The story of Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen is well-known to every household. They are in love and love each other very much. But halfway through, an old monk appeared: Fahai. Although the story of "The Legend of White Snake" is just a love legend widely spread among the people, Leifeng

Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen is well-known to every household. They are in love with each other and are extremely loving. But halfway through, an old monk appeared: Fahai .

Fahai believes that human beings and monsters have different paths and are not allowed to fall in love with each other. I believe everyone knows what happened in the end, that is, Bai Suzhen flooded Jinshan Temple, and finally lost to Fahai and was imprisoned in Leifeng PagodaLeifeng Pagoda.

Although the story of "The Legend of White Snake" is just a love legend widely spread among the people, Leifeng Pagoda is not a virtual thing.

In the 1920s, Leifeng Pagoda finally collapsed due to disrepair. But the local people were overjoyed and rushed to tell each other. Why are the people of Hangzhou overjoyed? Who built Leifeng Pagoda? What happened after the collapse of Leifeng Tower?

Leifeng Pagoda collapsed on September 25, 1924, during the period of war between warlords in the Republic of China. The city of Hangzhou has been a prosperous place since ancient times, and naturally it is also a place where military strategists often compete.

At that time, Sun Chuanfang, the leader of the direct warlords during the Beiyang government period, happened to be appointed here by the superiors, and he served as the commander of the five-province coalition forces. It can be said that the spring breeze was so proud that the horse's hoof was broken. For a time, no one in Hangzhou was more prosperous than him.

Sun Chuanfang established his authority here in order to promote his name. He arranged a grand inauguration ceremony for himself.

's inauguration ceremony was held on Gushan Island near West Lake. Before the ceremony began, the people who came to watch were shocked by another incident.

"Boom...", with loud noises one after another, people's attention was attracted by the distant sounds.

After taking a closer look, I realized that the Leifeng Pagoda, which had stood for thousands of years, had collapsed. The ancient tower that once towered into the clouds has now returned to dust and turned into ruins.

At this time, a voice slowly came out from the crowd: "Sun Chuanfang has done many evil things and committed too many sins. God knows that this person is not a kind person, so he caused the Leifeng Pagoda to collapse to warn him not to add more sins. "

The next day, newspapers of all sizes in Hangzhou also reported the matter, and there was a lot of discussion.

But when Sun Chuanfang learned about this, he was very proud and laughed loudly: "When the Leifeng Tower fell, Bai Suzhen escaped from the tower and had a day to come forward. Doesn't this mean that my day to come out is coming too?"

This finally came true.

Eleven years later, Sun Chuanfang was shot in the head by a mysterious woman. In the end, it collapsed to the ground just like the Leifeng Pagoda.

It’s just that Leifeng Pagoda is a peaceful place for Buddhism, but he is a sinful person.

But compared to the statement of early warning from heaven, the reason for the collapse of Leifeng Tower has a more objective explanation.

Hangzhou has been full of snakes since ancient times. According to unofficial and incomplete statistics, in April 2021, the Hangzhou Municipal Fire Brigade received more than 400 snake-related alarms.

This is still the case when modern buildings are tall and the green vegetation area is reduced, let alone the city of Hangzhou more than a hundred years ago?

At that time, snakes were rampant in Hangzhou. It is not an exaggeration to say that every step of the way there was a snake.

Bai Suzhen was suppressed in Leifeng Pagoda. This legend happened in Hangzhou area. The local people were simple and superstitious. Naturally, they believed that snakes were afraid of Leifeng Pagoda.

Snake attacks on people in Hangzhou City occurred frequently, and a local saying gradually emerged: the bricks of Leifeng Pagoda can drive away snakes.

As word spreads, more and more people come to dig bricks and stones under Leifeng Pagoda. They all want to rely on the "Buddha Power" of Leifeng Pagoda to protect themselves from snakes.

Apart from the superstitious people, there are also a group of tomb robbers.

Because according to legend, precious Buddhist treasures such as the relics of eminent monks and lost Buddhist scriptures are buried under Leifeng Pagoda.

These tomb robbers firmly believe that there must be treasures under Leifeng Pagoda, so they often go here to dig out the foundation of Leifeng Pagoda on dark and windy nights.

