Do you know how Tang Monk died? Don't say you don't know who Tang Monk is, you must have seen "Journey to the West" when you were a child. The monk inside who rode a white horse and hung a Buddha bead and looked very rich was a Tang monk.
Because the mythical story of "Journey to the West" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, perhaps you know that the Tang monks went through "ninety-nine eighty-one difficulties" and finally became the zhantan meritorious Buddha, immortality, immortality, immortality and heavenly unity.
But you may not know how the real Tang monks died in history? A high monk who was not protected by Sun Monkey ended up.
In this article, we will talk about how Tang Xuanzang, a senior monk of the Tang Dynasty, came to be, and how he did not, and friends who like it should not forget to like, comment and pay attention.
The name Tang monk is very broad, meaning to refer to the monks of the Tang Dynasty. Due to the journey to the West, this broad word later became the special word of Master Sun Monkey.
In fact, the Tang monks in journey to the West have prototypes, and the prototype of the Tang monks is the famous monk Sanzang Master during the Tang Dynasty, sanzang is also known as Xuanzang, commonly known as Chen Yuan (hui).
For the sake of clarity, the Tang monk before he left home called his common name Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan was born in the second year of emperor Renshou of the Sui Dynasty, that is, in 602 AD, a native of Hecun, the county town of Luozhou (gou) in Luoyang, Henan, that is, a native of Huachenghe Village, Fudian Town, Yanshi City, Henan Province.
Unexpectedly, it turns out that the hometown of the Tang monk is Yanshi City, Henan, and it is said that there is a Tang monk temple there, and interested friends can find out.
Legend has it that Chen Yuan had Hui Gen in his childhood, which has a lot to do with the Chen family's strong Buddhist affinity.
Chen Yuan's father was a petty official, and because of his dedication to Buddhism, he eventually abandoned his career.
Perhaps because of the role of genetic inheritance, Chen Yuan's second brother Chen Su became a monk at the Pure Land Temple in Luoyang at the age of 15, and later became a well-known Master Changjie.
Originally, Chen Yuan had a strong interest in Buddhist culture under the influence of his father, coupled with the exemplary role and encouragement of the second brother, in the eleventh year of Sui Daye (615 AD), the thirteen-year-old Chen Yuan became a monk at the Pure Land Temple in Luoyang, with the title of Xuanzang.
His second brother Chen Su presided over the ordination ceremony, after which the second brother became his mentor.
Incidentally, in journey to the West, the Tang monk was the royal brother of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, and the historical Tang Xuanzang was indeed three years younger than Li Shimin.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty believed in Buddhism, monks were trendy figures, and even the princesses at that time liked monks.
Telling the truth about a teenager's renunciation is not a new thing, who would have thought that a few years later, the tang dynasty And Han Chinese Buddhist translation and dissemination of the ancestors turned out to be born.
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There is an old folk saying that "the master leads the door to practice in the individual", and the achievements of the second brother Chen Su inspired Xuanzang, and Master Changjie was his example.
A person's success depends on internal and external factors, and Xuanzang's desire to become a high monk has a unique advantage.
First of all, he has talent and wisdom roots, coupled with the deliberate cultivation of the second brother, it is difficult for Xuanzang not to be famous.
"Shaohua Xiu smiled without roots, and the good wind sent me to Qingyun with strength." Ten years of chanting under the Buddha's lamp made Xuanzang, and with his fame, he was constantly invited to preach and preach in various places, which was an opportunity for self-improvement and in-depth exchange.
Xuanzang interpreted the Buddhist scriptures while lecturing on the scriptures, and after four or five years of study and the guidance of his master, he had a profound understanding of the "Great Prajnaparamita Sutra, the Theory of the North and the South, and the Mahayana Theory".
Fast forward to the first year of Zhenguan (627), the 26-year-old Xuanzang, in the process of preaching, found that there was a conflict between Western Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism, that is to say, the doctrine theory was very confusing, inconsistent, and there was no unified answer...
In this way, the believers were at a loss, and in the face of the confusion of the believers, Xuanzang was anxious.
At that time, the Buddhist scriptures of the Tang Dynasty came from the Western Pure Land of Bliss, which refers to the Central Asian countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India.
Xuanzang wanted to correct the chaos from the source, so he had to go to these countries to get the true scriptures, so he had the idea of going to the Western Heavens to get the scriptures.
In order to go abroad to learn the scriptures, it is necessary to have a customs clearance disc, that is, a passport to go abroad, so Xuanzang asked Tang Taizong Li Shimin for a visa.
Who knew that Li Shimin did not approve it, that is to say, the real history is not at all what Li Shimin encouraged the Tang monks to learn the scriptures as described in "Journey to the West".
Why is Li Shimin dragging his feet? I guess Li Shimin was afraid that Xuanzang would take the True Scriptures and shake his rule.
