Tang monks and disciples went all the way west to a large autonomous city called Chechi state. According to the usual practice, they can continue to travel west as long as they change the customs clearance documents. Tang monk has difficulties in every step of the disaster. The three goblins tiger, deer and sheep in Chechi state are not worth mentioning to Sun Wukong. The real resistance comes from the king of Chechi state.
Sun Wukong is a meddler, with a venomous mouth, cold eyes and a warm heart. Whenever he encounters injustice everywhere, he will take care of it. According to the current saying, Sun Wukong is a person who loves fighting for injustice and acting bravely for just cause. Even after being pressured for five hundred years, his character of not fearing the strong and acting for the weak has not changed. The emperor’s list of King Zhuzi’s medical treatment is that he wants to take care of Princess Baihua, who is occupied by the goblin yellow robe monster. The jade rabbit spirit pretends to be a princess, and he wants to get justice for the real princess. The son of the farmer’s family, who has done the cutting, also wants to take care of the mountain bandit. On the way to the Scriptures, if it is said that subduing demons and eliminating demons is Sun Wukong’s duty, which is not enough to prove his greatness, then his “loyalty and conscience, reporting injustice to the world, helping the needy, and caring for the orphans and widows” is enough to prove that he is a hero.
Wherever the Tang monks and disciples go on the way to the west, they will be treated as holy monks in the kingdom of heaven whenever they say “I am the envoy sent by the king of the Tang Dynasty to worship the Buddha and ask for scriptures”. Unlike Che Chi, the Tang monks and disciples are not welcome this time, because Che Chi is a person who hates monks extremely. He spared no effort to belittle the monks, destroy the monks, and even kill them all. As the saying goes, “the upper acts and the lower acts”, Taoism has become the legitimate and orthodox belief in this country. On the contrary, Buddhism has been neglected, the mountain gate has been demolished, and the Buddha statues have been destroyed. Being a Taoist is respected, and being a monk has no room for survival.
Why are the two Buddhists and Taoists treated in such extreme ways in one country? From the king to the people in Chechi state, why do everyone respect Taoism and destroy monks? All this is related to a natural disaster 20 years ago. The performance of Buddhism and Taoism completely changed the attitude and view of the king and the people towards monks.
What did the Taoist priest of Chechi state say about this? He said: “just because 20 years ago, the people were suffering from a severe drought, there was no rain in the sky, and the earth was dry. No matter what the monarch, the minister, the commoner, the big and the small, everyone bathed and burned incense, and every household prayed to the heaven for rain. It was in the place where they were hanging upside down and waiting for their lives. Suddenly, three fairies came down from the sky to save the lives.”
The reason why the king is a good Taoist and a bad monk is that the three Taoists can call the wind and call the rain, and beg for a life-saving shower for Che Chi. At that time, the king also asked monk Qi Yu, but the monk only reads the Sutra and worships the Buddha without doing anything. In this comparison, the king’s attitude towards the monk has changed sharply.
The king’s behavior of respecting Taoism and exterminating monks can not be avoided by the Tianting forces, because only the Immortal Dragon King under the Tianting account has the power to give rain to the people. First, it will not rain to make Chechi country dry, and then it will send three decent spirits to save the people. The best evidence is that “suddenly three immortals came”. Tiger, deer and sheep are likely to be the disciples of Sanqing. In this game of Buddhism and Taoism, Taoists won a great victory, but as mortals, the king of Chechi Kingdom and the ordinary people could not see this layer of interest!
The arrival of Tang monks and disciples completely changed this situation. They knocked down the holy image of Sanqing, ate the offerings of Sanqing, and waited for an opportunity to kill three goblins related to the heaven. After that, if the king respected the monks and exterminated the Taoism, can the monks Qi Yu in the drought? Is such a change a disaster or a blessing for the people of Chechi? The struggle between Buddhism and Taoism is only for their own interests, just like the war between Israel and Iran in Syria, only the people of Syria suffer, and mortals suffer when immortals fight. The king of Chechi state is in the middle, and he speaks of suffering.
The three immortals of tiger, deer and sheep only harmed the interests of the monks. They were virtuous to the people of Chechi state, but they ended up as the ghosts of heaven. Sun Wukong’s use of Taoist magic to help the monks defeat the Taoists was not honorable. The struggle between Buddhism and Taoism is just like the current struggle between countries. There is no good or bad justice, only permanent interests. From a deeper perspective, both are for themselves. From the perspective of the king, Taoism is stronger than Buddhism, and Taoist practices are more in line with the interests of the people.
Why do you say that? The words of the king and the Tang Monk’s disciples illustrate the biggest difference between Buddhism and Taoism.
The king said: “why do I worship the monks of the Tang Dynasty? I only beg for rain in those days, and the monks of our Dynasty have never asked for anything. Fortunately, the state counsellor has been sent down by heaven to save us. If you are far away and offend the state counsellor, you should be punished immediately. Excuse me, do you dare to gamble with our state counsellor to win the rain? If you pray for a sweet rain and help all the people, I will forgive your crime, change the customs, and let you go west. If you can’t gamble and there is no rain, I will push you to the killing ground for punishment.”
It is a common saying that monks in prosperous times are supported by all living beings, and can not escape from troubled times. In times of chaos, Taoist priests go down to save the world, and in times of prosperity, hermits become masters. The ancients did not deceive me. In this comparison with Qi Yu, Wang Zhongguo saw this fact clearly: Buddhism is not as good as Taoism. It is the Taoist who saves the people from fire and water, and the monk who forsakes the people. Taoists are pragmatic and pragmatic. Monks love to lie most. They say that it is better to teach people Zen than to save people in danger.
In journey to the west, Taoist priests and monks not only represent the interests of two factions, Taoism led by the Jade Emperor of heaven and Buddhism led by the Buddha of Lingshan, but also represent two kinds of people, two thoughts and two ways of dealing with the world. The so-called “Buddhists” who do nothing in real life but want to sit back and enjoy their success are dwarfed by the real undisputed character of Taoism.
The practice of respecting Taoism and killing monks is in line with the national conditions. Later, Qi Yu, a monk of the Tang Dynasty, succeeded in his party, and the king’s attitude towards monks immediately changed. In the heart of King Chechi, no matter how Buddhism and Taoism fight, no matter who loses or wins, as long as it can bring tangible benefits to the people, he will strongly support it, otherwise, he will say no. It is really rare for such a king to dare to work for the welfare of the people. Disclaimer: the above content originates from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. If your original copyright is infringed, please inform us, and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.