Legends of Gushan (Six Stories)
Borrowing land from the dragon to build Yongquan Temple
Legend has it that a long time ago, Gushan was originally called "Baiyun Peak", with winding paths leading to it. It is secluded, with green shade like a canopy, streams surrounding the mountains, and fertile land. There are many families living on the mountain. Men farmed and women weaved, and they lived a leisurely life. Unexpectedly, one afternoon in the summer, the sky suddenly became covered with dark clouds, and a heavy downpour suddenly fell. There was only a sound of thunder, and an evil dragon emerged from the clouds, baring its teeth and claws and broke into the deep cave of Lingyuan on the mountain. After a while, the rain stopped and the sky cleared, and Baiyun Mountain returned to normal. But the people on the mountain were frightened after a false alarm. Most of them went up to the mountain to farm, and most of them went together and did not dare to be careless. Sure enough, as expected, disasters followed one after another. The evil dragon hiding in the deep cave of the spiritual source often came out to harm living beings. At first they ate livestock, but when the livestock was gone, they ate people, making it impossible for people in the mountains to live. They all went out to escape. The evil dragon couldn't eat people, so it destroyed crops, gnawed trees, and completely ruined the entire Baiyun Peak, a mountain with deep forests and lush grass. Only all kinds of strange rocks and rocks were left bare on the mountain. The rocks on Baiyun Peak were strange to say the least. When they saw the evil dragon coming out, the rocks, big and small, rang in unison, like war drums, resounding through the sky. The evil dragon heard the sound of the drum. Don't dare to leave the cave. Seeing the evil dragon, people did not dare to come out to do evil, and gradually returned to Baiyun Peak to rebuild their homes. The crops had just been planted for a season and were about to be harvested. One noon,... The evil dragon came out to eat people again. At this time, there was a young couple in the village who usually did not only farm and weave. They also practiced martial arts well. When they saw the evil dragon coming, they started to protect the villagers. The men wielded the sun and moon swords, and the women held the mandarin duck swords and pounced towards the evil dragon. The sword flashed and the evil dragon rolled left and right. The villagers also brought hoes to help in the battle. Seeing that the situation was not good, the evil dragon opened its bloody mouth. Two jets of poisonous gas were sprayed out from the large nostrils. For a time, black smoke billowed all over the mountains and fields, and people were poisoned and died. Just then, the sword-wielding woman gave birth to a boy. The evil dragon was so hungry that he was about to pounce on the baby when suddenly a shout came from outside: "Don't let the poisonous dragon do evil!" The evil dragon looked up and saw that it was Guanyin of the South China Sea. He shook his tail twice quickly and turned into a burst of white smoke before fleeing. Entered Lingyuan Cave. Guanyin was on her way to the Peach Fair and had no time to stay, so she had to leave in a hurry with her child in her arms. When the child grew up to ten years old in Nanhai, Guanyin sent him to Xuefeng Temple. Unexpectedly, twenty-three years had passed. The child converted to Dharma, named "Monk Shenyan", and became the abbot of Xuefeng Temple.
