As the Zhou royal family declined, etiquette collapsed and happiness collapsed, and the princes and princes repeatedly attacked and killed, and the people were poor. For three generations, the ancient sages all adhered to the principle of "if there is a way under the world, it will be seen, and if there is no way, it will be hidden". Lao Tzu saw the destruction of life in the Central Plains, decided to leave Luoyang, rode the green ox all the way west, and came to the Qin State Hangu Pass.
The Guan Ling of the garrison of Hangu Pass is named Yin Xi, and Pingsu is keen on gossip rehearsals. As early as half a year before Lao Tzu's arrival, he had gone upstairs to gaze at the stars, looking at the purple qi wafting from the east, knowing that there must be a true person who was going to pass through the Hangu Valley, so he fasted and burned incense; The saying of "purple qi coming east" in later generations is indiscriminate here. On July 12 in midsummer of the following year, an old man who "chatted with his ears" appeared, and he rode a green bull slowly to Guanqian. Yin Xi was overjoyed and stepped forward to pay his respects: "The saint is here." ”
After a period of preaching and teaching, Lao Tzu told Yin Xi that he planned to leave Middle-earth for the time being, go west through Hangu Pass, and go to the exotic trail. When the latter heard this, he was reluctant. I ask my mentor to leave ink on the one hand, as a souvenir, and on the other hand, for one's own understanding. Lao Tzu saw that he was sincere, and wrote with a wave: "Dao can be Dao, very Dao." Famous, very famous. Nameless, the beginning of heaven and earth, famous, the ship of all things..." A total of two articles, sprinkled with 5,000 words, this is the classic "Tao Te Ching" that has been passed down for thousands of years, also known as "Five Thousand Words of Morality". Yin Xi was greatly inspired to follow the attendants, follow Lao Tzu to "swim in quicksand", and embark on a long journey.
(i)
Pass through the Western Regions and enter Central Asia
After leaving Hangu Pass with Yin Xi and others, Lao Tzu traveled all the way west, crossing the sea of sand and traveling to the countries of the Western Regions, passing through an important city on the "Silk Road" - the capital of Khotan, Vima City.
The ancient kingdom of Khotan, transliterated as Qu Satana in Sanskrit, was roughly located in and around Hotan County in the Hotan Prefecture of the present-day Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The country has always had close contacts with the Central Plains, and the king of Khotan heard of Lao Tzu's fame for a long time, personally led the secretary and the people out of the city to meet the mountain of Nanqu, and ordered people to build a fine house on the mountain for Lao Tzu to stay. The king of Khotan once asked Lao Tzu: "What is the Tao?" He replied, "What I do is indoctrinated by chance, and I enter the Dharma." In short, Lao Tzu believed that the teachings and teachings were not rigid dogmas, but should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
After a short period of entrenchment, the group set off again, leaving only some disciples here to continue spreading their teachings. This group of people in the Kingdom of Khotan is known as the people of the Eastern Shi Migration. At the same time, there is also a Vishma Temple built in Khotan, which is the "place where Lao Tzu transforms Hu".
After leaving Khotan, Lao Tzu's group crossed the Green Ridge to the west, continued along the Fergana Valley, and reached the Kabul River Valley in Central Asia (around present-day Kabul, Afghanistan), temporarily sheltering in the Pishan caves. One day, King Chubin led his army to the countryside to hunt, but suddenly saw a vision, so he ordered his men to look for a saint to visit Lao Tzu and ask who it was and where he came from. Lao Tzu calmly replied: I am a cultivator, from Middle-earth to here. King Bing did not know what the "Tao" was, and came forward to ask for advice. Lao Tzu only spoke four words: "Dao Milong", that is, the Tao Law has a long history of transmission and prosperity. Upon hearing this, the king was initially skeptical, but after Lao Tzu showed the holy signs several times, he declared that "it is appropriate to dedicate himself" and decided to take refuge and build a dojo. As a result, Taoism gradually spread among the people.
