If everyone does not go, I will go to the ear - to identify the legend and cultural heritage of Dongdu

Author: Zhou Yingxin (Associate Researcher, International Political Theory Office, World Institute of Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Special Researcher, Xi Jinping Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)

From March 27 to May 16, the National Museum of Kyoto, Japan, held a special exhibition entitled "The Journey of Authentic Monks and Precepts". The exhibition aims to commemorate the legacy of the benefactor of Japanese Buddhism, Jian Zhen, and to show the development of Buddhist precepts in Japan in the long history from Kanzen to modern times. The "Seated Statue of Kanjin Monk", a national treasure of Japan collected by Nara Tangzhaoti Temple, is the oldest surviving portrait carving in Japan, and was exhibited in Kyoto on the occasion of the exhibition, 45 years after it was last exhibited.

The "Continuation of the Japanese Chronicle" and the "Biography of the Tang Dynasty Monk's Eastern Expedition" record the specific itinerary of Jian Zhen's arrival in Japan. On November 16, 753, Kanzen boarded a ship to Japan for the sixth time and arrived on December 20 in Akito Yaura, Satsuma-ado, Japan (in present-day Minami Satsuma City, Honkagoshima Prefecture). He finally arrived in Nara on February 4 of the following year, and died in Nara in June 763.

Born in 688 AD, Jian Zhen was ordained at the age of 14, and at the age of 54, when he promised the Envoy to Japan at Daming Temple, he was already a famous ordination master. Before the sixth voyage to the east, the Japanese envoys sent by Tang to Fujiwara Kiyokawa to request tang Xuanzong to send Jian Zhen to Japan, but there was no support from Emperor Xuanzong. At the insistence of Gu Malu, the deputy envoy of the Tang envoy, Jian Zhen was finally able to take the deputy envoy ship to Japan, accompanied by Ji Bi Zhenbei, who was also the deputy envoy of the Tang envoy. Jian Zhen Dongdu waited for 11 years from promise to realization. The promise of Jian Zhen originated when Emperor Shengwu of Japan sent two monks, RongRui and Puzhao, to the Tang Dynasty, who were ordered to recruit Buddhist ordination masters from the Tang Dynasty. The two monks unsuccessfully searched for many places in the Tang Dynasty, and finally had the opportunity to visit Jian Zhen at the Daming Temple in Yangzhou. Jian Zhen was not afraid of the hardships and dangers of the East, and considered himself to have the mission of spreading Buddhism, promising that "if everyone does not go, I will go to the ear." At that time, Jian Zhen was the heir of the Nanshan Vinaya and had already ordained more than 40,000 people. In the course of the first five visits to Japan, Jian Zhen and his party encountered hardships such as obstruction by local Officials of the Tang Dynasty, the raging of the sea storms, and the departure of their companions. On his sixth departure, Jian Zhen led 24 people from the Tang Dynasty to Japan, and finally successfully set foot on Japanese soil, at this time Rong Rui had died at Longxing Temple in Dinghu Mountain, China. Pu Zhao accompanied Jian Zhen back to Japan at the same time, and in addition to the Tang people, there were also Hu Guoren, Kunlun Guoren, and Zhan Bo Guo people.

The Tang Dynasty disciple Si Chen, who followed Jian Zhen's six eastern crossings, wrote the "Biography of the Great Monk Jian Zhen of the Great Monk jian zhen" and "Records of the Monks of the Yan Calendar", which show the process of the Jian Zhen Dongdu and the cultural exchange between China and Japan in the Tang Dynasty, which is a collection of biographies of monks and literati in the Nara period of Japan. Although these two works have not been completely passed down to later generations, according to some surviving records, in April 754, Kanjin built an altar at Todaiji Temple, a royal temple in Heijo-kyo, the capital of the Nara Dynasty, and conferred bodhisattva ordination on more than 400 people, including Emperor Shengmu and Emperor Xiaoqian, which was the first ceremony held in Japan. In May 756, Kanjin was appointed "Great Monk Capital" and became one of the five chiefs of the Buddhist community in Japan at that time. In August 758, when Emperor Junhito ascended the throne, he announced that he would give him the title of "Great Monk" and ask him to specialize in training monks and nuns. From 759 until his death in 763, Jian Allah built the Tang Zhaoti Temple and set up an altar for ordination at the temple.