At that time, the power to interpret the Buddhist scriptures was in the hands of the imperial court monks, who were Li Shimin's trumpeters and wantonly distorted the interpretation of the Buddhist scriptures.
If Xuanzang obtained the True Scriptures, the royal monks would have no right to speak, which was the reason why Li Shimin did not issue Xuanzang a visa.
Li Shimin's non-cooperation did not stop Xuanzang's travel, and since he could not travel in a bright and upright manner, I had to "smuggle".
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In 628, the 27-year-old Xuanzang put on his bag, and the servants embarked on the road of learning the scriptures from the Western Heavens.
Xuanzang's first stop reached the city of Gaochang, the border of present-day Turpan County, Xinjiang. It then traveled from Xinjiang into present-day Tashkent, Soviet Union, then Afghanistan through Pakistan, and finally northern India and the west bank of the Ganges River in India.
From the time Xuanzang stepped abroad, it took him 4 years to reach northern India.
Along the way, in addition to enjoying the exotic scenery, his biggest gain was to understand the local customs and customs and the explanation of buddhist scriptures.
In 633, at the age of 33, Xuanzang finally entered Central India.
Ancient India at that time was large in size and it consisted of many small states.
Xuanzang traveled to more than a dozen small countries at that time, and learned to sort out local Buddhist scriptures in each place.
Unconsciously, Xuanzang had been abroad for 11 years.
In the past 11 years, through sorting, studying and communicating, he has read the Indian Buddhist scriptures in depth, and he has recorded a sack of Buddhist scriptures alone, and the Buddhist scriptures are countless.
When I came, my bags were empty, and now I have gained a lot.
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In 643, the 42-year-old Xuanzang finally embarked on his way back to China.
In the first month of the nineteenth year of Zhenguan (645), Xuanzang returned to Chang'an, the ancient capital of the Tang Dynasty.
Back home he walked for a full year and a half.
I sorted it out, Xuanzang embarked on the road of taking the scriptures from the age of 27, and after 16 years of study and research and exchange, the 43-year-old finally returned to the Eastern Tang Dynasty with a large number of scriptures and Buddhist relics.
The history books record that Xuanzang brought back a wealth of Buddhist scriptures from abroad, with a total of 526 boxes and 657 Buddhist scriptures, as well as relics of relics and senior monks donated by various countries.
Xuanzang then translated these Buddhist scriptures into Chinese so that they could be carried forward in the Tang Dynasty.
Xuanzang's return aroused the vigilance of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, and what he did not expect was that Xuanzang had returned alive.
Not only that, he also brought back the True Scriptures, Li Shimin was warmly entertained on the surface, but his teeth itched with hatred in his heart.
At that time, the depression did not occur, and in the second year of Xuanzang's return to China, Li Shimin suddenly asked Tang Monk to come to the imperial court as an official.
Li Shimin meant to abolish his Buddhist skills, make him an obedient official, not let him popularize the Dharma, and not let him improve the clarity of the Dharma.
At that time, Xuanzang was very stunned, and did not accept and categorically refused.
The question is, why did Li Shimin want Tang Xuanzang to remain a vulgar official? It turned out that Li Shimin wanted to invade the Western Regions and take these Fan States for himself.
To occupy these areas, it is necessary to be proficient in the transportation, folk customs, and political culture of the western regions and Central Asian countries, and Xuanzang has exactly these.
To put it bluntly, Li Shimin needed Xuanzang to help him fight the country, and did not need any bullshit scriptures.
Xuanzang preached that he would put down his butcher knife and become a Buddha. Li Shimin conquered the world by force, and the two were incompatible.
As the saying goes, "Different Ways do not conspire against each other", and Xuanzang, in order to escape Li Shimin's call, ran alone to the Songshan Shaolin Temple behind closed doors and began to translate the scriptures.
In the days that followed, Xuanzang was trembling under Li Shimin's political coercion to translate the scriptures, lest he be clicked by the emperor that day.
Maybe it was Heaven bless Xuanzang.
In 649, Li Shimin, who had just been 52 years old, died suddenly.
Thankfully, Xuanzang could now translate his scriptures wholeheartedly.
After 15 years of hard work, the 62-year-old Xuanzang finally finished translating the scriptures he brought back.
Completing the massive amount of scriptures exhausted Xuanzang's last bit of energy, his waist arched, his hair turned white, and he eventually died of exhaustion.
Although Xuanzang does not have the mythical immortality, his professionalism will always exist, and the spirit of his universal sentient beings will always exist.
Xuanzang's illness and death alarmed the government and the public, everyone heard tears, and at the moment of his ascension to heaven, more than a million people spontaneously sent a funeral for Xuanzang, and the successor emperor Gaozong Li Zhi buried the cremated remains of the monk on the white deer plain on the east bank of the Chan river in the eastern suburbs of Chang'an.
Many years later, Xuanzang's hometown of Yanshi in Henan established the Tang Monk Temple, which is said to be at its peak.
Text/Reading Spring and Autumn by Candle