Introduction to The Tale of Mount Lu
Inspired by the mountain-biography format of The Tale of Mount Longquan, The Tale of Mount Lu is a sweeping work of literary nonfiction about the landscapes and cultural heritage of Mount Kuanglu. It weaves together the mountain's own account and the perspective of an on-foot journey, spanning geological change, a thousand years of cultural history, and the region's modern landscape. The book is divided into five volumes, covering the main peak of Hanyang, the cultural heritage of the southern mountain, the cloudside villas of the northern mountain, and the waterfalls of the eastern foothills, with the whole of Mount Lu's terrain and waterways brought into view.
The book focuses on the culturally rich southern mountain, tracing the pastoral tradition of Tao Yuanming, Donglin Temple, the ancestral home of Pure Land Buddhism, the thousand-year-old Bailudong Academy, the poetry-covered cliffs of Xiufeng, and Bai Juyi's thatched cottage. It explores the distinctive coexistence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, collects more than four thousand poems and essays about Mount Lu from across the centuries, and examines the thoughts and experiences that Li Bai, Su Shi, Zhu Xi, and other writers left behind in their work on the mountain. It also covers the northern mountain's cluster of villas built by people from around the world, sites of revolutionary history, and natural wonders such as Five Old Men Peak and Three-Step Waterfall, alongside explanations of glacial landforms, historical research on ancient roads, and interviews with local residents.
The author has crossed the entire mountain in search of ancient steles, villages, and temples, gathering oral accounts from tea farmers, monks, and cultural historians. More than three hundred illustrations accompany the text, including stone inscription rubbings, photographs of the mountains and rivers, and hand-drawn maps of ancient roads. Breaking away from the dry style of local gazetteers, the book blends essays, historical research, and field reporting. It depicts the geography of Mount Lu, embraced by the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake, while also documenting the protection of a World Heritage Site and changes in mountain communities' livelihoods. Through one mountain, the book reflects the Chinese ideal of landscape and fully traces Mount Kuanglu's natural evolution over hundreds of millions of years and its two-thousand-year history of civilization. It is a mountain biography rich in literary merit, historical value, and regional feeling.