Kanzen Higashido has greatly contributed to the cultural development of Japanese Nara society. Written 16 years after Jian Zhen's death (779 AD), the Biography of the Tang Dynasty Monk's Eastern Expedition is one of the most important historical materials on the study of Jian Zhen written by the Japanese in Chinese. According to relevant records, Jian Zhen was known in Japan as the "founding father of the Vinaya Sect" and "pioneer of the Tendai Sect", and the number of sutra scrolls he brought with him was more than 850 volumes of 35 kinds. The founder of the Tendai Sect of Japanese Buddhism, Machi, initially studied the Tendai Sect texts brought by the Jian Zhen disciple FaJin under the teachings of the Jian Zhen disciple Fa Jin, and then went to the Tang Dynasty to study, and eventually became a generation of masters. Jian Zhen is also known as the "ancestor of medicine" and the "father of culture", which proves that in addition to spreading Buddhist culture, he also brought advanced culture in medicine, architecture, calligraphy and other aspects to Japan.

Kanshin is a typical representative of outstanding contributions to Sino-Japanese exchanges, and has long been commemorated and praised by the Japanese rulers and the people. Tang Zhaoti Temple, built by Allah, is the chief temple of the Vinaya Buddhist Sect in Japan, and the name of the temple on the southern gate of the temple is said to have been written by Emperor Takaaki (reigned 749-758 AD). Originating from the Sanskrit word, "Trattoria" means one meaning in all directions, and the other refers to a dojo where the Buddha practices. The temple was built to provide food and lodging for the monks who came to seek ordination and ordination, and to invite the undead of Emperor Shengmu to come to Japan. In 1998, the temple was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the "Cultural Wealth of the Ancient Capital of Nara". According to records such as "The Origin of the Establishment of Zhao Ti", "The Biography of Zhao Ti Chitose", and the "Collection of Origins of the Temples", the golden hall in the temple was presided over by An Rubao, the fourth abbot of the temple and a disciple of Jian Zhen, and is the oldest surviving Buddhist hall building and is listed as a national treasure of Japan. The appearance of the Golden Hall is similar to the East Hall of Foguang Temple in Wutaishan, China, and the architectural style belongs to the Tang Dynasty. The temple was restored many times during the Kamakura period, the Edo period, the Meiji period, and the Showa period, and has important historical and cultural value and status.

In 1688, the haiku Edo period haikuman Matsuo Basho visited TangZhaoti Temple and wrote the haiku sentence "Holding a young leaf, I want to wipe the beads from the corners of your eyes for you", expressing his reverence for Kanzen. When sino-Japanese diplomatic relations had not yet been restored, in order to commemorate the 1200th anniversary of Kanshin's death, the Japanese government referred to the period between june 1963 and the following year's death as the "Kanzen Year". Ando Gengsheng, a Japanese art historian who died in 1970, said: "To this day, the Japanese people still bathe in many ways the favor of the kanzen monks. In April 2011, Japan launched a project to reproduce the seated statue of a national treasure, and in June 2013, the replica was completed, and the statue was placed in the Kaishan Hall of Tangzhaoti Temple, which is open all year round. The seated statue of the National Treasure is still enshrined in the Imperial Shadow Hall and is only open three days a year around the time of the Death Anniversary.

Jian Zhen's bravery, loyalty, and stoic personal charm and outstanding contributions to China and Japan have won widespread welcome and respect. The relics and buildings preserved in many places in China and Japan to commemorate the authenticity of Dongdu are clear evidence of history. In April 1980, the "Seated Statue of the Authentic Monk" returned to China for the "Visiting Relatives" exhibition, and in 1977, at the request of the former French Minister of Culture, he went to France as a returning envoy for the French Venus statue on display in Japan, and exhibited it as a national treasure of Japan. This shows that the influence of Jian Zhen Dongdu is not limited to China and Japan, but has expanded to other parts of the world. When Kanjin first arrived in Nara, he set up an altar at Todaiji Temple, and the temple also preserves another seated statue of Kanzen, a wooden statue made in 1733 and returned to his hometown in November 2010 to "visit relatives".

For more than 1,200 years, the Chinese and Japanese governments and people have been commemorating him because he is a cultural communicator recognized by people and a practitioner of close exchanges between the two countries. Those who contributed to the realization of the Authenticity of Dongdu, as well as later inheritors, carried a value that people agreed upon, which transcended national borders and political ties. This kind of value recognition is an indispensable and solid foundation for mankind to jointly build a future of "beauty and beauty".

Guangming Daily (2021-04-29, 13th edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily