A Hermit of the Zhongnan Mountains

Abstract:

Gao Henian 高鶴年 (1872-1962), a devoted Buddhist practitioner and inveterate traveler, spent nearly thirty years on pilgrimages to Buddhist and Daoist mountains and monasteries across China. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he kept detailed accounts of his experiences on the road, which were later collected and published together as A Record of Visits to Famous Mountains (Mingshan youfang ji 名山遊訪記). This talk introduces the life and work of Gao Henian, with a particular focus on the years he spent living in a small hermitage deep in the Zhongnan mountains. 

Short bio:

Benjamin Brose is Professor of Buddhist and Chinese Studies in the department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. His most recent monograph is Embodying Xuanzang: The Postmortem Travels of a Buddhist Pilgrim (2023). He is also the editor of Buddhist Masters of Modern China: The Lives and Legacies of Eight Eminent Teachers (2025) and the co-editor of Inner Worlds: Individuals and Interiority in Chinese Religious Life (2025).