Bill Porter (Red Pine) went to China in March 2006 to visit Chan sites, and the book came out in 2009. I count 23 books on his Wikipedia page, among other publications. I've read 6 of his books, this will be my 7th. Porter starts in Beijing. Lots of good Chinese Buddhism history in this book. I like that he’s authentic and not a poser. He prefers Zen to Ch'an, he likes the Z and feels all the words are pointing to the same Dharma. He interviewed abbots and China is really just beginning to recover from the cultural revolution. The smart monks head to the mountains during the Cultural Revolution. Porter has a book about that: Road to Heaven. This book is about the recovery of Buddhism in China in 2006 after the Cultural Revolution from 1966-76.
If you only read one of Porter's travel books, I'd read this one. There are tons of great stories and interesting characters, great historical summaries, and stories about Zen and poetry. I've been picking up a little about Porter through reading all his works, and I really like him. I know some people are jerks in real life when you meet them, but I can imagine sitting on a porch with Miles Davis in the background sipping tea with him.
My favorite story is that just before Tiananmen Square Protests and Massacre, he was in Wuhan after seeking out the hermits, and people asked him for money for some pro-democracy protests. Porter thought he was giving 10 yuan, but accidentally gave 100 yuan. They were so excited the got him to speak in front of everyone. Back in Taiwan later, he was talking to someone in the CIA and they'd heard about it, the Chinese leaders were saying the protests were led by a foreigner. His reluctant words after accidentally giving too much were cast as him being a ringleader. I'm surprised they let him travel in the country after that, except that it wasn't true. Yikes. It's nice to read stories about Wuhan, when we have the negative association now as somehow the birthplace for Covid. Supposedly Porter's book about the Hermits was translated into Chinese and is a great source of national pride, so maybe he's seen more as a hero than a ringleader for democracy.
Quotes:
“No one knows when the Buddha's followers began making images of their teacher. According to an account attributed to the early Buddhist sect known as the Mahasanghikas, when Shakyamuni left this earthly realm for a few months to teach his mother in the heavens atop Mount Sumeru, two kings from neighboring regions had their artisans fashion statues of the Buddha so that his followers wouldn't be distressed by his sudden disappearance. One of the statues was carved from sandalwood, and the other was made of burnished gold, and both were said to be life-size. (Cf. Ekottara-agama-sutra: 28)
This account was compiled within two or three hundred years of the Buddha's Nirvana, which occurred in 383 BC, and it may or may not be true, but it suggests how important the Buddha's image was to his followers. According to the archaeological evidence currently available, the earliest representations of the Buddha were not statues but shadow images suggesting his presence: the fig tree beneath which he sat at Bodhgaya, the lion seat from which he delivered his sermons, the eight-spoked wheel that represented his teaching of the Noble Eightfold Path, a stupa that held his remains, or his footprints, which showed he had left the dust of delusion and its karmic wake behind. It wasn't until the first century BC and the first century AD that artisans in Gandhara (Pakistan) and Bactria (Afghanistan) - and slightly later in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) - worked their way up from footprints to a human figure.” (P35)
“He didn't think much of Thich Nhat Hanh's Buddhism. By the time we left, he made it clear he didn't think much of my understanding of the Dharma either. But I had met so many accommodating Zen masters, it was somehow refreshing to meet a jerk. And a jerk who served such fine tea was worth enduring.” (P222, and what follows is a fun narrative about the jerk monk).
“When I asked her how she gauged the level of understanding among the students, she said, "There's no one way of determining how much someone understands. But we can usually tell when we give them a task they've never done before. Someone whose practice is good isn't easily upset when things go wrong. Someone who doesn't practice or who doesn't practice correctly is constantly upset. Just because you sit in the meditation hall doesn't mean you're making progress. This is why we watch and listen to the nuns who study and practice here to decide how best to help them. Some of them understand right away. Others seem to take forever. In any case, we tell them to be patient. Zen isn't for people in a hurry.” (P237)
Fascinating sites he visits (incomplete):
Yunju Temple contains the world's largest collection of stone Buddhist sutra steles in the world.
Yungang Grottoes are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China. The others are
Longmen and
Mogao.
Huayan Temple (Datong): After the founding of the Communist State, the government provided great protection for the temple.
Nine Dragon Wall: At least 7 versions of this, but this one was near Datong, which Porter calls Tatung. He has a different system than the one used on Wikipedia so it's hard to look up his stuff.
Daxingshan Temple: The temple had reached unprecedented heyday in the Tang dynasty (618–907), when Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra taught Chinese Esoteric Buddhism in the temple. Daxingshan Temple was completely damaged in the
Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution, after the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907, most parts of the temple were ruined in wars and natural disasters, and gradually it became unknown to public. Most of the present structures in the temple were repaired or built in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and modern China. (Not sure if this is the same temple, when Porter visits it's because it's the only women's monastery for Zen in China. There are a few others but they are Pure Land. The entry doesn't mention that, so I think I've got the wrong temple, but I thought it was interesting anyway. The jerk monk thought it was inherently false that it was the one zen women's monastery. I have to think Porter is correct, and either this is the wrong temple and I was redirected there by mistake, or it's just not widely known in English language. The language barrier makes Porter's travels that much more interesting.)
There was nothing on google for “tsangfoken hidden buddha gully”
Some past Porter and Red Pine book and movies links on Going For Refuge:
Thoughts on the inspiration of hermit monks.
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