The birth place of Ven Master Hua is known to me as i worked in that area during the 1990s. The villages are small, remote and inhabited by poor, generally farmers. The roads are very muddy in the fall months, icy and snow covered in the winter months and deeply rutted and dusty during the warmer months. Transportation was difficult regardless of the time of year.
The homes now as well as then are built with mud and straw with windows being a hole in the wall usually without any glass but just a curtain to keep out the cold and dust. Warmth comes from either firewood, which is in short supply, or coal causing air pollution both inside and outside the home.
The weather is very often harsh with bitter, icy Siberian winds coming down from the north in the cold months and hot, arrid dry winds from the west in the warmer months. There are scant numbers of trees to block the winds causing Mother Nature's full effects to be felt in its most harsh manner.
Without a doubt, the weather alone severely tested and strengthened this young boy for the ordeals that he would face as he prepared for his life's mission to spread the Boddhidharma to the west.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I didn't the climate was so severe and everybody had to bear so much suffering! Thanks for putting this up on the blog; I learned a lot from it that I did not know before.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry! I meant" I didn't know the climate..."
ReplyDeleteIt is very informative to me about where Ven. Master came from.
ReplyDeleteIt will be even better if you can post a picture of where it looks now on the blog.
Thanks for sharing your first-hand experience of the area where Venerable Master was born. This kind of testimonial fact of that region's climate is important in compiling the Master's life story. I'm curious. Did you know about VM when you went there to work or you found out about him afterward?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments and i will locate a picture of the rural countryside and post.
ReplyDeleteDid i know the Master then? Wonderful question as in the physical i was not aware but i am learning that i did know him before at another time which drew me to that area and to CTTB with my family.
Thanks for your information, which really reminded me of the manchuria place I was born and had lived for about 20 years. My hometown is south of where the Venerable was born, and during the winter for 3-4 months the ground was covered with white snow. I remembered when I was in the middle and high schools, each time if it was snowing in the morning, I had to wake up very early before 5am and went to main road to remove snow using shovel for people to drive or walk. The hometown of my husband is further north of the Venerable's place, where is close to Russia. During the winter in the evening the temperature was below -40C degree, I had to cover my whole face to prevent from the wind, because the wind touched my face was not cold, but was very painful.
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting to know about the living condition. Thanks!
ReplyDelete