Author/Su Lufeng,"Immortal Prime Minister' Doesn't Believe in God"
Editor/Liu Jing
Tang Dynasty chancellor Li Bi
Li Bi was a courtier and scholar in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. He was knowledgeable in the history of the classics, studied Yixiang, especially liked the teachings of LaoZi, and often ran to Huashan, Zhongnan Mountain and other places to seek immortal cultivation, tricked the art of immortality, and ate vegetarian food all year round, known as "Immortal Prime Minister".
Li Biping was good at talking about the strangeness of the gods and immortals, and once ordered his family to clean up in front of the guests, saying that mr. Hongya, the immortal, would come to stay at night. Once, a waiter gave him a pot of wine, but he told the guest that it was sent by the goddess Magu. While he was drinking, the gatekeeper told him that the waiter had sent someone to fetch the pot. He poured out the wine and returned it to the jug. In the face of the suspicious eyes of the guests, he was not ashamed.
Therefore, the people of the time were quite critical of Li Bi, saying that he was too superstitious about the gods. In fact, this is a misunderstanding of him, this is only the appearance of a brilliant courtier. He assisted three successive generations of emperors and enjoyed the power of prime minister several times. He served twice in times of crisis, and many times retreated after the crisis. He is a historical legend, no ancients before, no one after him.
Li Bi was intelligent from an early age and was deeply appreciated by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, so he was made to treat Hanlin as a subordinate official of the crown prince Li Heng. Later, he was hated by Yang Guozhong, the prime minister, and had to return to the Hidden Name Mountain. During the Anshi Rebellion, after Emperor Suzong of Tang ascended the throne, Li Heng summoned Li Bi to counsel the military and was favored. Soon after, he was framed by the eunuch Li Fuguo and others, and once again lived in seclusion in Hengyue. After Emperor Tang ascended the throne, he was summoned as a Hanlin scholar, and was successively ostracized by the chancellor Yuan Zai and Chang Gong, and was sent to a local post. When Emperor Dezong of Tang entered the court, he participated in the planning of internal affairs and foreign affairs, repaired military affairs and politics internally, and united with Hui and other countries to curb Tubo, reached the "Alliance of Zhenyuan", stabilized the borders, and ensured the stability of the Zhenyuan period of the Tang Empire. He was promoted to Zhongshu Shilang (中書侍郎), Tongping Zhangshi (同平章事), and was given the title of Prince Taifu (太傅) after his death.
It can not only make a contribution, but also be far from the whole body. How can a superstitious person have such wisdom? In fact, Li Bi did not believe in God. In the two exhortations to Dezong, we can glimpse his true heart.
According to the Zizhi Tongjian, someone said to Emperor Dezong: "I met Bai Qi, a famous general of the Qin state during the Warring States period. He asked me to go to the imperial court, saying that he would guard the western frontier for the country, and that tubo would commit internal crimes in the middle of the month, and that he would break the enemy to win his trust. "When Tubo was defeated by Tang's generals and failed to penetrate deep into the interior, Emperor Dezong thought that Bai Qi's deeds had been fulfilled, and he wanted to sacrifice for Bai Qi's temple in Chang'an and give him the title of Situ. Li Bi said to Dezong: "The ancients said that the country will prosper and listen to the opinions of the people; it will be defeated before it obeys God's will." Now that the generals have made meritorious contributions, His Majesty does not commend them, but wants to reward the white rise that has died for a thousand years, and I am afraid that the generals will be chilled by them and scatter their fighting spirit. If the White Temple is established in Beijing, great prayers and spread to all places will encourage the witchcraft. Li Bi did not believe in ghosts and gods, and he was almost overflowing with words.
During Emperor Dezong's middle years, the traitorous minister Lu Qi, in order to avenge his personal revenge, killed the chancellor Yang Yan, excluded Yan Zhenqing and let him die at the hands of the rebellious fan town; and provoked Li Huaiguang to rebel. Speaking of this rebellion, Dezong said: "Before the jianzhong disaster broke out, the warlocks had already prophesied, please increase the cultivation of The Heavenly City in advance. It can be seen that the disaster is the destiny of heaven and cannot be responsible for Lu Qi. Li Bi said: "The Mandate of Heaven is something that ordinary people can say, but only the king and the prime minister cannot say it, because the king and the prime minister are the ones who create the mandate of heaven." If the king and the prime minister also say the Mandate of Heaven, then what is the use of the liturgical punishment?" Since the Mandate of Heaven is "made" by man, it is naturally not true to believe. Dezong said that he would no longer speak of the Mandate of Heaven in the future.
When Li Bi talked with Dezong about the establishment of the White Temple and the Mandate of Heaven, he showed the rationality and sobriety of a politician. On the one hand, Taoism is the state religion of the Tang Dynasty, and the cultivation of Taoism is superficially consistent with the official ideology; on the other hand, Taoism is the theory of birth, and the Taoist is the taoist who knows how to advance and retreat, and can stay away from the disasters of the official field. Moreover, he also really longed for the Taoist way of life, returning to nature and leaving the world independent.
(This article is from Huasheng Observation magazine)
About the author: Su Lufeng is a veteran media personality and columnist. He is a periodical review expert of the Propaganda Department of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and the president of the Changsha and Cultural Research Association. Some works have been published in the editorial at the beginning of the volume of "Reform Internal Reference", and have been selected into the "Annual Selection of Chinese Essays" for many times, and have been reprinted nearly 100 times by abstract newspapers and periodicals. He has won the first prize of hunan journalism award for many times. He has won the China Newspaper Calligraphy Award.
Editors/Liu Jing, Lü Lu