When Shen Yan came to Baiyun Peak, there were barren mountains and ridges everywhere. A gust of wind passed by, and the rocks on the mountains rattled. Therefore, Baiyun Peak was later renamed "Gushan". The mountains here are bald and rocky, and there are only white clouds and no green shade. It is inconvenient to build a temple here. But Shenyan couldn't disobey Guanyin's instructions, so he had to start work here. As soon as the house was built, spring water came from the mountain. It took several years to build. Not even the foundation of the house was built. Shen Yan was distressed, so he recited sutras to clarify the truth to Tu Tu Gong. The Tuigong said: "There is a demon dragon hidden in Lingyuan Cave here. He occupies an area and is king. He stirs up demons, does many evil things, and harms the people. You will not be allowed to build a temple here." After Monk Shenyan learned the reason , determined to eliminate harm for the people, and started a fierce battle with the evil dragon. The two sides fought with swords and sticks, flying sand and stones, for more than three hundred rounds, with no winner or loser. Shen Yan thought that since force could not subdue it, he should turn to a battle of wits. He feigned a stick, jumped out of the circle, and shouted: "Evil dragon, stop it. You won't give up the ground and you won't force it. Can you borrow it for a while?" As soon as he used it, he put away his sword and asked: "How long do you want to borrow?" Shenyan said: "Only for one night. Borrow the land at the third watch and pay it back at the fifth watch." The evil dragon thought to himself that it didn't matter if he only borrowed the land for the second watch, so he gulped it down. Agree. But the evil dragon was worried and quickly added: "The monk has made his word. Can he keep his word?" Shenyan replied, "A monk has said what he said, and it's hard to keep track of it." After hearing this, the evil dragon said. "Then I'll go to sleep!" The monk said, "Go ahead and sleep. When I hear the fifth watch, I will return the ground as soon as you wake up." Sure enough, the evil dragon snored to sleep.
When the demon dragon fell asleep, Monk Shenyan immediately bit people and started building the temple. The young monk who told me to do the watch said that only the third watch is allowed here, not the fourth or fifth watch. In this way, the demon dragon has been sleeping there. A year later, the temple was built. Shenyan recruited monks from all over the country to live in Gushan Temple. They chanted sutras and worshiped Buddha as usual every day. The monks only went to the third watch and got up to do their homework at the fourth watch. They never went to the fifth watch. The demon dragon did not hear the fifth watch drum and slept for several years without waking up. From then on, there were no more flash floods.
One day. A senior official from Fuzhou came to Gushan for a tour. Hearing the legend, he wanted to embarrass Shen Yan, so he ordered the monks in the temple to play the Wu Geng drum. The young monk did not dare to disobey the order, so he had to call the fifth watch. As soon as the watch was sounded, the evil dragon came over. When it saw that this place had been occupied by people and built a temple, it thought that Monk Shenyan was not trustworthy, so it immediately spit out dragon springs to wash away all the temples here. But after several years of practice, Shenyan's magic has become even more sophisticated. The evil dragon asked him for land, so he immediately moved a box of Buddhist scriptures and blocked the dragon's mouth, so that the dragon's mouth could not spit out water. The demon dragon was furious. He pounced towards Shen Yan. Shen Yan beat the demon dragon to death with a Zen staff. But the senior official was washed down the ravine by the first spray of Longquan water. From then on, this large temple in Gushan was named "Yongquan Temple". The evil dragon has been eliminated, the place is clean, and Gushan still has a good scenery.
Therefore, on the stone pillar at the gate of Yongquan Temple, there is a couplet engraved on it: "True Dongye is an unparalleled blessed land, where merits and virtues are born from water. Seeing the rolling spring water, your Zen mind has already penetrated the Poison Dragon Pond;" "This is the only method from the West, the sound of rotation, Listening to the encounters in the sky, the Buddhist chants are as far away as the Lingjiuling Mountains."
Wang Shenzhi and the monk Shenyan
In the late Tang Dynasty, Wang Shenzhi opened up Xinjiang and Fujian. After the death of the Tang Dynasty, Liang Taizu granted Wang Shenzhi the title of King of Fujian.
One day, Wang Shenzhi was patrolling Majiang River and saw the glow of the sun on the top of Gushan Mountain, full of auspiciousness. He thought: There must be a treasure on this mountain. Otherwise, where would the auspicious glow come from? Determined to go and investigate, he didn't even sit in a sedan chair or ride a horse. He picked up his robe and ran straight towards Gushan Mountain. I ran and ran, until I was sweating profusely, and when I was near the place where the twilight rose, I ran. A big rock blocks the way. Wang Shenzhi was eager to see the treasure on the mountain, so he took out the green-edged sword from his waist and slashed at the big stone with all his strength. There was only a "bang" sound, and the big stone was split in half, and a door was opened. Wang Shenzhi walked through this door. This gate was later called "Shimen", and the four characters "Renzhi Shimen" were engraved on the rock. You can still see it now!
