Master Bao and the Poet of the Bamboo Grove

“Master,” Ping said, “is life an illusion?”

Artist Fan Zeng (b. 1938) on Unsplash

A tale of China during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE)

Master Bao rode his great ox, Xi, along a trail in the southern province of Lingnan. His student Ping walked alongside.

“This part of Lingnan is thought to be haunted by ghosts, Master,” Ping said. He kept sweeping…