The Nine-turn Pagoda is a burial system derived after Buddhism entered Tibet. Like Tibetan Buddhism, it is a new product after the integration of foreign and local religions.
In fact, long before Buddhism entered Tibet, Tibet had its own local religion called "Yongzhong Benjiao", which was founded by Miwo (sage) Dunpa Xinrao.
Dunpa Singrao was born in Wo Molongren of Shang Shung Kingdom, a prince of the Mu family of his country. He was talented and compassionate since childhood. Although he was born in a privileged family, he had a heart for all people. He often traveled around the world to save the people, and he started to establish the company when he was thirteen years old. Yongzhong Benjiao, whose main body is Buyi Dharma.
There are many records in Chinese history books about the Xiangxiong Kingdom where Dunba Xinrao was born, but most of them are homophonic to "Qiang Tong" and "Yang Tong". This dynasty is said to have been born 16,000 years ago and is a Tibetan dynasty. The most powerful unified dynasty before Tuyuhun, the Shangshung Kingdom adopted the Yongzhong Bon Religion as its national law, later also known as "Shangzung Buddhism". It continued to promote the teachings in Tibet and even surrounding countries, and its influence even reached Shendu Kingdom for a time. It also made a great contribution to the founding of Buddhism by Sakyamuni. It can be said that the origin of Tibetan Buddhism today is the original religion of Tibet, which is just the product of the integration with Tantric Buddhism.
The nine-turn pagoda mentioned by the Taoist with a grimace is actually a burial system of the Yongzhong sect. In this sect, nine is a very special number, which corresponds to the teachings of the "nine-vehicle Buddhist order." The nine-vehicle Buddhist order is divided into In layman's terms, the three vehicles of external, internal and tantric are the process of cultivation from theory to practice to perfection after joining the religion. Later, after it was derived into the burial system, it also has the process of starting from death to vehicle, going through the sufferings of the nine hells, and finally reaching perfection. Another way of practicing Buddhism.
The grim-faced Taoist priest suspected that the stone tower at the bottom of the valley adopted this burial system of his religion. Zhao Buxiang must have been aware of his serious sins during his life of killing, and in the process of conquering the Rong people, he may have happened to learn about this kind of post-mortem cultivation. Therefore, they tried to bury the body in this way to satisfy their desire for atonement and nirvana. The reason for adopting the form of stone pagoda is probably due to the factors of Tantric Buddhism advocating pagodas.
"What the Taoist Master means is that the original Nine-Turn Pagoda of Benjiao is not actually of this kind of stone tower structure?" He Siniang asked after hearing this.
The Taoist priest with a grimace nodded and replied: "The nine-turn pagoda of our religion is to dig a deep pit in the ground, and then from top to bottom in the pit, a Buddha statue is carved with stone or poured with soil. Nine levels of tomb chambers were dug out around the Buddha statue. Each level is connected by a ladder. Counting the entrance, it is exactly nine turns, so it is called the "Nine Turns Pagoda", but in fact it is better to be called the "Nine Layers Cellar" That's apt, I vaguely remember that my short-lived ghost master mentioned this kind of tomb structure. As for whether the stone tower at the bottom of the valley is or not, we will find a way to count the layers of the stone tower later and we will almost have a conclusion."
"If it is true as the Taoist priest said, the stone tower at the bottom of the valley is Zhao Jixiang's tomb, then what is the hanging pavilion above? Could it be the underground palace?"
"This poor Taoist is not sure, but since we have entered the underground palace, we cannot miss any place. After all, we have to follow Siniang first to find the antidote to the poison. The poor Taoist thinks that we will Go to the top of the cliff first and search the pavilions before going down to the valley. You can save a lot of energy by going up first and then going down."
"Of course there is no problem with the Taoist Master's arrangement, but those flying pavilions are on the other side of the cliff. It's probably not easy to get there."
"Is it possible that I have to climb over again?" Luo Laoqi stopped typing the word "climbing high" when he heard that he had to climb up again. He frowned and said: "This damn Dousa family will almost become a monkey in the troupe. I think we will wait. It’s better to go to the street to practice pole jumping this time. You’re not good at it.”
"Why are you climbing so high?! I'd say you two are just blind. Just after the fire dove was shot out, a plank road around the mountain was clearly exposed on the edge of the cliff, leading to those hanging pavilions. Didn't you two see it?"
"Ah? Is there still such a thing? I was just looking at Fei Pavilion above, but I didn't pay attention to other places... Is there really a road on the cliff side of Taoist Master?"
"Put your head and look outside the tunnel. Is there a plank road embedded in the rock wall on the left? It's the same as the path we took when we went up the mountain."
He Siniang stepped forward and took a look as she was told, and found that what was ahead was exactly what the Taoist Ghostface said. The Taoist Ghostface continued: "I seem to have vaguely guessed the function of those flying pavilions, but I can't make any assumptions without seeing it with my own eyes." We have come to the conclusion that there is a road anyway, so we can set off immediately to see its details without further ado.”
After saying that, the three of them immediately set off and walked out of the tunnel one by one. The entrance to the plank road that the Taoist Ghostface mentioned was about a foot away from the tunnel. After leaning out of the tunnel entrance, one had to jump hard to one side to get through. However, due to the angle, if you use a little force and are not careful, you will most likely fall to the bottom of the cliff. The grimace Taoist priest can't figure out whether this unusual design for human beings is intentional or whether there is some cross bridge that was later demolished, but Fortunately, it was not difficult for the three of them to do so. With each step, they jumped onto the mountain plank road on the opposite side without any danger.
This time the plank road is much gentler than the previous one, because the Feige on the opposite side is not much higher than the entrance of the tunnel, but the width of the plank road is narrower and can only accommodate one person walking close to the mountain. In addition, this The plank road itself is more like a ravine carved into the rock wall. There is no protection on the outside. As long as their feet slip, they will be greeted by a pitch-black abyss. Therefore, although the slope of the stone steps is almost as flat as the ground, it can be three meters high. This time, the people walked much slower. One person held a torch and carefully walked on the rock wall towards the flying pavilion opposite.
After walking like this for a stick of incense, the three of them finally stepped onto a lookout in the outermost flying pavilion. Just as the three of them had guessed when they were on the opposite side, the door tiles of the pavilion were all made of stone. , but when the three of them took a closer look with torches, they found that these pavilions were not simply built of stone. The palace in front of them was only a part of the building hanging outside the cliff. The larger palace The pavilion is hidden in the mountain, and there are no traces of splicing between the two. They are as integrated as if they were carved out of the rock wall.
The grim-faced Taoist priest held the torch and looked more and more curiously. When he saw the foundation of the one-story pavilion above his head, he finally couldn't help but said in surprise: "Siniang, have you noticed that the pavilions here seem to be carved out of the mountain?" from?"
He Siniang nodded and replied: "I also discovered that there are no load-bearing pillars between the flying pavilion and the mountain. It is like a huge raised rock wall, with layers of flying pavilions carved out by people. It is hard to imagine this The engineering difficulty is so great, it’s simply... it’s a miracle!”
