Author: Insight Annabésu
Life is like the western mountain day, and wealth is like frost on the tiles.
He came from a wealthy family, and his father was once the richest man in Tsumon, and when he was born, he carried a golden spoon.
He is highly skilled in music, painting and drama, and is known as a genius in the history of Chinese culture.
However, in his heyday, he turned around and fled into the empty door to accompany the Green Lantern Ancient Buddha.
He is Li Shutong.
In this life, Uncle Li has been in the prosperity of sound and color dogs and horses, has had the heroism of indulgence, and has also faced the impermanence of the end of the song.
After watching his ups and downs of life, I found that the best way for a person to live is only: the first half of his life can be taken, and the second half of his life can be put down.
01
In 1880, Li Shutong was born into a hugely wealthy family in Tianjin.
His father, Li Xiaolou, was born as a jinshi, and was once the head of the official department, and then resigned from the official to inherit his father's business, and the business became bigger and bigger.
On the day of Li Shutong's birth, there were magpies with pine branches, and the family thought that this was a heavenly blessing, and the three sons of the Li family would be the material of the beams in the future.
He did not live up to the high expectations of the people.
He was gifted and intelligent, reciting famous poems and aphorisms at the age of five, studying the Selected Writings of Zhaoming at the age of six or seven, and learning the Four Books at the age of 11. ”
But his heart was miserable.
Because his mother came from a humble background, he was accustomed to the thin feelings of rich and noble families since he was a child, and he understood his mother's loneliness, so he wanted to support his mother and his position in the family by himself.
Unfortunately, his father died when he was 5 years old, losing his blessed mother and son, and his life deteriorated.
At that time, the prosperity of the Li family did not seem to have anything to do with him.
Whenever the dart board sent boxes of salt and silver to the mighty, the courtyard was full of people, and the mother could only take her young son to watch from a distance.
When he was 26 years old, his mother died, and when Li Shutong transported his mother's body back to Li's home from Shanghai, he was told that "the rules are still the same, and the funeral cannot enter the door."
This was Li Shutong's most embarrassing and painful encounter.
Li Shutong, who had long hated the old rules, angrily held a Western-style funeral for his mother.
A piano, an auditorium, a eulogy, he invited 400 people dressed in black, solemn and calm, to send his mother's last journey.
The death of his mother drained the psychological support he relied on, and also made him realize the truth of human feelings and worldly causes.
"Life is like the day of the western mountains, and wealth is like frost on the tiles."
This was Uncle Li's deepest feeling when he was young in the same year, and it also became the belief that carried through his life.
02
Later, this teenager who was depressed in his original family and repeatedly frustrated on the road to the imperial examination plunged into the rolling revolutionary wave.
However, he raised his arms and shouted "The old China, there is no way to survive without changing the law", and the restoration and change method supported by him only lasted for a hundred days before declaring failure.
Fearing that he would be implicated, Li's family moved out, and Li moved to Shanghai with his family in October 1898.
In Shanghai, Li Shutong spent the happiest time of his life.
At the invitation of his friend Xu Xianyuan, Uncle Li lived in the Chengnan Caotang, a place known as the mansion in the dream of the Red Chamber.
At that time, Li Shutong and Xu Xianyuan, Yuan Xilian, Cai Xiaoxiang, Zhang Xiaolou Yijie Jinlan, known as the "Five Friends of Tianya", several people were like-minded, often discussing poetry and song together in the Caotang in the south of the city.
Soon, however, the Seongnam Caotang, which was regarded as the Grand View Garden, became a lonely station.
First of all, Xu Xianyuan's wife Song Mengxian died, the Grand View Garden lost her hostess, the weather was a few points, Xu Xianyuan supported the coffin of his deceased wife, almost a night whitehead.
Later, the situation was turbulent, the financial crisis broke out, and the one million taels of silver invested by his friend Xu Xianyuan in the stock evaporated, and he had to mortgage the Chengnan Caotang to the British.
One evening, Xu Xianyuan stood outside the door and bid farewell to Uncle Li, "My family is bankrupt, I want to leave Shanghai temporarily, there will be a period later..."
Li Shutong chased out, only to see the snow, he stood alone in the snow for a long time, turned back to the case and wrote:
Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, the grass is green.
The evening wind blows the willow flute, and the sunset is outside the mountain.
The end of the heavens, the corner of the earth, the knowledge of the half-scattered,
A pot of turbid wine is all over the place, don't dream cold tonight.
In just a few sentences, I wrote about the sorrows and sorrows of the world.
Born in a chaotic world, no one can grasp their own destiny.
At that time, his mother was no longer alive, his friends were scattered, he experienced prosperity and prosperity, and he saw that life was full of sorrow, and Li Shutong had a retreat to this world for the first time.
Later, Li Shu went bankrupt with his hometown in Tianjin, and he traveled east to Japan to return to China, experienced unemployment and employment, and temporarily settled down in Hangzhou, teaching painting and music at Hangzhou Normal School.
At that time, he often ate tea with his good friend Xia Junzun at the Huxin Pavilion, occasionally remembering the past, always feeling hesitant and full of ambition, the old people are far away, and it is difficult to mention the old things.
At this time, Xia Junzun woke him up with a joke: "For people like us, it is good to become a monk." ”
Li Shutong was moved at the moment, and first took cotton robes and shoes and some simple items to Hupao Mountain to implement the fasting plan.
