Baohua Mountain, named after the yellow flowers in the middle of summer, the surrounding 36 peaks resemble 36 lotus petals, and Longchang Temple sits in it like a lotus flower. The clouds in the mountains, the tinkling of water by the stream, and the evergreen pines and cypresses throughout the year are indeed an extraordinary Buddhist resort. The Qianlong Emperor went down to Jiangnan six times and went up Tobaohua Mountain every time, what was the reason for this?
The first is to win the hearts and minds of the Han people. The Jiangnan region was the place where the Ming Dynasty was founded at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and although the anti-Qing and Ming undercurrents surged and although the armed resistance was quelled, the scholars supported the former dynasty, refused to serve the Qing, and propagated anti-Qing propaganda. Qianlong's southern tour was to appease the intellectuals, to attract and use them; Jiangnan was rich in talented people, and by the way, talents could be discovered and used for their use.
Baohua Mountain forest landscape is unique, there are nearly 100 thousand-year-old trees in the mountain, Longchang Temple was founded in the first year of Liang Tianjian (502), and has a history of more than 1500 years. Longchang Temple was given the name "Protector of the Nation and Sanctified Longchang Temple" by the Myeongjin Sect, and Baohua Mountain became famous for it. The seventh generation of Zu Wenhai was named "National Teacher" by Yongzheng, and Mount Baohua became the first mountain of the Vinaya, along with Emei and Wutai, and was known as the three famous Buddhist mountains in the country. In the early years of Qianlong, Baohuashan Longchang Temple has developed to its peak stage, and it is a very important Buddhist place name mountain in the guanjian minfang.
When Qianlong Liu went up Baohua Mountain, he actually choked the "dragon head" of the Buddhist Vinaya sect. Every time he went up the mountain and entered the temple, Qianlong gave great rewards to the officials who were driving and running errands, and the officials were promoted to knights, especially for the old ministers who came to pick up the driver, booed and greeted the warmth, rewarded ginseng, mink skins and other items, and also rewarded their descendants for meritorious names. Only by dealing with intellectuals can the world be stable.
Another version is to express religious beliefs and to show that they are diligent in government. Qianlong successively gave Baohuashan 500 taels of platinum, 50 ingots of yuanbao, 1100 taels of silver, 2 handles of ruyi, as well as purses, chaozhu, scriptures, scrolls, etc., and some of the scriptures were copied by his own hand. According to books such as the "Great View of the Wild History of Buddhism", the Qing imperial family and the Manchus believed in Buddhism, and all emperors were honored as Buddhas. Therefore, Qianlong's repeated visits to jiangnan famous temples also came from a certain need of his religious beliefs.
The Longchang Temple palace in Qianlong is also not luxurious, just like the bedroom of an ordinary monk, except for the calligraphy inscription of Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty. According to The 85-year-old monk Ben Miao of Longchang Temple, he had seen a Royal Sea Bowl given to Baohua Mountain by Qianlong, which was so thick and stupid that he couldn't believe that it was the emperor's utensils. Therefore, Qianlong also took this opportunity to show the world his "clarity" and "diligence."
Another theory is that it was attracted by the amazing scenery of Baohua Mountain. Qianlong is an elegant and good traveler. According to the "History of Nanjing", Qianlong's southern tour, wherever he went, he must have a palace. Longtan and Qixia are only one or two miles apart, and there are three palaces (one of which is in Baohua Mountain). It is not difficult to infer that the Qianlong Sixth Treasure, in addition to a certain need for politics and belief, is also a pleasure for sightseeing.
In addition, there are far-fetched legends such as "looking for the biological father" and "looking for the birth mother" because Kang Youwei fabricated that "Qianlong is a Han Chinese". The Qianlong Emperor planted six "Royal Dao Pines" in Jiangnan and Six On Baohua, leaving behind four big characters of the imperial pen "The Source of Qinhuai", and also left a large number of poetry ink treasures and legendary stories.
Legend has it that the Qianlong Emperor was going to Baohua Mountain to listen to the ordination, and the monks set up a pulpit in the courtyard of Longchang Temple. Grandpa Qianlong was fascinated by what he heard, and even forgot to eat lunch. When the abbot finished preaching, people suddenly found that there was a flock of pheasants, larks and other birds in the courtyard, and a large group of plush golden rats, as if they had come to listen to the scriptures.
The escort guards were afraid that these little beasts would disturb the Holy Driver and wanted to drive them away, but Qianlong Ye would not let them, and stretched out his hands and softly called out to these golden rats: "Come, come, Yuan will not hurt you." ”
Unexpectedly, these golden rats actually surrounded Qianlong Ye one after another, some licking his fingers, some pulling his dragon robe, and he was very affectionate. Although Qianlong Ye had dozens of valuable pugs in the palace, none of them could be as naughty and cute as these golden rats. Qianlong Ye was overjoyed, and immediately inscribed a poem, including the sentence "Birds in the garden listen to the birds, and kulai rats guard the grain" to reward these golden rats. Since then, every time Qianlong goes down to Jiangnan, the itinerary is tight, he has to climb Baohua Mountain in person, and may also want to meet these cute golden candy rats!
Longchang Temple also has several monsters: only hear the bells and do not see the temple; The temple gates are all to the south, and Baohua is facing north; the monks and nuns not only "live together", but the kitchen chef also cooks "meat dishes"!