Lianke Yan

Hello … Are you there? … Is anyone going to come listen to me ramble?
Hello … spirits! … If you’re not busy, then come and listen … I’m kneeling on the highest point of our Funiu Mountains, so you should definitely be able to hear me. Surely you won’t be annoyed by the shouts of a child?
Hello … I’ve come on behalf of a village … a small village … on behalf of a mountain range, and the entire world. I’m kneeling here facing the sky, and simply want to tell you one thing. I hope you’ll have the patience to listen to me, to listen to me ramble and shout. Don’t be annoyed, and don’t become anxious. This matter is as vast as the sky and the earth.

I can hear the clouds floating across the sky over my head, and can see the air passing in front of me, like yarn being pulled out of my eyes. The sun is bright and everything is still. The air and clouds smell like dew under the morning sun. I kneel—peacefully kneel here on this mountaintop. I am the only one here. In the entire world, there is only me—there is only me, together with the grass, rocks, and air. The world is so still. Everything under heaven is so still …

Kneeling here facing the heavens, my heart like pure water, I will relate everything I have heard and experienced

It wasn’t that our family had wanted to be his neighbor, but rather it was our ancestors and God who had arranged it.