Later, he wrote a letter to his disciple Liu Tianping: "I plan to enter the mountain as a disciple of the Buddha within a few years... It's all over now. ”
At that time, the Japanese wife was still waiting for a rebirth of him, but she did not think that what was waiting for him was about to be a farewell.
03
In the early morning, the mist of the West Lake, the water surface is not alarming, he stands in the boat, the two worlds of Buddhism and customs, separated by water and land.
Japanese wife Yukiko whispered, "Shu Tong—" The words did not fall, and the tears had already wet her clothes.
"Shu Tong is dead, and what you see is Koichi."
"Master Koichi, can you please tell me what love is?"
Master Hongyi replied calmly, "Love is compassion." ”
He turned and left, without looking back.
In 1918, the 38-year-old Li Shutong, dressed in haiqing and carrying several belongings, became a monk at the Hupao Temple in Hangzhou, with the legal name "Hongyi".
His letting go is really letting go completely.
After visiting his mother's grave, he gave all the collected calligraphy, paintings, gold stones and other items to his friends, and all the money was sent to his family in Tianjin and his Japanese wife to bid farewell to him.
Since then, there has been no Li Shutong in the world.
For more than 20 years, Master Hongyi traveled all over the world, tin staff and shoes, often carrying his own luggage; he strictly observed "not eating at noon", and his life was extremely hard.
His friend Natsumizun later met with Hiroichi, "The broken mat is spread out, inside is an old quilt, two or three pieces of clothing rolled up are pillows, this is all of Hiroichi's luggage." ”
At noon, Xia Yuzun sent a meal for Hongyi, he did not dare to make a hearty, only two bowls of vegetarian dishes and a bowl of rice, but Hongyi insisted on returning a bowl.
Although he bid farewell to the red dust, he still preached the scriptures, preached the scriptures, promoted the Dharma, and saved the people with the heart of joining the world.
Yellow roll green lights, morning bells and twilight drums, this time has been gone for decades.
He carried forward the Nanshan Vinaya, which had been lost for more than 700 years, and eventually became the eleventh generation of the Vinaya.
He did not sell his reputation and reputation, and once went to Qingdao to preach the law, and after the lecture, he closed the door to thank the guests, and the mayor set up an invitation, and he politely refused it with a sentence that "for the monks to live together in the valley, it is not appropriate for the state soldiers to feast."
Along the way, he has his own perseverance, not seeking fame or profit, but only seeking to achieve his wishes, and crossing people to cross himself.
The Buddhist family has a saying: "Out of the valley, out of the trees, back to the basics, the personality is complete." ”
In this life, people are always confused by all kinds of desires, trapped in love for various relationships, have relatives when they pick up, and have many regrets after letting go.
Today, when everyone shouts to give up, who can really have an epiphany like Hong, and then decide to stay away from the prosperity?
Perhaps, the deepest part of love is thin affection, and the best thing to have is to let go.
04
Li Shutong's life is talented, but the background is sad.
Yet he is still loving the world in his own way.
When he was making music, he published and distributed "Music Magazine", which became the first music publication in China;
He did drama and founded the Chunliu Society, becoming the first drama troupe in Chinese history.
He studied seal engraving, founded the Leshi Society, wrote calligraphy, and became the most famous calligrapher in the Republic of China.
In terms of artistic attainment, he used his own life to live out the lives of many people.
He is extremely sincere and dedicated to others.
When he was young, he took care of his mother, and in middle age, he took care of the family, and after the Bankruptcy of the Li family, Uncle Li changed many jobs, and every month when he arrived at the account, he would send it to two families separately to maintain the expenses of his wife and children.
He taught very seriously, "one hour of class, to prepare for half a day; when lecturing, every minute and second is tightly controlled, never waste half a moment." ”
He loves his students.
The proud protégé Feng Zikai fought with the leader, and he wiped his hair to ask for it, just to save the student's future.
The most cherished apprentice, Liu Tianping, could not complete his studies because of financial constraints, so he had to save twenty yuan to cover his tuition fees in his salary of 105 yuan.
And said, "This money is given to you, and you don't need to return it in the future", so that the apprentice can study with peace of mind.
It was Li Shutong's pursuit of art and his sincerity in treating people that made the literary and artistic circles at that time full of talents, such as cartoonist Feng Zikai, musical talent Liu Tianping, and Chinese painting master Pan Tianshou...
He had stopped briefly in this world, shining brightly, but after all the dust had settled, he let go of it all.
Yu Dan once said: "Those red dust in life have passed and are full of spirit, and they will never dissipate."
They are deeply engraved in the depths of history and cherished in the memories of future generations.
We will use the whole first half of our lives to pick up, and we will use the whole second half of our lives to put down. ”
In life, it is an ability to be able to take it, and it is a kind of cultivation to be able to put it down.
▽
On October 13, 1942, the 62-year-old Master Hongyi passed away in the evening room of the Wenling Nursing Home, leaving behind the four words of "intersection of sorrow and joy".
Just four words, but also throughout his life.
Sorrowful red earthly worldly desires of suffering, happy inner world is at ease.
When he was young, he longed for love, pursued his ideals with all his heart, took care of his family, stood on the podium, and took on all his mission.
After middle age, he saw through everything, cut off his love affair and decided to leave the world, and spent the rest of his life with a lone lamp cloth and shoes.
When you join the WTO, you are fully engaged; when you are born, you have no worries.
Life is like a reverse journey, and I am also a pedestrian.
The first half of life can be taken up, and what is picked up is hope and responsibility; the second half of life can be put down, and what is let go is vanity and persistence.
This is the best way for a person to live.