The Relationship between Li Bai and Jiangyou Taoism: A Little Study of "Visiting Dai Tianshan Daoists Do Not Meet" ‖ The Relationship between Ma Rui Li Bai and Jiangyou Taoism A little study of "Visiting Dai Tianshan Daoists Do Not Meet"

This article is published in the special issue of "Sichuan Historical Celebrities" in the 5th issue of the History of Bashu in 2020

<h1 toutiao-origin="h3" > Li Bai's relationship with Jiangyou Taoism</h1>

<h1 toutiao-origin="h3" > a little study of "Visiting Dai Tianshan Daoists Without Encountering"</h1>

Marie

Visiting Dai Tianshan Daoists did not meet

In the sound of the dog barking, the peach blossoms are dewy.

Deer are seen when the trees are deep, and the creek does not hear the bell at noon.

Wild bamboo is divided into green mist, and flying springs hang on the green peaks.

No one knows where to go, and two or three pines are in sorrow.

——Jing Jia Tang Collection of Song Shu Ben Li Taibai Anthology, vol. 21

Chinese do things, and have always paid attention to the time, place, and people, and Li Bai's belief in Taoism is no exception.

So, why did Li Bai believe in Taoism? Why go in search of Taoists? And why go to Dai Tianshan to find out?

As early as the pre-Qin era, witchcraft was prevalent in the land of Bashu. Witchcraft is the use of special spells by wizards or priests, with the help of various magic tools, spells or drugs, to achieve the purpose of communicating with the gods or the heavens, asking for evil and avoiding misfortune and seeking blessings, and the history is called "the lady enjoys, and the home is the history of witchcraft" (Zuo Qiuming, "Chinese Chu Language").

In the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Zhao of Zhou (277 BC), King Zhao of Qin took the advice of the chancellor Tian Gui and appointed Li Bing as the Taishou of Shu Commandery. At that time, primitive witchcraft and alchemy had a great influence on the Bashu people, and the theory of the five elements of yin and yang was also in its infancy. As a brilliant politician, Li Bing is very politically minded. When he decided to build the capital Jiangyan, in order to arouse the enthusiasm of the Shu people, he first led the civil and military officials of Shu County to solemnly sacrifice the relevant gods believed in by the Shu people. When surveying the weir site, he also claimed to have seen the gods, and then built the "Three Ancestral Halls" of Dushan, Jiangdu and Wangdi (Chang Xuan's "Huayang Guozhi" volume 3 "Shu Zhi"). Li Bing's move effectively united the active participation of the local indigenous leaders Yang Mo (Wang Xiangzhi's "Youdi Jisheng" "Yang Ma Jiang" article quoting Du Guangting's "Water Record"), Wang Yi (Zhang Zilie's "Zhengzi Tong" "叕" note, Zhang Shu's "Shu Gu" citation "Surname Source Rhyme Spectrum") and others, unifying thinking and rallying people's hearts for the construction of Dujiangyan.

By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Ling (also known as Zhang Daoling, Zhang Tianshi, Zhengyi Zhenren, and Zu Tianshi) from Peiguofeng County (present-day Feng County, Jiangsu Province) founded Taoism. Zhang Ling served as the county magistrate of Jiangzhou (江州, in modern Chongqing) during the reign of Emperor Ming of Han. During the reign of Emperor Shun of Han, disgusted by official corruption, disorder in the imperial program, and the cruelty of door valve politics, he resolutely resigned his official post and led his family and disciples to heming mountain in Western Shu (in present-day Dayi County, Sichuan Province) to cultivate. In the Heming Mountains, Zhang Ling combined the pre-Qin Laozhuang doctrine, primitive witchcraft and Bashu folk beliefs to create the "Zhengyi Mengwei Dao" ("Zhengyi"). He stipulated that all those who entered the Tao should pay five buckets of rice, so it was also called "five buckets of rice". Thus, Taoism was first born in the land of Bashu.

Li Bai's hometown, Jiangyou, is located in the northwest of the Sichuan Basin and has long been popular in alchemy, witchcraft and divination. In the last years of the Qin Dynasty, the hermit Huang Fengxian, in order to escape the chaos of war, lived in seclusion at Mount Taihua (present-day Dakang Town, Jiangyou City, Sichuan Province). During his seclusion, he planted peonies all over the mountains, like a jinping, and his name moved one side. After Zhang Ling founded the religion, Jiangyou became a key area for the spread of Taoism. In order to expand his influence and compete for his followers, Zhang Ling personally tested spells at Tianzhu Mountain (天柱山, in present-day wudu town north of Jiangyou City, Sichuan Province) against Fang Shi Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng, and won for 7749 days before winning (Qing Tongzhi edition of Zhangming County Chronicle). In order to facilitate the management of the faithful, Zhang Ling also divided the country into 24 parishes, including Yangping Shanzhi and Gengji Shanzhi, and Jiangyou fell under the jurisdiction of Yuntai Shanzhi (present-day Cangxi County, Sichuan Province). During the Sui and Tang dynasties, under the influence of the Wei and Jin dynasties, the Gate Valve clan paid great attention to origin and blood. However, the Tang Dynasty Royal Family surnamed Li had the Bloodline of the Xianbei Tuoba Clan, so it was despised by some Han scholars. In order to raise his stature and consolidate his political power, the imperial family of Li declared that he was a descendant of Lao Tzu Li Er, enshrined Taoism as a "state religion", built Taoist palaces on a large scale, gave Taoist gods, and even included Taoist classics in the examination subjects of the imperial examination (the Tang Dynasty Emperor Zai Yuan Zai was the First Daoju Branch in September of the 29th year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty), thus greatly developing Taoism.

