An important figure around Empress Wu Zetian: Guoshi Shenxiu. He successively served as the state teacher of Emperor Ruizong Of Tang, Li Dan, Wu Zetian, and Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian, and was deeply trusted, especially in the wu Zetian period, in the first year of Dazu, that is, in 701, Shenxiu came to the shen capital Luoyang at the age of more than 90 years old, received a very solemn courtesy, sat on the throne, shouldered the temple, Wu Zetian personally knelt down, and asked from time to time; the princes and princes in the capital were worshipped, looking at the dust and bowing, and there were tens of thousands of days. He has successively enjoyed the honors of the Two Capitals Dharma Lord and the Three Imperial Divisions.
And the high monk Shenxiu and Yiling District Huanghua Town in Yichang City have a very deep relationship, Xiaobian takes you to reveal the secret exclusively!
ShenXiu The originator of the opening altar of Longxing Temple
The Tang Dynasty Three Empires Division Shenxiu was the originator of the opening altar of Longxing Temple in Huanghua Town, Yiling District, Yichang City. Shenxiu (606~706 AD) was a tang dynasty monk, a disciple of the five ancestors of Zen Buddhism, and the founder of Northern Zen. Commonly known as Li, he was a native of the Wei clan of Bian Prefecture (present-day Henan). Learn less about the history of the scriptures, and learn more about it.
1. Longxing Temple has a long history throughout the ages
Longxing Temple is located in Gulongxi, Huanghua Town, Yiling District, Yichang City.
Regarding the origin of Longxing Temple, it is a temple built by people to thank the Dragon King for his grace of "rejuvenating the clouds and raining with dragon virtue". The pagoda erected by Wang Xiang of the Ming Dynasty to commemorate Shenxiu has been intact for more than 500 years.
According to the Ouyang Yunsen Family Collection Tongzhi Ninth Year (1869) edition of the "New Sacred Sect Manuscripts • Dragon King Reward Grace Table" scriptures: "Fu Yi Long de all over the Qiankun, Xingyun to rain and wind and thunder and each to spread its own ze, divine merit to the universe." In the ninth year of Ming Hongzhi (1496), the Yiling Prefecture Chronicle reads: "Longxing Temple is sixty miles north of the prefecture, and Tang Jian. The first monk Yuanqing of Hongzhi was rebuilt. Ou Gongyou Temple small drink poems present Yuan Zhen cousins: weekdays from the music will be written, Bo Oju pot horse zhan pengfen. The penalty is more like Kunyang Ya, and the liquor order is stricter than that of the Fine Willow Army. The snow clouds are still creeping in, and the atmosphere of the flowers is gradually becoming stronger. A statue of all things is the end of the world, and the cockroaches are full of clouds. "The Twenty-eighth Year of The Qianlong Dynasty (1763) "Records of Donghu County": "Long (Long) Xing Temple in Jielingpu, Tang Jian. The Ming Dynasty and the 25th year of the Wanli Calendar (1597) were rebuilt. The Yiren Reispi has a record. "Tongzhi Three Years (1864) "Donghu County Chronicle": "Longxing Temple is in Xianchipu, next to the Purple Crab Spring, Tang Jian." According to legend, the high monk Shenxiu lived here, and in the fourth year of Ming Hongzhi (1491), the monk Yuanqing was recruited for cultivation, and When Yang taught Wang Xiang to erect a monument. Zhengde Gengwu (1510) monk Ming tai restored the mountain gate. Song Ouyang xiu traveled here, and there were poems containing art and literature. According to the 1936 edition of the Yichang County Chronicle, "Longxing Temple was built in the Tang Dynasty in Xianchipu. The temple has eight abbots at the base of the temple, one acre of mountainous land, five points of wasteland, managed by the temple Zhu, and then there is a Shishou Pagoda. "The pagoda erected by Wang Xiang of the Ming Dynasty to commemorate Shenxiu has been intact for more than 500 years.
