Tang Monk and his disciples happened to pass by the Kingdom of Sacrifice when they were studying for Buddhist scriptures. Naturally they would not ignore this when they saw this. On the night they stayed at Jinguang Temple, Tang Monk and Sun Wukong were cleaning the pagoda and di

TV series " Journey to the West ", there is an impressive story of "sweeping the pagoda to resolve strange grievances": It is said that there is a Jinguang Temple in Jisai Kingdom. The monks in the temple were killed by the king because they lost the "Buddha relics". After questioning the crime, the old abbot was about to be beheaded.

Tang Monk and his disciples happened to pass by to offer sacrifices to Saiguo when they were studying for Buddhist scriptures. Naturally they would not ignore this when they saw this. On the night they stayed at Jinguang Temple, Tang Monk and Sun Wukong were cleaning the pagoda and discovered the reason why the Buddha was lost, and later took it back Buddha treasure, cleansing the grievances of the monks of Jinguang Temple.

Most of the stories of Tang Monk's Buddhist scriptures in "Journey to the West" are fictional, but in reality, the pagoda location where this TV series was filmed did contain treasures from Tang Monk.

When the Japanese invaded China, had it not been for the abbot of the temple, this treasure might have fallen into the hands of the Japanese...

Ancient Temple Treasures

The pagoda that preserved Tang Monk's treasure is called " Feihong Pagoda ", and it is in Shanxi Located in Guangsheng Temple, Hongdong County, Sichuan Province, its emergence can be traced back to another ancient Buddhist book.

In 1930, philanthropist Zhu Qinglan came to Shaanxi to provide relief to the victims. He accidentally discovered the precious Song version of the scripture "Qisha Zang" (pronounced "Qisha Burial") in the Kaiyuan and Wolong temples in Xi'an. The news caused a sensation. .

In order to protect and spread this ancient scripture, "Qi Sha Zang" was properly transported to Shanghai for photocopying.

Because the "Qisha Cang" discovered in Xi'an was incomplete, in order to complete the fragmentary copy, Master Fan Cheng was entrusted by the photocopying committee of the "Qisha Cang" to visit famous mountain and ancient temples in Shaanxi and Shanxi to search for ancient scriptures.

By chance, Master Fan Cheng met a monk in Xi'an who had returned from a pilgrimage to Wutai Mountain. He mentioned something to Master Fan Cheng, which instantly attracted Master Fan Cheng's attention.

The monk said that he once had a Guangsheng Temple in Zhaocheng Town, Hongdong, Shanxi. In the bookcase of the temple, he saw many ancient scroll-style Tibetan scriptures. These may be the ancient scriptures that Master Fan Cheng was looking for.

After hearing this, Master Fan Cheng rushed to Guangsheng Temple immediately. Sure enough, he found four large bookcases full of ancient Buddhist scriptures in the temple. After counting, there were more than 4,500 volumes in total.

The monks from Guangsheng Temple told Master Fan Cheng that they did not know the origin of these ancient Buddhist scriptures, and some of them were lost to the hands of local villagers.

Hearing that the ancient scriptures were still being lost, Master Fan Cheng said nothing and went to the villages and alleys to collect more than 300 volumes from the villagers, and compiled a total of nearly 4,900 volumes.

After Master Fan Cheng organized the collection of scriptures, he discussed with the abbot of Guangsheng Temple and borrowed some of the scriptures to be exhibited in Beiping. Once these precious scriptures were exhibited, Guangsheng Temple became a sensation, and Chinese and foreign scholars went to Guangsheng Temple one after another. Read the scriptures.

After the news reached Nanjing, Nanjing's famous Buddhist layman Ouyang Jingwu sent his favorite disciple Jiang Weixin to inspect Guangsheng Temple.

Jiang Weixin set off immediately after receiving the teacher's assignment. In order to reach Guangsheng Temple as soon as possible, he crossed the Yellow River despite strong winds and weather. Unfortunately, he fell into the water and had his face filled with mud. His eyes also fell ill from then on.

After struggling to reach Guangsheng Temple, Jiang Weixin ignored the pain in his eyes and read the scriptures all night. After 40 days of intense work, he wrote the 15,000-word "A Test of the History of the Golden Tibetan Carving and Seals".

