Yang Jiaofeng on the Journey to the West series of articles:
When I was a child watching Journey to the West, I would always give them a ranking of combat strength rankings, whether it was the monsters or immortals in it, that is, to find out who was more powerful.
And when it comes to the ranking problem, there are always two big gods that can't be bypassed, one is the Daozu Taishang Laojun, and the other is the Buddha Rulai.
When Sun Wukong was caught in the heavenly court, Taishang Laojun vowed that as long as the monkey was thrown into the Bagua Furnace, custody would turn him into ashes. Of course, as a result, everyone also knows that Sun Wukong not only failed to turn into ashes, but his strength did not decrease but increased, and he hit the Ling Xiao Treasure Hall all the way.
Subsequently, he failed in the fight with the Buddha of Rulai and was crushed by the Five Elements Mountain, so does this mean that the strength of the Buddha is stronger than that of the Taishang Laojun?
Yang Jiaofeng talked about the Journey to the West series of articles: After reading the original work, I knew that the strength of Taishang Laojun was seriously exaggerated, and he could not even surrender Sun Wukong!
One
For Sun Wukong to make a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace, Taishang Laojun has made a hand, and it is a hit!
At that time, Sun Wukong and the Erlang God were fighting, and it was difficult to distinguish between victory and defeat, and Guanyin Bodhisattva wanted to help the Erlang God to use the principle of high-altitude projectiles to smash the monkey's head with a jade net bottle. But it was vetoed by Taishang Laojun, on the grounds that your jade bottle is porcelain, and if it is broken, it will lose a lot, or use my diamond bracelet:
"The Monkey King only cared about fighting the Seven Saints bitterly, but he didn't know that this weapon fell from the sky, hit the Heavenly Spirit, stood unsteadily, and fell down..."
It was precisely because of this blow that Sun Wukong fell down, and then was bitten by the Erlang God's wheezing dog, and could not struggle, and finally was hooked the lute bone, tied hands.
Although the monkey was caught, how to deal with him, it was difficult to destroy the gods of the heavenly court, fire, lightning strikes, axe slashes, knives, can not hurt Sun Wukong a single hair. That is, when everyone was at a loss, Taishang Laojun vowed to stand up and say that he had a way to eliminate this monkey:
"If you take it with the old way, put it in the Bagua furnace, exercise with the fire of literature and martial arts, and refine my Dan, he will be ashes of his own."
Taishang Laojun had a very good idea, since the elixir was refined by himself, then throwing Sun Wukong, who had eaten enough dan, into the Bagua furnace, could still refine Dan again, and destroy his flesh by the way.
Unfortunately, after 7749 days, Sun Wukong was not destroyed, and even made a hand with Taishang Laojun here, and won a complete victory:
Panicked, the fire watching furnace and Ding Jia's group of people came to tear it off, and he put it down one by one, like a white-fronted tiger with epilepsy and a one-horned dragon in the wind. Lao Jun caught up and grabbed a handful, was thrown by him, grabbed an upside-down onion, and got out..."
Two
That is to say, the first way Taishang Laojun thought of was to completely eliminate Sun Wukong, but he did not succeed, and the Buddha was much smarter, and he chose to trap Sun Wukong.
Of course, before this, he also had a battle with Sun Wukong, unlike Taishang Laojun, rulai Buddha was compared with Sun Wukong in the art of change. In a nutshell, this technique of change is that the speed at which the Buddha's hand lengthens exceeds the speed at which Sun Wukong turns over.
"The Buddha watched with his eyes widely, and saw that the Monkey King windmill was generally similar, so he just moved forward."
The reason why the Buddha used the wise eye also shows that Sun Wukong really flew forward all the way and really couldn't see clearly with the naked eye.
I wish I could gamble and lose, but the Buddha did deceive Sun Wukong and did not let him go, but instead pressed the monkey under the Five Elements Mountain with his backhand. In order to prevent him from coming out, he also specially added a six-character mantra, and the monkey could not come out at all.
Some people will wonder, since it is only to trap the monkey, then the Taishang Laojun can also do it, not open the lid of the Bagua furnace, and refine him for five hundred years.
This can be done for a short time, but not for a long time, after all, Lao Jun's gossip furnace is not much, and this one cannot be used for a long time, and it is also a waste of resources. What's more, once the fire inside stops, Sun Wukong can jump out at any time, so he must keep burning charcoal, yes, he needs to burn charcoal all the time.
This is also what Taishang Laojun later said to Sun Wukong personally:
"You monkey, five hundred years ago, made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace, stole and ate countless of my elixirs, and captured the upper realm with little Saint Erlang and sent them to my Dan furnace for forty-nine days, and the charcoal did not know how much..."
