On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Master Hongyi's passing away, this issue publishes three articles in commemoration: "Remembering the Buddha and Never Forgetting to Save the Country", "Talking to Young People about Master Hongyi" and "Integrating the Three Sects with th

Text/Sun Lichuan

Editor's note: 2022 is the 80th anniversary of the death of Master Hongyi. In his later years, Master Hongyi stayed in Xi'an, Quanzhou, China for 14 years. On the fourth day of the ninth lunar month in 1942, he passed away in the Wanqing Room of Wenling Nursing Home in Quanzhou. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Master Hongyi's passing away, this issue publishes three articles in commemoration: "Remembering the Buddha and Never Forgetting to Save the Country", "Talking to Young People about Master Hongyi" and "Integrating the Three Sects with the Law as the Emphasis".

Over the past eighty years, the Buddhist circles, cultural circles and citizens of Quanzhou have always forgotten Master Hongyi. In the last fourteen years of his life, he traveled in the mountains and jungles of southern Fujian, leaving behind the footprints of spreading the Dharma. Eighty years ago was the most difficult and difficult period of China's Anti-Japanese War. Together with the people of Quanzhou, he lived a miserable life of lack of food and clothing under the war, fleeing everywhere, and the people were in dire straits. He let out a lion's roar of war, wrote "Recite Buddha without forgetting to save the country, and to save the country, we must recite Buddha" and presented it to the monks of Chengtian Temple and Kaiyuan Temple . He also wrote a postscript: "Buddhas are awakened. After awakening to the truth, they can swear to lay down their lives, sacrifice everything, and work bravely to save the country. Therefore, to save the country, we must recite Buddha."

From March 1939 to June 1940, Japanese aircraft carried out dozens of air raids on the urban area and counties of Quanzhou, dropping hundreds of bombs and killing and injuring hundreds of civilians. Enemy planes indiscriminately blew up tens of thousands of houses, shops and temples. Chengtian Temple withstood two air raids. The buildings, Dharma hall and Yingge Mountain where we are meeting today were all severely damaged. The statue of Amitabha was also blown up and seriously damaged. The impact point of the bomb was only a stone's throw away from the Yuantai Courtyard where Master Hongyi lived. Fortunately, the master was in retreat at Yongchun Puji Temple and was able to escape the disaster. According to the memories of people at the time: When Master Hongyi lived in Xichengtian Temple, he once had a meal in the cafeteria. He thought that the country was suffering from barbaric invasion. As a disciple of the Buddha, at this time, I can't help save the country's troubles and bring dignity to Sakyamuni Tathagata. I think I am not as good as a dog, but the dog can guard the door for me. I am useless, and I am ashamed to eat." The disciples present also burst into tears after hearing this. The theme of this year's commemorative event is: "Remember the Buddha to save the country. To save the country, we must recite the Buddha." It has great historical significance. Choosing to experience this past event at this site today is unforgettable for us. At the same time, he organized a rescue team of young and middle-aged monks in Kaiyuan Temple to rescue the dying and protect the majestic land, leaving an immortal story. During the most difficult moment of the Chinese Anti-Japanese War, which was also the last moment before his death, he wrote a letter to encourage young people: "The final victory" must belong to the Chinese people. It can be seen from this that Master Hongyi has a noble spirit of patriotism and love of religion, and this is one of them!

Secondly, as we all know, Master Hongyi has grown from a handsome young man with "20 articles that shocked the world" to a great artist who is a teacher of drama, art, music, seal cutting, calligraphy and art. His short life of sixty-two years left behind eternal songs and tireless topics. His thousands of calligraphy works exude the radiance of promoting Buddhism and guiding people to do good. He was the first pioneer of modern Chinese art who went abroad to study Western oil painting; he and his fellow international students from the art school initiated the establishment of "Chunliu". He was an early member of the Xiling Seal Society, and was good at seal management. After returning to China, he devoted himself to art education and trained two of his favorite students - the painter Feng Zikai and the musician Liu Zhiping. His art education is also the origin of China's modern music and art majors. Mr. Xia Beizun once commented on his educational achievements, saying that nine out of ten music teachers in China at that time were his descendants. His popular songs such as "Farewell", "Spring Outing" and "Motherland Song" are still sung by people today. When the Anti-Japanese War was on the rise, he rewrote the "Anthem of the First Xiamen Sports Games" into an anti-Japanese song to inspire the people to rise up against Japan.

