Liang Wudi Xiao Yan was born in Zhongli, Nanlanling (now Wujin County, Jiangsu Province). He is knowledgeable and versatile, and knows everything about piano, chess, painting and calligraphy. He was not only brilliant, but also versatile, and was highly praised by celebrities at that time. Wang Xiao of Jingling once opened Xifu to recruit talents. Xiao Yan had frequent contacts with Shen Yue, Xie Tiao, Wang Rong, Xiao Chen, Fan Li, Ren Fang and Liu Shu, and was called "Eight Friends of Jingling". Xiao Yan can be said to be a literati emperor in the Southern Dynasties. Although he later started with military achievements and occupied the world of Xiao Qi, his love for literature grew stronger and stronger as time went on. After he proclaimed himself emperor, although he was very busy, he never forgot to study and often studied all night. Such an emperor was rare at that time.
Xiao Yan's poems are wonderful, and there are more than 80 poems that have been handed down to this day. As early as when Xiao Yan was in contact with Shen Yue, Xie Tiao and others, his poetic talent was well known to scholars. After Xiao Yan proclaimed himself emperor, he often recruited literati to write poems for recreation. Driven by Xiao Yan, many ministers also chanted poems and couplets, which promoted the prosperity of literary atmosphere in the Liang Dynasty.
Thanks to Liang Wudi's diligent study, Xiao Yan has made great achievements in academic field all his life, especially in Confucian classics and history. In the study of Confucian classics, ZSZSZSZ has written more than 200 volumes such as The Book of Changes, Answers to Questions in the Spring and Autumn Period and Confucius' Renyi. In the eleventh year of the prison (AD 5 12), it was compiled into five rites, namely, auspicious, fierce, military, guest and Jia, 1000 volumes and 80 19 articles, which were promulgated and implemented. In historiography, Xiao Yan presided over the compilation and preface of T600-volume General History. Unfortunately, these books have been lost now.
Xiao Yan also has profound attainments in music, and has created many new music works. Also developed four quasi-tones, called "Tong". Pass three strings to push the moon at a time. He also made twelve flutes according to the twelve laws. Each piece is equipped with chimes and chimes, which enriches the expressive force of traditional Chinese musical instruments.
Xiao Yan's chess skills are also superb. Before he became emperor, he often played games with people until late at night. After he proclaimed himself emperor, his interest continued unabated, and many officials were his chess friends. At the end of the game, I forgot who was the king and who was the minister.
In addition, he became interested in painting and admired Zhang Sengyou, a famous painter at that time.
Under the influence and advocacy of Xiao Yan, the development of cultural undertakings in the Liang Dynasty reached its peak since the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
ZSZSZSZ is famous for his outstanding literary talent, but his most outstanding deed is his extreme worship of Buddhism.
Xiao Yan was educated by traditional Confucianism since childhood, but he began to contact and believe in Taoism as an adult, and he did not give up his belief in Taoism after he proclaimed himself emperor. Xiao Yan was closely related to the famous Taoist Tao Hongjing at that time. Whenever military matters need to be judged, he often sends people to the mountains to ask Tao Hongjing for advice, thus making Tao Hongjing the title of "Prime Minister in the Mountain". However, in his later years, Xiao Yan began to abandon Taoism and return to Buddhism, and he praised Buddhism to the extreme.
In order to realize his sincere belief in Buddhism, Xiao Yan became a Buddhist in Tian Jian Prison in the 18th year (AD 5 19) and lived a Buddhist life. In order to carry out his vegetarianism, Xiao Yan wrote "Break the Wine and Meat", forbidding monks to eat meat, and punishing monks who eat meat according to law. At the same time, Xiao Yan himself insisted on being a vegetarian. What's more, Xiao Yan once gave up his status as an emperor and gave his life for Tongtai Temple four times, willing to be a slave of Tongtai Temple. Every time, ministers spent hundreds of millions to redeem him.
Xiao Yan once spent huge sums of money to build temples, including Tongtai Temple, Guangzhai Temple and Du Zhi Temple. He also built Buddha statues in temples, such as the Buddha with infinite longevity and the bronze statue of Maitreya in Guangzhai Temple, and the ten silver statues in Tongtai Temple, and gave the temples a lot of land and wealth.
Xiao Yan has made great achievements in Buddhism. He often goes to monasteries to give lectures to monks and hold various dharma meetings. In September, the first year of Datong (AD 529), Xiao Yan used Tongtai Temple to set up four uncovered conferences, with more than 50,000 participants.
Xiao Yan has rich experience in studying Prajna Sutra, Nirvana Sutra and Prajna Sutra. The main Buddhist works include Notes on Maha Prajna Paramita Sutra, Interpretation of Three Sessions, Interpretation of Nirvana Sutra, Notes on Dajing Sutra, Notes on Jingming Sutra, Interpretation of Conception, Questions and Answers on Prajna Sutra, etc. , and the righteousness of the Buddha.
In the aspect of Buddhist theory, Xiao Yan combined China's traditional theory of mind and nature, the theory of immortality of the soul and the theory of Buddhist nirvana, and put forward the theory of Buddha's nature of true god, arguing that "God becomes Buddha", that is, human spirit and soul are the reasons for becoming Buddha. Xiao Yan also put forward the homology theory of the three religions, arguing that both Confucianism and Taoism originated from Buddhism, and that Laozi and Confucius were disciples of Sakyamuni. It can be seen that the three religions are not only accessible, but also have the same social functions, and they are all educating people and doing good. Xiao Yan's theory of the homology of the three religions occupies a very important position in the history of ancient China thought.
Xiao Yan also strongly supports the translation of Buddhist scriptures, and has given preferential treatment to foreign monks such as Sinhala, Datura and Zhen Zhen. At the same time, Xiao Yan has a close relationship with some famous monks in China and attaches great importance to them. He also organized monks to compile Buddhist works, which greatly promoted the development of Buddhism in China.
With the vigorous promotion of Xiao Yan, Buddhism in the Liang Dynasty reached the peak of Buddhism development in the Southern Dynasties, creating a Buddhist scenic spot of "480 temples in the Southern Dynasties, with many misty rains in the Tadao".
Xiao Yan was emperor for 48 years, the longest reigning emperor in the Southern Dynasties. During his imperial career, he was diligent in governing the country and was determined to innovate in the early stage, abolishing the signing system of Song and Qi Dynasties and increasing the power of kings. In order to reconcile the relationship between the Han people and the gentry, Xu Mian was ordered to revise the Hundred Genealogies to identify the gentry. It's important for both the poor and the gentry. We should regularly select nine schools, learn from the founding of the country, recruit students from five libraries, and select talents without limitation to elegant libraries and Shilin libraries. These measures once promoted the political, economic and cultural development of the Southern Dynasties. However, in his later years, he devoted himself to Buddhism and neglected political affairs, which led to a serious shortage of national finance and a heavy burden on the people. He also led the wolf into the room, leading to chaos in Beijing, and finally starved to death in Taicheng, which also caused a devastating blow to the economy and culture of the Southern Dynasties.