Jiang Weixin not only made a correct assessment of the value of the Buddhist scriptures in Guangsheng Temple, but also named the Buddhist scriptures here "Zhaocheng Jinzang" based on the place where the Buddhist scriptures were found.

As soon as Jiang Weixin's article was published, it not only shocked half of the academic community, but also made many people want to possess this treasure.

Not only did warlords lead a team to ask for the treasure, but Yan Xishan, who was entrenched in Shanxi, also sent a special envoy to Guangsheng Temple to ask for the treasure.

What is so valuable about "The Golden Treasure of Zhaocheng"? This begins with Monk Tang's trip to India to learn Buddhist scriptures.

Xuanzang gathered Buddhist scriptures, and female believers recruited

Buddhism was introduced into China. It started in 67 AD when Indian monks Photographer Moteng and Zhu Flan came to Luoyang with white horses carrying scriptures.

After that, foreign monks gradually brought Buddhist scriptures into China. There were also some monks in China who traveled to the west to seek Dharma. However, as of the Tang Dynasty , the Buddhist scriptures practiced by monks were still not perfect.

Moreover, the Buddhist scriptures introduced to China at that time were all Sanskrit . After being translated into Chinese, due to the uneven skills of translators, the level of the translated Buddhist scriptures was also different, which would inevitably affect practitioners' understanding of Buddhism.

In order to obtain more systematic and authoritative Buddhist scriptures, Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty went to India to obtain Buddhist scriptures.

studied at Nalanda Temple in India for 5 years. Later, Xuanzang was known as the "Master Tripitaka" because he was familiar with the Buddhist scriptures and spread them all over the world. The Tripitaka is the Sutra, Vinaya and Commentaries of Buddhism, which strictly divides all Buddhist scriptures.

In "Journey to the West", Master Xuanzang is called " Tang Sanzang ", which is the honorific title for him added after the national surname.

Master Xuanzang spent 17 years traveling back and forth and brought back a total of 657 Buddhist scriptures from India. In the 20 years after returning to Chang'an, Master Xuanzang led a translation team and translated a total of 1,350 volumes of Buddhist scriptures.

After the Buddhist scriptures brought back by Tang Monk were translated one after another, In the fourth year of Kaibao (971 AD), the emperor of the Song Dynasty, the imperial court selected the better translated Buddhist scriptures and ordered craftsmen to carve woodblocks so that the Buddhist scriptures could be printed.

It took craftsmen 12 years to finish carving the woodblock. Because this project started during the Kaibao period, the printed scriptures are also called "Kaibao".

"Open Treasures" is China's first woodcut Chinese Tripitaka. In terms of the exquisite carving, it is considered a masterpiece, let alone its content. Only 4 volumes have been passed down to this day, so it is quite precious. .

When "Zhao Cheng Jin Zang" was discovered, half of the cultural world was shocked because it was a copy of "Kai Bao Bao", copied according to the original appearance of "Kai Bao Bao".

The reason why Jiang Weixin named the Buddhist scriptures in Guangsheng Temple "Zhaocheng Jinzang" not only means the place "Zhaocheng", but also because it was carved in the Jin Dynasty.

There is another story about the origin of "Zhaocheng Jinzang".

It is said that during the reign of Emperor Xizong of the Jin Dynasty, there was an official named Cui Jin in Luzhou (now Changzhi, Shanxi). His daughter Cui Fazhen was deaf and mute since she was a child. Fortunately, she was cured by an old monk.

Before he died, the old monk once said that he had a wish, which was to publish a Tripitaka. Cui Fazhen heard this in his heart.

Because her deafness was cured by an old monk, Cui Fazhen also began to get close to Buddhism. After hearing the old monk's last wish, she swore an oath to help the old monk fulfill his wish.

In order to show her determination, Cui Fazhen did not hesitate to imitate the "breaking arm to seek the Dharma" of master Huike, and also cut off one of her own arms to make her determination clear.

Since then, Cui Fazhen has been shaking her empty sleeves and running around Shanxi and Shaanxi to raise funds for the publication of the Tripitaka.

