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China: "Spirit Matters" Jay Dunn 27 images Created 26 Mar 2008

China, 2001-2007. Clouds of milkweed swirl in a delicate dance around thousands of young pale gingko trees, planted in straight lines marching through the gray spring twilight, a lone elderly violinist, by a city lakeside, accompanies with his plaintive music a memory perhaps too strong for words.

"Spirit Matters" is a group of photographs about the other China, the one of ideas, and history books, of power plays, and colliding giants, the China of brilliance, evanescence and inventiveness. This is what an image maker hopes for, and rarely finds, when the clamor of the city recedes for a second, when the traveler stops moving and starts really seeing.

In the crush of culture and religion these moments have no beginning or end, they are references, and illusions, they flash by and then are gone, a moment's peace frozen in time by a camera shutter then remembered forever. Every photograph here has a story, but then, so do we all, where glimpses of times gone by mix in our imaginations with those of the present and those of our dreams, to yield the magical, the emotional, and the mysterious.

-- More at www.jaydunn.org --
Humanitarian Issues & Cultural Tradition Worldwide
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  • China, Beijing, 2007. Afternoon light catches the highly polished door ornaments at Yong He Gong, Beijing's largest Tibetan Buddhist Temple.
    China.JDUNN.01.spirit.jpg
  • China, Dengfeng, 2007. Lost in thought, a monk's hands echo the shape of infinity, as the head marks the eight precepts of Buddhist practice.
    China.JDUNN.02.spirit.jpg
  • China, Wutai Shan, 2007. This tiny temple decoration marks one of Wutai Shan's many Buddhist shrines. "Five-Terrace Mountain," as it is known, is one of China's four major monastic communities..
    China.JDUNN.03.spirit.jpg
  • China, Datong, 2007. The priceless Buddhist sculptures of Yungang Shiku are located in caves outside the industrial center of Datong. The municipal authorities are well aware of the importance of cultural preservation..
    China.JDUNN.04.spirit.jpg
  • China, Dengfeng, 2007. An ancient pagoda leans slightly toward Song Shan, a jagged mountain chain in Henan dotted with Buddhist temples and myriad small Taoist shrines..
    China.JDUNN.05.spirit.jpg
  • China, Taiyuan, 2007. The demanding art of tai chi keeps young and old in good shape. Mornings across China see many groups of practitioners starting the day this way..
    China.JDUNN.06.spirit.jpg
  • China, Taiyuan, 2007. A minimalist scene in an old woman's home, as afternoon sunlight illuminates her beliefs..
    China.JDUNN.07.spirit.jpg
  • China, Sichuan, 2007. Fire and water exists side by side in this rainy temple scene halfway up Emei Shan, a mountain range famous for its cloud forest atmosphere..
    China.JDUNN.08.spirit.jpg
  • China, Sichuan, 2007. A life spent in spiritual reflection is mirrored in this scene inside a Taoist shrine on Emei Shan, a mountain range famous for its cloud forest atmosphere..
    China.JDUNN.09.spirit.jpg
  • China, Yunnan, 2007. Prayer flags wait to be imprinted with religious sayings at a small Buddhist temple outside Gyalthang..
    China.JDUNN.10.spirit.jpg
  • China, Sichuan, 2007. Morning mist envelops ancient bronze cauldrons at the summit of Emei Shan, a mountain range famous for its cloud forest atmosphere..
    China.JDUNN.11.spirit.jpg
  • China, Henan, 2007. With discipline finely honed over thousands of years, Shaolin Temple monks practice"gong fu," originally conceived as a defensive art in less stable times..
    China.JDUNN.12.spirit.jpg
  • China, Taiyuan, 2007. Paper decorations welcome the New Year in a farmer's home. Doorways and entrances are considered good places for both blessings and protective messages..
    China.JDUNN.13.spirit.jpg
  • China, Sichuan, 2007. A Taoist priest concentrates on daily rituals. His tiny shrine is halfway up Emei Shan, a mountain range famous for its cloud forest atmosphere..
    China.JDUNN.14.spirit.jpg
  • China, Sichuan, 2007. Light seems to take on magical qualities as it pours through an opening in the mist. Emei Shan is a mountain range famous for its cloud forest atmosphere..
    China.JDUNN.15.spirit.jpg
  • China, Wutai Shan, 2007. A monk prays in forbidding conditions during his daily winter ritual.  "Five-Terrace Mountain," as it is known, is one of China's four major monastic communities..
    China.JDUNN.16.spirit.jpg
  • China, Shaanxi, 2007. An elaborate dragon float is made to accompany the spirit of a beloved grandmother toward heaven. .
    China.JDUNN.17.spirit.jpg
  • China, Shaanxi, 2007. Immediate relatives gather together for two days of mourning for their beloved grandmother. .
    China.JDUNN.18.spirit.jpg
  • China, Dengfeng, 2007. The presence of a nearby 4,500 year old cypress tree suggests long life may be granted at this Buddhist temple wishing pool..
    China.JDUNN.19.spirit.jpg
  • China, Sichuan, 2007. Chinese paintings come to life in the moody weather at Emei Shan, a mountain range famous for its cloud forest atmosphere..
    China.JDUNN.20.spirit.jpg
  • China, Taiyuan, 2007. A worker puts up traditional blessings on Lunar New Year's Eve. Doorways and entrances are considered good places for messages about luck and protection.
    China.JDUNN.21.spirit.jpg
  • China, Wutai Shan, 2007. A bronze incense burner in the morning light at one of Wutai's many Buddhist temples. "Five-Terrace Mountain," as it is known, is one of China's four major monastic communities..
    China.JDUNN.22.spirit.jpg
  • China, Wutai Shan, 2007. Displaying the discipline Buddhist monks are known for, a man meditates atop a rock far above the valley. "Five-Terrace Mountain," as it is known, is one of China's four major monastic communities..
    China.JDUNN.23.spirit.jpg
  • China, Beijing, 2007. Spring brings out the best colors at a well-maintained Buddhist temple in Beijing..
    China.JDUNN.24.spirit.jpg
  • China, Beijing, 2007. Wooden prayer beads are a study in simplicity. Among the monks making pilgrimages to Yong He Gong, they are in constant use..
    China.JDUNN.25.spirit.jpg
  • China, Sichuan, 2007. Now one of the largest such figures in the world, the great Buddha of Leshan took seventy years to carve, and sits regally at the confluence of two rivers..
    China.JDUNN.26.spirit.jpg
  • China, Wutai Shan, 2007. Dai Luo Ding has over eight hundred carved stone steps, each one of which has been blessed by this monk's daily climb to the top. "Five-Terrace Mountain," as it is known, is one of China's four major monastic communities..
    China.JDUNN.27.spirit.jpg