Recently, along with the video released by writer Wei Hui, topics related to "Wenqing" and "spiritual cultivation" have begun to be widely discussed. And Wang Fei, Zhao Wei and other literary and art workers, as the "predecessors" who participated in the "spiritual cultivation" earlier, also laid down their guns for a while. They offered offerings to living Buddhas, participated in the release of life, befriended Wang Lin, a "master of special functions", and followed Li Yi to practice the art of breaking valleys, a series of behaviors that were also denounced as "ignorance". Now active in the Internet of this generation, from childhood contact with the education is "believe in science, against superstition", after experiencing the "Qigong fever" of the 1980s and 1990s, people are talking about "spiritual cultivation" and discoloration, spirituality, practice and many other phenomena that science can not explain, have been classified as "superstition", standing on the opposite side of "science".
"Spirituality" is certainly not an invention of today's people. Legend has it that when Yang Ming, the great Confucian king of the Ming Dynasty, quelled the rebellion of Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ningning, he used to refine his qi in the army, and the night was long and roaring, and the three armies were shocked. Wang Yangming, an all-powerful literary and artistic young man, can make a huge sound through the way of internal cultivation qi, and this special function cannot be explained by modern science; as for the Confucians after Wang Yangming, they often adopt similar spiritual methods, and the Taizhou School even teaches students to "seven-day retreat" and meditate.
Jin Shengsi, a famous young man of literature and art who was somewhat more than Wang Yang tomorrow night, was also a devotional enthusiast. Unlike the retreat meditations preferred by the Confucians, Jin Shengsi, who was good at literary and artistic creation and literary criticism, pursued direct "channeling". Jin Shengsi set up an altar privately, personally served as a servant, channeled his pen, and wrote down various "oracles" on the sand table. Legend has it that Jin Shengsi has been practicing this technique since he was a teenager, and has been a psychic medium for most of his life, and he has achieved great achievements in this aspect, and the poetry and sentences produced by Fu Qi are brilliant, and the Jiangnan literati flock to it for a while, jointly using the pen and sand table to pursue the art of psychic, and compete to become "friends". According to Mr. Chen Yinke's research in "Liu Ru is a Biography", Qian Qianyi, a leader in the Jiangnan literary circle, also invited Jin Shengsi to set up an altar in his home.
Fu Qi
Perhaps people will say that the ancients did not understand science and indulged in meditation, refining qi, channeling, and supporting all kinds of things, which is really forgivable. However, after the widespread introduction of modern Western science, intellectuals still did not change their exploration of the spiritual world, the most famous ones such as the Republic of China super literary and artistic youth Li Shutong, in middle age, ran to the monastery retreat, tried the "fasting" method, the longest fasting for seventeen days, felt "dim waves, achieved wisdom", and then shaved, ordained as a monk. According to the views of the current netizens, the life trajectory of Hongyi master Li Shutong should also be the same template as Wei Hui, all of which are the "new new human beings" of the past, and they have become "spiritual teachers". However, if you sneer at Li Shutong from this, you may seem a little ignorant. Modern literati are more than happy to explore the spiritual world, and here are a few examples, from which we can see the diverse pursuit of spirituality by the older generation of "wenqing".
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Northern Jiangsu literati Yin Shuixin (1883-1968), born in Yancheng, studied at The Beijing Normal University, was one of the earliest people to come into contact with advanced Western science and technology and knowledge, and stayed on to teach after graduation. In the first year of Xuanun, he came to Shanghai and successively served as the director of the Commercial Press, the China Book Company, the chief writer of Shenzhou Daily, Minquan Bao, and News Daily, as well as the editor of the Guangdong Society, lecturers at Soochow University, Hujiang University, and Jiangsu Normal College, and a member of the Central Higher Examination Committee. He studied both Chinese and Western, was familiar with Western theory, and translated more than 20 kinds of foreign texts such as "Examination of the British Parliament" and "The Political View of the Chinese Revolution"; he also proofread and published more than 120 kinds of books, among which the famous one is the "Tan Liuyang Collection" compiled by Tan Sitong, which Kang Youwei greatly appreciated.
