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Whether it is "Romance of the Gods" or "Journey to the West", the third prince of Nezha is a popular immortal.
The name of the third prince of Nezha obviously indicates that he is from India, but now almost no one says that the "crown prince" is a Buddhist god, and Nezha has become an authentic Taoist god.
With the popularity of "Romance of the Gods", the story of the Dragon Palace, the incarnation of the lotus, and the story of father and son, etc., with the popularity of "The Romance of the Gods", it has become popular and has become a familiar story.
1. "Nezha" from India
When did Prince Nezha come to Middle-earth? The earliest record is in the "Praise of the Buddha" translated by the Northern Liang period.
Its roll is a cloud:
Just like the Emperor of Heaven, all the heavens are surrounded, such as the Maha Shura, suddenly giving birth to six faces, setting up all kinds of tools, providing and asking for blessings, now the king gives birth to the prince, and the same is true for the people, the king of Bishamen, the birth of Nara Gupo, all the heavens, all the heavens, all are happy...
The Chinese translation of Nezha's name, in addition to this "Nara Kupo", there are also "Nazha Ju Boluo", "Nazha Kuvara" and so on, all of which are Sanskrit transliterations.
Generally speaking, both Buddhist and Hindu mythology refer to Nezha as the son of Bishamontian.
The original name of Bishamon was Kupila, and he was the god of wealth. In Hindu mythology, although he is the patron god of the north, he is definitely not a warrior god.
The god Kupila is also known as the rich lord and the king of the yakshas, alias Bishamen, and originally had the meaning of "many smells". In the Ramayana, there is a speech between Kupila and his younger brother Rabona, the father and son of King Li and Nezha, and the possibility that the brother Bishaman and Ravana spoke together.
After the spread of Bishamentian through the Western Regions, his personality changed, and he was considered to be a powerful god. But he still retains the character of the God of Wealth.
Later Chinese martial arts gods of wealth - Guan Gong, Zhao Xuantan, etc., all belonged to this system. When Esoteric Buddhism flourished in the Tang Dynasty, the Bishamen faith also became popular.
In the Song Dynasty, the belief in Bishamen gave rise to the belief in the Heavenly King, and Bishamen became a native god in China. Later, he combined with Li Jing and became "Tota Li Tianwang".
However, the original Bishamanism declined. In Japan, Bishamon still has the character of the god of wealth, and among the so-called "Seven Gods of Fortune" (seven gods of wealth), Bishamen is still important.
In this kind of mythology, Nezha has almost no characteristics except for the prince of Bishamen.
2. The patron saint of Buddhism - Nezha
In the Tang Dynasty, the belief in Bishamentian was extremely prevalent. Prince Nezha often appears in the scriptures related to Bishamentian. It was during this period that the name of "Prince Nezha" and the third prince of the five princes of Bishamen were fixed.
The Sadhana of Bishaman:
The Great Bishamen of the North. Tang Tianbao Yuan Zai Ren Wu year, Da Shi Kang five countries besieged Anxi City, February 11 of the year there is a table to ask for rescue. The sage told Master Nhat Hanh on the day of the ,... There is a table to invite soldiers, Anxi went to Beijing for 12,000 miles, and the military journey arrived in eight months, and his Anxi was all that was lost. The party said, Your Majesty, why don't you ask the northern Bishamen Heavenly King to help. … One line said, call Hu Seng Daguangzhi to ask for it. … On the day of Daguang Zhi, His Majesty entered the dojo with the incense burner, and His Majesty asked the Northern Heavenly King to save the ,... Before the truth was spoken two or seven times, the saint suddenly saw that there were two or three hundred men of God. … Daguang Zhi said that this is Dujian, the second son of the king of Bishamen in the north, who led the heavenly soldiers to rescue Anxi. … In accordance with Buddhism, the third son of Nazha held the tower with the king of heaven. … The third son of the king of heaven, Prince Nazha, often follows the king of heaven with the tower.
Later, "Journey to the West" and others said that among the three princes of Li Tianwang, only Nezha was by Li Tianwang's side, and this prototype has been seen here. However, in other sadhanas, Nezha is the grandson of Bishamentian.
"The Northern Bishamen Heavenly King's Ritual of Protecting the Dharma with the Army" cloud:
At that time, the prince of Nazha, holding a halberd in his hand, saw the white Buddha of the Quartet with evil eyes, I am the second grandson of the third prince of the northern heavenly king Vaishr Ramanarako. … The White Buddha said, I uphold the Dharma, and I want to restrain the wicked or have an unkind heart. I guard the king's ministers and bureaucrats day and night. …
Calling Nezha Bishamen's grandson is just a lie. Strangely, there is no Bishamon in this sadhana. Nezha in this esoteric sutra is completely a Buddhist protector deity, and is the "filial" son of King Bishaman.