After 30 years of hard work, Cui Fazhen finally raised the money to print scriptures. According to the contents of "Open Treasures", he reproduced 160,000 woodblocks and printed a set of Tripitaka.

In order to thank the generous donors, Cui Fazhen also asked craftsmen to leave the name and place of origin of each donor at the end of each volume of scripture when engraving and printing, and record how much money they donated and what wishes they had. wait.

Even if the donor just donated a tree and hoped to have another mule in his family, Cui Fazhen recorded them one by one. Although he recorded so many people, Cui Fazhen did not mention a word about himself who broke his arm and raised funds. .

Fortunately, Cui Fazhen's philanthropic deeds were commended by the imperial court, and the imperial court awarded her the title of "Master of Hongjiao". The scriptures she engraved with donations were also transported to Yuanzhong at that time and preserved.

When Guangsheng Temple was renovated in the Yuan Dynasty, the monks in the temple asked people to go to Zhongdu to print the Tripitaka. This is the "Zhaocheng Golden Collection" preserved in Guangsheng Temple in Zhaocheng Town, Linfen, Shanxi today.

Since the existing "Tripitaka" in China is very rare, and the "Zhaocheng Golden Collection" is relatively complete, it is derived from the scriptures brought back by Master Xuanzang from India, so it is a well-deserved "Tang Monk Treasure".

Precisely because the Sutras stored in Guangsheng Temple are extremely precious, these treasures have also attracted many people who want to take them for themselves, including the Japanese.

Military and Civilian Guardians

After the value of "Zhao Cheng Jin Zang" was determined, a so-called "Japan Oriental Culture Research Institute" sent people to Guangsheng Temple. They were not willing to rob it hard, but offered 220,000 silver dollars. Price, I want to buy the scriptures from Monk Likong, the abbot of Guangsheng Temple.

Monk Likong is also from Shanxi. He has received a good education since he was a child. He once served as a county magistrate of the Kuomintang. He decided to become a monk because he was dissatisfied with the corruption within the Kuomintang.

So in the face of the Japanese's temptation of large amounts of money, Monk Likong decisively rejected them. The Japanese were unwilling to give up and asked the Japanese monks to ask a second time, but Monk Likong still rejected them.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek asked the commander of the 14th Army of the Kuomintang Li Mo'an to come to Guangsheng Temple, hoping to transport the "Zhao Cheng Jin Zang" to Xi'an for protection.

However, Abbot Likong did not trust the Kuomintang soldiers, so he organized local squires and monks to negotiate with Li Mo'an for a long time before leaving the scriptures in Guangsheng Temple.

A few months after Li Mo'an left, the warlord Yan Xishan who was entrenched in Shanxi also sent a division commander to transfer the scriptures to the mountainous area of ​​Ji County, Shanxi for preservation.

Monk Likong pointed to the Feihong Pagoda in the temple and told the teacher who came that all the scriptures had been properly sealed in the pagoda and the exit had been blocked. Staying in the temple would ensure that everything was safe. If the scriptures were transported out, not only would they not be guaranteed to be transported during transportation The safety of soldiers will also be exhausted.

After hearing what Monk Likong said, the division commander sent by Yan Xishan was also successfully persuaded, and the scriptures were sealed in the Feihong Pagoda in the temple.

After the Japanese army invaded Shanxi, it was natural that they were bound to acquire the "Zhaocheng Golden Treasure".

In the spring of 1942, a group of Japanese troops suddenly broke into Guangsheng Temple. They informed Monk Likong that they wanted to climb the Feihong Pagoda to enjoy the scenery on the 18th day of the third lunar month the temple fair.

Monk Likong keenly felt that the Japanese army was looking at the scenery as an excuse, and its purpose was to seal the "Zhao Cheng Jin Zang" in Feihong Tower.

Likong knew that no matter how hard they tried, they could not protect the treasure in the hands of the Japanese. After much thought, he decided to hand over the treasure to the CCP for safekeeping.

Late that night, Monk Likong escaped the Japanese army at night and ran to the anti-Japanese government station in Zhaocheng County, dozens of miles away. He found Yang Zesheng, who was the county magistrate at the time, and told Yang Zesheng the whole story.