Purple Crab: Purple crab and silver fish are equally famous, and in the old days they were also tributes to the imperial court. Purple crab, also known as "seed crab", is a rare species of river crab. It is shaped like the usual river crab, but with different body shapes and different seasons. Purple crab is as big as silver dollars and as small as copper dollars, so it is also known as "money crab". Although the purple crab is small, the crab is full of yellow and fat, and there is no bit of sediment in the abdomen. It is produced only during the winter season. Heavy snow, people sit around the stove, or hold crab wine tasting, or make purple crab hot pot, are rare and good. Qing Dynasty poets have the sentence "Purple crab fragrant japonica is full of food", which shows that it has long become a delicacy for people.
2. The Three Empires Division Shenxiu was the first abbot of Longxing Temple
Shenxiu (606–706), commonly known as Li, was a native of the ChenLiu Wei clan (present-day Weishi County, Henan). When he was a teenager, he was a Confucian student, traveled to Jiangnan, read the history of the classics, and was also a confucian and a zhuang. After serving Buddhism, he was ordained at the Tiangong Temple in Luoyang in the eighth year (625) of Tang Gaozu Wude. Since then, I have studied the three-fold sutra and the tetragrammaton, and I have many experiences. At the age of 50, I heard that the Zen master of Shuangfeng Mountain in Huangmei County, Puzhou, was a Zen master, and the Great Enlightenment Gate was a mountain crossing the mountains and mountains, not far away to the LiZhi. After meeting and talking, he was honored with his heart, sighed as "this true master", and threw himself under the door of Hirohito, engaged in labor such as collecting firewood and drawing water in order to seek the Dharma. After 6 years of service, night and day, he was deeply valued by Hongnin and promoted to the head disciple.
In the first year of Long Shuo (661), Hongnin chose the Dharma Heir, and ordered the disciples to make a speech to see the depth of Zen enlightenment. The disciples unanimously pushed shenxiu, thinking that the people's opinions were unparalleled. Shen Xiu did not give in, and said: "The body is a Bodhi tree, and the heart is like a mirror platform." Always wipe diligently, do not cause dust. ”
When Hongnin saw this, he praised it and said, "Practicing according to this will certainly be of great benefit." But he didn't say that Shen Xiu had done his duty. Later, Huineng, a walker of the house, made another decision, and Hongnin thought that it was the most thorough understanding of Zen, and finally gave Huineng the yifa and asked him to return to Lingnan to explain the Zen method.
During the first year of the previous year (674-675), Shenxiu came to the Yuquan Temple in Gangneung Dangyang Mountain (southeast of present-day Danyang City), and built his own Lan Ruo on the flat side of the seven miles east of the temple. In the past 20 years, thousands of scholars from all over the country have come to participate in the study. During this time, Shenxiu opened the Dharma at Longxing Temple and became the originator of the opening altar of Longxing Temple, the first abbot, and enjoyed a great reputation for opening the Dharma.
Shenxiu inherited and developed the idea of Hirohito Zen and continued to promote the Zen method of taking the heart as the sect. Therefore, Emperor Ryuga still regarded Shenxiu as a descendant of Hirohito. In the lineage system of the Ranga Sect, the translator of the Ranga Sutra was added before Dharma to ask Nabhadra to be the first ancestor, and Dharma, Huike, Sangha, Daoxin, and Hongnin were the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth ancestors, respectively, and Shenxiu was the seventh ancestor. However, Shenxiu does not focus on the Lengya Sutra alone, but also attaches great importance to other classics. According to legend, he wrote the book "The Five Convenient Doors of the Mahayana" (also known as the "Five Convenient Doors of the Northern Sect" or the "Convenient Door of Mahayana Without Life"), the five convenient doors of which are: first, the Door of the Buddha's Body, also known as the Gate of Separation from The Mind, according to the "Theory of Rising Faith"; second, the Door of Wisdom, also known as the Door of Immobility, according to the Lotus Sutra, which says to enlighten the knowledge of the Buddha; third, the door of liberation without thinking, according to the Vimal Sutra, which says that no thought and no thought is liberation; fourth, the door of the correct nature of the Ming Dharma, according to the "Si Yi Sutra" says that the mind does not stand up from the self-nature as the positive nature; fifth, seeing is not different, according to the "Huayan Sutra" It is said that seeing the Dhamma is no different, and naturally there is no obstacle to liberation. It can be seen that Shenxiu's Zen theory has become richer, and the path of meditation has also expanded.