Because "filial piety" is the most important etiquette in China, some scholars argue that Nezha and Li Tianwang's father-son rivalry must have been influenced by foreign mythology.
Later, Prince Nezha gradually became an independent godhead, and there is a record about Nezha in volume 92 of the Taiping Guangji:
Xuanlu is very painful, often after the night after the road, the stairs fall, suddenly feel that someone is supporting his feet. Xuan Gu looked at it, and he was a young man. Xuan Yan asked, who is the disciple, who is here in the middle of the night.
The young man said, a certain person, that is, Prince Nazha of Bishamentian. For the sake of protecting the Dharma, he has supported monks for a long time. Xuanlu said, poor Taoist practice, nothing to bother the prince.
… The prince said, there is a Buddha's tooth, although the treasure is long, but the leader is still reluctant to dedicate it. Xuanlu obtained, that is, the Buddha's tooth in Chongsheng Temple is also.
It should be noted that at this time, the Buddha's tooth offered by Nezha "really" existed in the Chongsheng Temple.
"Pilgrimage to the Tang Dynasty to Seek the Law" cloud:
March 25, Yi Chongsheng Temple. Ritual Shakyamuni Buddha Tooth Relic Association. Some people are cloudy, the monk of Zhongnan Mountain, with the prince of Bishamen, get this Buddha's tooth. Prince Nazha will come from heaven, with monks. This temple is now offered.
At this time, even Yuanren, who came from Japan, knew about Prince Nezha and the Buddha's tooth he offered.
It seems that Nezha has established himself as the patron saint of Buddhism.
From the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, information about Nezha was common in the official cases of the Zen family. That public case is the prototype of the later "Returning the Father to the Father, the Incarnation of Lianhua".
"Jingde Chuan Lantern Record" volume 25 clouds:
… Prince Nazha, the bones are returned to the father, the flesh is returned to the mother, and then the law is spoken for the parents on the lotus flower.
This story is not only famous among Zen scholars, but also in the letter attached to Song Yanyu's "Poetry of the Waves".
This case is often cited when stating the "original self".
There are many similar words in Buddhist scriptures, but they seem to mean something special here:
If the son speaks to his parents, the human relationship hinders the understanding of the truth, so at that time, he must first break away from blood relations before he can speak the law. The aim of Zen Buddhism is to relativize all relationships. Later, however, only the "disconnection" part was emphasized, and it developed into the speech of father and son.
In fact, the father-son relationship has been relativized in this case. Also, this public case must be the source of the later "Lianhua Incarnation". Perhaps this public case flowed to the people, and it was only later that it developed a speech like "The Romance of the Gods", but there is no evidence about its development process.
3, the god of the heavenly realm will be - Nezha
It was not until the Song Dynasty that the myth of Nezha related to Taoism appeared.
"Yi Jianzhi" cloud:
Master Zhang Cuncheng practiced the Dharma of Maoshan Mountain, cured diseases and exorcised evil spirits. … Cheng Zhi is a stone spirit, so he holds the fireball spell seal and drinks the clouds, and the gods will dare to be in front of me, but they can quickly retreat. Oh saw that the fireball itself came out and hit the black block. After a long time, the sonorous sound burst out. The fireball circled around his body for several turns, but he was gone.
This story is obviously the blueprint for the later dispute between Nezha and Shiji Niangniang. Here it is clearly called Cheng "Master", but he uses "Maoshan Rectification", and he calls Nezha "God General".
There are similar records in the miscellaneous dramas of the later Yuan Dynasty.
The miscellaneous drama "Ghost of the Basin" says:
… I will know the Heavenly Heart Law, the Earth Heart Law, the Nazha Law, the Book Charm Water, I am in a hurry to take the order of the Taishang Laojun.
Here, the "Tianxin Method" and the "Nazha Method" are called together. Although the relationship between the "Maoshan Method" and the "Nazha Method" used by Master Cheng is not understood, it is more likely to belong to the same system of spells.
The people who want to use these spells in "The Ghost of the Basin" are not mages, but ordinary people. In addition, in "Yi Jianzhi", it is common that the person who wants to learn the "Tianxin Method" is not a mage.
What does this mean?
In the Song Dynasty, I am afraid that the "Tianxin Righteous Law" and "Maoshan Righteous Law" are not necessarily spells used by ordinary Taoist priests, but spells that can be used by folk mages or ordinary people.
Of course, it doesn't hurt to be a Taoist priest and cultivator, but that spell is not official. Therefore, it is highly likely that the so-called "Maoshan Rectification" is pretending to be Taoism.
The Song Dynasty, and especially the Southern Song Dynasty, was a time when many such nameless mages were active, and their deeds and spells seemed to be unable to pursue their origins. On the one hand, they actively adopted the spells of Taoism and Buddhism, especially Esoteric Buddhism, so many Buddhist gods also entered the ranks of folk beliefs.
Nezha was also changed in this trend and became one of the deities of folk beliefs.
From the Southern Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, Taoism used a lot of folk magic, especially the sects dominated by Zhengyijiao, and its unification activities were eye-catching.
Nezha is the same, he was originally a Buddhist god, but after he became a folk deity, he officially joined the Taoist genealogy.
In the popular literature of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Nezha is completely a brave god general in the heavenly realm.
In the Ming Dynasty's "Journey to the West Miscellaneous Drama", it said:
The leader of the pawn goes to the clouds... A certain is the third son of King Bisha.
See the marshal of the 80 billion ghost soldiers. On the orders of the Jade Emperor's father, he hunted down the demon who stole the immortal clothes and the immortal wine. … I want you to see my three-headed and six-armed ability.
The miscellaneous drama "Lock the Magic Mirror" said:
At the end of the powder, Nazha led everyone to the clouds, and the little saint Nazha God is also. For the ten demon lords who descended because of the small birth. … In order to subdue many demons, add 8.81 million heavenly soldiers to subdue the generalissimo of demons. Under his command is the deputy marshal Mustang Guanzhi, the leader of which is the Great Sage of Medicine and the Heavenly Soldiers. … Nazha's divine anger started from his heart, but he had already changed his divine power, and he was marked by the three heads and six arms, and the six weapons. …
This image is almost the same as the image in Ming Dynasty novels such as "Journey to the West" and "Journey to the South".
Probably at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Nezha's status as "the god general of the heavenly realm, the generalissimo under the command of the Jade Emperor" had been established. This may indicate the position of Nezha in folk beliefs, but I am afraid that in Taoism in the Ming Dynasty, Nezha's status is not so high. So now Nezha is still a god who is valued among the people.
4. From Buddhist gods to Taoist gods
So, in the Ming Dynasty, did Nezha completely become a Taoist god? Nezha still retained the character of a Buddhist god at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
In many Yuan and Ming miscellaneous dramas, Nezha uses fierce descriptions, such as:
… Then your unprovoked son is just like the evil Nazha.
… The sky is just like a chasing soul with a black face.
… Just for you, the captain of Kobe is like a wolf, and the giant axe is frequent.
… It's hard to help me, my six-armed Zha is very willowy.
However, some miscellaneous dramas say that Nezha is a Buddhist god general.
… Ask what evil bodhisattva, wolf Nazha, Vajra answers. I can't sort it out even if I look straight at Shakyamuni.
It is said that Nezha is a bodhisattva, a god and Buddha such as King Kong.
It is more obviously recorded in the Ming Dynasty's "Nazha Three Changes" miscellaneous drama:
"Ananda" understands, the good is better than the boy, and the world is called. "At the end of the day, the good win boy goes to the clouds" My god is good at winning the boy. Hundreds of billions of incarnations, in fact, the third prince of Nazha, the world-honored see that I am mighty, since I converted to Buddhism, incarnated as a child, and listened to the scriptures under the lotus seat.
Here it is said that Nezha is a good boy in front of the temple, and the strange thing is that this article has the flavor of Nezha who was not originally a Buddhist god but later "converted" to Buddhism. I'm afraid that at this time, Nezha was already a famous god general in the heavenly realm, so he reluctantly wrote like this.
However, it seems that the Ming Dynasty still worshiped Nezha in the temple.
The thirtieth episode of "The Legend of the Ping Demon":
… Turning around to the Buddha hall, I saw a statue of six gods and Buddhas, three heads like three green mountains, six arms like six mountains, holding six magic weapons. Wen Dian straight road, the temple does not mold the Buddha statue, but why do you mold the prince Nezha? The elder said, the prince Nezha is the Buddha who does not move, and worsens people with kindness.
It is quite strange that Nezha is called "the king of immobility" here.
From the perspective of ordinary people, the situation that there is no Buddha statue in the Buddha hall in this era and there is a statue of Nezha is a strange thing. Moreover, in the Ming Dynasty, it seems that the existence of "Ming King Buddha" is also a matter that is not well understood by ordinary people.
Later, "The Romance of the Gods" was very popular among the people, and the folk beliefs were also strongly influenced, and in the end, Nezha completely became a Taoist god.
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