Yang Zesheng attached great importance to it after knowing the value of "Zhaocheng Jinzang", and immediately sent a telegram to Chen Geng, the leader of Taiyue Military Region.

After receiving the telegram, Chen Geng immediately asked Yan'an for instructions. The Party Central Committee also immediately called back, ordering the Taiyue Military Region to fully cooperate with Monk Likong to protect the "Zhaocheng Jinzang".

After careful deployment, late at night on April 27, 1942, the Taiyue Military Region organized a team of hundreds of people to pass through the Japanese blockade without anyone noticing and arrived at Guangsheng Temple.

The soldiers helped the monks transport the scrolls from the Feihong Pagoda to outside the temple. The soldiers then used manpower to carry the scrolls to Guojiajie Village 5 miles away. The civilians waiting there immediately used donkeys to transport the scrolls to safety.

Since the Taiyue Military Region had made careful arrangements, the operation of transporting the sutras was not dangerous, and the Japanese army was not aware of it at all. When they arrived at Guangsheng Temple on the day of the temple fair, Monk Likong told them that the sutras had been snatched away by the Eighth Route Army. .

The Japanese army naturally refused to believe it, and put a bright saber on Likong's neck, forcing him to hand over the scriptures. Likong had already led the monks to rearrange the scene, and did not panic at all when seeing the threat of the Japanese army. After leading them to see the scene, , the Japanese army believed what Monk Likong said.

After that, the angry Japanese army launched a "big sweep" in the local area. In order to protect these treasures, the guerrilla soldiers carried scriptures on their backs to deal with the Japanese army. Eight soldiers died for "protecting the scriptures".

In order to ensure the safety of the "Zhaocheng Golden Treasure", these scriptures changed their storage locations many times, and finally found a home in an abandoned coal kiln.

It was not until the Japanese surrender that these scriptures were seen again. On April 30, 1949, these treasures were transported to the Peking Library for preservation.

Peking Library is the predecessor of today's National Library . After the library received the collection of scriptures, it immediately organized the restoration work of the collection of scriptures. Later, villagers in Shanxi donated their own collection of scriptures, which were all collected by the Peking Library. Safely kept.

Currently, 4,856 volumes of the "Zhaocheng Golden Collection" exist in our country. This is the largest number of unique Tibetan Buddhist scriptures in the world and the most complete one preserved.

There is only one such Tibetan scripture in the world, so "Zhaocheng Golden Collection", " Yongle Dadian", " Sikuquanshu" and "Dunhuang Posthumous Documents" are called the National Library's The four treasures of the town hall.

Mr. Ren Jiyu, the former director of the National Library, once said that the "Zhaocheng Gold Collection" has surpassed the value of a national treasure and belongs to the world cultural heritage.

After the "Zhaocheng Gold Collection" was sent to the National Library, experts spent another 17 years completing the restoration of the scriptures.

When the state reedited the Chinese Tripitaka in 1982, it was based on the Zhaocheng Jinzang, which shows its value and status.

From "Tang Monk's Study of Sutras" to Cui Fazhen's publication, to Chiang Weixin's textual research, Monk Likong and the anti-Japanese government's protection of sutras, this also reflects the reason why the Chinese cultural context has not been cut off.

It is precisely because of the efforts of countless generations from ancient times to the present that Chinese culture has been continuously passed down and has become the "Chinese civilization" that makes every Chinese son and daughter proud!

Conclusion

It is worth mentioning that in addition to the treasures of Guangsheng Temple, the Feihong Pagoda, which was used in the TV series "Journey to the West", is also a unique treasure.

This is the only largest and most complete glazed pagoda discovered so far with an inscription by a craftsman. In August 2018, it was recognized by the World Records Organization as "the tallest colorful glazed pagoda in the world". The saying "Look at Shanxi's above-ground cultural relics" , it is indeed not a lie.

And Jiang Weixin, who endured the pain in his eyes and wrote "An Examination of the Beginning and End of the Collection of the Golden Tibetan Carvings and Seals", so that the "Treasure of the Tang Monk", the "Golden Tibetan of Zhaocheng", could be shown to the world in its true form. However, he later died while searching for ancient scriptures. The hands of bandits can't help but sigh!