As Valley Stretches Out his Hand
Our Story
This valley, known as "Des Balamen" in the local Miao language, refers to the village in the canyon.
In 2013, we came here to open up wasteland, build simple houses, eat our own food and vegetables, and reshape the path of freedom from the most basic issues in life.
In fact, everyone has a valley inside. It is like a unique self walking in a vast world. Only after going through all the hardships and mists can we return to the original.
We look forward to this originating in the wild The practice of life can build a sustainable life by returning to the basic ethics, and inspire more possibilities for survival meaning and artistic creation in a complex context.
You are always welcome.
Camp for Children
The Valley Children's Autonomous Camp was started by the kids of the Tomorrow Valley founding team.
This summer, six or seven kids, aged between three and a half to fifteen or sixteen years old, will come to the valley at the start of the summer break. They might laugh and play on the hills of the fields, just like we did when we visited our cousins in the far-off countryside, in that land of freedom, in that true home.
Do you ever wonder if Tomorrow Valley or Wilderness School come from kids' dreams?
So, we want to use this summer break to invite more kids to embrace the dream of a free kingdom and their actual hometown resonating with "the wilderness reaching out to you."
Here are some items we can give to kids:
Self-management
Diversity
Nature
Minimal
Life
Friendship
Liberal
Education
Happiness
Growing
The kids might feel hungry, there could be disagreements and arguments, and they might decide to stop because they can't handle it anymore;
The kids can enjoy good meals, look out for one another, live happily, go boating on the river, discover the woods, play on the grass, dance under the stars, and navigate their lives following the treasure map. They can also plan different parties, ask neighbors to come, visit outdoor school classes, and talk to everyone as equals. They are reluctant to go because they have experienced the freedom and happiness of growing up...
Simply put, when we feel concerned, we can pray for nature's beauty, freedom's value, human ethics, trust, gratitude, and cherishing to become common sense and intuition, guiding our lives. May families thrive together, and may every drop of water find its way back to the sea.
Let's look ahead together and embrace whatever comes our way.
Shangu School
Shangu School can be considered as an experiment of Liberal Education in the Chinese southwest mountain area. This form of education is not an innovation. It does adapt to the local conditions and carry three characteristics:
1. Unlike specialized study in the modern academia, Shangu School
tends to trace the very root. This exploration involves a bird view besides a careful gaze.
2. Unlike exam-based education, Shangu School is not interested in offering answers, nor flirting with questions. By questioning questions, the background of culture, politics and religion -- from which questions are framed -- is brought into the foreground and scrutinized under daylight.
3. Shangu School is conscious of the wide spectrum of perspectives in the modern era. By offering an equal and respectful environment to cultivate a tangent point between the Western and the Eastern thought, a sense of earthling citizenship is encouraged to counter the quarrels and sufferings that are tearing apart the modern world.
A special remark: Shangu School follows the reading tradition of St. John's College, where historically significant authors are read in their original texts. There is no textbook, nor lecturer. There is only a desk and a group of people around the desk, who thrive to keep the most important questions of human life afloat and visible.
Shangu School
— Can be considered as an experiment of Liberal Education in Chinese southwest mountain area
Gardening
Gardening is a real thing. As seen in the picture, it looks like a leaf that has dropped to the ground in the valley, a modern food garden.
Exploring leaves, strolling on leaf veins lined with river rocks, taking breaks, having a picnic, dancing in the wild area next to the leaves, composing poetry at dusk, and starting a bonfire at night...
How probable is it that you'll turn into a sentimental individual by creating this garden? It's a natural daydream when observing the garden layout, showing how people tend to follow their vague thoughts. Gardening was initially meant for precise calculations like "how many crops, how big the area, and how much work a person requires in a year," aiming to prevent resource wastage by defining labor with limits and shapes.
Gardening is like a special place where limited meetings and goodbyes are kept alive and carried on through natural and growing elements. Simply put, people and gardening take care of each other. Everything that occurs in the garden belongs to the garden and to you.
The valley remains unchanged, just a small part of the world. The phrase "here is the extension of the wilderness to you" still stands true, as humans require and have a blue planet of approximately two square kilometers in size.
That's why the garden was created for you.
Describing why I adore the wilderness is hard for me. However, I am aware that when a person and the world they inhabit come together with deep affection, they cannot escape this reality:
Life is always changing. The world and people's lives are significant. The history of the real world, though romantic and intriguing, will lose its meaning eventually. Despite the deep boredom, there is always a transition from existence to beings. Even without a new era, new people will always emerge.
Similarly, in the sequence of ideas we have carefully built, as we start removing unnecessary obstacles, we create a small opening to the blue planet.
Exploring a sustainable life is like delving into the gaps between individuals, between people and society, and between all things. It's also about finding the way to freedom and the connection of love.
Future in Valley
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明日山谷
Future in valley is located in Laer Mountain, Fenghuang, Xiangxi, Hunan, China
