Zhang Sanfeng, whose real name is Tong, whose real name is Junbao and whose real name is Sanfeng. Zhang Sanfeng is a legend of Taoism, and many rulers after the Song Dynasty revered Zhang Sanfeng. Because Zhang Sanfeng is a master of practicing Dan Dao, it is said that many magical deeds have happened to him, and also because of Zhang Sanfeng's longevity. According to legend, Zhang Sanfeng lived through the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties for more than 200 years.
So is Zhang Sanfeng really so long-lived in history? Although there are many suspicious places in the historical records, let's look at his life track through the records of historical materials!
The controversy about Zhang Sanfeng is mostly about its life span. Because Zhang Sanfeng was recorded in the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it is difficult for many people to tell how old he lived. Some people think that Zhang Sanfeng lived for more than 2 10 years, while others think that there are three different Zhang Sanfeng with the same name, all of whom are Taoist priests, and it is difficult to distinguish historical materials.
The record of Zhang Sanfeng's life is more based on his own works. In Zhang Sanfeng's "Climbing the Ladder", which describes his self-cultivation process, the first sentence is: "The big yuan floats far away, waving like a halberd." It means that you are from the Yuan Dynasty. Zhang Sanfeng wrote a "Wandering Song" in "Before Clouds and Waters", including a sentence "Wandering Song, Wandering Song, Killing in Forty-eight Years". The time of this poem is in the 31st year of Zhiyuan, namely 1294, which shows that Zhang Sanfeng should have been born in 1247, the seventh year of Song Lizong's Spring Festival.
In Wang Xiling's Biography of Mr. Sanfeng: "In the first year of Yanyou, at the age of 67, he began to enter the south, met a real dragon and spread to the avenue." Yan Youqi refers to 13 14 to 1320. In the first year of Yanyou, Zhang Sanfeng was 67 years old. Later, his birth time is also 1247, which is just the time evidence in his own poems.
1247 Although Yuan was not established, Zhang Sanfeng was a native of Liaodong. 1234 After the Jin Kingdom was destroyed in the Song Dynasty, the whole area north of the Yangtze River was under the jurisdiction of Mongolia. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with Zhang Sanfeng calling himself Yuan Man.
Zhang Sanfeng had an experience as an official when he was young. From the poems of "Send the old man to the cheap pavilion" and "Send the bitch to Jiangling" in Water Gathering, we can see that Zhang Sanfeng was recommended by Lian Pingzhang to be an official in North Korea. He has great respect for Lian Pingzhang and is grateful for his support. 1274, after the death of Lian Pingzhang, although Zhang Sanfeng was only 27 years old at this time, on the one hand, due to the death of Lian Gong, on the other hand, due to the decline of Han Confucianism in the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Sanfeng became more and more determined to practice.
There is great controversy about the time of Zhang Sanfeng's death. In the Ming Dynasty, ancient books such as Gao Bu Yi Zhuan, Ming Shan Zang and Shu Ming all recorded that Zhang Sanfeng was "either hidden or present" during the Tianshun period, but "either hidden or present" was a function word, and there was no actual evidence to prove that Zhang Sanfeng was alive at that time. In addition, the records of Zhang Sanfeng Tianshun's three-year visit to Yingzong in Seven Manuscripts and Silent Chronology are not credible, because they are not recorded in the official history.
It is recorded in the Biography of Ji Fang in the Ming Dynasty that "Tianshun was granted a letter as a' penetrating reality' for three years, and whether it can survive or not is unknown", indicating that Tianshun has no trace of Zhang Sanfeng for three years. In order to test whether he was still alive, Yingzong tried to draw the trace of Zhang Sanfeng in the form of patent, but found nothing.
According to Judy's statement that she stopped sending people to look for Zhang Sanfeng after fifteen years of Yongle, it is also unconvincing to think that Zhang Sanfeng died around fifteen years of Yongle. According to the records of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Hong and Judy sought Zhang Sanfeng many times, and wise and kind emperors in feudal times also sought immortals. From Qin Shihuang to Han Wudi to Tang and Song emperors, there are records of taking medicine to seek immortality.
