Chinese sayings: 29 (林棲谷隱 / 林栖谷隐)

 

林棲谷隱 / 林栖谷隐

lín qī gǔ yǐn

“forest perch valley hide”

The literal breakdown of this saying makes it pretty clear:  perching in the forest and hiding in the valley.  It refers to the act of hiding away from the rest of the world, or to a hermit/recluse.

    Playing the Chinese crossword puzzle game on my phone, I notice how many Chinese proverbs there are for referring to becoming/being a hermit.  (Historically in China, a lot of them are Buddhist and Daoist practitioners.)

    In the context of the modern world, it is a very attractive option:  just leave all this horribleness behind and take off into the woods or the caves, surrounding oneself with / losing oneself in some kind of wilderness.  

    My second reaction, though, is:  how is one going to survive?

    The definition of “hermit/recluse” is one who lives in seclusion/solitude.  The Chinese equivalents 隱居 yǐn jū / “hide dwell” (to hide oneself away and live) and 隱士 yǐn shì / “hide person” (person who hides away [from the rest of society]) are only about living alone, not actually totally cut off, so it is possible to become a recluse, as one would still have the support structure up to a point.

    By “support structure”, I mean the system that provides the daily necessities.  

    I can imagine growing one’s own food, even to the point of self-sufficiency — certainly in a location with more clement weather conditions (e.g., the tropics where fruit and veg thrive throughout the year, with no growing seasons and cut-off periods of dormancy). 

 

    What, though, does one do about things one cannot produce independently without a lot of trouble and entailing a lot of tools, e.g., clothes and shoes (bound to get worn out at some point and need to be replaced)?

    A chap a year below me at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) for my first degree course, a London-born Pole, told me when he was working on his PhD (on some aspect in classical Chinese grammar) that once he’d completed his PhD, he’d go somewhere and lead a self-sufficient life, growing his own food, with as little to do with the outside world as possible.  

    He was aware that he’d need to rely on the outside world for things he cannot produce himself, so he started doing a woodwork course, to make/repair cabinets and furniture, in order to earn money to buy things like cooking oil (bad example, as one might actually be able to dispense with it in one’s diet, but you know what I mean).  

    We lost contact after that, so I don’t know if he did actually manage to achieve his dream.  

    And if he had indeed become a recluse, he wouldn't be reading this blog so that he can get in touch and update me.