“When the Red Guards came I told them to go away. I didn't let them in. If I had they would have destroyed Kumarajiva's stupa. I was ready to die.”
Yuan Chao (yoo-en-chow)
Buddhist teacher
IMAGE SOURCE: Steven R Johnson. Cover photo. Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits. | QUOTE SOURCE: Bill Porter. Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits. Mercury House. 1993.
QUOTE CONTEXT: “That was a long time ago. Finally temple life got to be too much for me and I moved to Kuanyinshan. That was ten years ago. I thought it would be a good place to die.”
QUOTE QUESTION: What are you ready to give your life for?
IMAGE CONTEXT: Yuan-chao on her k’ang (brick platform warmed by a fire beneath), waiting for the fire.
IMAGE QUESTION: What position does your body take when you enter your practice?
MEDIA LITERACY CONTEXT: The quote is from an interview in a book about Chinese hermits. The photo is the book’s cover.
MEDIA LITERACY QUESTION: How do you decide on how public to be about your personal history?
LEARN ABOUT THE ZHONGNAN MOUNTAIN HERMITS
Read Road to Heaven: encounters with Chinese Hermits by Bill Porter
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