The king's seven princes learned that Lao Tzu was hiding in a cave on the outskirts and also led his attendants to pay a visit. Lao Tzu warned several princes that only by "cultivating the essentials of three shun and six micros" can they protect themselves internally and live in harmony externally. After the Taoism became prevalent, Lao Tzu set off again and went south to Tianzhu to preach.
(ii)
Five-day tour
When Lao Tzu arrived in Tianzhu, it coincided with the "Age of Nations" in Indian history, which was quite similar to the Spring and Autumn period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in which Lao Tzu lived. At that time, India had not yet formed a unified dynasty, but was divided into dozens of large and small states, of which sixteen countries were the most powerful, known as the "sixteen powers" or "sixteen countries". Lao Tzu entered Tianzhu from the northwest, traveled through the northern and central kingdoms of Gandhara, Uyun, Northern Shusara and Kayi, and finally reached the eastern power of Magadha. In the "History of Lao Tzu of Taishang Mixed Yuan", "Lao Tzu's Eighty-One Transformation Map" and "Lao Jun's Successive Dynasty Ying Huatu Theory", the story of Lao Tzu in India is recorded, of course, there are many deifications of Lao Tzu.
The route of Lao Tzu's trip to Wutianzhu was from the Hangu Guanxi, passing through the Western Regions, crossing the Green Mountains, entering the hinterland of Central Asia along the "Silk Road", and then going south into the southern subcontinent, which belonged to the "northern route" of exchanges between ancient China and India. In fact, there is still a "southern route" in the exchanges between the two ancient civilizations, which is commonly known as the "Southern Silk Road", that is, the "Southern Silk Road". As early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the ancestors of the Yunguichuan region in the southwest of the mainland had crossed the Hengduan Mountains to trade in the subcontinent and Southeast Asia; During the pre-Qin Warring States period, more and more merchants from India, Myanmar and other places entered the southwest region of the mainland.
Limited by geographical conditions and political factors, the "Southern Silk Road" is obviously not as famous as the "Northern Silk Road", and only the Ba, Shu, Yunnan and other countries in the south and parts of the Chu State conduct economic and cultural exchanges with Tianzhu through this route. According to Sima Qian's "Shiji. The reference in Laozi Han Feili is that Laozi is "a native of Qurenli, Lixiang, Chuku County". So why didn't Lao Tzu choose to take the "southern route" to enter Tianzhu?
From the subjective analysis, Lao Tzu did not know about the "Southern Silk Road". Although some people in the State of Chu had traveled to Tianzhu through this path, Lao Tzu's mulberry Zi was originally not a Chu land. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Ku County belonged to the Chen state, and "Confucius was poor between Chen and Cai" refers to this place, and its approximate range was in present-day Luyi County in Zhoukou, Henan. It was not until the forty-second year of King Jing of Zhou (478 BC) that the state of Chen was destroyed by King Hui of Chu and incorporated into the state of Chu. At that time, Lao Tzu was already serving in Zhou Tianzi.
From the objective point of view, even if someone informed Lao Tzu of the "Southern Silk Road", it is unlikely that he would go south from Luoyang. The reason is that after the death of King Guan of Chu Zhao, his son King Chu Hui succeeded to the throne, opening the prelude to conquest and unification of the southern countries, and successively waged wars against Wu, Yue and Ba, destroying Chen, Cai and other countries. The protracted war and the complicated political situation once affected the stability of the "Southern Silk Road", and also made this southwestern passage gradually disappear from the memories of the people of the Central Plains, until the Western Han Dynasty regained the attention of the imperial court.
The material and cultural exchanges between China and India have been carried out simultaneously along the two "Silk Roads" in the north and south, and many brilliant sparks have collided. Lao Tzu's mission to India is undoubtedly a historical microcosm of the ancient Sino-Indian cultural exchanges.
Author: Lin Shuo Deputy Research Librarian of the National Museum of China and Columnist of the Silk Road Quemo in charge of "World Knowledge" in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Source: Together in the Boat