The person in the center is the ink water heart
Textbooks prepared by Ink Water Heart
After the Republic of China, he opposed private school education based on the Four Books and Five Classics, and personally compiled geography and history textbooks for new schools to introduce new knowledge. But at the same time, Yin Shui Xin has always been fascinated by spiritual causes. Yin's self-titled "Naluoyan Cave Hongdao Old Man", this may be the narayan cave described in the Huayan Sutra, or the experience of the Ming Dynasty monk Shan Deqing in the Naluoyan Cave Retreat Meditation, Yin Shuixin also practiced meditation and chanting the Sutra.
At that time, there was close contact between northern Jiangsu and Shanghai, and YinShuixin often returned to his hometown. Yin's fellow villagers are important figures of the famous Tongshan Society, which mainly teaches a method of meditation, called "sitting exercises", which requires "keeping luck" every morning and evening, it is said that long-term practice can get rid of diseases and prolong the year, which was popular at home and abroad in the early years of the Republic of China, and Yin also entered the society under the introduction of friends. In addition, Yin Shui Xin, like Jin Shengsi, maintains a high interest in the psychic of Fu Qi. At that time, Yin Shuixin had already gone to Shanghai to participate in publishing work, and under the introduction of his friend Yu Fu, a colleague in the publishing industry, he went to Sheng De Tan to participate in the support of the beggars. In the sixth year of the Republic of China, the altar was founded by Lu Feikui, the founder of the Zhonghua Bookstore, and Yu Fu, the director of the printing factory, and the participants were all intellectuals and literati inkers in Shanghai at that time, and the "Wenqing" formed the "Spiritual Society", which gathered together every week to ask the gods to lower their pens and help them, and used this to discuss various aspects of occultism and spiritualism, and the results were written and published in the journal "Spiritual Congzhi". At that time, the literary and artistic youth of the Spiritual Society were also criticized by many people, and the authors of "New Youth" such as Lu Xun, Chen Daqi and others all criticized the Spiritual Society; the Buddhist monk Yin Guang even denounced the Spiritual Society as "nonsense... Doubtful beings" superstitious heresy.
Spiritual Studies
The spiritual experience of participating in meditation, chanting Buddha, supporting the beggars, and meditating, the literary and artistic youth Yin Shuixin's spiritual experience cannot be described as rich, but if compared with the later Republic of China hearer, it seems to be a little witchy.
Wang Yiting (1867-1938), a native of Wuxing, Huzhou, born in Zhoupu, Shanghai, was a famous calligrapher and painter on the sea during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, who served as a business comprador in his early years, joined the League, funded the Xinhai Revolution and the Second Revolution, and became a shanghai business celebrity. Putting aside his various titles such as industrialist, social activist, and Haipai artist, Wang Yiting is also enthusiastic about charity, which can be called "the first person in charity in the Republic of China", and his charitable activities are closely related to his personal spiritual life.
Painting by Wang Yiting
The first thing that needs to be stated is that Wang Yiting is not ignorant of modern science, he was the general agent of Nissin Company in his early years, and later involved in the electrical appliance industry, which can definitely be regarded as a high-tech industry at that time. When Einstein and his wife came to China, Wang Yiting once set up a banquet at home, and talked with Einstein very happily during the banquet.
Einstein and Wang Yiting take a group photo in the Zi Garden of his residence. In the middle of the front row is Einstein, the second from the right is Wang Yiting, and the right one is Yu Ren.