They all believe that as long as they dig out the hidden cultural relics, they will definitely make a fortune in the black market.

Just like this, either the gang of tomb robbers deliberately robbed it, or the people of Hangzhou City excavated it unintentionally, or under the baptism of time, Leifeng Pagoda finally collapsed.

In the legend of "The Legend of White Snake", Bai Suzhen had two ways to regain her freedom: first, the West Lake water dried up; second, the Leifeng Pagoda collapsed.

After the Leifeng Pagoda fell, Bai Suzhen did not appear.

It can be seen that legends are just legends, and the poignant love story of Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen is just a literary product created by the ancients out of their yearning for beautiful love.

But in "The Legend of White Snake", in addition to Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen, there is another crucial figure: Fahai.

However, Fahai is not a fictional character, he is a real person in history.

Fahai the person

Fahai did indeed exist. Fahai's common name is Pei Wende, and his father is Pei Xiu, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.

This makes people wonder why the son of a dignified prime minister is unwilling to enter officialdom.

After all, his father was the prime minister of the dynasty, and he could be said to be inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people. He only needed to use a few connections to rise to the top.

Why did he escape into the mortal world and become a monk?

According to the records of "Jinshan Temple Chronicles" in Hangzhou, Pei Wende may not have wanted to become a monk by himself.

During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the prince was ill for a long time. At that time, Pei Xiu had donated money to build a temple in Hunan Province: Miyin Temple .

The emperor was also very anxious. Buddhist culture was popular in the Tang Dynasty. Some eminent monks at that time believed that the prince was seriously ill because he was suffering from the so-called karma, and he just had to survive this disaster.

may be out of the emperor's instructions, or to understand the emperor's urgent needs.

Pei Xiu finally decided to send his son Pei Wende to Miyin Temple to be ordained and become a monk. They tried to use this method to ask Pei Wende to pray for the seriously ill prince, so as to seek his recovery.

Pei Wende was just an official young master who recited poems and wrote poetry. He was actually unwilling to become a monk.

But it was difficult to disobey his father's order and the emperor's order, so he had no choice but to go to Miyin Temple to practice hard.

The days of practicing and becoming a monk in Miyin Temple were undoubtedly difficult. His master was Zen Master Lingyou at that time, and his master often asked him to carry water, chop wood, and do menial hard work.

This kind of life lasted for nearly three or four years. At this time, Pei Wende was also called "Fa Hai" for several years.

Doing physical labor every day is really difficult for Fahai to bear. After all, he was once a pampered young official.

One day, while Fahai was carrying water for the other brothers, he casually complained a few words.

The general idea is that these ascetics may not be able to bear the water that he, a Hanlin scholar, has worked so hard to fetch.

This was a true prophecy. After that, I felt very uncomfortable after eating fast meals in and out of the temple.

After Zen Master Lingyou learned about this incident, he did not blame Fahai.

just called Fahai while meditating, and said to Fahai: "The old monk can consume ten thousand tons of food by meditating."

As soon as these words came out, it seemed that Fa Hai was enlightened. Not only did it eliminate the discomfort felt by everyone in the temple, but it also allowed the originally impetuous Fahai to calm down and concentrate on practicing hard.

Soon after, Zen Master Fahai began his own retreat.

This retreat lasted for three years. During these three years, nothing in the world disturbed him.

When the three-year period was completed, Zen Master Lingyou went to the retreat place of Zen Master Fahai to wait for Fahai to come out of seclusion.

This sounds mysterious. The closed door has not been opened, but Fahai has already come out of the secret room of seclusion.

This means in Buddhist practice that Fahai has achieved great success in Zen practice. After the news spread, monks and people nearby came to visit Zen Master Fahai.

An overwhelming number of people coming to visit is not conducive to meditation practice, and it is also easy to disturb the pure mind of Buddhist disciples.

After careful consideration, Zen Master Lingyou finally decided to let Fahai leave Miyin Temple and go to Jiangxi to practice Zen.

Fahai naturally followed his teacher's orders, and soon went to the mountains in Jiangxi to practice hard.

While practicing in the mountains, he even accidentally discovered the remains of the ashram from the and Jin periods.

This discovery is naturally beneficial to the spread and promotion of Buddhism and Taoism.

