Fang Ling's biography
"The Legend of Fang Ling" was first seen in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", and later historical books continued to use this style, and the characters included in the income also changed from time to time, and the "Book of Jin" included monks for the first time. "The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty: The Biography of Fang Ling" consists of one volume, recording the deeds of thirty Fang Qi people. This book selects Xuanzang, Huineng, and one line as representatives.
Xuanzang, a senior monk who "learns scriptures from the west".
Xuanzang (600-664), commonly known as Chen Yi, was a native of Wushi County, Luoyang County (now Yanshi District, Luoyang City, Henan Province). Tang Dynasty monk, translator of Buddhist scriptures, founder of Buddhism.
Xuanzang was born in a scholarly family, his grandfather was an official in the Northern Dynasty, and his father was proficient in Confucian classics, but he refused to enter the government because he was dissatisfied with the political darkness of the late Sui Dynasty.
Xuanzang was intelligent since childhood, he was able to recite the "Book of Filial Piety" at the age of eight, and at the age of thirteen, he followed his brother who was a monk to Luoyang Pure Land Temple to become a monk, and at the age of nineteen, he went to Chengdu (now Chengdu, Sichuan Province) with his brother to study, and at the age of twenty-one, he was formally ordained and learned to sit in meditation.
After studying in Chengdu for four or five years, Xuanzang's Buddhist cultivation has been successful, but he is not satisfied with this, and has traveled to Beijing, Jianghan, Hebei and other places, everywhere to learn from teachers and seek Dharma, and gradually grow into a famous monk. At this time, although Buddhism had been introduced to China for hundreds of years, mistranslations of Buddhist scriptures were widespread, and there were many contradictions in Buddhist principles. This level could not satisfy Xuanzang's thirst for knowledge, and he was determined to go to India, the birthplace of Buddhism, to seek the Dharma in person.
In 627, without the permission of the imperial court, Xuanzang went out of the customs among the hungry people and embarked on the journey of "learning scriptures from the west". He traveled alone through the desert and through many dangers until he finally reached India three years later.
After that, Xuanzang entered Nalanda Monastery (in present-day Bihar, India), the highest institution of Buddhism, and studied Buddhism with the abbot Venerable Jiexian. Master Jiexian was a well-known monk in India at that time, he was already 100 years old, and he did not come out to lecture for many years.
Later, Xuanzang traveled to various countries in India, visiting and studying while debating with major monks, which was widely recognized by the Buddhist community in India.
In 641, King Jieri, the founder of the Indian Dynasty of Jieri, held an unprecedented Buddhist conference for Xuanzang. Eighteen kings, more than 3,000 monks, plus more than 1,000 monks and more than 2,000 devotees of Nalanda Monastery were invited, with Xuanzang as the chief commentator and preaching the Dharma. Xuanzang spit lotus flowers in his mouth, and new words came out one after another, causing a huge sensation, and he explained for eighteen consecutive days, and no one could refute him.
In 645, Xuanzang returned to Chang'an and was warmly welcomed by the people. Tang Taizong personally received him, arranged a place and personnel for him to translate the scriptures, and asked Xuanzang to dictate and his disciples to record it, and write 12 volumes of "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty", introducing the geography and customs of mountains and rivers in more than 100 countries and regions in the Western Regions, which had a huge impact on later generations.
Since then, Xuanzang has been translating Buddhist scriptures day and night. He brought back 657 Buddhist scriptures from India, and translated a total of 75 sutras and 1,335 volumes, which lasted 20 years.
Because of the need to translate Buddhist scriptures, Xuanzang accepted a group of proud children and taught him Buddhist theories, thus founding the Wisdom Sect. The Wisdom Sect, also known as the Dharma Xiang Sect, later spread to Japan and other places, and has been spread endlessly.
In 664, Xuanzang died at the age of sixty-five. Xuanzang's "Learning from the Western Heavens" lasted 17 years and traveled more than 50,000 miles, becoming a feat in the history of world culture. "Journey to the West", one of the four classical masterpieces, is based on the story of Xuanzang's Journey to the West.
The founder of Zen Buddhism, Huineng
Huineng (638-713), commonly known as Lu, was a native of Xinzhou, Lingnan Province (now Xinxing County, Guangdong Province), a high-ranking monk in the Tang Dynasty, and the founder of Zen Buddhism.
Huineng's father died young, and he was raised by his mother, and his family was poor and relied on firewood to make a living.
Huineng has had deep roots in wisdom since childhood. Once, he heard a guest who bought firewood reading the Diamond Sutra, and he was reluctant to leave. The guest told him that in Huangmei County (present-day Huangmei County, Hubei Province), there was a high-ranking monk Master Hongren who was good at preaching the Diamond Sutra. Huineng decided to study Buddhism.
Master Hongren is the fifth-generation descendant of Zen Buddhism, and he admired Huineng very much after seeing him, but he was afraid that the monks in the temple would be jealous of him, so he arranged for him to go to the house to make rice.
A few months later, Master Hongren asked each of his disciples to write a poem to examine their Buddhist practices, and announced that the mantle would be passed on to the winners. The monks thought that the person who was qualified to accept the mantle of the master was none other than the senior brother Shenxiu, so they did not write it.
