LIKE TEENAGERS the world over, Chen Bolin, a Chinese university student, feels a need to belong. Unlike many of his peers, Mr Chen has found a spiritual home: China of the Wei and Jin dynasties, about 1,800 years ago. So deep is this bond that on special occasions he wears flowing, wide-sleeved robes inspired by third-century dress. One moment of connection stood out, when he wore robes to a museum in Shaoxing, the eastern city where he studies. There he found a sculpture depicting sages from the Wei and Jin era. His own clothes were "exactly like theirs", he recalls happily. He saluted the statues and told them: "Dear ancestors, I've heard so much about you. It is my good fortune to see you today."
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