Zen Master Fahai announced the matter to the outside world and stated that he would renovate the ashram so that Buddhism can be promoted and spread everywhere.

It is said that a batch of gold was discovered during the excavation of the foundation of the dojo. These golds are worth a lot of money, and Fahai has long since left the world, so he naturally doesn't bother to contaminate these worldly possessions.

Therefore, Fahai handed over the gold to the prefect of Zhenjiang. The prefect reported the matter to the imperial court. In the end, the imperial court used the gold as funds to build the dojo.

Fahai seems to have nothing to do with White Snake from beginning to end.

It is only recorded in the history books that there was a white snake that attacked the people at that time, and was finally driven into the river by Zen Master Fahai.

Perhaps this is the origin of the relationship between Fahai and White Snake. Thanks to word-of-mouth and creation by countless people, it evolved into the poignant and beautiful "The Legend of White Snake".

Since Leifeng Pagoda was not built by Zen Master Fahai, but after all, Leifeng Pagoda clearly existed, then who was the builder?

The truth about Leifeng Pagoda

Regarding the origin of Leifeng Pagoda, in fact, written information is also left in historical books.

According to historical records, in 975 AD, Qian Chu, the leader of Wuyue Kingdom, built it in order to save the fate of the country that had long been unable to recover.

It was during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, which can be said to be one of the most turbulent periods in China's five thousand years. Although it was the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the situation was in a mess.

Wuyue Kingdom is located in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. Although the country is small, it is a small and fertile land.

The leader of Wuyue Kingdom was influenced by Buddhist culture, and even the people believed in Buddhism.

For a time, the message of Buddhism spread throughout Wuyue. In order to comply with Buddhist culture, the king of Wuyue never established himself as king, but still respected the weak Song Dynasty emperor of the Central Plains.

In times of turmoil, apart from strong soldiers and horses, there is nothing to rely on.

Wu Yue's national power was weak. By the time Qian Chu came to the throne, Wu Yue's state was already helpless.

Internal and external troubles are coming one after another. At this time, Qian Chu placed his hopes on Buddhism, which was believed by the whole country.

He hoped to pray for the Wuyue Kingdom by building temples and pray for the blessings of the gods so that Wuyue would not be destroyed.

But history tells us that the prosperity or demise of a country has never depended on the inability of its leaders to pray for blessings.

In the end, the Wuyue Kingdom perished one year after the completion of Leifeng Pagoda, and Leifeng Pagoda also became a product of its subjugation.

Due to the limitations of construction technology and materials at that time, Leifeng Pagoda was mainly built of wood.

The craftsmen relied on local wood and finally spent a country's national power to build Leifeng Pagoda.

But at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, turmoil and war broke out in the mountains and rivers. The war burned many of the wooden Leifeng Pagoda.

Nearly twenty years later, The Southern Song Dynasty was able to breathe, so the burned Leifeng Pagoda was renovated.

But in the Ming Dynasty , the invading Japanese pirates set fire to Leifeng Pagoda again in order to attack the Ming Dynasty army.

At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, story-telling novels were very popular among the people. The story prototype of "The Legend of White Snake" is based on Leifeng Pagoda as the plot structure. The common people at that time firmly believed that Bai Suzhen was suppressed by Fahai under Leifeng Pagoda.

They also worked hard to allow Bai Suzhen to escape from Leifeng Pagoda and renew her relationship with Xu Xian.

People went to Leifeng Pagoda one after another to dig out the bricks of Leifeng Pagoda. They tried to destroy Leifeng Pagoda and release the poor White Snake.

In the 1920s, Leifeng Pagoda finally collapsed.

After the collapse of Leifeng Pagoda, no one carried out maintenance or renovation. It was not until after the founding of the People's Republic of China that any action was taken, but it was too late. The Leifeng Pagoda that we can see today is only the remaining ruins.

At the beginning of the 21st century, a group of archaeological experts and scholars were appointed by the country to conduct archaeology at the Leifeng Tower site in Hangzhou. They also came here to find out the truth buried under Leifeng Pagoda.

No one knows what is buried under Leifeng Pagoda. Only by clearing out the underside of Leifeng Pagoda can the world know the truth hidden in Leifeng Pagoda.

