Author finds spirituality in life's realities

A new nonfiction book, Resign to the Mountain, which chronicles a former editor's eight-month experience as a volunteer hermit on Wudang Mountain, a Taoist site in Hubei province, was recently published by Beijing-based New Star Press.

According to the book's author, Li Chuang, the journey began as an escape from professional burnout. Diagnosed with somatic symptoms from anxiety, he found his five-year career as a humanities editor unsustainable. "I saw what the next decades would look like if I kept going," he says. In 2019, he quit his job without a backup plan. He began running a small convenience store until a friend suggested he visit the Taoist temple on Wudang Mountain.