Gunma Prefecture is located in the northwestern part of Japan's Kanto Plain and is part of the Tokyo metropolitan area. There is also a temple in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, the Shaolin Mountain Dharma Temple, which has far-reaching cultural roots between China and Japan.
At the beginning of the new year every year, many Japanese people will go to the temple to ask for a New Year's mascot "Kaiyun Daruma" to ask for a good fortune, which has become a custom in Japan to celebrate the New Year. And this custom is related to the barberry culture that originated in China.
(a)
The prototype of the Bodhidharma tumbler is the Bodhidharma Patriarch, an Indian, originally known as Bodhidharma, and later renamed Bodhidharma, commonly known as Bodhidharma, which means enlightenment.
Bodhidharma lived during the Northern and Southern Dynasties in China. Buddhism began to be introduced to China at the turn of the Han Dynasty, and it is currently documented as early as 2 BC. Entering the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Buddhism was prevalent in China, so there was a late Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu "480 temples in the Southern Dynasties, how many buildings are in the smoke and rain". Bodhidharma first sailed from India to China to teach Buddhism and became the founder of Chinese Zen Buddhism.
Around the middle of the 6th century CE, Buddhism was reintroduced from China to Japan [Baekje]. The royal family, aristocrats, and local nobles of the time all accepted it as a highly foreign culture, and used various techniques introduced at the same time as Buddhism to establish monasteries to show off their power. Buddhism became the "privilege" of the powerful.
It was not until the Kamakura period (1192-1333) in Japan that Eisei crossed the Song Dynasty to study Zen (Rinzai Buddhism), and after returning to Japan, he established Shofukuji Temple in Chikuzen Hakata, which was the beginning of the establishment of Dharma Zen Buddhism in Japan. Buddhism was able to influence ordinary people outside of monasteries and had a significant impact on Japanese society at the time.
Bodhidharma once faced the wall in Songshan Mountain, Henan Province for nine years, went through seven disasters and eight difficulties, and finally succeeded in enlightenment. His indomitable and inspirational spirit is respected and loved by people.
(b)
Located in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, the Shaolin Mountain Dharma Temple is the birthplace of "Kaiyun Dharma". Shaolin Mountain Dharma Temple was founded for more than 320 years, and the Chinese monk Xinyue Zen Master is the ancestor of the mountain. Shinkoshi came to Japan in 1676 and built a temple here in 1697. Since then, Daruma-ji Temple has become a famous place of prayer in Japan.
Legend has it that during the Tenmei period in Japan, a volcanic eruption occurred in Takasaki, and all the crops were burned, resulting in widespread starvation. The abbot of the Dharma Temple used the statue of Bodhidharma zazen painted by Zen Master Shinyue as a prototype and taught people to make "good luck Dharma", which was used to motivate the victims to fight against difficulties on the one hand, and to survive the famine as a side income on the other hand. It was the beginning of making a Dharma mascot for Takasaki.
(c)
Since the Edo period, Takasaki has been famous for producing "Shofuku Daruma", producing about 1.5 million Daruma statues per year, ranking first in Japan in terms of production and sales. On the streets of Takasaki, the image of Bodhidharma can be seen everywhere, and the shops of the Bodhidharma mascot are next to each other.
The Boruma tumbler mascot is roughly divided into two categories: ornamental use and prayer use. The former are painted with eyes. The latter did not have any eyes when they bought it, so they painted their own eyes. Draw the left eye first, and when the wish is fulfilled, then draw the right eye (taking the meaning of the sun rising to the east), which is called "opening the eye".
For the "Prayer Dharma" used to repay the vows, you can pray for any wish, such as family security, prosperous business, successful career, election victory, good marriage, and abundant grains...... The Boruma tumbler is kept at home for a year, and at the beginning of the next year, it is cremated and restored in the temple or shrine, which is regarded as a "letter to the gods".
Gunma is also the constituency and hometown of Yasuhiro Nakasone, Takeo Fukuda, and Keizo Obuchi, who served as prime ministers of Japan. After they were elected, the sight of opening their eyes to the "Victorious Dharma" left a deep impression on the Japanese.
(iv)
Donggao Xinyue Zen Master (1639-1694), commonly known as Jiang Xingyu, the word Xinyue, alias Donggao, is a native of Pujiang County, Jinhua, Zhejiang. It is a legendary monk in the history of Hangzhou Yongfu Temple, and the name of the art monk is widely spread all over the world. He traveled east to Fuso, and successively in Nagasaki Kofukuji Temple, Kyoto Huangbari Mountain Manfukuji Temple, Mito Daizongshan Tentoku Temple and other monasteries, spreading the art of calligraphy, painting and seal carving, opening the way of the qin, promoting Buddhism, is an epoch-making important figure in the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges, and is regarded as the "father of seal carving" and "the ancestor of modern qin science" by Japan.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, a large number of Chinese Zen monks such as Donggao Xinyue and Yinyuan Longqi went east to Japan, spreading advanced Chinese culture in Japan, making indelible contributions to Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges, and enjoying a high status in Japan's religious and cultural circles.
"Barberry culture touches every aspect of Japanese life. We need to dig up more stories of barberry, so that more people can understand these histories, narrow the spiritual distance between the two peoples, and promote friendship between the two countries. Lin Wenqing, president of the Fuqing Huangbari Culture Promotion Association, who has led delegations to visit the Dharma Temple in Shaolin Mountain, Japan, many times, said.
Text/photo: Zheng Xunyu, Zheng Songbo, Fuqing Huangbai Culture Promotion Association