Recluse

Examples of recluses are Symeon of Trier, who lived within the great Roman gate Porta Nigra with permission from the Archbishop of Trier, or Theophan the Recluse, a 19th-century Orthodox Christian monk who was later venerated as a saint.

Many celebrated figures of human history have spent significant portions of their lives as recluses.

In the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Church tradition, a Poustinik is a temporary hermit who has been called to pray and fast alone in a cabin for at least 24 hours.

In ancient Chinese culture, scholars are encouraged to be a public servant in a scrupulous and well-run government but expected to go into reclusion as a yinshi (隐士, 'gentleman-in-hiding') when the government is rife with corruption.

[1] Others, like Dongfang Shuo, became hermits to practice Taoism, or in later centuries, Chan Buddhism.