Wang Shenzhi walked through the stone gate, and the glow was right in front of him. It was so auspicious that Wang Shenzhi couldn't open his eyes for a while. After a while. Take a calm look. It turned out that it was not a treasure, but an old monk sitting cross-legged on a rock and practicing. Wang Shenzhi was greatly disappointed. Then he turned his anger on the monk and repeatedly asked him who he was and what he was doing perched high on the stone. He asked three times in a row, but the monk ignored him and continued to practice with his eyes closed. Wang Shenzhi became even more angry, so he revealed his identity as the king of Fujian, and said: "Every inch of land belongs to the king. Since you are so rude and have no master, you should not sit on my territory." The monk heard this. When Wang Shen knew the words "Every inch of land belongs to the king", he slowly left the stone and rose into the air, sitting motionless on the clouds. At this time, the King of Fujian was dumbfounded and realized that the monk was an eminent monk. He quickly knelt down and bowed to apologize, and expressed his willingness to worship the elder as his teacher. Please come back to earth, sit on the original throne, and receive the worship of his disciples. When the monk heard this, he slowly fell down from the air and sat down. This stone is now the "Guoshi Rock".
It turns out that this monk is Abbot Shenyan. After he sat down, he helped the King of Fujian up and accepted him as his disciple. Wang Shenzhi asked Master Shenyan to give him a lecture. He listened attentively, and always asked questions when he encountered something he didn't understand. The master and the apprentice were in perfect harmony with each other's questions and answers. Just as we were talking about it, we were often interrupted by the sound of spring water from Lingyuan Cave. This time Abbot Shenyan suddenly shouted: "Hey!" The spring water from Lingyuan Cave immediately stopped flowing and turned to flow elsewhere. . Therefore, this place is called "Drinking Rock".
The stubborn stone nods
On the large stone wall under the Drinking Rock in Gushan, there is a monk sitting cross-legged and preaching, with the four characters "The stubborn stone nods" next to it. This monk is Patriarch Bodhidharma.
According to legend, Patriarch Bodhidharma was originally a great monk in India. He became a monk since childhood and specialized in Buddhist scriptures. He looks like Maung Sai Phan An and is very beautiful. He came to China to preach the scriptures and had just set foot in the East. After passing a wooden bridge, a woman with a baby in her arms came forward and walked past Bodhidharma. Unexpectedly, as soon as they met, the woman was fascinated by Bodhidharma's beauty and stayed there stupidly. Forgot the child in my arms. Let go. The child fell into the river and drowned. When Bodhidharma saw this, he was shocked. He knew that the woman was fascinated by his appearance. He thought that it was a sin for me to come to China to preach scriptures and kill a life before doing any good things. So he chanted the mantra and disfigured himself. In an instant, countless pimples appeared on his face, which was very ugly. As the saying goes, things become difficult to handle if they are overdone. Although Bodhidharma taught the Buddhist scriptures very thoroughly, no one came to listen. Why? Because when people saw his face, they were scared away. Later, Bodhidharma came to Gushan to give lectures, but no one came to listen. He did not lose heart and preached the sutras devoutly, so he brought many stones to serve as listeners and explained the Dharma to the stones persistently, until the clouds in the sky did not drift away and the birds stopped chirping. At this time, even the pines and waves on the mountain stopped ringing. I saw the stubborn rocks nodding their heads again and again, as if they "understood" it very much!
Tianfeng Haitao Pavilion Poetry Club
Gushan Peak (commonly known as Jueding Peak) is the highest mountain in Fuzhou and a good place to watch the sunrise. Climb the peak and look into the distance, with misty waves and a panoramic view of the vast East China Sea. There are many poems written by poets and poets in the past dynasties. The "Tianfeng Haitao Pavilion" written by Zhu Xi, an acting scholar of the Song Dynasty, is based on the famous line of the famous poet Zhao Ruyu, "The sky wind directly brings the sea waves."