Shenxiu's Zen method was widely practiced in the north, and in addition to the Zen monks, many scholars and masters also threw themselves under him to learn Zen from him. For example, Emperor Xuanzong's official Zhang Said was a lay disciple of Shenxiu and was extremely respectful to him. After the propaganda and praise of these monks and lay disciples, the name of Shenxiu spread to the imperial palace. Wu Zetian heard of his fame and sent envoys to greet him in the first year of Jiushi (700). In the second year (the first year of Dazu, that is, in 701), Shenxiu came to the divine capital Luoyang at the age of more than 90 years old, and received a very solemn courtesy, sitting on the throne, shouldering the temple, and Wu Zetian personally kneeling, asking from time to time; the princes and princes in the capital were in the capital, looking at the dust and bowing down, and there were tens of thousands of days. Wu Zetian also issued a special edict to establish a Dumen Temple in Dangyang Mountain, Hubei Province, where Shenxiu had been a long-time missionary, and to establish a Bao'en Temple in the old residence of Wei Shi, Shenxiu's hometown, in order to express his deep respect for him. After Emperor Zhongzong of Tang ascended the throne, he had more respect for Shenxiu. Shen Xiu lived in Luoyang for 6 years, receiving more and more courtesy, and successively enjoyed the honors of the Two Capitals Dharma Lord and the Three Imperial Divisions.
In the second year of Emperor Zhongzong's reign (706), Shenxiu died at the age of 101 at the Tiangong Temple in Luoyang, where he had been ordained. The imperial court treated his funeral with a very high standard, and Emperor Zhongzong sent emissaries to mourn, and the princes gave gifts one after another. On the day of the funeral, the emperor was sent to the noon bridge, the princes and officials were sent all the way to Yishui, the ceremonial guards were furnished to the mountain niches, Tai Changqing advocated guidance, and the city gate lang guarded the funeral, which was indeed extremely mournful and incomparable. The imperial court also denounced Shenxiu as a Zen master within a few days after his death, and the speed of the gift was incomparable in the history of Buddhism.
Shen Xiu's "Five Conveniences of mahayana" (one work "The Five Convenient Doors of The Northern Sect" and "The Gate of Mahayana Lifeless Convenience" were recently found in the Dunhuang Grottoes (there are two copies in the Library of Paris); there is also a volume of "Theory of Contemplation", and fragments are also found in Dunhuang.
Shenxiu had 19 disciples, of whom Songshan Pulu (651-739) and Xijing Yifu (658-736) were the most famous. After Shenxiu's death, Pu Ning and Yifu continued to lead the people, and received strong support from the imperial court, making shenxiu sect extremely popular, with the concept of "both the two capitals are sects of shenxiu". Pu Huan's disciple Dao Xuan also spread the Northern Zen to Japan.
3. Yiling County ordered Ouyang xiu to visit Longxing Temple and improvise poems
In the winter of the third year of Jingyou (1036), Ouyang Xiu went to Longxing Temple for sightseeing and wrote a poem "Longxing Temple Small Drink Presents Cousin Yuanzhen":
"On weekdays, we will be happy with each other, and bo owl will take advantage of the horses.
The penalty is more like Kunyang Ya, and the liquor order is stricter than that of the Fine Willow Army.
The snow clouds are still creeping in, and the atmosphere of the flowers is gradually becoming stronger.
A statue of all things is the end of the world, and the cockroaches are full of clouds. ”
——Excerpt from the 19th year (1893) edition of guangxu in the 19th year of Ouyang Yunsen's family collection (1893), the woodcut edition of the 27th Sun Ouyang Heng School Magazine "Ouyang Wenzhonggong Complete Collection of Jushi Collection Of Eleven Verses" (pictured is a portrait of Ouyang Xiu)