Taibai Square, Jiangyou City

As the birthplace of Taoism, Bashu also concentrated on a large number of outstanding religious talents such as Wang Wei, Li Rong, Li Yuanxing, Ren Taixuan, Zhang Junxiang, and Wang Zhen at this time, especially Wang Wei's contribution. Wang Huan lived during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and he combined some of the teachings of the Mahayana sect and the Wisdom Sect of Buddhism into a series of Taoist theoretical works such as the XuanzhuLu. For he declared, "The mind is born of the Dhamma, and the mind is destroyed by the Dharma." If the mind is uncertain, there is no birth and no destruction... The Law begins with man, and the Law is destroyed by man. New ideas and ideas such as the rise and destruction of free people, the rise and destruction of the Law" were soon welcomed by the middle and lower classes of the people, and played a great role in promoting the development of Taoism in Bashu. Changlong County (present-day Jiangyou City, Sichuan Province) is located in the northern section of the Longmen Mountains, with dense forests, pleasant climate and moderate geographical location, and has been a good place for Taoist cultivation for generations. Tiancang Mountain, Qianyuan Mountain, DouYuan Mountain, Ziyun Mountain, Taihua Mountain, and Tianzhu Mountain all have many large-scale Taoist palaces and a large number of Taoists, and Dai Tianshan (now Qianfeng Village, Dakang Town, Jiangyou City, Sichuan Province) is favored by Taoists because of its steep mountains and beautiful scenery.

According to historical records, Li Bai's father, Li Ke, was a person who "put on shape", "Renxia", and "lay high in the cloud forest, and did not seek Shilu" (Fan Chuanzheng," Tang Zuoshi's "Tang Zuo Shi Yi Hanlin Scholar Li Gongxin Tombstone and Preface"). And this kind of personality is exactly in line with The Taoist ideas of "no dispute" and "Taoist nature". Therefore, Li Ke is likely to have also read Taoist texts and came into contact with Taoist thought.

In the Tang Dynasty, according to the level of Taoism and the different tasks of work, Taoists were divided into 7 categories: naïve Daoists, immortal Daoists, hidden Daoists, Mountain Residence Daoists, Monastic Daoists, At home Daoists, and Sacrificial Taoists (Lü Taigu's "Daomen Tongjiao Must Use Collection"). Among them, "mountain dwelling Daoist" refers to a practitioner who has already done worldly mundane affairs and is bent on going deep into the mountains.

Dai TianShan, east of Taihua Mountain and Dakuang Mountain, west of Qianyuan Mountain, the highest peak is more than 2100 meters above sea level. Perennial clouds obscure fog barriers and immortal qi are filled with immortal qi, which is naturally the first choice for mountain Daoist monks to live in seclusion and cultivation. To this day, the mountain path stretches up the northeast direction of the flower temple, and after passing out of the dense forest, a Taoist temple is still preserved, which is in harmony with the caves on both sides, known as the "Shenlong Mountain Taoist Temple", and the temple enshrines gods such as "Sanqing". During the prosperous Tang Dynasty in which Li Bai lived, Dai Tianshan must have been a famous mountain with a very strong Taoist atmosphere in Changlong County.

On "Tianshi", Taoism was the "state religion" in the Tang Dynasty, and its political status was higher than that of other religions; on "geographical advantages", Taoism originated in Bashu, and Changlong was one of its important places of spread; on "People", Li Ke, Li Bai father and son were deeply influenced by Taoist thought. As a great poet who was deeply baptized and influenced by bashu Taoist culture, it is not surprising that Li Bai, who was deeply baptized and influenced by the Taoist culture of Bashu, did not hesitate to go to Dai TianShan to find Daoist friends.

The interaction with The Taoists played a positive role in the formation and development of Li Bai's ideological character, not only cultivating his romantic character of loving nature and pursuing freedom, but also contributing to his ethereal life of seeking immortals and learning the Tao and being born in seclusion. It can be said that Taoist thought had a great influence on his life.

Unlike today, the Tang Dynasty did not invent mobile phones and telephones, and going out to visit friends often depended on luck or appointments. Li Bai's luck this time was not very good, and he worked hard to climb the high Dai Tianshan Mountain, but he did not see this Daoist friend. Maybe he went down the hill to do something? Or maybe it's a trip to visit friends? In short, it was not in the Taoist Temple, which made Li Bai pounce. Disappointed, Li Bai wrote this poem "Visiting Dai Tianshan Daoists Do Not Meet".

Lee Bai Memorial Hall

Li Bai has many existing poems, but there are not many rhythmic poems, and this five-word rhythm poem is one of his representative works in his youth. The poem not only depicts what Li Bai heard and saw in Dai Tianshan, but also reproduces the beautiful life realm of Daoyou's paradise in a real, natural and vivid image. The style of the poem is clear and beautiful, full of the youthful vitality of young poets and the spirit of exploration.

(Originally published in the special issue of "Sichuan Historical Celebrities" in the 5th issue of "Bashu History" in 2020)