Reading the Zizhi Tongjian, Xiao Yan, the Emperor of Liangwu, was a figure that was difficult to avoid. As emperor, Emperor Wu of Liang lived for a full 86 years, second only to the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the second-best place for China's longevity emperors. His long reign has left a deep mark on Chinese history.
Born in an aristocratic family, he was a genius prodigy from an early age, he worked in calligraphy and painting, was good at writing, good at strategy, and was an all-rounder in literature and martial arts. Xiao Yan was a general of Southern Qi, and later launched an uprising against the tyrant, and eventually the white robe was added (the emperor of the Southern Dynasty wore a white robe) and established the Great Liang Dynasty.
After Xiao Yan became emperor, he made a profound reflection on the previous Liu Song Dynasty and Southern Qi Dynasty. The Liu Song Dynasty lasted less than 49 years, while Southern Qi ruled less than half of its predecessors. One dynasty became shorter and shorter, and it seemed to be the fate of the Southern Dynasty regime. So, why was the Southern Dynasty regime so short? The reason is simple, that is, the majesty of the emperor has been completely swept away.
During the Han Dynasty, the emperor was a symbol of the state and was sacrosanct. Even if there is a rebellion, they will never dare to take the emperor to the knife. However, in February 260, after Sima Zhao murdered the Wei emperor Cao Xian in broad daylight, his respect and loyalty to the imperial power were abandoned. Loyalty, a traditional Chinese virtue, has been taken as a joke.
In this context, the change of power, the establishment of a new dynasty, and the fall of the old dynasty have completely become a norm, and murder and political conspiracies have become the mainstream of the political arena of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, dozens of regimes had emerged in China, and these regimes had been changed through usurpation and murder. On this basis, the number of ceremonies between the father and son of the monarch and the brothers was poked in the holes.
In the Song and Qi dynasties, the clan clan launched a frenzied slaughter in order to compete for power and profit. In the 82 years of the existence of the Song and Qi, as many as 64 people died in the clan alone. The mutual tilt of the clans has allowed outsiders to take advantage. Wasn't Xiao Yan able to ascend to the throne because of the mutual struggle of the Southern Qi royal family?
In order to change the social atmosphere and calm people's minds, Emperor Wu of Liang decided to carry out a reform of people's hearts. To this end, Emperor Wu of Liang set his sights on Buddhism. So why didn't Emperor Wu of Liang strongly promote Confucianism, which emphasized loyalty and filial piety? Originally from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Confucianism has been relatively declining, the elite class advocates metaphysics, and the people gradually move closer to Buddhism. By the Liang Dynasty, the number of monks and nuns was as high as 80,000.
Therefore, the reason why Emperor Wu of Liang promoted Buddhism was on the one hand because he did believe in it; on the other hand, the cost of promoting Buddhism and Dunhua folklore was relatively low.
In this regard, the Buddhist reform of Emperor Wu of Liang was launched, and senior monks frequently entered the court without scruples. In order to show his respect for the monk, Emperor Wu of Liang even had his revered Monk Zhizang sit on his throne. Not only that, Emperor Wu of Liang also overhauled temples and pagodas.
Of all the temples, the Great Aijing Temple, built by Emperor Liangwu for his parents, is the most famous. After the temple was built, Emperor Wu of Liangwu personally went to the temple every once in a while to worship his parents. And Emperor Liangwu's filial piety really touched the ministers around him and the people of the whole country to a large extent. Obviously, Emperor Wu of Liang did not simply promote Buddhism, but combined Buddhism with Confucianism and promoted the idea of loyalty and filial piety in disguise.
To this end, Emperor Wu of Liang also presided over the compilation of the extremely Confucian "Bodhisattva Ordination at Home". In order to practice the Bodhisattva Ordination at Home, Emperor Wu of Liang practiced it and acted in accordance with the precepts. He got up five days a day every day, whether it was spring, summer, autumn or winter, and painstakingly read the official documents, even if his hands were frozen in winter, he did not stop; he was very frugal, usually wearing only cloth clothes, a hat can be worn for three years; covered with a quilt, only changed once every two years.
Not only that, Emperor Wu of Liang only ate vegetarian food, eating only one meal a day. His frugality and industriousness largely infected his ministers. What is even more surprising is that after the age of 50, Emperor Wu of Liang even quit color. That is to say, in the last 36 years of his life, Emperor Wu of Liang rarely touched women. Among the many emperors in China, Emperor Wu of Liang is a rare one.
