Han Shan’s reclusion: From quasi-homelessness to ultra-homelessness

The poems of the semimythical Chinese recluse Han Shan have been credited for their ecological wisdom. However, this article argues that Han Shan’s attitude towards nature, rather than being egalitarian from the very beginning, shifts from anthropocentric to ecocentric due to his quasi-homelessness, reinhabitation, and ultra-homelessness at different stages of reclusion. This shift arises from his religious conversion from Confucianism, to Daoism, and then to Chan Buddhism. The article also argues that the evolution of Han Shan’s eco-consciousness may well point the way for the development of public environmental awareness in modern times—from a visitor’s appreciation, to an inhabitant’s participation, and eventually to an advocate’s propagation.