Let's not talk about whether the long-term unsealed Dan furnace can be carried, and burning charcoal is also a heavy economic burden!
Three
Therefore, after the Buddha surrendered to Sun Wukong, the Jade Emperor specially held an Antian assembly and also named the Three Qing and Four Emperors to come to thank Rulai:
"For a while, the Jade Qing Yuan Shi Tianzun, the Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun, the Taiqing Daode Tianzun ... They all held pearls and exotic treasures, shouguo strange flowers, and offered them to the Buddha..."
In this way, the limelight of Taishang Laojun was completely suppressed by the Buddha of Rulai, so does it mean that Lao Jun's strength is not as good as Rulai?
Of course, if we infer based on the "Fengshen Yanyi", there is no doubt that Taishang Laojun is the boss, but in "Journey to the West", this is really not the case.
Regarding the status of Taishang Laojun and Rulai Buddha, they all have their own admirers to help publicize it, and even Sun Wukong said when he faced the King of Nanshan (that is, the golden leopard):
"Li Laojun is the ancestor of the founding of the heavens and the earth, and still sits on the right side of the Taiqing; the Buddha Rulai is the honor of ruling the world, and he also sits under the Roc; and the sage Kong is the honor of Confucianism, and he is only called the master."
Therefore, some people say, doesn't this mean that Taishang Laojun is the ancestor of the heavens and the earth, and he can open up the heavens and the earth, and he is not as good as the Buddha?
Not really!
At the beginning of "Journey to the West", it is mentioned that it is Pangu that has opened up the world:
"Since Pangu broke the Hongmeng and opened up from ZiQing to discern."
When introducing the four major continents, it was Pangu that mentioned the opening of the sky again:
"The sense of Pangu opened up, the three emperors ruled the world, the five emperors Dinglun, and the world was divided into four major continents..."
Moreover, if you look deeply, there is an obvious problem with what Sun Wukong said, Taiqing refers to the moral heavenly dignity, that is, Taishang Laojun, Li Laojun (Taishang Laojun) sitting on the right side of Taishang Laojun?
Four
In fact, Sun Wukong's words can only show that Taishang Laojun existed at the beginning of chaos, not that the heavens and the earth were opened by him, and even if it was, it was also doubtful!
The SilverHorn King also said when introducing his gourd:
"My gourd is the first division of chaos, the heavens are open, there is a Taishang Old Ancestor, dissolving the name of Nuwa, refining the stone to replenish the heavens..."
In fact, the boy of Lao Jun's own family is somewhat exaggerated, not only the Silver Horn King praises his master. The Qingfeng Mingyue of wuzhuangguan is also the ancestor of the earth immortals who boasts of his own family, Zhen Yuanzi:
"Sanqing is a friend of the family teacher, the fourth emperor is the deceased of the family teacher, Jiu Yao is the younger generation of the family teacher, and Yuan Chen is the next guest of the family teacher."
As a result, Sun Wukong was happy to roll straight, and Pig Eight Commandments asked curiously, why is Brother Monkey laughing so much?
"Only say that Lao Sun will trick the ghost, it turns out that this child will tie the wind!"
After seeing it, Sun Wukong himself admitted that he would trick the ghosts, and he also had the meaning of saying big words. In fact, there are more than one place in the book, and it is also mentioned that ginseng fruit has also opened up the world, and it is not a person who has said this, such as Guanyin Bodhisattva:
"His ginseng fruit tree is the spiritual root of the heavens and the earth."
Even the Jade Rabbit Essence of the Heavenly Zhu Kingdom boasted of himself in this way:
"When the chaos opened, I had already gained it, and Hongmeng sentenced me to be the first."
When chaos first opened, I was already there, and when Pangu broke the Hongmeng, it was me who hit first!
This does not mean that the strength of the jade rabbit is very strong, of course, it does not mean that the strength of the Taishang Laojun is weak, we still have to judge through specific examples, such as the Buddha compared with the Taishang Laojun, who is stronger and who is weaker?
Five
Taishang Laojun did not have many opportunities to personally shoot, except for the just mentioned throwing the golden bracelet to smash Sun Wukong's head, and Sun Wukong's head when he came out of the Bagua Furnace, his second appearance was to the Golden Horn King.
Taishang Laojun's magic weapon, indeed, has nothing to say, all of them are top treasures, but in depth, each one has many shortcomings.
For example, the purple gold red gourd and the mutton fat jade net bottle, these two magic weapons, in fact, can only be used once, once the other party knows that as long as you shut up, you can prevent it, these two treasures will also be invalid:
"You two take this treasure, go to the top of the mountain, turn the bottom to the sky, and your mouth to the ground, and call out to the Sun Walker!" If he had answered, he would have been in it. ”
If you don't agree to it, there will be no rut, and even if you put it in, you still need to paste a charm written by Taishang Laojun himself as "urgent as a law", otherwise it will not work.