Ming Taizu recorded in Zhou Dian Fairy Biography that he took the elixir of Zhou Dian immortals, so Ming Taizu should seek immortality from Zhang Sanfeng. "Ming History" records that "Mao heard his name, and Hongwu sent an envoy to find it in twenty-four years, but it was not allowed" and "one day he said that he died and died of mourning". Thus, Zhang Sanfeng probably died in the 24th year of Hongwu (139 1). Although there was a record of "being buried, being heard in the museum and being resurrected" afterwards, Zhang Sanfeng's success in monasticism is also reasonable.
In this way, Zhang Sanfeng lived 140 years. Some people say that Judy, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, searched for Zhang Sanfeng many times, which shows that his statement that he was still alive at that time is inaccurate. However, according to the Ming History, Judy sent Hu Ying to look for Zhang Sanfeng many times, in order to "find out whether the emperor was safe". For Judy, finding Wen Jian is far more important than finding Zhang Sanfeng. Probably mainly looking for him, by the way, looking for Zhang Sanfeng. "Biography of Hu Ying in Ming Dynasty" records: "Before the arrival of Ying Ying, it was rumored that the emperor jumped into the sea, and the emperor sent Zheng He, the internal minister, to the Western Ocean for generations, and he was released only after being suspicious."
Fifteen years after Yongle, he stopped looking for news of Zhang Sanfeng because Judy got the news that Wen Jian had gone to sea, so he sent Zheng He to the Western Ocean to look for Zhang Sanfeng instead of looking for it on land. This further proves that Judy only learned the news of His Majesty by looking for Zhang Sanfeng.
There are many titles of Zhang Sanfeng, among them, Zong named him "Sanfeng Immortal" and "Loyal and Filial Immortal", Ming named him "Six Ancestors of Youlong", Mingxi named him "Flying Dragon Showing Great Benevolence to the World", Ming Yingzong named him "Tongwei Showing Real People", Ming Xianzong named him "Hiding its Light" and Mingshizong named him "Qing".
The official history was conferred by many emperors, which shows Zhang Sanfeng's lofty position in Taoism. Zhang Sanfeng was favored by many rulers, not only because he relied on Taoism, but also because of his longevity. Being able to live to at least 140 years old, people and rulers think that it is possible to continue to live in the world after death. I have to say that he has achieved great success in cultivation.
In all kinds of biographies and legends, Zhang Sanfeng has many names, such as slovenly Taoist priest, Sanfeng, strategist and so on. According to legend, he has big ears and round eyes and must have a beard like a halberd. No matter whether you wear a rag in summer or winter, you can eat several liters of rice in one meal, and it doesn't matter if you don't eat it for a few days or even months. Zhang Sanfeng often travels in the sun and attends the Fairy Fair in the Heavenly Palace.
Zhang Sanfeng lived mainly in the Yuan Dynasty and had contacts with the famous painter Huang in the Yuan Dynasty. As one of the top ten famous paintings handed down from ancient times, Fuchun by Huang is still collected by Zhejiang Museum and National Palace Museum in Taipei. In the History of Silent Poetry by Jiang Shaoshu in Ming Dynasty, it was recorded that Huang had traveled to San Wu and made friends with Zhang Sanfeng and others. In his later years, Huang joined Quanzhen, which advocated the unity of the three religions. Zhang Sanfeng's thought was mainly Taoism and compatible with Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. They are very close in cultivation system.
From Taoist Tai Ji Chuan to Neijiaquan, Zhang Sanfeng made great contributions to Taoist Wushu. The Taoist Tai Ji Chuan founded by He Chuan is very different from the folk Tai Ji Chuan. He mainly expounds Taoist thoughts such as Taoist philosophy, internal alchemy, meridians, Yi ology and so on.
In the aspect of Taoist thought, Zhang Sanfeng broke through the shackles of obscure Taoist classics, and sorted out the thoughts of classic works of Dan studies such as Wei Boyang's Tong Canqi, Chen Tuan's Wuji Tu and Zhang Boduan's Wu Zhen Pian, and expressed them in an easy-to-understand way. Many schools of Taoism in Ming and Qing Dynasties were related to Zhang Sanfeng. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were as many as 17 Taoist schools that respected Zhang Sanfeng as their founder.
Although it is impossible to know exactly how Sanfeng lived in Zhang Long from historical records, we can only speculate based on historical data. But the more you study, the more you can understand his magic, and his cultural influence on later cultures can not be ignored.
References:
1, Before the Cloud
2. Biography of Mr. Sanfeng
3. Ming history
4. The history of silent poetry