Bill Porter is the author who translates under the penname Red Pine. He is a translator of Chinese texts, primarily Taoist and Buddhist, including poetry and sutras. He is the author of Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits and won the American Academy of Arts & Letters Thornton Wilder Prize for translation in 2018.

Bill Porter:
Road to Heaven: Amazon.com: Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits: 9781582435237: Pine, Red: Books ⁠
Hermits Documentary:    • Hermits  Zen Buddhism Documentary  ...  

Podcast Links:
Website: ⁠https://jakewarinnerpodcast.com/
Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/3kiojUx...
Apple: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

Social
Instagram:   / jake.warinner  
Twitter:   / jakewarinner  

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:38 The Chinese hermit tradition
03:15 Origins and history of Chinese hermits
06:45 The influence of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism on hermit culture
09:30 The life and challenges of being a hermit
12:50 The role of hermits in Chinese society and their interactions with locals
15:34 How hermits live in the mountains
21:45 Bill Porter on writing Road to Heaven
24:30 Hermits are the happiest people
27:10 The health and longevity of hermits
29:50 Growth in the hermit population
32:45 Lessons from Bill's experiences with hermits