Zhang Peng, a researcher at the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, has long been concerned about the group of hermits in Zhongnan Mountain, and he introduced us to some of the hermits in the mountains. "Hermits are human beings, not immortals. When they first came up the mountain, the first question they faced was how to live on the desolate slopes. There was no house, no electricity, no decent cooking utensils. People who are sluggish and lazy simply cannot adapt to such a living environment. ”

Gen-la Yuen Chi was the first hermit that Zhi Jun took us to interview. Due to a lack of knowledge about the situation in the mountains, our expedition coincided with the rainy season. The mountain roads are slippery, the reeds are lush, and there are snakes and insects from time to time. In view of this, Zhijun suggested that we first visit Master Yuan Zhi, who was closer to his thatched tent.

Master Yuanzhi is almost 70 years old, kind and soft-spoken, and looks no more than 50 years old. He told us that the first thing for those who go into the mountains to practice is to find a place to live. The thatched tent where he lives was found with the help of Zhijun. Zhijun said that this thatched tent is one of the thatched tents built when Gao He lived in seclusion in Zhongnan Mountain in the year of the crane. Nearly a hundred years later, although the house has been repaired several times, the pattern has not changed. There is a stone gable behind the house, which shows that it took a lot of work to build it. It is also unique in that behind the thatched tent, there is a stone retreat house. Zhijun told reporters that this kind of retreat cave is common in Tibet, but it is rare in Han China. It is likely that high monks lived here before.

When Master Yuanzhi first arrived, the thatched hut was almost abandoned, the wind was blowing on all sides, birds were coming in and out of the skylight, and there was nothing in the house. After painstaking repairs, I really settled down.

In the interview, Zhang Peng told us that to accept the hard and simple life, the hermit only solves the problem of survival, and overcoming the loneliness of living alone is the most difficult hurdle for them to pass. It is very difficult for a practitioner who does not have concentration and perseverance to withstand the test. Every year, there are hermits in the mountains who have become insane after failing to achieve their monasticism.

Zhijun also told reporters, "Even if a person has a foundation in cultivation, he may not be suitable for living in the mountains." That means not only giving up material comforts altogether, but also facing loneliness and loneliness. As a result, many people live in Jungnan Mountain every year, and many people leave Jungnan Mountain.

Today, there are no political hermits in the Jungnam Mountain. Among them, the majority are hermits who believe in Buddhism and Taoism. The other part is a lifestyle hermit. They live in seclusion in the south out of personal spiritual pursuit, or personal abandonment of the original way of life, and voluntarily pursue a peaceful and simple life. They choose to retreat, some because of emotional frustration, some because of financial hardship, and some because of deep personal reflection on their original lives......

In field interviews, we found that hermits are not as withdrawn and behaving as strangely as one might think. On the contrary, their simple, bright personalities infect us. They are, as Bill Porter describes in his book "The Hollow Orchid", a group of happy, kind people.

At this point, I can't fail to mention our guide, Jushi Zhijun.

Jijun is 33 years old, tall and thin, with a soft temperament. In the eyes of many people, Jijun chose a strange path in life. He owns a company in a provincial capital in the north and lives a secure life. However, in the autumn of 2008, he resolutely chose to leave the city, and through the recommendation of a friend, he entered Zhongnan Mountain, where he lived for 3 years.

Along the way, we learned that Jijun has left his hometown since he was a teenager, running around, and experiencing several gains and losses. After going through a lot of things, he felt that he was carrying a lot of life doubts, as if he was carrying a heavy baggage, unable to enter the future life. "I was confused and wanted to find a quiet place to adjust myself. Zhijun said.

3 years seems so short for the general public living in the city. But for these hermits who have lived in the deep mountains and old forests for a long time, it is full of hardships and difficulties. But from Zhijun's hearty laughter, he can feel that the 3 years of retreat not only let him let go of his anxiety, but also allowed him to find the long-lost peace in his heart.

On Ji-kyun's old desk calendar, there is a sentence written here: I have only one thing left in my life, and that is to awaken all the love in my life and give it to those who need it! Perhaps, this is the true meaning of life he is pursuing.

In addition to hermits like Zhijun who pursue the true meaning of life, more people come for spiritual practice. Early one morning, the reporter knocked on the chai door of the royal road. Like most thatched tents, a small wooden sign reads "Renovation is underway, do not disturb" hangs outside the wooden door. After being reminded by Zhijun, we did not make the mistake of knocking on the door before, but shouted loudly: "Amitabha" (if you ask "is anyone there?", no one will open the door), and after waiting for a long time, a master came out and opened the firewood door.

This Taoist master is from Sichuan, surnamed Wang, and looks no more than 30 years old. He has long hair, is detailed, and his speech is very soft. When the reporter came, he was hoeing grass in the vegetable patch in the yard. If you hadn't seen the bun on the top of his head, you would have mistaken him for a young painter who had come to sketch.

The location of the thatched tent of the royal road is very good, it is located under the cliff above the valley, the sun rises on three sides, the sun can shine from morning to dusk every day, and the fog never approaches this place. In the middle of the courtyard is a small tea table made of several stone slabs, surrounded by stools made of tree stumps.

Talking about his experience of coming to Zhongnanshan, Wang Daochang said that since he was a teenager, he was influenced by his uncle at home to learn to meditate. I once sat in meditation and felt a wonderful tranquility that I never forget. It wasn't until more than 10 years later, when karma was sufficient, that he left home after graduating from university. When asked how he practiced, he said that he was just farming in the mountains to support himself and live according to his fate.

On the way back to Zhongnan Mountain, I also met Professor Xie Shiyuan, an osteopathic expert, who was visiting the practicing herbalists and Taoist doctors in Zhongnan Mountain, and perfected the medical information of Taibai herbal medicine.

Niu Gensheng is not yearning for or interested in the hermit life, and my generation has no right to interfere in other people's lifestyles! But there is one thing I want to tell them, to be a human being, to inherit the incense, and then you go to become a monk and a human being, it is a matter of faith, and you are right to do whatever you have money! You can't even get a wife, and you go to live an ascetic life in isolation, is this worthy of your parents? Who are you responsible for in life? Escaping the pressure of life is not the only choice in life! My master is a high-lying hermit! Although he failed in business and didn't save much money, he still became a public welfare person who was useful to the society! Being a hermit is at least worthy of the conscience of heaven and earth!