The idiom 懸崖勒馬 comes from quite an early work, the Yuan dynasty play Zhi Yong Ding Qi by Zheng Dehui. In the play there is the line “呀!你如今船到江心補漏遲,抵多少臨崖勒馬纔收騎”, which means
祖師廟
The Third Rebuilding of Sanxia’s Zushih Temple 三峽清水祖師廟的 第三次重建 New Taipei City’s Sanxia Zushih Temple, known as the “palace of oriental art,” is known for its traditional appeal and its unique carvings and decoration.The initial plans to build the temple stretch back to the Qing dynasty. It was rebuilt twice during the 19th […]
kahn
crowds
We had no idea what was going to happen. We’d only entered the temple at this late hour to use the facilities. There was a great crush of people trying to get in, deferring only slightly to the greater crush of people who were trying to get out. Bottle-necked in the arched entrance, there was, […]
the coat
Longshan Temple, Taipei, 2015. It’s not hot here now, but not cold, either. Not fur coat cold. This coat was unlikely real fur. But many people in Taiwan seem to feel the cold; especially when they come from the south. Longshan is in the north, but this girl’s manner, wardrobe, the shine of her […]
temple door
I’m finding these temple festivals increasingly difficult to find the enthusiasm to go to. The interest nowadays is purely photographic, and I don’t even lift the camera to my eye anymore unless the idea is new or, if it is similar to something I have already captured, an improvement on what I already have, or […]
new/ old
Both of these pictures were taken over two years before I actually got around to printing them. This was a deliberate delay, useful because of the changing relationship you have with photos over time. After a certain amount of time you lose the enthusiasm to print because of any lingering associations you have at the […]
nikkor 105
This was taken in south Taiwan in April 2011, although I didn’t print it until a full year later. It was taken using a Nikkor 105mm ltm lens, which I rarely use. The few shots I have taken with it have not been the sharpest but often have quite a bit of character. I bought […]