The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

The eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar is the birthday of Buddha Sakyamuni. Believers call it "Buddha's birthday" or "Buddha's birthday", and the most popular name is "Buddha's Day".

According to legend, when the Buddha was born, he pointed to the sky with one hand and the earth with the other, saying: "Under the world, I am the only one who is respected." So the heaven and the earth shook, and the nine dragons spit water to bathe him.

Therefore, Buddhist believers pour fragrant soup on Buddha statues on Buddha's birthday, and help Buddha bathe, which is called "Buddha Festival"-the "Water-Splashing Festival" of the Dai people is actually called "Buddha Festival", which belongs to the ethnic group. The product of the fusion of tradition and Buddhist culture.

Zhou Hexuan came to Xiamen by ship, and then changed to a sampan to ride the waves, and finally arrived at the Nanputuo Temple under the Wulao Peak.

Looking up, I can see believers visiting the Buddha and worshiping, extending from the seaside to the mountainside. Many devout men and women even kneel down and kowtow after walking a few steps, as if this is the only way to show their devotion to the Buddha.

Zhou Hexuan took Yu Peichen and Sun Yongzhen ashore, and followed the crowd of worshipers up the stairs.

Along the way, you can see not only rich and noble families wearing gold and silver, but also low-level civilians in ragged clothes. Some people had serious faces and did not dare to show any disrespect on the Buddha's birthday;

Most of the believers who come to pay homage to the Buddha bring generous gifts. Even the poor at the bottom often hold a small bottle of sesame oil. To put it bluntly, these are birthday gifts to the Buddha.

The more Yu Peichen watched, the more angry he became, and he couldn't help muttering: "Nowadays China is in a situation of internal and external troubles. An illusory Buddha's birthday is a waste of money. The money is used to worship the Buddha, it is better to donate it to the anti-Japanese frontline General!"

Zhou Hexuan refused to comment, and asked with a smile: "Yongzhen, what do you think?"

Sun Yongzhen scratched his head and said, "Er Niang said that it doesn't matter if you meet a god or not, it's always good to worship first."

"Hahaha," Zhou Hexuan laughed, "Your mother's words are very reasonable, and represent the general psychology of Chinese people towards gods and Buddhas."

Yu Peichen disagreed, and even quoted the lyrics of "The Internationale": "There has never been a savior, nor does it depend on a fairy emperor. To create human happiness, it all depends on ourselves!"

Zhou Hexuan restrained his smile, looked at the ragged, skinny, but devout believers, and said with emotion: "I don't reject proper religion, but I dislike some bad religious forms. For example, these poor people Well, their family has no money, and they may not be willing to eat a catty of sesame oil for a year. But they took the sesame oil they saved so hard and went to the temple to offer it to the Buddha, which is very bad behavior."

Yu Peichen said: "There is also the teaching of Buddhism, which makes the people's will depressed and resigned. If everyone believes in Buddhism, China will be hopeless, and the Japanese invaders will easily occupy China."

Zhou Hexuan corrected with a smile: "What you said may be correct elsewhere, but the Nanputuo Temple here is different."

"What's the difference?" Yu Peichen asked puzzled.

Zhou Hexuan explained: "Whether it is the previous abbot, Master Taixu, the current abbot, Master Chang Xing, or Master Hongyi, who is rectifying the precepts of the Buddhist Academy, all three of them advocate patriotism and resistance to Japan."

Yu Peichen was surprised: "The monk also talks about patriotism and anti-Japanese?"

Zhou Hexuan nodded and said: "The previous abbots of Nanputuo Temple all belonged to the firm Buddhist reformist school. For example, the position of abbot here, they keep pace with the times, and each abbot can only serve two consecutive terms. Especially the previous abbot Taixu Master, he has traveled around the world, established a Buddhist academy in Nanputuo Temple, and even set up a postgraduate department. During the May 4th Movement, he once preached on the theme of Buddhism called "New Youth and the Morality of National Salvation."

