Songzi went on to say that that was not all, there were other reasons why he was so sure. When talking about this, Songzi turned to me and asked me, what was the name of the dynasty after the Tang Dynasty?
Song Dynasty! I blurted out. But as soon as I finished speaking, Songzi pointed at my nose and said loudly: Wrong!
This sudden sound startled me. I was about to scold you, kid, don’t bully honest people just because you know so much. Be careful when I beat you. Songzi went on to say, between the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, there was still a long distance between them. There was a period of chaos that lasted for nearly a hundred years, collectively known as the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" in the history of our country.
Just when I was about to quibble about some messy little dynasties that were self-proclaimed kings, is it interesting that you should use it to talk about it, but I caught a glimpse of Qin Bukong's serious and serious expression. It seemed that although he was more arrogant than me, Song Zi These words really shook him deeply. Songzi went on to say that during the Ten Kingdoms period, although Wuhan itself was thought to be the territory of Jingchu, it was conquered by the State of Wu and became the westernmost part of the territory of the State of Wu. In order to educate the people not to resist, the king of Wu State began to use religion to control the people in the border areas because it was surrounded by the Later Tang, Hou Shu and Chu states. Not only did they expand a lot on the basis of the "Eighteen Arhat Hall", but also placed There were five hundred small bronze Arhats, which were very small, but the statues and materials were exactly the same as the huge bronze Arhat. From then on, the name of "Eighteen Arhat Hall" was changed. It's called "Five Hundred Arhat Hall".
Songzi said that in the following thousands of years, despite many wars, the five hundred Arhats had been stolen and looted, but no one had the ability to steal the huge bronze Arhat donated by the mysterious man. The Buddhist temple has also been abandoned several times, and its name has been changed many times. No traces of the past can be found. The only thing left is this Arhat.
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, this place became the "Wang's Sunflower Garden", and its builder was Wang Mingxuan, the magistrate of Huazhou County at the time. He specially built a family temple to worship this bronze Arhat, but since there is only one left, the size of the family temple is also very small. This state lasted until the Shunzhi period, when Master Baiguang and Master Zhufeng persuaded the local believers to raise money and buy the Wang Sunflower Garden, and today's Guiyuan Temple was established.
I sounded a little fascinated. In just over ten minutes of narration, Songzi seemed to take me through a history of rise and fall over the past thousand years, which was exactly a period of history that I didn't understand at all. So I asked Songzi, where did you get this information? How do you know these are true? After all, people in the past were more ignorant than now, and the information was not smooth. What if it was some misinformation? When the time comes to investigate, won't we have to make a big detour? Songzi said, these were all told to me by Abbot Mibao of Guiyuan Temple.
Qin Bukong sighed again and said, you said you don't smoke or drink, so why did you start talking nonsense? As we all know, Guiyuan Temple currently has no abbot, and only a supervisor named Changming is in charge. During the struggle, most Taoist temples across the country were treated the same. Monks suffered even more than Taoists. Not only were they forced to change clothes and grow their hair, they were also forced to eat meat and marry. Wife's. These days, all those who become monks have relatives or friends. It is considered a great blessing for Buddhism to allow you to stay in the prison for a visit. Where is the abbot? Can you please make a draft before bragging?
Songzi seemed a little unhappy at being robbed by Qin Bukong. He said, since we want to inquire, we can't let others notice our true intention at the beginning. I also know all the things you mentioned, so I kept quiet. After waiting near the gate of Guiyuan Temple for a few days, I thought that even if the monks inside did not open the door to receive pilgrims, they would always have to eat and drink. On the evening of the second day, Songzi saw a monk changing into casual clothes. , took a bamboo hat, and hurriedly came out of Guiyuan Temple, carrying a jar and a bamboo basket in his hand. Out of curiosity, Songzi followed the monk from a distance. Guiyuan Temple is full of Zen monks, not martial monks, and in these peaceful times, those who practice martial arts have all gone to Shaolin Temple, so Guiyuan Temple is just a group of monks meditating. After following the monk for a few alleys, I saw him getting into a very simple-looking house. He stayed there for about ten minutes and then came out of the house. When I came out, the bamboo basket in my hand had been replaced by a different one. It was not the one I was carrying earlier. Moreover, the new one was empty. The jar I was originally carrying was also missing.
