introduction
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a legendary monk who was rewarded and honored during his lifetime, and when he was young, some people said that he was fond of killing, and he was not only not angry but also happy. After his death, Emperor Akihito believed that he was "born with his wealth, and died with him to enjoy the worship", and let him enjoy the temple court of Emperor Taizong of Ming, and he was the famous "black-clothed prime minister" Yao Guangxiao of the Ming Dynasty.
Yao Guangxiao, the "black-clad prime minister", is a legendary figure around Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, and can be called the most mysterious strategist of the Ming Dynasty. He was a monk, but he was proficient in the three religions of Confucianism and Buddhism, and he met Zhu Diwei when he was young, and assisted Zhu Di all the way to the throne as emperor. Yao Guangxiao even partnered with xie jin, a great talent of the Ming Dynasty, to complete the compilation and revision of the Yongle Canon, and became the chief compiler of the book, making great contributions to China's cultural history. This person is a legend, and can be described as the first person in the Ming Dynasty.
▲ Yao Guangxiao stills
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Yao Guangxiao was born in Changzhou (now Suzhou, Jiangsu) to a family that had been practicing medicine for generations, but he did not inherit his ancestral business to learn medicine. At the age of 14, Yao Guangxiao became a monk. Since he was a monk, Yao Guangxiao should have embraced Buddhism, but in fact he was also involved in Buddhism, not only proficient in Confucianism, but also worshipped a Taoist priest to learn yin and yang techniques. And all this shows that this person is extraordinary.
In the eighth year of Hongwu (1375 AD), Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to select a group of monks who were proficient in Confucianism to serve as monks, and Yao Guangxiao was also among the Confucian monks who were recruited into the Beijing Division. After five years, when Yao Guangxiao was 45 years old, through the recommendation of others, he served as a small monk in the royal monastery.
▲Portrait of Yao Guangxiao
Two years later, after Empress Ma's death, Yao Guangxiao became acquainted with Zhu Di, the King of Yan, because of the honor of the Holy Order to recite prayers for the kings. The two saw each other as they were, and they talked happily. When Zhu Di wanted to return to the fiefdom of Beiping, Yao Guangxiao took the initiative to ask to go with him. Zhu Di also admired Yao Guangxiao very much, and since he was also interested in recruiting talents, he brought Yao Guangxiao back to Beiping to serve as the abbot of a temple, and the two had close contact.
In the thirty-first year of Hongwu (1398 AD), Emperor Jianwen succeeded to the throne after the death of Emperor Ming Taizu, and in order to consolidate his throne, Emperor Jianwen began to cut the domain. At this time, Zhu Di had the intention of rebelling, but he had not yet made up his mind, but Yao Guangxiao was bent on usurping the throne with Zhu Di, and directly told Zhu Di to let him raise an army, and said that Zhu Di's ascension to the throne was the way of heaven.
▲ Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao stills
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Yao Guangxiao also recommended many talents to Zhu Di, and finally Zhu Di made up his mind to rebel and began to secretly draw forces from all sides to form his own troops. Yao Guangxiao quietly trained soldiers and horses and built weapons for him, and in order to cover up the sound of building weapons, he also specially raised many ducks and geese and other animals.
In June of the first year of Jianwen (1399 AD), Zhu Di was accused of rebellion by a guard of the government. Upon learning of this, Zhu Di decided to immediately rebel, after which Zhu Di led his troops around to fight, and Yao Guangxiao assisted Shizi to stay in Beiping. Yao Guangxiao told Zhu Di, "Don't go down to the city, hurry to the capital division." The Kyoshi is weak and is bound to move. Zhu Di followed his advice and was eventually able to succeed and ascend the throne as emperor.
▲ Stills of Zhu Di's ascension to the throne
Since then, Yao Guangxiao has been continuously rewarded by Zhu Di, who has great respect for him, and every time he talks to him, he never thinks of himself as an emperor, but always calls him "Young Master". Yao Guangxiao was in a high position, but he never took credit for himself, he refused Zhu Di's request to make him vulgar, only willing to live in the temple, and did not accept the palace maids that Zhu Di rewarded him. Yao Guangxiao would only change into his imperial clothes when he was in the dynasty, and he still dressed as a monk. For the gold that Zhu Di rewarded him, Yao Guangxiao also took a special opportunity to distribute all of it to his clan villagers.
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Yao Guangxiao made such a contribution to Zhu Di, but he did not want beautiful women and did not ask for money, so what did he really want? In fact, it is very simple, not to ask for it, but only in this way can we eliminate the suspicion of the monarch. Because of Yao Guangxiao's high-spirited performance, every time Zhu Di left Nanjing, including leading troops to conquer Mongolia, he would give Yao Guangxiao and the crown prince the important affairs of the dprk and the crown prince, so that he could assist the prince in establishing the country, and later let Yao Guangxiao teach the emperor's eldest son.
▲Stills of Yao Guangxiao and Zhu Di
Yao Guangxiao was seriously ill at the age of 84, and Zhu Di visited him many times in person, hoping to satisfy Yao Guangxiao's dying request. To his surprise, Yao Guangxiao made only one request: the release of Emperor Jianwen's chief monk Puqia. When Zhu Di first entered Nanjing, PuQia was arrested and imprisoned for more than ten years because of Emperor Jianwen. Zhu Di agreed to Yao Guangxiao's request, and it was not long before Yao Guangxiao passed away.
After Yao Guangxiao's death, Zhu Di was unable to ascend to the court for two consecutive days, and finally buried him according to the monk's etiquette. Zhu Di not only posthumously honored him, but also personally wrote a Shinto inscription for Yao Guangxiao. After Emperor Akihito succeeded to the throne, on the seventh anniversary of Yao Guangxiao's death, he specially ordered Yao Guangxiao to be assigned to the temple court of Emperor Taizong of Ming, and this honor was only yao Guangxiao among the Ming Dynasty's courtiers.
▲Yao Guangxiao Tomb Tower
epilogue
Zhu Di once wrote a poem for Yao Guangxiao, "Two Poems of the Seventy Birthdays of Yao Guangxiao, the Young Master of the Crown Prince": "Shou Jie escaped from the virtual son, and the old age was not yet central." Meritorious and famous auxiliary, reputation article. It can be seen that he values Yao Guangxiao. Interestingly, there are two monks in the Ming Dynasty who can be said to have changed the course of history, one is that Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty. The other was Yao Guangxiao, who led Zhu Di to raise an army and replaced the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao, thus opening the Yongle dynasty. The fate of the Ming Dynasty took a big turn here, and Yao Guangxiao could be said to be a key figure at the helm, and his influence on the Ming Dynasty was immeasurable.
Resources:
History of the Ming Dynasty
"Two Poems of the Seventy Birthdays of Yao Guangxiao, the Young Master of the Crown Prince"