Yu Peichen was a little unbelievable, she couldn't connect the monk with saving the country.

Master Taixu has served as abbot for two consecutive terms. He resigned at the end of his term last year and is now preaching Buddhism in various places in the south. The contents of his speeches are particularly interesting, such as "Buddhism and Modern China". He often teaches teachers and students of Buddhist colleges to love the country and religion, and establish the spirit of dedicating themselves to the country and the rise and fall of Buddhism.

The slogan of patriotism is always placed in front of love for teaching by Master Taixu.

Until the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Master Taixu immediately worked hard, calling on Buddhists across the country to take action and join the anti-Japanese national salvation movement. He also published the "Telegram to Japanese Buddhists", hoping that Japanese Buddhists will stop the Japanese imperialist war of aggression with the spirit of peace and peace. At the same time, the "Buddhist Youth Protecting the Country" was organized to actively participate in rescue, publicity, and donation work, and even directly participated in the anti-Japanese underground struggle.

This kind of patriotic great monk, Zhou Hexuan had to admire, fully worthy of the title of "Master".

The three continued to move forward, and soon came to the gate of the temple, where hundreds of worshipers had already gathered.

Li Shutong, who has been ordained as Master Hongyi, is leading the teachers and students of the Buddhist Academy to distribute condolences to believers. According to the amount of gifts brought by the believers, they will return clothes and food of similar value, and call it the reward of the Buddha-of course, some local rich people insist on spending a lot of money, and Nanputuo Temple will not refuse, after all, the monks have to pay a lot of money. Eat on it.

Zhou Hexuan very much agrees with this, because what he hates the most is using religious beliefs to make money.

"The Great Monk is well!" Zhou Hexuan stepped forward and clasped his hands together.

Li Shutong immediately replied: "Amitabha, it turned out that Mr. Zhou visited, and the poor monk really can't afford the title of 'Great Monk'."

For monks, generally they should be called "Master", but they must not be called directly by the name of the Dharma. For example, when you see Li Shutong, you can just call him "Master", or "Master Hongyi" or "Master". Never call "Hongyi" directly, because it is very impolite.

Of course, there are more advanced titles, that is, "monk" and "big monk".

Ordinary monks are not qualified to be called "monks", only those who are profound in Buddhism and have high morals.

Li Shutong handed over the matter to his disciples, took Zhou Hexuan and the three of them straight to the Buddhist academy, and said, "It's a bit presumptuous to invite Mr. Zhou this time. Layman Manzhi (Lv Bicheng) said that Mr. Zhou has a lot of research on Buddhism, and the poor monk is doing it right now." I want to ask you in person."

"Mr. Bicheng is also in Nanputuo Temple?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

"Exactly." Although Li Shutong had long since cut off his ties to the world, he still couldn't help but smile wryly when he mentioned Lu Bicheng.

When he was in Europe, because of Zhou Hexuan's foolishness, Lu Bicheng went back to China to ask Li Shutong for advice on Buddhism. This was amazing, Lu Bicheng was quickly overwhelmed by Li Shutong's Buddhist practice, and then stuck to him like a piece of brown sugar.

Li Shutong was invited by Master Chang Xing, the abbot of Nanputuo Temple, to rectify the precepts of the Buddhist academy, but Lu Bicheng also had the cheek to follow him, and he couldn't get rid of him.

A woman in Lu Bicheng, um, a lay woman, what does it look like to stay in a monk's temple all day long?

Li Shutong's idea is very simple, since Lu Bicheng was fooled by Zhou Hexuan, then Zhou Hexuan should trouble Zhou Hexuan to fool her away again.

Of course, there was another reason why he invited Zhou Hexuan to participate in the Buddha Bathing Festival: "Mr. Zhou, Brother Chang Xing and I both hope that you will come to give a speech for the teachers and students of the Buddhist Academy. The theme is patriotism."

"Let me give a speech at the Buddhist Academy?" Zhou Hexuan was stunned for a moment, he had never dealt with monks before.