one
Set off at 9am to visit Louguantai.
Along the way, it passes through Hu County and Chang'an, and follows the Qinling Mountains. Rice is grown here, with large tracts of rice fields and green seedlings, giving it a Jiangnan feel. At ten o'clock, we passed Caotang Temple, which is said to be the place where Du Fu married his family. It is also said that Bai Juyi stayed here and wrote the popular song "Song of Everlasting Sorrow". I don't know whether it is true or not. If this is true, this Caotang Temple should be a holy place that should be avoided by those "poets" who write poetry all their lives but do not know what poetry is.
Arrive at Louguantai at nearly 12 o'clock.
It is located at the northern foot of Zhongnan Mountain, thirty miles southeast of Zhouzhi County. According to historical records, this is the place where Laozi left the "Tao Te Ching" for his disciple Yin Xi. This exquisite five thousand words is not only a symbol of China, but also a symbol of human culture. The oldest and wisest book in history. Because of this incident, Louguantai has become a cultural tourist attraction.
It was midsummer, and the sunshine on the northwest plateau in August was more intense and scorching than the eyes of a first love. People first came to the Chongsheng Palace at the foot of the mountain. Our family and our friend Xu Jun, who drove with us, were the only tourists who stopped here. All I saw were ruins, a few ancient cypresses and a mountain gate that was about to collapse. After walking through the door, in the huge courtyard, there is no screen wall. Among the weeds, there are dozens of broken steles, one lying to the east and the other leaning to the west, like a group of hungry and cold beggars, stretching out their hands to passers-by. I have no energy left to beg. A lifelike carved green cow, about the same size as a real cow, with its head tilted, lay under an ancient cypress that had been burned by fire, becoming the only life in the yard. My son Weiwei, who was traveling with me, straddled the back of the bull to take pictures. I jokingly said to Xu Jun: "Look, now it's not me riding the bull, but my son." I laughed out loud.
From here to Louguantai, it is only two kilometers away, but when you see the Zhongnan Mountains, winding up, there is no sense of solemnity. It was my first time to visit and I didn’t know where the platform was. As soon as the car stopped, a group of local farmers told us with strong Qin opera that riding their horses up the mountain to see Taishang Laojun’s alchemy furnace would be the most interesting thing. The two opening sentences were like kidnapping, forcing us to mount our horses. So, without knowing why, we became frightened knights, leaning forward and backward, stumbling left and right on the steep mountain road. Suddenly, my wife screamed, and the horse she was riding jumped up and climbed up a slope more than one meter high. For horses, this is a very common thing, but for ladies in the city, it is a serious and soul-shattering incident. In fact, not only ladies, but also me, who usually pride ourselves on being proud, can't stand this sudden jump. Lao Tzu is a master of wisdom. He would rather ride on a green ox and head slowly towards the far western regions than use the powerful means of transportation at that time - a horse that can travel thousands of miles a day and eight hundred miles a night. This is also to put the risk factor away. Think about it first. Lu You, the great poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, was a heroic poet who "came to sleep on an iron horse and glaciers". However, when traveling, he still chose to "ride a donkey through the sword gate in the drizzle." No matter how heroic a scholar is, he is still a scholar after all. The little donkey who bows his head, four The small steps made by the little hooves are in perfect harmony with the poet's distant feelings. Without further ado, let’s get back to the topic. After about half an hour, we finally arrived at the top of the mountain. The place where the grooms called "Tai Shang Laojun's alchemy furnace" is called Alchemy Peak. I have no interest in these made-up attractions. To the west of Alchemy Peak, there is another abrupt peak. This is the main peak of Louguantai, the platform where Laozi lectured on the Tao Te Ching to Yin Xi. I walked up to this peak and sat in the pavilion of the sermon platform. I looked at the deep green mountains all around, listened to the rustling wind and the chirping of birds, and I naturally felt an unparalleled joy in my heart. More than 900 years ago, Su Dongpo sat in this pavilion and wrote a poem:
There are people who know the grass sage in the sword dance,
Haishan is nothing but a piano player.
From this platform, you can see Qinchuan Xiao.
The meaning of the sutra is empty without waiting for it to be preached.
