Wang Shizhen (1526-1950), ziyuanmei, Fengzhou, Jiajing twenty-six years of jinshi, official to the punishment department Shangshu, given to the prince Shaobao, famous writer and historian. One of the leaders of the "Later Seven Sons", he has led the literary world for more than twenty years. He has written many works, including "Four Drafts of The Mountain People of Yizhou", "Continuation Draft", "Collection of Yishan Tang" and so on.
The Wang Shizhen family is another large family in Taicang. Wang Xijue and he both had the surname Wang, and they were both famous, so they climbed into the family and had a very good relationship. Wang Xijue recounted the events to Wang Shizhen, who was more than half a hundred years old, and asked for his opinion. Wang Shizhen, however, was "not very convinced", and when Wang Xijue came to his home, he saw Taozhen.
Tao Zhen was still familiar with Wang Shizhen and had a long conversation with him, but this conversation did not make Tao Zhen enlightened, but instead made Wang Shizhen have an epiphany. Wang Shizhen was originally quite interested in Buddhism and Taoism, but he could not always understand it, and Taozhen's theory of the unity of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism made him suddenly enlightened, and he was hopelessly fascinated by Taozhen's advanced theory, and his interest in all things in the world disappeared.
At that time, Tao Zhen had already successfully cultivated the Dafa of Breaking the Valley. The so-called valley removal, also known as the absolute grain, the rest of the grain, and the absolute grain, is a method of Taoist cultivation, that is, by practicing qi to keep oneself from eating in order to cultivate into immortals. Wang Shizhen admired TaoZhen so much that he worshipped the 18-year-old Taozhen as a teacher regardless of his identity and came to study every day.
With Wang Shizhen's great influence in the literary world, this matter was like a gust of wind blowing all over Taicang City, spreading to Suzhou, and then more and more literati from Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Wuxi and other places heard the wind.
Although the worship of the Buddhist path was very popular at that time, very few people really entered the Buddha's humanity, and they all wanted to see the true appearance and style of the master and listen to her teachings, and more importantly, they wanted to verify the authenticity of this matter: how could a woman who was less than 20 years old and waiting to be a girl become a master?
Among them, there are many well-known literati and inkers, such as Feng Menglong, who wrote the famous book "Three Words and Two Beats", Xu Wei and Tu Long, as well as Shen Maoxue, Shen Defu, Qu Ruji, Feng Mengzhen, and so on. They have always been pretentious, but they all fell down under the Tao Zhen Gate with pleasure and sincerity. In their own poetic works, they vigorously depicted the deeds of TaoZhen, and Taozhen became increasingly famous.
Some high-ranking officials and officials also joined the ranks, such as Hubu Shangshu Gengzhi, guan Zhidao, the chief of the military department, and Zhao Yongxian, the official attendant. They also admired Tao Zhen and communicated widely in high society. For a time, Yanzhen became a must-talk topic for people to talk about in the streets. Her fans are growing, and there is an endless stream of people who come to ask for immortals and ask the Buddha every day.
Wang Xijue's meeting with his daughter was already widely known, and his original mentality had changed. He simply disregarded his identity, worshiped his daughter as a teacher, and built a Tanyang Taoist Temple for her in the southwest corner of Taicang City, which was specially used for cultivation and mission.
Tao Zhen still rarely ate or drank, and spent most of his time practicing with his eyes closed. When her disciples came to ask for training, she would occasionally explain the scriptures to a few close disciples and give them seals. But as the number of people increased, she was no longer willing to see these ordinary people.
In the eighth year of the Wanli Calendar, Tao Zhen obtained his father's consent to go to the graveyard for her fiancé sacrifice for the last time, and said that she would fly into the sky around the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the afternoon of June 23, Tao Zhen came to her fiancé's graveyard and sprinkled nectar. She looked at the tombstone without saying a word, and it took a long time before she cut off a pinch of her own hair and put it in front of the tomb, choking up and saying that she was going to go with the true king and become a cicada.
Taoism believes that the yin and yang of the successful cultivators have become, and the form has no effect, and they will shed their appearance like cicadas and become immortals. The cultivator stands in the prepared niche, transforming his body into the human world, and the soul soars into the heavens. This shows that the cultivation is successful and that you have become an immortal. But Tao Zhen stood in the niche for a day, but did not soar. The second time I prophesied again, it still did not succeed. Several times it did not work, and Tao Zhen believed that the ceremony was not solemn enough, and it was necessary to make up for the worship ceremony.
Her family was so exhausted that her elderly grandmother fell seriously ill. Several loyal disciples still worshiped her and wrote poems to advocate. They took this opportunity to hold literary salons, drink tea, sing poems, and write a large number of poems about Tao Zhen's spiritual spirits to show off and praise each other.
More and more people knew the news, and more and more people came to watch. Soon, Tao Zhen told everyone that she would fly on the day of the Nine Yang Festival in early September. People heard the news and rushed to tell each other.
For that day, Taozhen had not eaten or drunk for several days, but had only met with Wang Shizhen and a few other close disciples, and had stopped teaching scriptures, holding the small snake she had raised for a long time. This little snake is often mentioned in the works of the people of the time. It was also deified in a big way, and Tao Zhen called it "Guardian Dragon".
As soon as September began, the number of outsiders in Taicang City began to increase. People came from thousands of miles away to see the scene of the Immortal Dao Long Cicada flying in the sky. By the ninth day of the first month of September, more and more people gathered from all directions, and more than 100,000 people had gathered in the streets and alleys, and the entire Taicang City was a crowded alley.
At noon, Tao Zhen finished bathing and changing clothes, walked out of the inner room, and said goodbye to her family and several disciples with no expression on her face. Wang Xijue burst into tears, but did not utter a word. Tao Zhen took her "guardian dragon", held the dust in her left hand, and walked into the niche that had been prepared and stood inside. After a while, I swallowed.
Wang Shizhen witnessed the passage of the master's cicada, and he later wrote: After the master entered the niche, he suddenly trembled, clenched his teeth, and turned blue. It is also said that when Master TanYang flew into the sky, his face was like life, his smile was like a flower, and he had to ascend to heaven; It is also said that when the cicadas metamorphose. His face was dull and he stood unsteadily. This shows that Tao Zhen may have been bitten by a poisonous snake, or he may have been starved to death by long-term malnutrition. This year, Tao Zhen was 22 years old.