On the eighth day of the first month of April of that year, the birthday of Shakyamuni, Emperor Wu of Liang personally received the bodhisattva ordination and received the Dharma name Guanda, and was called "Emperor Bodhisattva" by the people of the whole country. The reason why Emperor Wu of Liang took such pains and painstaking efforts was that he hoped that all strata of society would not do evil deeds and do good deeds, so that the regime would be stabilized from then on.
During Emperor Wu of Liang's 50-year reign, his Buddhist reforms did play a considerable role, and the Liang Dynasty's political stability and economic development became the most populous and economically developed period in the Southern Dynasty, which was called "the rule of Tianjian" by later generations. More than a thousand years later, Wang Fuzhi spoke highly of Emperor Wu of Liang's rule:
"The Liang clan has enjoyed fifty years of the country, and the world is well-off!"
Over time, however, Emperor Wu of Liang gradually found that his reforms seemed to have failed in some respects. The governing philosophy he advocated, although it could make the courtiers loyal, could not erase the ambitions of the family. He valued filial piety and opposed court killing, but was repeatedly involved. Emperor Liangwu's eldest daughter, Xiao Yuyao, was appointed by Emperor Liangwu for having an affair with her uncle. As a result, Xiao Yuyao was so disgusted that he tried to murder his father.
For this rebellious daughter, although Xiao Yan felt very discouraged, he did not take her life.
Coincidentally, Xiao Zan, the second son of Emperor Wu of Liang, suspected that he was the widow of Xiao Baojuan, the last emperor of Southern Qi. In order to avenge his father, Xiao Zan brazenly defected to Northern Wei. But for this contrarian son who disregarded the grace of nurturing, Emperor Wu of Liang still chose to forgive. To this end, he specially sent spies to infiltrate the Northern Wei, stole Xiao Zan's remains, and buried them next to his grave.
The constant betrayal of his sons and daughters made Emperor Wu of Liang physically and mentally exhausted, so he often came to the monastery and sacrificed himself as a slave to repent of his sins. However, the country could not be without a monarch for a day, and the courtiers had to spend a lot of money to "redeem" Emperor Liangwu from the temple. After counting four times, the money that ransomed him alone reached 400 million yuan.
However, in the temple, Emperor Wu of Liang did not relax his work. In addition to chanting the scriptures and working, Emperor Wu of Liang was still reading the recitals all night long, and he was indeed extremely diligent.
In 548, Emperor Wu of Liang's nephew Xiao Zhengde joined forces with the Western Wei rebel general Hou Jing to launch a rebellion. This Xiao Zhengde betrayed Emperor Wu of Liang long ago and defected to Northern Wei. Later, Xiao Zhengde could not continue in the Northern Wei Dynasty and returned to the Southern Dynasty. Surprisingly, Emperor Wu of Liang not only forgave him for his betrayal, but also handed over the power of the forbidden army to him. It can be said that Emperor Wu of Liang's excessive tolerance of his relatives eventually caused serious consequences.
In this way, En took revenge on Xiao Zhengde and Hou Jing, and besieged Emperor Wu of Liang in Taicheng. And his sons? Although they had heavy troops in their hands, they did not move. After all, the old father is dead, and the throne may be his own,
In this way, Hou Jing attacked Taicheng and walked to Emperor Wu of Liang in a murderous spirit. However, to Hou Jing's surprise, what he was facing was not a poor old man, but a majestic, sacred and heroic emperor. Seeing the statue of Emperor Wu of Liangwu's king, Hou Jing, who was holding a butcher's knife in his hand, was so frightened that he sifted through chaff and performed a courtesy to the old emperor.
On the second day of The first month of May in the third year of the Taiqing Dynasty (549), Emperor Wu of Liang was trapped alive in the imperial palace. He lay in the Taicheng Imperial Palace Pure Residence Hall, his mouth was bitter, and he could not ask for honey, and he made two "Ho! Ho! After the voice (expressing surprise), he died of hunger and thirst at the age of eighty-six.
There is no beginning, there is an end, and the former Bodhisattva Emperor has ended up with a late and unsafe end, and has become the laughing stock of eternity. History is a mirror, and the success and failure of Emperor Wu of Liang is the best mirror for future generations.