Legend has it that there was a champion named Gong Mingqing in the Ming Dynasty who wanted to leave poems on the Tianfeng Haitao Pavilion to be passed down through the ages. One day, he invited scholars from Fuzhou to come to the "Tianfeng Haitao Pavilion" to hold a poetry competition, with Tianfeng Haitao as the theme and limited incense to submit papers. The poetry meeting started, and many people were scratching their heads and scratching their heads, but they were still unable to submit the paper. Gong Mingqing had already written it, and he was secretly proud, thinking that his poem would definitely win the first prize. While he was intoxicated with himself, a boy watching the cows drove the cow past the pavilion, shouting: "The white clouds here are so beautiful, they touched me all over." After hearing this, a young poet had an idea and wrote a poem quickly. The first five rules are the first to be handed in. When Gong Mingqing read: "The sea is small in the eyes, and there are many white clouds on the clothes", his face turned red and he sighed at the wonderful sentence. Ashamed of myself. Everyone sitting there was also in awe of it. Later, these two poems were engraved on the pillars of Tianfeng Haisheng Pavilion as a couplet, which has been passed down to this day. Who is this young poet? It turned out to be Gong Mingqing's unmarried son-in-law Lin Shibi.
Gathering of the Eight Immortals
Lan Caihe, one of the Eight Immortals, travels to high mountains and deep caves all year round to collect herbs to help the world and cure diseases. On this day, he came to Gushan and walked and picked on the grass-covered mountain paths. More and more exotic herbs were picked in the basket. He was very happy. He picked them for several days and forgot to go back. . When Monk Shenyan found out about this, he quickly ran to meet Lan Caihe and respectfully invited him to teach medicine at Yongquan Temple. Lan Caihe passed on his medical skills to him without reservation. Shenyan was extremely grateful for having learned this set of medical skills. Just when he was about to step forward to salute and thank him, Lan Caihe disappeared in a gust of breeze. Lan Caihe left, leaving a huge footprint on the big rock. This is the origin of the "immortal monument" today.
Lan Caihe returned to the Xianxia Cave in the sky and said that Gushan Mountain was one-third more beautiful than fairyland and several percent better than heaven. The immortals were fascinated by what they heard and agreed to gather at Gushan on the night of August 15th to enjoy the moon.
In a blink of an eye, the Mid-Autumn Festival is here, and the Eight Immortals are full of elegance. They gather in front of the eighteen caves of Gushan, and they are all mesmerized by the scenery of the mountains and waters. Han Xiangzi was the first to play the flute, and the melodious music followed the clouds and lingered next to the moon. When Zhongli of the Han Dynasty struck the sandalwood board, He Xiangu accompanied him. Lu Dongbin was so excited that he danced the nine-link sword dance. Uncle Cao Guo sat on the rock and hummed ancient songs, feeling content and contented. Zhang Guolao rode his little donkey upside down and walked around in front of the cave, laughing. Li Tieguai was so happy that he drank all the wine in the gourd...
The Eight Immortals watched the moon on Gushan during the Mid-Autumn Festival, leaving a beautiful legend to the "Eight Immortals Rock". Wei Jie, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, once wrote this poem about this legend:
The stone door is not locked since it is high and strong,
Nine curves circle the Eight Immortals,
Open up the seven steps of the Alchemy Staircase,
This body goes straight up to the sky in the cave.
