■ Being both civil and military, knowledgeable and versatile, Xiao Yan, a word uncle, is a native of Nanlanling. He is related to the Xiao family of Qi, and his father Xiao Shunzhi is the younger brother of the Emperor of Qi. He once helped his brother Xiao Daocheng seize the land of Liu and Song Dynasties, and served as a senior official such as Shi Zhong and Wei Yan, which was very prestigious. His biological mother, Zhang Shangrou, is a descendant of Zhang Hua, a writer in the Western Jin Dynasty. Under the education of his mother, Xiao Yan learned many things, including hundreds of classics, poems, chess and painting, star gazing and moon measuring, and riding and shooting.
Xiao Yan is knowledgeable and more gifted in literature. Jingling Wang Xiao, who first entered the officialdom, was very surprised. Since then, he often went to Xifu, a villa built in Jilong Mountain in Xizhou, to meet and make friends with the literati here. Xiao Yan, together with Shen Yue, Xie Yuezhao, Fan Yun, and others who often come here, was also called Eight Friends of Jingling, and was a famous figure at that time. Shen Yue is the author of Song Shu Miracle and Xie Yuezhao is a famous poet. Xiao Yan loves learning very much and can't put it down. Later, he lived on the throne and had many affairs, but he still studied hard under the light at night. He wrote more than 600 volumes of general history; He also wrote cursive edicts, hymns, prefaces and other official documents himself, with volume * * * 120; He also rewrote the genealogy of hundreds of families and reused the gentry. In history, monarchs who are diligent in learning like Xiao Yan are really rare.
■ In the Northern Wei Dynasty, Xiao Yan was highly valued. Because of his family relationship, when he first entered the officialdom, he worked under the general Wang Jian. He is talented and virtuous, and Wang Jian values him very much. He was promoted to grass protection officer, and later he was promoted to join the army with Wang. He has a close relationship with Xiaoqi General Xiao Luan and often gives him advice.
The new emperor, who ascended the throne after Emperor Wu of Qi, did not ask about politics, but only enjoyed himself, and it was of no help for the minister to remonstrate. As a result, Xiao Luan, who was in power, deposed the new emperor and ascended the throne of Qi Ming Emperor himself.
When Xiao Luan became emperor, he thought of Xiao Yan's contribution to advice, so he was promoted to assistant minister of Ren Zhongshu, and later to assistant minister of Huangmen. Since then, Xiao Yan has gained great fame.
No sooner had Xiao Luan sat in the dragon chair than Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty led an army to attack Qi. Then ordered, Pingbei general Wang to lead troops to meet. Xiao Yan led the army to fight bravely and repelled the Northern Wei army. Ming Di promoted him to be the illegitimate son of the prince.
In 497, the Northern Wei Dynasty once again sent troops to attack Yongzhou in the south.
The following year, the Northern Wei Dynasty defeated the Qi army led by He Cui. However, Emperor Qi Ming did not blame Xiao Yan, but also made him the secretariat of Yongzhou to manage the military and political affairs of Yongzhou. Therefore, Xiao Yan's power was strengthened, which laid the foundation for the future struggle for the throne.
Strive for strength, build a beam and destroy Qi Xiaoluan. After five years as emperor, he died of illness and his son Xiao Baojuan succeeded to the throne. This is the famous Donghuhou in history.
Xiao baojuan is incompetent and bossy. When he first became emperor, he killed innocent people and many heroes suffered. Xiao Yan was very dissatisfied with this, and gradually formed a fire and water trend with Donghuhou, and privately discussed with the Ministry to abolish Donghuhou, and everyone expressed their support. In order to find an excuse to send troops, he made Xiao Baorong, who was the king of Nankang at that time, emperor and actively contacted important officials in the DPRK. Xiao Baojuan couldn't resist the internal and external attack and was deposed by Xiao Yan. He made great contributions to Xiao Baorong's accession to the throne and was promoted to Fu, thus gaining greater power.
Xiao Yan was in charge of Qi State. He had the idea of becoming emperor on his own, but he was not in a hurry to act, but waited patiently for the opportunity. Fan Li and Shen Yue were his close friends, and they advised him to inherit the throne. They joined other ministers in forcing Xiao Baorong to step down. Xiao Yan refused at first, but when Xiao Baorong's surrender letter arrived, he pretended to dodge it. Later, ministers begged him to be proclaimed emperor as soon as possible, and he accepted it, as if he had to promise.
In the spring of 502, he proclaimed himself emperor and changed Qi to Liang Wei.