Shenxiu was embarrassed to present the biography directly to the master, so that he could write it on the wall at night: "The body is a Bodhi tree, and the heart is like a mirror." Always wipe diligently, don't let there be dust. After seeing it, Master Hongren thought that Shenxiu had not understood the essence of Zen Buddhism.
Huineng was illiterate, and after listening to others read Shenxiu's verses, he asked him to help write a poem on the wall: "Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a platform." There was nothing in the first place, where to stir up dust. Master Hongren secretly appreciated it after seeing it, but he was afraid that someone would be jealous and harm Huineng, so he deliberately said that he didn't understand the true meaning either.
The next day, Master Hongren came to the room where Hui Neng worked, knocked the stone three times with his Zen staff and left. Huineng understood the master's hint, and came to his meditation room that night. Master Hongren covered the doors and windows, explained the essence of the Diamond Sutra to Huineng, taught him the mantle, and personally escorted him away.
Huineng got the mantle of the five ancestors Hongren master, and he was the six ancestors of Zen Buddhism. At that time, the environment for teaching the Dharma was harsh, and Huineng hid for a few years to participate in the study of Buddhism.
One day, while he was listening to a lecture at the Faxing Temple (in present-day Guangzhou), two monks saw the wind blowing the flags, one thinking that the wind was moving, and the other thought that the flags were moving. Huineng said: "It's not the wind that moves, it's not the flags, but your hearts." Suddenly, a word alarmed the four, Huineng took the opportunity to show the mantle, the monks were overjoyed, and Huineng opened the altar to preach the Dharma in the Fa Temple from then on.
Buddhism developed to the Tang Dynasty and divided into many sects, especially after the emergence of giants like Master Xuanzang, the social influence increased dramatically, and there were many believers. One of the problems that arises is that it is not easy to read and understand the vast number of Buddhist texts, and it is difficult to ascend to heaven if you want to become a Buddha. How to find a way for ordinary people to practice and become a Buddha has become an urgent problem to be solved.
At this time, the six patriarchs were born, believing that everyone has Buddha nature, and if you want to become a Buddha, you don't need to rely on external forces or words, and advocate "seeing nature to become a Buddha", and taking "epiphany" as the practice method, which greatly facilitates the study of ordinary believers. As soon as this theory was proposed, Zen Buddhism immediately attracted countless believers, and its influence expanded rapidly, and after the Tang Dynasty, it became almost synonymous with the entire Buddhism.
Beginning with Huineng, Zen Buddhism was divided into the Southern and Northern Sects. The Northern Sect was led by Shenxiu, and after several generations, it gradually declined. With Huineng as the ancestor, Nanzong was regarded as the authentic sect of Zen Buddhism, and eventually developed five families and seven sects, which have been passed down to this day and spread overseas.
Huineng's disciples recorded his words and deeds and compiled them into the book "Tanjing", which is the only Buddhist classic written by a Chinese monk and named "Jing", which has a profound influence on later generations.
In 713, Huineng died at the age of seventy-six. Huineng revolutionized the method of studying and becoming a Buddha, which greatly increased the influence of Buddhism. Since then, "Zen" has transcended the scope of Buddhism, formed a Zen culture and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and has become an important part of the traditional culture of the mainland.
A group of world-renowned astronomers
Yixing (683-727), commonly known as Zhang Sui, was a native of Changle County, Weizhou (now Nanle County, Henan Province), a famous monk and astronomer in the Tang Dynasty.
The great-grandfather of the line, Zhang Gongjin, was a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty and one of the "Twenty-four Heroes of Lingyan Pavilion". My father used to be a prefectural magistrate. He has been smart and studious since childhood, and has read scriptures and history, especially proficient in the astronomical calendar and the five elements of yin and yang.
At that time, there was a Taoist priest with a profound knowledge and rich collection of books, and his party once borrowed from him the "Taixuan Jing" by Yang Xiong, a scholar of the Western Han Dynasty, and returned it a few days later. The Taoist priest said: "This book is profound and difficult to understand, I have read it for many years, but I haven't read it, you can try to study it well, why are you in such a hurry?" After that, he took out the learning experience he wrote and showed it to the Taoist priest, and the Taoist priest was impressed.
Since then, his party has become famous, and even Empress Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi took the initiative to befriend him. The entourage hated Wu Sansi and refused to see each other, so they hid in Songshan (now Dengfeng City, Henan Province) and became monks.
Later, Tang Xuanzong forcibly conscripted his party into Beijing and was responsible for revising the calendar. In order to accurately observe the movement of the sun, moon and stars, a large number of astronomical instruments were made and improved. Through observation, the party came to the conclusion that "stars are moving", more than 1,000 years earlier than the British astronomer Halley, and also calculated the length of the earth's meridian, which is well-known in the history of world astronomy.
In 727, the party compiled the "Great Calendar of Days", which was tested to be the most accurate calendar at that time, which is inseparable from his work spirit of insisting on actual measurement. The Great Calendar accurately reflects the laws of the sun's movement, representing the development and maturity of the ancient calendar system in the mainland. In the same year, he died of illness due to overwork at the age of 45.
This article is excerpted from "Twenty-four Histories Read Now, Language and History Are Progressing" - the eighth volume of "Old Tang Book", which is officially authorized to be published, welcome to continue to pay attention.