Wang Yiting is a well-known Buddhist monk, who served as an executive member and standing committee member of the Buddhist Association of China, was elected as the chief buddhist layman of the Shanghai World Buddhist Society for many consecutive years, set up a Buddhist library, and founded the Shanghai Buddhist Studies Bookstore. Wang Yiting's Dharma name in buddhism is "Enlightenment", but this name is not obtained when he took refuge in a certain senior monk, but comes from a fuqi experience. When the senior monk of the Republic of China, Master Taixu, wrote in his biography of Wang Yiting: "There is a Chinese Jisheng Association in Shanghai, which is called the Jigong Living Buddha's main altar to support the beggars, give medicine and promote charitable undertakings such as disaster relief, and the elderly (Wang Yiting) also take refuge in the Ji Buddha on the altar. The Jisheng Association promotes the elder as the president, raises funds for the disasters in the north and south every year, and raises hundreds of thousands of millions of yuan. The elderly became the giants of philanthropists in Shanghai and even in the country. In the various churches and undertakings of Tzu Chi in Shanghai, there are very few people who do not rely on the elders to think that they are calling for it."
Wang Yiting took a group photo with Master Taixu, the person in the front row was Master Taixu, and the person behind Taixu's left hand was Wang Yiting.
Wang Yiting's refuge in the "Ji Buddha" refers to JiGong, and among the many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Buddhism, Jigong is deeply loved by spiritual enthusiasts. According to Mr. Wang Jianchuan's research, the Jishenghui was born out of the Fuqi organization in the Hangzhou area at the end of the Qing Dynasty, which established the "Jueyunxuan" in Shanghai. Wang Yiting and the various charitable relief activities of the Jisheng Association are closely related to the Jigong Fuqi, and every time they organize disaster relief donations, they are instructed by the Jigong Edict to guide the relief tasks and the donation amount of each member, that is, the oracle, the members dare not follow, so they have actively and enthusiastically participated in the donation and disaster relief, and the efficiency of the relief has been greatly improved. During the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan, Wang Yiting urgently collected 6,000 quintals of white rice, more than 2,000 bags of flour, medicines, charcoal and other urgent necessities for daily life, and rushed them to Japan, becoming the first foreign rescue ship to arrive, and the Japanese called him "Wang Bodhisattva". As a result, spiritual activities such as the Fusang have become the "spiritual guidance" for the charity of the Charity Society, and the Charity Association has also set up altars in various branches.
In addition to his status as a Buddhist layman, Wang Yiting also practiced Taoist Quanzhen Longmen Sect Kung Fu, and at that time, Huzhou Jingai Mountain was an important town of Quanzhen Dao in the Jiangnan region, and there was a set of "convenient methods" handed down by the Neidan master Min Yide. Although Wang Yiting was a Buddhist layman, he also entered the Tao at Jingai Mountain and became the fifteenth generation disciple of the Longmen Sect, and took the Dharma name "Authenticity" in accordance with the order of the Dragon Gate Sect's characters of "Morality Tong Xuan Jing, True Constant Shou Taiqing, Yiyang Lai Replica". Today's literary and artistic young people, if we talk about the level of art, I am afraid that it is far from Wang Yiting, even if we talk about the spiritual world alone, I am afraid that it is far inferior to Wang Yiting, who is also a Buddha and a Taoist, and can also ask God to lower his pen.
Wang Yiting's photo at the Longmen Sect Altar on Jingai Mountain
Compared with the spiritual society, which has been repeatedly criticized by intellectuals and traditional Buddhist circles in society, the reputation of Wang Yiting and The Jishenghui is much better. Progressive young people have not been heavily attacked by the Jishenghui, the National Government has also relied heavily on Wang Yiting, and senior monks have erected biographies for his tree monuments, in addition to the biography written by Master Taixu for Wang Yiting in the previous text, Master Yin Guang also wrote a monument inscription for the Jishenghui, wishing that the traditional Buddhist community can "work with one heart" with the Jishenghui in terms of relief and promotion of vegetarian food. Both of these organizations are still psychic and supportive, but they have suffered different treatment, probably because the spiritual society has been talking about ghosts and gods all day long, while the Jisheng Society has focused on the relief of the difference between the living beings. It can be seen that the society at that time did not completely reject all kinds of supernatural phenomena, after all, charity was a matter that benefited the public, and how to devotional was only a personal choice, there was no need to talk about it all day, and the public would not regard it as a flood beast. Today's "Wenqing", if they can understand this, may be able to avoid some controversy!