空影『In the Hall of the Mountain King』
2025.4.26 Unnamed mountain, Sanmen County, Zhejiang Province.
After coming down the mountain, I asked an old local farmer at the foot. "That tree? The Mountain God?! emm.... Yes, exactly!" I was genuinely amazed to learn its name.
At the summit, the tree—maybe a camphor—stood unexpectedly alone on the southern cliff. No other large plant or tree in sight across the horizon. Its trunk leaned eastward, as if weathered by some great setback. Against the distant peaks, it brought to mind Tao Yuanming's(陶渊明) line: "Lost in a forest, no one notices a tree; standing alone, it becomes a marvel.(连林人不觉，独树众乃奇)"
Beside it lay a flat clearing with some obviously transplanted saplings. Up close, I saw the tree wasn't naturally tall—its base was encircled by half a meter of piled soil. Clearly, this wasn't a wild tree; it had been carefully tended.
I climbed up and leaned against the trunk for a while. Plain and unadorned—no red ropes, no ornaments.
"No wonder. Who would hike ten miles of mountain trails just to see this tree? Nameless mountain, nameless tree, and nameless visitor."
#InTheHallOfTheMountainKing #Photography #Landscape #SolitaryTree #Zhejiang #MountainGod #TreeLore #hiking #mountains #tree
2025.4.26 Unnamed mountain, Sanmen County, Zhejiang Province.
After coming down the mountain, I asked an old local farmer at the foot. "That tree? The Mountain God?! emm.... Yes, exactly!" I was genuinely amazed to learn its name.
At the summit, the tree—maybe a camphor—stood unexpectedly alone on the southern cliff. No other large plant or tree in sight across the horizon. Its trunk leaned eastward, as if weathered by some great setback. Against the distant peaks, it brought to mind Tao Yuanming's(陶渊明) line: "Lost in a forest, no one notices a tree; standing alone, it becomes a marvel.(连林人不觉，独树众乃奇)"
Beside it lay a flat clearing with some obviously transplanted saplings. Up close, I saw the tree wasn't naturally tall—its base was encircled by half a meter of piled soil. Clearly, this wasn't a wild tree; it had been carefully tended.
I climbed up and leaned against the trunk for a while. Plain and unadorned—no red ropes, no ornaments.
"No wonder. Who would hike ten miles of mountain trails just to see this tree? Nameless mountain, nameless tree, and nameless visitor."
#InTheHallOfTheMountainKing #Photography #Landscape #SolitaryTree #Zhejiang #MountainGod #TreeLore #hiking #mountains #tree
Larry Braun
Olivier Steiner Photography
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Juanjo Rueda
Juanjo Rueda