■ Monk Emperor, devoted to Buddhism, was introduced to China from the Eastern Han Dynasty, and gradually flourished after Wei and Jin Dynasties. During the Song and Qi Dynasties, Jiankang became the center of Buddhism in the Southern Dynasties. Many ordinary people with empty spirits fell at its door. Xiao Yan has long been interested in the theory of causal reincarnation. When he became emperor, he deeply regretted that his parents and wife died young and could not share wealth. At the same time of regret, I often fantasize that it would be great if people could cross over and plan the afterlife after death, and maybe they could see their parents and wives in their lifetime, as Buddhists say. In this way, unconsciously, Xiao Yan became more and more fascinated by Buddhism. Liang Wudi Tian Jian bathed in Buddhism for three years. On the spur of the moment, Xiao Yan wrote a Buddhist article, announcing that he would give up Taoism and turn to Buddhism. Afterwards, Xiao Yan regretted it a little, because he was still enterprising at that time, and it was impossible for an enterprising person to truly believe in Buddhism. After Tian Jian's five-year Northern Expedition failed, Xiao Yan's enterprising spirit suffered a heavy blow and began to serve the Buddha sincerely. In his poems about the Three Religions, Xiao Yan once described his youth's study in Kong Zhou, his weak position in six classics, his middle-aged view of Taoism, his fame and fame unknown, and his book published in his later years, which still reflects the course of the stars in the moon. Xiao Yan really devoted himself to Buddhism in his later years.
Xiao Yan devoted himself to Buddhism and lived an ascetic life. He only eats one meal a day, full of coarse grains of bean soup. No drinking, no music. Wear a cloth, a cotton tent, a hat for three years and a bed for two years. No more sleeping with women after 50. It is also required that the harem maids are abstinent, and they usually mop the floor without clothes, which is not beautiful.
However, despite being stingy with himself, Xiao Yan was extremely generous to Buddhism. Tian Jian Jianguangzhai Temple commemorates his third birthday, and it is still based on his old house of Sanqiao, which is not too extravagant. Soon, the money from the national treasury will be used to build the Du Zhi to commemorate my dead mother, the Great Love Sutra to commemorate my dead father and the Jiefang Temple to commemorate my dead wife. Among them, the Great Love Temple is large in scale and spends the most money. Xiao Yan's children's in-laws Wang Qian have 80 acres of fertile land. Near the Great Aijing Temple, Xiao Yan forcibly bought it with money as the manor of the Great Aijing Temple, which made Wang Qian very angry. Later, Xiao Yan built temples such as Filial Piety, Fairy Cave, Equivalence, Quanshan, Zisheng and Tongtai, and expanded the Asoka Temple. Tongtai Temple, located at the back door of the palace, is the place where Xiao Yan practiced himself. It was built in the first year of Datong, Liang Wudi, and it cost a lot, ranking first among all temples.
There is a nine-story tower, two three-story Prajna paramita, six halls of great heroes, more than ten small halls and Buddhist temples, which are resplendent and dazzling. In the 12th year of Datong, Liang Wudi, Tongtai Temple was destroyed by fire, and then rebuilt, with 12-story towers, which were bigger than before.
Xiao Yan not only devoted himself to serving the Buddha, but also stipulated that the royal family, civil and military officials and ordinary people should also devote themselves to serving the Buddha. Jiang Ge, the chief historian of Linchuan Wang Fu, believed in Buddhism, but Xiao Yan didn't know it. He thought that he was as anti-Buddhist as Fan Zhen, so he warned: Don't trust the results in the world.
He also wrote a poem of consciousness, which is 500 words long. There is a paragraph that says: Only hard work can overcome self-cultivation; Can you suddenly explode because he will be sentenced to death? To tell brother Jiang and your tour.
Jiangge had nowhere to argue, so he had to go to the temple and be punished again. Xiao Yan condescending, strict supervision, royalty, civil and military officials often meet with Xiao Yan day and night, so it is hard to escape. Ding Lingguang, Xiao Yan's aristocratic wife, accompanied Xiao Yan to eat bean soup and recite Buddhist scriptures and Brahma spells every day. Life was extremely boring. Most of Xiao Yan's brothers and philosophers also went to temples to accept the precepts. Needless to say, civil and military officials. In order to win the favor of Xiao Yan, they competed to show how sincerely they served the Buddha. Prime ministers He, Shang Zuozuo, Geng, and Zhongshu Sheren Ren are all famous for believing in Buddhism.
In this case, the common people naturally want to believe in Buddhism. Tao Hongjing, who has been a Taoist for most of his life, suddenly claimed that he dreamed that the Buddha had given him a bodhisattva called Victory Bodhisattva, so he went to the temple to receive the Five Commandments. Hermit Liu Huifei, Liu Luan, Yu E, etc. Copy Buddhist scriptures and do Dojo all day. The common people, however, cut blood to copy scriptures, cut stocks to feed birds, go on a hunger strike to participate in meditation, and light a lamp to wear the heart, which is bizarre. Under the call of Xiao Yan, more and more people converted to Buddhism. Liang Chaoyou100000 monks and nuns.