The Chain

In 1970, Ki Lun-Tai, an abbot in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, decided to become a Buddhist monk. He built a thatched hut in front of his house, adopted a schizophrenic as his disciple, and began to raise pigs and chickens with his new helper, whom he kept on a line of string, much like a leash. Within 20 years Li Kun-Tai, by now rechristed (by himself) Hieh Kai Feng, had 600 deranged helpers, most chained together, almost exclusively consigned to him by their families, distraught by the shame of having to look after lunatics, or socially unacceptable misfits. Ten years later, in 1999, Long Fa Tang - the Temple of the Dragon - was recognized as the largest chicken farm in Taiwan, with a milliin chickens laying eggs and defecating in almost equal proportions. They are tended by helpers from the 700 mental patients in the care of the Temple, wading through slurry, eggs and chicken corpses.