In this life, Lu Zhishen was just like Brother Pingtou, either fighting or on the way to fight. The difference is that Flathead Brother has no principles in fighting. As long as he is provoked, whether it is a lion or a poisonous snake, he will fight with others. Lao Lu is different. He admires heroes and specializes in attacking evil people who bully good people. He beat Zhen Guanxi to death since he appeared on the scene, and even knocked over Fang La before his death. In his life, he killed many bad people.
Lu Zhishen beat Zhen Guanxi to death and became a monk in Wutai Mountain, and later went to Daxiangguo Temple.
During this journey, he was not idle either. He beat the bully Zhou Tong, saved Liu Taigong's daughter, and joined forces with Shi Jin in the Crock Temple to kill Cui Daocheng and Qiu Xiaoyi. Among them, Cui Daocheng is a monk, while Qiu Xiaoyi is a Taoist priest. The book says he is a Taoist, and some people believe that a monk can also be called a Taoist. But judging from the clothing, Qiu Xiaoyi is a Taoist priest, not a monk.
Of course, in this story, Lu Zhishen is the protagonist. After Shi Jin helped him, he went to Shaohua Mountain to become a bandit.
So, why did Lu Zhishen kill the monks and Taoist priests in the Crock Temple? In other words, why did the author arrange this scene with Lu Zhishen? What was he trying to express?
First of all, it shows that Lu Zhishen hates evil as much as he hates it
Qiu Xiaoyi and Cui Daocheng are both evil people. They drove away the monks in the Crock Temple, burned, killed, looted, and raped women. Several old monks in the temple who could not walk were so frightened that they committed suicide after informing Lu Zhishen about the identities of Qiu Xiaoyi and Cui Daocheng. Even the civilian girl later committed suicide. This shows how bad these two people are on weekdays.
In addition, when Qiu Xiaoyi first appeared on the stage, he sang very shameless poems. The content is: When you are in the east, I am in the west. You have no man and I have no wife. I am free when I have no wife, but you are so lonely when you have no husband. This poem doesn't require much explanation, you can understand it at a glance. A serious Taoist priest would not sing such a song. Not to mention, the two of them also occupied civilian girls.
Because of this, Lu Zhishen and Shi Jin later beat these two people to death. This move can express Lu Zhishen's hatred of evil.
Secondly, it shows the gradual emergence of Lu Zhishen’s Buddha nature
Looking at the name of this monk, you will find it a bit strange.
Cui Daocheng is a monk, but his name has the character Dao, and it is "Daocheng". I don't know, he thought he was a Taoist master; while Qiu Xiaoyi is Daoran, but there is the character Qiu in his name, and Qiu has " "Bhikkhu" means Bhikkhu belongs to the Buddhist sect. These two people can be said to be both Buddhist and Taoist. However, it is obvious that the two are on the evil side of Buddhism.
By extension, these two people are the evil side of Lu Zhishen's heart. Beating these two people to death further demonstrates Lu Zhishen's Buddha nature.
This bridge section has the same performance in Journey to the West.
In the tenth chapter, it is said that when the four masters and disciples of Tang Monk left Chenjiazhuang, they encountered six robbers. The original worry. This name is really weird. How can any normal person be called this name? So, this is a metaphor.
The so-called eyes, ears, tongue, nose, body and mind are actually the "six roots" in Buddhism, because the eyes can see, the ears can hear, the tongue can taste, the nose can smell, the body can experience, and the consciousness can be confused. , these are all obstacles that interfere with people's pure cultivation. The six impure roots are called "six thieves". If you cannot control these six things, you will not be able to become a Buddha. If you want to become a Buddha, you must clean up these six thieves. Therefore, in Journey to the West, Sun Wukong said that he was the master of six bandits and eventually killed them.
When Sun Wukong killed the six thieves and his six roots were pure, it was the time for him to become a Buddha. Even if he did not officially become a Buddha, it at least meant that he had the conditions to become a Buddha.
In Water Margin, Lu Zhishen beat to death the monks and Taoist priests of the Crock Temple, for the same reason. Lu Zhishen killed these two people and eliminated his evil side, which was the beginning of his becoming a Buddha. The difference is that Sun Wukong killed six thieves alone, while Lu Zhishen and Shi Jin killed two.
In fact, Wu Song in Water Margin is more like Sun Xingzhe. Walking on Centipede Ridge at night and killing Wang Daoren are also like the scenes where Sun Wukong killed the six thieves. Of course, Water Margin was written before Journey to the West.