Later, when Sun Wukong used it, he also got the charm written by Lao Jun, otherwise this treasure was a toy:
"The monster did not dare to shut up, so he had to answer it, and he pretended to be inside, and was posted by the practitioner that 'Taishang Laojun is anxious as the law is obeyed'."
As for the Seven Star Sword, this thing couldn't hurt Sun Wukong at all:
"The monster pulled the rope and pulled it down, and slashed seven or eight swords on his bald head, and the walker's scalp was not red."
There is also the golden rope, which is a melee weapon with a distance limit, and the magic weapon of the hall is easily divided into several pieces by Sun Wukong:
"That is, to make a pure steel file, to pull through the circle of the neck, three or five files, and two pieces of file."
There is also the banana fan that has been blown into the sky, and the fire of the Bagua furnace has not been able to make Sun Wukong look like this, not to mention this banana fan, as long as Sun Wukong is deliberately guarded, it will not hurt him:
"He shook his body, so he gathered up the hairs, and only turned one into a fake body to avoid the fire and escape the disaster, and his real body, twisting the fire avoidance tips, fighting with his muscles, jumped up, and got out of the fire."
Six
Of course, Taishang Laojun also has a magic weapon that he carries with him, that is, the diamond bracelet that smashed Sun Wukong's head in the first place, although it can't kill the monkey, but it can also make him fall.
When Qingniu Jing used this diamond bracelet, it did come with its own disarming skills, but not all the immortal weapons could be surrendered. For example, Shui Bo's cup was not taken away, and Li Tianwang's sword was also retained, in fact, this thing could only be defended, not attacked.
Even if you disarm, you have to throw the weapon out beforehand, and this diamond bracelet will play a role, otherwise the effect will be reduced, such as Sun Wukong throwing the golden hoop stick because he threw it:
The walker couldn't help but be anxious, threw the golden hoop stick and shouted," change! "That is, it will turn into a thousand iron rods, and it will be like a flying snake and a python, falling in the air..."
And Nezha, the Fire Star Jun, was taken away with weapons, and it was also they who were too impatient and threw out their magic weapons:
"The two are holding on to each other, this wall chamber Nezha Prince is angry, the Fire Virtue Star King is fierce, that is, the six pieces of divine soldiers, fire and other things, looking at the demon to throw..."
Later, when the Buddha gave emery, Sun Wukong also threw it out:
"The walker then beckoned the arhat to throw down the Golden Dan Sand Looking Demon together..."
More importantly, this diamond bracelet has a magic weapon restraint, that is, the banana fan can kill him, which is also what Taishang Laojun said personally:
"No one with your weapons, water and fire, can get close to him." If you steal my banana fan, even I can't help him. ”
This also shows from the side that without a banana fan, Taishang Laojun could not even surrender his mount Qingniu Essence.
And without the diamond bracelet, Taishang Laojun could not even pass through the Hangu, and his personal safety could not be guaranteed, which was also what he himself said:
"When I passed the letter pass and turned Hu into a Buddha, I was even indebted to him, and sooner or later I was the most self-defenseable."
Similarly, using the Diamond Bracelet against Sun Wukong can only disarm, but it cannot hurt him.
Seven
That is to say, the strength of Taishang Laojun is basically reflected by magic weapons, and these magic weapons have some defects. Although Lao Jun's combat strength is not good, the mana is still reflected, for example, on the way to the scriptures, he cast a resurrection spell:
"The old man received five treasures, opened the gourd and the lid of the clean bottle, poured out two streams of immortal qi, and with one finger of his hand, he still turned into a golden and silver boy, and followed him."
In the spell area, Lao Jun can resurrect the two children whose flesh has been destroyed in situ, and it can be completed with only one finger of both hands.
The Buddha also performed the art of resurrection from the dead, but he needed to use some items, such as the resurrection of Nezha:
"Knowing that it is the soul of Nezha, turning the lotus root into bone and the lotus leaf as clothing, and reciting the words of resurrection from the dead, Nezha has gained his life."
For example, the Buddha's mana may not be as good as that of Taishang Laojun, but the combat strength is far superior to that of Laojun, after all, it is the dignity of ruling the world. In the Journey to the West, in addition to the shot when he first surrendered to Sun Wukong, there are also the following records.
For example, tearing a peacock with bare hands, the peacock is a spiritual creature that has just opened up in chaos, according to the Buddha, it can inhale people from forty or fifty miles away, and even the Buddha is not alert, and is sucked in. However, the Buddha was able to tear the peacock with one hand and wanted the peacock's life:
"I want to come out of his door, afraid of staining his true body; it is I who [cut open his back] and step up the Spirit Mountain." If you want to hurt his life, when you are persuaded by the Buddhas..."
