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This is fun but I've lost count of how many times I "gong" the bell.
I had been to Hanshan Shi , it is a very old temple and I like very old temples. I'm surprised that this temple has a website.There was a famous poem composed by a scholar from Tang dynasty. The poem was inscribed on a stone in this temple.
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The poem you mentioned is《枫桥夜泊》(Night Mooring At Maple Bridge), written by a Tang poet Zhang Ji. I like old temples too, and the chanting and the bell gong... Years back, friends and I happened to stay in a hostel near an old temple on a mountain while backpacking. There was a 法会 that stretched through the night, the echo of the chanting and bell gong was so strong, so peaceful, that awakened us to deep silence...
Here's an English translation of the poem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkawka398Wc&feature=related
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watching:-
Cold Mountain :
Synopsis: "Cold Mountain" is a film portrait of the Tang Dynasty Chinese poet Han Shan, a.k.a. Cold Mountain. Recorded on location in China, America and Japan, Burton Watson, Red Pine and the legendary Gary Snyder describe the poet's life and tell poems. A trickster, Han Shan wrote poems for everyone, not just the educated elite. A man free of spiritual doctrine, it is unclear whether or not he was a monk, whether he was a Buddhist or a Taoist, or both. It is not even certain he ever lived, but the poems do.
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/2457/Cold-Mountain
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