The 15th day of the seventh lunar month every year is my country’s traditional Ghost Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival. Because of the Buddhist allusion of “Mulian saved his mother”, this festival also has the significance of promoting filial piety. It can be said that the Ghost Festival is a folk festival that integrates Buddhism, Taoism and folk.
When the festival comes, various places will hold grand Zhongyuan Pudu to worship the lonely ghosts who have no heirs. Before worshiping the dead, they often have to worship the Taoist god-Pudu. Sir, today Lao Huangli will introduce you to Pudu Gongmianran Tushi.
Pudu Gong is also known as the Great Master, and his full name is "The Burning Face Master" or "The Burning Face Ghost King". It has an appearance as if it has been scorched by fire. The title of the god in Taoism is "The Lord of the Netherworld, Ming Si, Faced with the Ghost King, Prison Envoy, Yulin Great God" or "The Lord of the Netherworld, the Lord of the Netherworld, Ming Si, Faced with the Ghost King, Zongjie Great Emperor", referred to as "Yulin Great God, Zongjie Great Emperor", respectfully known as Pudu Gong .
As for the origin of the Mianran Master, there is a Buddhist story of "Ananda Meets the Mianran Ghost King". It tells that Ananda, an important disciple of the Buddha, was practicing meditation in the forest when he suddenly saw a man covered in body. The ghost king, who was skinny and bones, with his face blazing with flames, and in extreme pain, came in front of him. The ghost king called himself "Mianran" and said that Ananda would fall into the realm of hungry ghosts in three days. If he wanted to avoid it, he would have to give alms to hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts. The Brahmin gods each gave a piece of dendrobium as food and drink, and made offerings to the Three Jewels.
Ananda reported to the Buddha that the Buddha taught Ananda the "Dharma of Giving Food to Dharani". The food blessed by Dharani became a Dharma offering, and was enshrined in the Three Jewels of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and was given to hungry ghosts and other living beings. It can eliminate the pain of ghosts and make them give up their ghost bodies and be reborn in heaven. Ananda followed the Buddha's teachings and instructions, set up a memorial tablet to the "Mian-burning Master" and set up a fast for the monks to pray for, thus achieving liberation.
Why did the "Ghost King with Burning Face" meet Ananda? There are several Buddhist explanations: First, he is the incarnation of Guanyin, so he is called "Great Master". The second is that he was originally the leader of all ghosts. He was taught by Guanyin and converted to his disciples. From then on, he was called "Master" and became the god who protected the affairs of the Zhongyuan.
In Taoism, it is said that Taiyi saved the suffering god and incarnated as the "Ghost King with Burning Face", dominating the ghosts and protecting the underworld and the yang world. He usually lives at the foot of Wojiao Mountain and is the commander-in-chief of all the ghosts in the underworld. In the month when the local official forgives sins, he is responsible for supervising the affairs of the deceased souls enjoying incense in the world during the Ghost Festival. There are also opinions from some sects such as the Lingbao sect, which believe that there are two gods, "General He" and "General Qiao", who hold this position. For example, the "Lingbao Lingjiao Jidu Jinshu" written by Lin Lingzhen at the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty was written as "the two great saints of Beikui Xuanfan Mansion Shenhu He Qiao".
The Chinese people mostly adopt Buddhist sayings. Whether it is a grand gathering of the Zhongyuan Dynasty, or various types of salvation ceremonies and fasting festivals, the statue of the Great Master is often shaped in a Buddhist form: "Two horns on the top, green face and fangs." , tall and majestic, with a statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva on its head, symbolizing the compassionate Avalokitesvara."
In many places in our country, before worshiping the souls of the dead during the Hungry Ghost Festival, they will first worship the Great Master. Believers believe that in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, all the souls of the dead in the Yang world will be managed by the "Great Master". In Minxiong, Chiayi, Taiwan, there is a Tua Shi Ye Temple dedicated to worshiping "Da Shi Ye".
Some cautious believers will make a statue of the Great Master with paper, and some will use tablets, paintings, wood and stone statues to offer sacrifices, and place the tablet or statue of the Great Master in front of the altar to ensure smooth worship. After July, the statue of the great master is usually cremated and sent to heaven.
In Nanyang, it is the custom of overseas Chinese to hang banners with the words "Namo crossing the lonely Amitabha Buddha" or "Namo dividing the clothes and giving food to the Amitabha Buddha" on the statue of the Great Master during the Purdue Festival in the Zhongyuan Dynasty. On the other hand, if it says "overcoming the suffering of orphans", it hopes that the Buddha will save the souls of the dead and be reborn in the Buddha's kingdom. If it writes "distributing clothes and food", it means praying to Amitabha Buddha to help the great master and evenly distribute paper money, clothes and food to the dead souls of each family.
On the one hand, the image of "Mian-burning Master" comes from the "Miaofa Lotus Sutra", where Guanyin Master "should preach in the form of the ghost king's body when he is saved". It was born out of the need to educate sentient beings in the world of hungry ghosts. On the other hand, it is to warn people not to be greedy and stingy, so as not to fall into the consciousness of hungry ghosts and become dependents of "face burning".
The most common shape of Pudu Gong's face is a statue of the master made of paper, with two horns on the top, green face and fangs, spitting fire from the mouth or sticking out a long tongue, wearing a battle armor. Holding the Pudu flag, he is tall and mighty, and there is a statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva on his head, which represents that he is the ghost king manifested by Guanyin Bodhisattva.
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