In the long course of history, there have been many people with extraordinary talents, many of whom originated from Buddhism and Taoism. Not to mention the distant ones, but slightly closer are Yao Guangxiao, the black-robed prime minister in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynastie

Text/Xiaomeng Pavilion Master

In the long history, there have been many people with extraordinary talents, many of whom originated from Buddhism and Taoism. Not to mention the distant ones, but a little closer there are Yao Guangxiao, the black-robed prime minister at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Yao Guangxiao, Xiao Zhuge, and Liu Bowen. These two people came from the two schools of Buddhism and Taoism.

Today, the master of the pavilion tells you the story of a virtuous monk from the Five Dynasties and the early Tang Dynasty . His deeds were written into a couplet, which has been passed down to this day and is now preserved on the gate of Yongquan Temple in Donggushan, Fujian.

This eminent monk's Buddhist name is Shenyan. He was a monk from the late Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties. I don't know when he was born or when he died. Because he practiced on Donggu Mountain, the world also called him Monk Gushan. Monk Shen Yan suffered from a serious illness when he was young. During his illness, he dreamed of a god giving medicine and suddenly became a monk and practiced Zen. He later stayed at Gushan Yongquan Temple until his death.

And a story happened during his journey to Buddhism and Taoism, and this story starts from Gushan.

It is said that Gushan was not called Gushan back then, but Baiyun Mountain. There are many peaks and mountains in the mountains, and the scenery is beautiful. The people at the foot of the mountain are simple and live and work in peace and contentment. But suddenly one summer, there was a strong wind and dark clouds under the mountain. A black dragon fell from the sky and swept the heavy rain into the mountain.

Since the black dragon came here, it has broken the original peaceful life. Every time the black dragon comes out, it will make trouble. Heavy rains will come, and the trees in the mountains and the crops under the mountains will be destroyed. What is even more despicable is that the children of the mountain people will be kidnapped by the black dragon, causing the mountain people to suffer miserably. But they couldn't fight, so in desperation, the mountain people gradually fled. In less than a few years, the once beautiful and peaceful Baiyun Mountain turned into a dead mountain with deforested forests, no birds, and no human beings.

A few years later, a boy was born to one of the families who fled. This boy was Shen Yan. Since he was a child, he heard his mother tell the story of an evil dragon on Baiyun Mountain, so he made a vow to eliminate the evil dragon for the people. Therefore, when Shen Yan was a teenager, he studied Taoism and practiced martial arts everywhere. When he was ten years old, he fell seriously ill. By chance, he came to Xuefeng Temple and worshiped Zen Master Fahui as his teacher, giving him the name Shen Yan. Shen Yan devoted himself to studying Buddhism and practicing martial arts in Xuefeng Temple. Ten years passed by and he was already twenty years old. He said goodbye to Fa Hui and determined to go to Baiyun Mountain to fight the evil dragon.

When Shen Yan came to the foot of Baiyun Mountain, a strange scene happened. The rocks in the mountain exploded for no reason, making a sound like a drum, as if to cheer Shen Yan up. Shen Yan cast a spell to attract the evil dragon, and fought with it for three days, but the outcome was indeterminate. The battle between one man and one dragon was inseparable, and Shenyan saw that it was impossible to win and took advantage of it. So, he stopped and said to the black dragon who was also exhausted: Since he refuses to return to the mountain, how about lending it to me for a while? Save us all from fighting and losing both sides.

When Heilong saw that Shenyan had stopped making peace, he asked: How long do you want to borrow?

Shen Yan said: Borrow it at the third watch and return it at the fifth watch. When the bang rings at five o'clock, it must be returned.

Upon hearing this, Black Dragon wanted to borrow it for one night. As long as he was still in the mountain, he was not afraid of Shen Yan taking over the mountain, so he lent it to Shen Yan and returned to the cave to sleep.

At this time, Shenyan thought of building a temple on the mountain and using the Buddha's golden body to suppress the evil dragon, so he immediately used the relationship with Xuefeng Temple to gather people to start building the temple on the mountain, and asked for watchmen, but only called the third watch. , four updates, not five updates. Shen Yan begged Buddha to cast a spell so that the black dragon would not come out of the cave until it heard the sound of the five-shift bang. In this way, construction was carried out day and night, and in less than half a year, a temple was located on Baiyun Mountain. After the temple was built, Shen Yan also asked the monks to watch the third watch and the fourth watch, but not the fifth watch.

Ten years passed like this, and the black dragon never appeared again, and Baiyun Mountain returned to its former beauty. Because when Shen Yan fought with the dragon, the rocks on the mountain exploded continuously, like drums beating to cheer, so people changed the name of Baiyun Mountain to Baiyun Mountain. Drum Mountain.

I thought everything would be fine in this way, but God’s will is unpredictable. One day, an official came to the mountains to play. He heard about the rule in the temple that the fifth watch was never called. He was confused and didn’t believe it. At night, he forced the night watch monk to watch. It's five o'clock. As soon as the bang rang, thunder exploded in the mountains, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and a huge dragon shadow rose from the sky. The black dragon looked down from the sky and saw that a temple was built on the mountain. The top of the mountain was occupied, so he cursed the gods. Yan does not practice martial ethics and does not keep his word. After saying that, he opened his mouth and flooded the temple. Seeing that the temple was about to be destroyed by the flood. At this time, Shen Yan, who had already mastered the Dharma, threw a scroll of Buddhist scriptures into the black dragon's mouth and recited the Buddhist mantra. He saw that the Buddhist scriptures continued to grow in size, blocking the black dragon's mouth and blocking the dragon's throat. Shen Yan took advantage of the black dragon's efforts to vomit. While reading the Buddhist scriptures, he waved his Zen staff and hit the dragon's head. A golden light burst out, followed by a loud noise, and the black dragon's head exploded, killing him!

After the death of the black dragon, the mountain people and the monks in the temple named the temple Yongquan Temple in order to thank the god Yan. Later, a scholar came to the temple to study. After hearing the story of Shen Yan slaying the black dragon, he wrote a couplet and gave it to the temple. Yongquan Temple engraved the couplet in front of the mountain gate to commemorate it~

The first couplet is : The true east is an unparalleled blessed land, with water-born merits, watching the springs rolling, and the Zen mind pure and clear of the Poisonous Dragon Pond.

The second line is: It is the only method from the West. Turn the sound around, listen to the sound of the sky, and the Sanskrit chants can reach the Lingjiuling Mountains from far away.

Reference: "The Legend of the Monk"