July 05, 2026

I settled at Cold Mountain long ago, already it seems like years and years. Freely I roam, I do what I choose.

Han Shan was a reclusive Tang dynasty poet who lived in the mountains of Tiantai, China, likely sometime between the 7th and 9th centuries. He wrote his poems on rocks, trees, and bamboo, and his life was a deliberate rejection of the corruption and social performance he saw in the imperial bureaucracy. His choice to live simply and honestly, rather than climb the ladder of status, was itself the act of integrity he wrote about. That choice still asks us something useful: what are you doing because you actually believe in it, versus what are you doing to manage how others see you?