And when surrendering to the Roc Bird, the Buddha still pointed with his hand:
The goblin wheel clawed at him, and the Buddha pointed his hand upwards, and the demon's wings were tendoned. Can't fly, only on the top of the Buddha, can't go far..."
For this reason, the roc bird also called, why do you want to trap me with great mana?
Eight
In addition, even Sun Wukong searched through the Three Realms and could not identify and surrender the six-eared macaque, which was also recognized and surrendered by the Buddha, and the whole process was held in his hand.
You know, the original listening of the underground government also heard the truth and falsehood, but no one in the whole underground government could stop the six-eared macaque:
"The demon spirit is the same as Sun Dasheng." The God of the Nether, how much mana he could have, could not capture it. ”
However, a person like the Buddha was also pierced by the scorpion essence, and it was he who was rude and pushed the scorpion essence first.
However, the scorpion essence is really powerful, even the copper-headed iron-brained Sun Wukong can't hold a stab, the pain is not wanting to die, and the pain is not repeated.
As for the Buddha's magic weapon, there are many, such as the three hoops he gave to Guanyin Bodhisattva, which are ultrasonically controlled magic weapons, as long as you touch it, it will immediately grow on your head, and you can't get it down.
And there is no casting distance, even if you are in Datang and I chant the mantra in Lingshan, you still have a headache. On this point, after three dozen white bone essences, Sun Wukong has already explained:
"If you can't get out of that poisonous demon's suffering, and the eight precepts and the sand monk can't save you, then when you think of me, you can't help but chant again, even if it's a hundred thousand miles, my head will hurt."
There is also the Dingfeng Dan and the Flying Dragon Treasure Staff that the Buddha gave to Lingji Bodhisattva, and it can be clearly seen that this Dingfeng Dan is specifically studied for the banana fan.
There is also the Buddha's bowl, which can directly control the six-eared macaque and has nowhere to escape, which is not worse than the vajra bracelet that can only smash Sun Wukong's head:
"If you come up with the golden bowl, you are covering the bee and falling down."
Nine
Some people say that Taishang Laojun is deliberately clumsy, Taoists pay attention to The Taoist law and nature, buddhas, pay attention to revenge if there is a vendetta, do not know how to hide strength, not enough connotation.
In fact, it is not really, for example, at the beginning, Sun Wukong threw Taishang Laojun upside down, which is too humiliating, even if it is acting, it cannot be in this way of self-destructive image.
It is precisely because of this disgraceful deed that on the way to the scriptures, those lands are afraid of Sun Wukong, saying that he loves to beat the elderly. For example, in the Seven Spider Spirits, the Land Lady asked the land that had been circling, why didn't she go to see the Great Sage, and the land said that she was afraid of being beaten:
"He had a good life and no money to drink, and he beat the elderly."
No money wine, that is, it specifically refers to Sun Wukong making a big fuss in Yaochi, stealing immortal wine, and beating the elderly, most likely referring to the face-to-face battle with Taishang Laojun.
Including being stolen by Sun Wukong and eating the elixir, It is also Lao Jun who did not guard against it, did not deliberately release water, and later in the Black Chicken Country Sun Wukong came to the door again, and all of them scared Lao Jun:
"When he saw the walker coming, he commanded the boy who looked at Dan: 'Be careful, and the thief who stole Dan will come again.'" ”
This is exactly what was bitten by a snake for ten years and was afraid of the well rope, the reason why he still gave Sun Wukong one, is that he is worried that this monkey will not be able to do it, and he will not be able to steal it:
"This great saint dragged his steps and went forward. Lao Jun suddenly pondered, "This monkey is lazy, and he says he will go, but he is afraid of sneaking in and stealing." ’”
therefrom:
Taishang Laojun really can't subdue Sun Wukong, after all, the name is there, Moral Heavenly Dignity, Moral Heavenly Dignity, is reasonable to convince people, is reasonable.
And the Buddha is the ruler of the world, the kind of personality that looks down on life and death, and does not obey, and the mana and combat strength are superior.
As for which of these two is more powerful, it is really difficult to say, it seems that the Buddha is superior, but after all, both are figures who master nuclear weapons, and if they really fight, it will really become a catastrophe in the Three Realms.
But the strength of Taishang Laojun, in the book "Journey to the West", is really not as godly as everyone preaches, and it is seriously exaggerated.
My name is Yang Jiaofeng, look at the journey to the west from a different perspective, you will find different fun, like please pay attention to it!