Journey to the Forest

Author: A Bao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: A heartfelt chronicle of a woman and the land, Tao Shan Ji
Awards: First Prize in the "Mental Health Category" of Taiwan; Recommended Book of the Year 2004 by China Times; Top 10 Books of the Year by (Bukubuku) Online Bookstore.
From tomorrow, let's care about organic food and vegetables.
"I have a house facing the sea, with spring warmth and blooming flowers" — Hai Zi, Facing the Sea, Spring Warm and Flowers
The mountain flowers are blooming, and I have come to the mountains.
It turns out you're also coming up the mountain to see the flowers. — Taiwanese song, Surfing
"Clearing the fields in the southern wild, I return to my garden with simple honesty.
My house covers ten acres, with grass houses eight or nine.
Elms and willows shade the rear eaves, peaches and plums are arranged before the hall." — Tao Yuanming, Returning to the Garden
I live in the woods because I want to live consciously, facing only the basic and essential aspects of life, to see if I can learn true wisdom from it, so that when facing death, I won't realize I never truly lived. — Thoreau, Walden
The story takes place in the mountains across Haithung Bay, on a slope and valley where mist droplets, cloud shadows, bird songs, falling leaves, and quiet moonlight accumulate. A modern intellectual woman seeks the possibility of eco-farming over the years, farming alone, cutting through thorns and brambles, enduring hardships, all to personally verify truth with her heart, making the value of civilization tangible and graspable, no longer just a dazzling symbol for talkative elites. — Han Shao Gong
The Zen I understand is to grasp the essence of life in the most direct and simple way. A Bao, with her flesh and blood, through seven parts of her life in the orchard, sweating and crying, asking the land for sustenance, laboring in the body to cultivate the mind, refining the spirit in practice, seeking the path in sustenance, ultimately reaching a state of detachment and freedom in Zen. This is true living Zen, true life Zen. — Wang Yue Wen
As the son of a farmer, I pay special attention to Taiwan's agriculture. On the beautiful island of Taiwan, agriculture has developed a different model from that of mainland China. It is what is called ecological or green agriculture. From tilling, planting, fertilizing, weeding, and pest control to harvesting, it embodies an ecological philosophy. This is also the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. Humans do not harm nature, and nature, in turn, does not harm humans. Tao Shan Ji is a typical narrative of such ecological agriculture. — Peng Yi Chun
This book tells a heartfelt story of a woman and the land. Author A Bao, during a mountain climb, discovers her deep love for the mountains and her passion for outdoor life, green agriculture, and environmental protection. Eventually, she chooses a piece of land to become a modern woman farmer who "begs the land for food." She builds her own house by hand, plans the development of her orchard, and through practices like pruning, fertilizing, pest control, bagging fruit, setting up stalls, and even going to court, she experiences the interdependent and cyclical relationships between humans and nature, and between people themselves. She turns the process of survival into a process of life experience, and the process of earning a living into a process of gaining wisdom. The book vividly depicts outdoor survival, emotionally describes the scenery of the fields outside the city, and offers enlightening insights into the joys of a simple life. The book is accompanied by sixty illustrations, creating a perfect synergy of text and images.