An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.
This movie contains 14 potentially triggering events.
The dog owned by the characters during the "Spring" episode comes to no onscreen harm. However, it can be assumed that the dog has passed on during the time jump between "Spring" and "Summer".
The older monk follows and watches the young boy when he leaves the monastery. When the young boy is older he follows and spies on the girl when they leave the monastery.
A kid ties rocks to animals (fish, frog, snake) for his entertainment, the film shows the animals struggling, eventually resulting in two of them found dead (also showed).
A carried living cat's tail is used to paint Chinese characters on a wooden floor.
A kid introduces tiny rocks in the mouth of animals, again for his entertainment (again a fish, frog and a snake). Again there are takes showing the animals' struggle.
A mother dies by falling in a hole of a frozen lake, after abandoning her child. There is no showing of her struggle but there is a scene where her body is taken out of the chilled water.