The time had come. Many years of a lonesome life on the mountain was at an end for Famin Jie the hermit. The clouds of despair were approaching the Middle Kingdom and the age of the Ming was being threatened. By this Famin Jie grew ever more troubled, so he headed north in search of answers. With a hefty wicker backpack and a small cane, he made his way north reciting the hymns he composed himself:
“Though the paths before me be black as night, I fear not. Though darkness stalk my footsteps, I fear not. The blades of evil that seek my flesh nor the greed of men and the schemes of demons, I will not fear, for the Light goes before me and the darkness retreats before its brightness for it cannot overcome it.”
As he continued through the lonely trails of the forest, the vegetation and foli