Song Zi said that from this, it can be concluded that the monk came to deliver something, most likely some food and drink. But it is obvious that eating outside the temple is much more delicious and easier to eat than inside the temple. Why do people in this room have people deliver it from the temple? In this way, this person must be related to the temple. He will not eat big fish and meat, but chooses to eat the vegetarian food in the temple. Songzi concludes that this person must be a Buddhist, and he can be treated like a special trip to send meals from the temple. It must also be a high position in the temple, such as the supervisor, such as the abbot, such as the abbot.
So Songzi didn't make any movement at the moment, and went to the house again the next day, this time pretending to be passing by. At the door of the house, he smelled a very strong smell of Chinese medicine, and the wooden door at the door had been torn. There were marks on the white seal that had fallen off, and ink was splashed on the door, so Songzi thought that the person living here might not only be a high-ranking person in the temple. The mark on the door showed that this person had suffered injustice and been criticized.
Based on this, and Songzi's previous inquiry that Guiyuan Temple currently only has a supervisory courtyard, he concluded that the person living here was Abbot Mibao, the former abbot who entrusted Master Changming to supervise the temple.
I admire Song Zi’s judgment ability, at least from what I hear, I would never have thought of so much. Songzi continued, so he immediately organized his language and knocked on the door to visit. Qin Bukong asked, "Who are you? People have to pay attention to you when you visit them. Since you choose to live in seclusion there, you don't want others to disturb you. How can there be such an ignorant person like you?"
Songzi said, Senior Qin, visiting others depends on your sincerity, not your identity. After I identified myself, they did open the door for me. Although one is a Buddhist and the other is a Taoist, we are all members of Taoism. When some unfair things happen, the two families may have different attitudes towards it, but they are essentially the same. I stated my intention straight to the point and asked Abbot Mibao if there was anything worth exploring in the existing temples. He told me about the past and present life of this temple. Although it may not all be true, after all, no one can trace things back so early, but Abbot Mibao told me that the bronze statue is indeed still in the temple, in the Hall of Five Hundred Arhats.
Songzi also said that the abbot said that if we want to investigate, he can ask someone to take the lead and make it easier for us later. Qin Bukong and I stopped talking. It seemed that when we spent these days lazily, Songzi had already arranged everything for us. Qin Bukong asked Songzi, if we set out to investigate, it would be the same as Changchun Temple, we would go there blatantly, right? Songzi said that he didn't know that yet, but if we wanted to go, we would have to visit Abbot Mibao in advance. With his instructions, it might be easier. I asked Songzi, but there is only a bronze statue left there. It is completely unclear where the "monster" we are looking for is now. If we just investigate the bronze statue, what can we get?
Songzi said, this is the guess I just mentioned. Let’s assume now that if the mysterious man who presented the bronze statue to us was really the strange man who set up the formation for us, then why would he be a Taoist priest? But donating bronze statues of Arhats to Buddhist temples? If he really did it, there must be traces on the bronze statue. If we can find new clues, we will narrow the scope of the investigation accordingly. In this way, wouldn't it be better than just sitting at home and being helpless for a while? Are brain surveys easier?
Songzi is right. Although it is just a hypothesis now, it is too coincidental. In the end, it is necessary to give it a try. This time I chose to take sides. I was convinced by Songzi, and the rest was up to Qin Bukong. Qin Bukong thought for a while and then said to us, in this case, let's make preparations tomorrow and visit the abbot master.
So that night, we all went to bed early to prepare for the next day.