He and Feng Zikai collaborated to create the anti-invasion, anti-violence and modern environmentally conscious " Nursing Picture Collection " art collection. The first and second episodes also reflect his wish to "protect students is to protect the heart" in his later years. This is the last art collection he created while ill in Quanzhou. Musician Liu Zhiping became his right-hand man in his "art boat". In his later years, the five songs " Cool Songs " collaborated by the master and apprentice were widely praised, which embodies the true meaning of "good knowledge".

Master Hongyi's artistic achievements in his later years show that he is a unique master of art, and no one in the contemporary era can compare with him. Although he seemed to have given up all his expertise after becoming a monk and just devoted himself to Buddhism. After Li Shutong became Master Hongyi, his music, art, epigraphy, writing lyrics and poetry seemed to have become "extra things". In fact, this was not the case. He turned his pursuit after becoming a monk into promoting the Dharma through calligraphy and making many friends. During the more than ten years he lived in Quanzhou, he wrote couplets, letters, calligraphy banners, and copied Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist chants. He used this special style to promote Buddhism and wrote a large number of works, forming a unique "promoting unity" and winning the favor of generations of calligraphers. President Zhao Puchu once praised his calligraphy as "endless treasures for the eyes of the world, and a bright moon shining in the heart of the sky." Among these relics, it is not difficult to find that his calligraphy is full of strong literary and poetic flavor, the gene of fine art pictures, the artistic conception of seal cutting art, , etc., and all of this is not unrelated to the master's exquisite understanding of Buddhism. When we commemorate and admire his artistic achievements today, the most important thing is to evaluate them from the cultural level, that is, he used modern cultural means to serve and carry forward the study of Buddhism. This is the second one.

Thirdly, Master Hongyi’s greatest contribution in his Buddhist life was his practice of reviving the Nanshan Vinaya Sect, which had been interrupted for nearly eight hundred years. After Master Hongyi became a monk in his middle age, he devoted himself to the holy life and strictly purified Binini. Not only did he personally introduce the Vinaya classics that had been lost overseas, but he also compiled and annotated the "Summary of Vinaya", "The Notes on the Precepts of the Four-part Vinaya", "The Notes on the Observance of the Five Precepts", "The Notes on the Five-Phase Sutra" (with examples), "The Four-part Vinaya with Notes on the Precepts", etc., showing his profound academic and Buddhist attainments. He also established the Nanshan Vinaya Academy in the jungle of Quannan, leading more than a dozen Buddhist disciples who were determined to carry out the important task of Vinaya and inherit the holy teachings. This can be described as a feat in the history of the development of Buddhism in the past eight hundred years. The Vinaya lineage can finally be reconnected with the ancestral hall and its origins can be restored. This practice is the great merit created by Master Hongyi and his disciples in southern Fujian. Although Master Hongyi has not fulfilled his ambition, Vinaya has finally returned to the great tradition of Chinese Buddhism. Later, some of his disciples (such as Master Guangqia, etc.) went to Nanyang to preach the Dharma to overseas Chinese, which not only revived the Vinaya sect in mainland China, but also spread far overseas. As Mr. Zhao Puchu said: "His life can be said to be a life of virtue, meritorious service and reputation."

More than a hundred years ago, Master Hong Yi was born in in the late Qing dynasty. At that time, China was in a period of internal and external difficulties and the building was about to collapse. The young Li Shutong, full of enthusiasm for saving the country, went abroad to study. After completing his studies, he returned to China and became a versatile writer and artist. For China at that time, he was a leader in these specialized disciplines, enough to enjoy glory and wealth. However, he became a monk in middle age, took the precepts as his teacher, lived an ascetic life, and became a generation of eminent monks with extraordinary perseverance, working bravely to revitalize the Nanshan Vinaya Sect. On top of these two, his patriotism should also be praised, "to promote the righteousness of heaven and earth, and to follow the example of perfect people in ancient and modern times." Master Hongyi is such an outstanding ordinary but great benevolent person.

(The author is the Chairman of the Quanzhou Historical and Cultural Center and the editor-in-chief of the anthology "Looking at the Pine Moon and the Clothes" commemorating the 80th anniversary of Master Hongyi's death)