In the winter of 2001, archaeological experts quickly carried out archaeological excavations after arriving in Hangzhou. Since Leifeng Pagoda collapsed nearly a hundred years ago, the old site of Leifeng Pagoda was buried like a small hill by dust and wood. It is obviously not possible to clean up

manually. The archaeological team immediately contacted excavators, bulldozers and other departments for cooperation and assistance. Even so, it took more than half a year to clean up these discarded earth blocks and wood.

Legend has it that gold was buried deep under Leifeng Pagoda, but no sign of gold was found during the cleaning process.

I think this is also a rumor spread by the common people. Why is it said that there is gold buried deep under the tower? There is also a folk saying.

People in Hangzhou speak Tuhang dialect, which means that most people also speak dialects.

Perhaps there were scriptures buried under the tower at that time. But the common people misunderstood that there was gold buried under Leifeng Pagoda, and this "sutra" was not that "gold".

Although no gold was found under the tower, experts found several stone tablets under the ruins of Leifeng Tower.

These stone monuments were damaged a lot when they collapsed, but experts also discovered key information from limited clues: there is an underground palace under Leifeng Pagoda.

In addition, the inscription also records another piece of information that shocked the world. The hair of Sakyamuni , the founder of Buddhism, is also preserved in the underground palace. The information about

made experts confused and shocked.

With doubts in mind, the experts continued to dig out in an orderly manner.

After several days of careful cleaning and digging, we finally found the entrance to the Leifeng Pagoda Underground Palace.

After discovering the entrance to the Leifeng Pagoda underground palace, archaeological experts immediately reported the matter to the relevant departments.

Of course, this blockbuster news has also affected the hearts of the media and the public.

After communicating with the archaeological department, the local TV station decided to broadcast the opening and excavation of the underground palace live. This is unprecedented.

After deciding to open the underground palace, the archaeological department also made detailed preparations.

Many tombs have not yet been excavated, precisely because of the protection of cultural relics.

These cultural relics are generally stored in a closed space. Once this sealed environment is broken, the cultural relics will be oxidized or even destroyed.

After several days of preparation, the underground palace finally started on-site excavation and live broadcast work. But when moving away from the sealing stone of the underground palace, an accident occurred.

The crane frequently broke down when lifting the stones, and the workers operating the machine were also very puzzled. It is not that

has never lifted objects heavier than sealing stones before, but this kind of situation has never happened. But these small episodes cannot affect the normal and orderly excavation work of the underground palace.

After lifting off the sealing stone and the stone slab, an entrance to the underground palace was finally revealed.

Although Leifeng Pagoda has been robbed and destroyed many times by tomb thieves, fortunately, the cultural relics in the underground palace are still intact.

As the camera of the TV station advanced, what came into view was an iron box.

This iron box was quietly placed in the middle of the underground palace, as if waiting for future generations to discover it.

After some manipulation and careful handling, the experts finally obtained this special iron box.

In this iron box, there is an extremely precious exquisite pagoda stored.

The hair of Buddha mentioned in the broken inscription may be stored in this pagoda.

There is also a copper mirror in the pagoda from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, which also proves that Leifeng Pagoda has a long history and it was the pagoda built during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

In order to more smoothly excavate the cultural relics in the underground palace, experts decided to remove part of the wall of the underground palace to expand the small space in the underground palace.

After the space was expanded, experts discovered a highly treasured Buddha statue in the underground palace. This Buddha statue had complicated craftsmanship and was made of gilt , making it very precious.

After the mining work of Leifeng Pagoda came to an end, the people also believed that there was no so-called white snake under Leifeng Pagoda.

legends are just legends after all, even if they are spread by word of mouth, they cannot come true.

But dramatic stories are still being told at the excavation site. According to people at the scene, they saw a white centipede under the ruins of Leifeng Pagoda, but it disappeared not long after.

Although the legend is a legend, the Leifeng Pagoda and the cultural relics under the tower are all true.

As a public, we must protect cultural relics and cultural relics with a long history and should not destroy them privately.

The collapse of Leifeng Pagoda was not only due to the erosion of wind and rain in nature, but also inseparable from people's destruction of Leifeng Pagoda.

For the Chinese nation, this is the essence of culture accumulated over five thousand years of history.