The era when Su Dongpo lived was when the Zen Buddhism was flourishing. Zen thinking regarded "all five aggregates as empty" as the highest state of life. Therefore, the Tao Te Ching, which originally meant "nothing", was interpreted by Su Dongpo as "empty". "Nothing" and "empty" have similar meanings, but they are still different. "Nothing" is close to being spotless, and "empty" is close to being unable to think of anything. The reason why I say close rather than equal is because the philosophical meaning contained in these two words is difficult to fully explain in words, and its mystery can only be understood but cannot be explained in words. The Zen method of inheritance is "heart to heart", which completely negates the role of language.
Su Dongpo stood on this sutra preaching platform. He no longer needed Lao Tzu to teach sutras, and he completely understood "emptiness". This thorough understanding was caused by the nature of mountains, flowing water, green trees and red flowers. Nature is always the mother of mankind. If people respect nature, understand nature, and follow nature, they can achieve the state of "harmony between man and nature." I understand the Tao Te Ching, Tao is nature, virtue is the law. Only by mastering the laws of nature can a person become a wise man. I don’t know how many times I have read this wonderful book, but I always have some new experiences every time I finish reading it.
Now I am wandering on the sutra preaching platform. Although I don't have Su Dongpo's talent of being self-taught, I still feel a refreshing and bright breeze coming from afar, and the fatigue of days of travel has disappeared. My mind became active again. When I saw the dense bamboo garden with phoenix tails, the white clouds floating in the orchid sky, and the galloping horses on the path, I suddenly understood that - nothing - is the moment that penetrates eternity. Lao Tzu's wisdom is not limited by time and space.
After resting for a while on the preaching platform, we got off our horses and walked down the stairs to the Tower Viewing Platform.
two
Louguantai is the place where Yin Xi watched the stars. It is also the place where Yin Xi left Laozi to write the Tao Te Ching. Therefore, the platform is also called Laozi Temple. There is a pool in front of the mountain gate called "Shangshan Pool". The stele of the pool was written by Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty. Entering the mountain gate, there are monument rooms on the left and right. Twelve large monuments about eight feet high have the full text of the Tao Te Ching written on them. The Laozi Temple behind the stele house is the most important hall of Louguantai. The three characters "Laozi Temple" on the front of the hall were written by Zhao Puchu, while the three characters "Louguantai" on the mountain gate that we just entered were written by modern The calligrapher and painter Shi Lu's writing is clumsy and solemn, with a rather "inaction" atmosphere. Of the three inscriptions, I admire Shi Lu's one the most.
Behind Laozi Temple is Doumu Hall.
The third hall behind Doumu Hall is called the "Fengku Hall", but its door faces north, towards the Chongsheng Palace entering the mountain. Looking ahead, you can see the broad Qinchuan River in front of you, the Fengyu River flowing forward from the left hand side, and the Daqing Temple two kilometers to the right. The tower of Daqing Temple stands under the bright sun, majestically revealing its desolate historical past. The Qingyi Taoist who guided the tour said that there was a teacher in the Great Qing Temple who was already 108 years old. She was still hearing and seeing well and could bite fried soybeans. I really want to visit this century-old woman and ask her whether the evening drum and morning bell are the best nutrition for life. But I still gave up. Firstly, I didn’t have enough time. Secondly, even if I asked about the secret of health preservation, what would be the use? The sound of drums and bells in the evening and morning is a superior artistic conception in Tang poetry and Song lyrics, but in modern life, it is an unbearable lonely night for most people.
I wandered around the temple and bought an anthology of poems written by famous people from all over the world. He wrote a poem "Crossing the Temple of Laozi":
The immortal residence embraces saintliness, and the spiritual temple solemns the soul.
The grass is close to the traces of people, and the dust is thick and the traces of birds are deep.
The quicksand pill stove is gone, and the purple smoke is sinking on the road.
After suffering alone for eternity, there are still pine and cylindrical trees left.
The poem is filled with melancholy, which is far from the imperial spirit of "looking forward to the eternity". Why is this? After reading the relevant information, I discovered an interesting question.
After Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty came to the throne, he ordered Gao Shilian, a great scholar at that time, and others to revise the "Chronicles of the Clan". However, it is said that before the founding of the Li and Tang Dynasties, the concept of aristocratic clans formed since the Wei and Jin Dynasties was deeply rooted. Some large families that had passed down each other for hundreds of years were intertwined and became a powerful political force that restricted the imperial power. It was these aristocratic figures who believed that the Li family of the Tang Dynasty were descendants of the Tuoba family of the Northern Wei Dynasty and did not have noble blood. The first draft of "Clan Chronicles", which Gao Shilian majored in, accepted this traditional concept and still ranked the Cui family of Shandong first. After Li Shimin saw this, he became furious and reprimanded Gao Shilian: "I am the emperor, why is the person named Cui still ranked first? How many of these big names you value are not officials under me? You compile clan annals, don't you? We have to talk about several generations ago, and only talk about the level of official titles today." So Gao Shilian immediately followed Li Shimin's will and designated the Li family of the royal family as the first. The change had been made, but Li Shimin himself knew that as a descendant of the Tuoba clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, his ancestors really had nothing to boast about. So I started looking for celebrities named Li in past history, and I found Lao Tzu. My name is Li Dan, which is the same as the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty claimed that I was the distant ancestor of the Tang Dynasty royal family. Due to the sudden elevation of Laozi's status, Louguantai entered its most glorious period. Since Lao Tzu is the distant ancestor of the royal family, the Taoism he founded naturally became the state religion. Louguantai was also designated by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty as a place for the royal family to worship Laozi. In the Tang Dynasty, three emperors came to Louguantai to worship Lao Tzu in person. Princess Yuzhen, the younger sister of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, even became a monk and lived in seclusion in Louguantai for fifty-one years until her death. For this reason, great poets of the Tang Dynasty, such as Li Bai, Wang Wei, Bai Juyi, Cen Shen, Sikong Shu, Wen Tingyun, etc., all visited Louguantai to pay their respects and left magnificent poems.
Now, I am wandering among the several major halls in Louguantai, looking at the ancient pillars covered with historical dust. The paint colors have peeled off, and those bright and mysterious Taoist patterns have become spiders hanging their webs. paradise. The wooden statues in the temple are also blackened by the incense offered by Taoists who come to pay homage century after century. Approaching them, touching them, facing the fallen leaves falling on the lacquer pillars, the incense burner on the sacrificial table and the warm ashes, my heart was beating again. Laozi and Confucius are the two major sources of Chinese wisdom. On the map of Chinese cultural history, one of them is the Yangtze River and the other is the Yellow River. On their way to the Pacific Ocean, they gather thousands of rivers and rivers, including the Hukou. There is a majestic plunge like a waterfall, and there is also a heroic galloping like knocking open the Kui Gate. Dynasties rise and fall, heroes pass by, but the long river of culture never stops flowing. Respecting Taoism and suppressing Confucianism is what happened in China at the beginning of the second millennium AD of mankind. From the end of the Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty, Laozi's status in the hearts of the rulers was higher than that of Confucius. In the Southern Song Dynasty, this situation began to change. Confucius's social status increased greatly, and the Taoist state began to evolve into Confucian China. Confucius was revered as the "Sage of Dacheng", while Laozi lost his noble title; Louguantai gradually fell into neglect and became an ordinary Taoist temple. The person who accepted the gift from the emperors of the Song and Ming dynasties on behalf of Lao Tzu was Zhang Tianshi from Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi Province. This illustrates two problems. First, the "nothing" of Taoism can no longer serve as the theoretical cornerstone of governing the country; second, the cultural focus of South China is After the migration, the Northwest Plateau, which developed from nomadic culture, no longer has many cultural elites active in China's political arena. And a large number of scholars from various southern provinces, either as princes or prime ministers, or as masters of classics, have led the style of the times, generation after generation, from the time when Hangzhou was established as the capital in the Southern Song Dynasty until today.
Most of the famous palaces in history are now lost to history. Although Lou Guantai has declined, it will not completely disappear because of my relationship. Although it has lost the royal atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty, including the chariot traffic jams and uneven pavilions, after all, this basic three major palaces have still been maintained by people in the past dynasties. Actually, I think this is very good. Whether it is a Taoist temple or a Buddhist temple, they are all places where one can nourish the mind and eliminate dust. Silence should be their true nature. If it is noisy all day long, how can those of us who are tortured to death by the secular life get spiritual comfort when we come here?
Now I am walking in the Louguantai with few tourists. I really want to stay here for ten and a half days and wash away the dirt on the ancient monuments with the Taoist priests. But this is almost impossible. There are still so many unavoidable troubles in the city waiting for me to deal with when I go back!
