Mituo Temple, located in Wuhe County, Anhui Province, was founded in the thirty-fourth year of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1695), with a history of more than 300 years. Because it is built on the north bank of Tianjing Lake, backed by Jiulong Beach and facing Tianjing Lake, it is a treasure trove of geomantic omen, so it has attracted worldwide attention. When Emperor Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River, he went from the Bianhe section of the Huaibei Grand Canal to Days Mirror Lake Mituo Temple to burn incense and make a wish.
When the seventy-year-old abbot Hongming learned the news, he led the monks of the whole temple to meet him by the lake. After a simple ceremony in the main hall of Mituo Temple, Gan Long had an idea. He wants to test whether monks obey the imperial edict or abide by Buddhist rules and regulations.
He ordered his men to take a lot of boiled eggs to the abbot Hongming and other monks, and ordered them to write a poem about eggs within seven steps. If they met the requirements, they ate the eggs. Otherwise, they will be expelled from Buddhism and sentenced to death for deceiving the monarch. The monks trembled with panic and focused on the old abbot Hongming, who was in his seventies.
The abbot Hongming knew the emperor's intention in his heart. He smiled calmly, holding a boiled egg in his hand, knelt down on one leg, said "thank you for your kindness" and unhurriedly shouted: "The emperor gave me a peach, seedless and hairless; The old monk will take you to the Western Heaven to avoid being stabbed to death. " Old abbot Hongming recited the poem, closed his eyes and wolfed down the eggs.
When Qianlong saw this, he laughed and praised again and again: "The abbot is really powerful, talented and talented." Hearing this, all the monks breathed a sigh of relief and remembered the wisdom and merits of the old abbot Hongming.
Actually, Emperor Qianlong didn't mean to kill anyone at all. He had long heard that the abbot of Mituo Temple was superior in wisdom. He just wanted to test the abbot's wisdom and adaptability by saying that eggs are meat. I didn't expect the old abbot Hongming to skillfully describe the surviving fruit of the egg, which solved the problem of Emperor Qianlong and showed the wisdom of the monks, and it was well-deserved.
It is said that because of this incident, Emperor Qianlong specially approved the monks of Mituo Temple so that they could eat eggs from now on without violating the rules. When monks travel in all directions, news spreads from one place to another. Monks all over the world can freely eat eggs as vegetarian food to keep fit. Therefore, when people see monks chewing eggs with relish in any temple, they don't have to worry about violating the rules and regulations.