The Lingyin Temple, located in Hangzhou and with a history of more than 1700 years, has caught people’s attention again due to its recruitment advertisement issued on June 30 for two official staff members, who will not be required to shave their heads.

The recruitment notice to hire two university graduates to operate the temple’s WeChat account has reaped more than 100,000 views with an abundance of comments.

A prior recruitment announcement also went viral in 2016, causing a staff member of the temple to delete the notice after it became too popular among Chinese people.

Zhao Liangui, a post-90s generation man, was the stand-out candidate among a thousand job seekers back in 2016. Before that, Zhao had had three years of experience in managing a WeChat account with 300,000 followers. This was the key that he thinks got him the job.

(Zhao Liangui.Photo/ thecover.cn)

Zhao is neither a Buddhist, nor had experienced any troubles that caused him to wish to retreat from normal life and his only motivation for applying for the job was his curiosity about temple life.

The written examination was conducted in the temple with around 100 participants who were required to write a publicity article on a given theme. This for Zhao was not difficult, and in the interview, the questions were also easy for him.

After accepting the job offer, Zhao moved to the dormitory on the mountain and worked from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Except on Buddhist festivals, he had a relaxing work life with lots of free time to read, practice calligraphy and keep fit. The temple provided free lunch and dinner which were all vegetable dishes. If he wanted to have meat, he needed to go down the mountain.

Zhao kept such a lifestyle for one and a half years before he resigned. “I think the reason I went to Lingyin Temple to work was to find an answer, that was whether I could really escape from the earthly life. I got that answer and then I left,”said Zhao.

He explained that “being able to adapt to the temple life”, which was a requirement in the recruitment announcement, was not easy and needs those really indifferent to normal life.

Amid his current busy work life, Zhao sometimes misses the leisurely life on the mountain but he knows he couldn’t live that way all the time. What he mostly wants to share is that apart from being fully dedicated to Buddhism, monks are normal people, and working in Lingyin Temple is not as mysterious as people think.