March 2026 · 4 min read
What the Mountain Knows
A dawn at Donglin Temple.
Donglin Temple was founded in 386. It has watched twenty-eight dynasties rise and fall. At five in the morning, it watches you arrive.
We climbed Lushan the night before, in the dark. The taxi could only take us so far. From there, the cobbled path. From there, the stone steps. From there, the mist.
Donglin's morning chant begins at five. The hall is colder than the night air. The monks — there are eleven of them — assemble without speaking. The bell sounds three times. The chant begins.
For an hour we sit at the back. The chant is in classical Chinese. We understand nothing. We understand everything.
Outside, the mist lifts off the valley. The first pilgrim of the day arrives. Lushan has been receiving visitors like this for one thousand three hundred years.