Liu Hai fishing for golden toad
Liu Hai was originally a young monk in Yongquan Temple. He was young, pure-hearted and upright. The master said to him: "In Buddhism, don't be greedy when you see money, be delusional when you see sex, or be resentful when you see injustice. You should cultivate your mind and cultivate your nature, not be greedy for undivided wealth, not be tempted when you see a beautiful woman, and not get angry when you are wronged." He went out to beg for alms. When he saw a beautiful girl in the town, he instinctively wanted to take a second look. When he remembered his master’s teachings, he treated the girl like a tiger and avoided him. Children from the neighborhood sometimes gathered around to ridicule and bully him. He was so angry that he wanted to cry and even wanted to take action. He fought back, but when he thought of the master's teachings, he restrained himself, and closed his eyes motionlessly and allowed others to bully him. Sometimes he went out to beg for alms and got more money, and wanted to leave some to buy snacks to satisfy his hunger. Don’t dare to keep it privately, and hand over all the money you raise. Liu Hai regards all the Buddhist scriptures taught by his master as golden rules, obeys them all, dares not violate them, and is very pious.
One evening at dusk, Liu Hai was relieving himself in the toilet. When he saw his master suddenly walking in from outside, he was inconvenient to say hello and lowered his head, motionless. The master didn't know Liu Hai was here. He counted the money and said to himself: "I raised ten yuan today, and I kept four yuan privately. Even the money I left yesterday and the day before yesterday was collected in just three days." Ten yuan. If this continues, I will be able to return home in a few years, be a high-ranking official, have a few wives, and be happy for the rest of my life. Why should I be a poor and stupid monk?" Liu Hai heard what the master said! , couldn't help shouting: "Oh, Master!" Liu Hai's shout surprised the master, and the money in his hand fell into the pit. The master's selfishness was exposed. I felt uncomfortable for a while, filled with regrets, fell seriously ill, and soon fell into mourning. After the master died, every time Liu Hai went to the toilet, he would see a toad jumping around in the latrine and screaming. Liu Hai felt strange, and then thought that the master died because of greed for money, and his dirty soul might still be looking for the money that he accidentally dropped in the latrine! So, the next day, he strung a sling of copper coins and lowered it into the latrine to catch the master's "soul". Sure enough, the toad was caught holding the copper coins tightly. Liu Hai thought, this toad is the incarnation of the master. When he dies, he has to look for money in a stinking pit. When he becomes a toad, he still clings to the money. Therefore, Liu Hai threw Jin Chan into the East China Sea with contempt. This is the legend of "Liu Haitai" and "Jinchan Cave".
Collected and compiled by Zhang Chuanxing
(Selected from "Uttara and White Pagoda", Fujian People's Publishing House, first edition, July 1983)
Comments
p>Gushan is located in the eastern suburbs of Fuzhou. It is said that there is a rock that looks like a drum, which blows loudly when the wind blows. The sound of the drum can be heard in the cave, so it is named "Drum Mountain". It is a Buddhist resort. It is also a good place to take a break from the office and find some quiet space. Scholars and dignitaries from past dynasties often recited poems and lyrics here and left inscriptions on the rock walls. Many of the cliff inscriptions have become the basis for legends.
The six legends selected here describe the various forms of Gushan and the legendary color of nature and humanity. These legends, by looking for the source of the uncanny creation of scenery, some reverie about the strange shape of Gushan rocks and pursue its authenticity; some personify the weird caves and peaks and give fantasy explanations; some become the footprints of the fairy world. There are many wonderful places, some of which range from the human world to the Buddhist world and the fairy world. What's more interesting is that the gods of Buddhism and Taoism have similar interests, singing and dancing happily in their vaginas. These legends are cleverly conceived and logical, making people full of interest after reading them. "Wang Shenzhi and Monk Shenyan" is based on real people and real events. According to historical records: During the Five Dynasties, Wang Shenzhi, the king of Fujian, built Yongquan Temple in Gushan and asked Monk Shenyan to preside over it. Later, Yongquan Temple was renovated and still retains the style of Ming Dynasty Buddhist architecture. However, as the legend spreads, it has a certain historical basis, but it is not its original appearance, achieving the purpose of borrowing history to promote things.