First, the basic introduction of He Xiangu
He Xiangu, one of the Eight Immortals, the only female among the Eight Immortals, has a timely rain. There is a temple in He Xiangu, which has been passed down for thousands of years. It is located in the dragon cave where the lotus flower is upside down, because she emerged as an immortal in this lotus shape, which means two meanings: first, hanging upside down to cater to the wonderful meaning of Fushan Mountain (also known as the whole mountain of Buddha, and the mountain is full of Buddhas), which means that the lotus flower is covered with Buddha's light and shines everywhere; second, it means lotus flower and Buddha. Therefore, her image is holding a lotus flower, so she is nicknamed "Lotus Fairy".
II. Overview of He Xiangu
Those who have a little knowledge of China's traditional culture will be familiar with the stories and legends about the Eight Immortals, namely, eight immortals, namely, Han Zhongli, Zhang Guolao, Tie Guai Li, Cao Guojiu, Lv Dongbin, Han Xiangzi, Lan Caihe and He Xiangu, who diligently cultivated "integrity and virtue" and achieved immortal positions.
He Xiangu is one of the Eight Immortals, and has a wide following in the China world of China. The Eight Immortals Palace has been built in Xi 'an, and there are incense sticks in places like Mount Tai and Wangmu Pond. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, there have been many stories about He Xiangu and Lv Dongbin.
Among the Eight Immortals, He Xiangu is a fairy rich in human feelings. Therefore, the temple fair-"He Xiangu Birthday" is celebrated in many places. The birthday celebration in Zengcheng, Guangzhou, is based on the lunar calendar: the seventh day of March, while the birthday celebration in Baxian Palace in Xi 'an is based on the ninth day of April-the celebration dates are slightly different due to different places.
The origin of He Xiangu's hometown and residence in the world has many sayings, such as Zengcheng in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Anhui and Hunan. There are different opinions, probably because there have been many people celebrating He Xiangu's birthday all over the country, and people often regard He Xiangu as their hometown out of respect, so they should be the elders and immortals. According to the records of the ancient and modern book collection, which quoted the annals of Anqing Prefecture, Qiyang County, Fujian Tongzhi, Zhejiang Tongzhi and Shexian County, there are traces of "He Xiangu" in Tongcheng, Qimen, Wuping, Fujian and Changhua, Zhejiang.
He Xiangu, recorded in Zhejiang Tongzhi and Shexian Zhi, was educated in the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhezong and Yuan You (1086- 1094).
According to the Records of Xiuyan County, Yunxia Ancient Cave, located in the Millennium Holy Land of Leek Valley, Xiuyan County, Anshan City, Liaoning Province, is also one of the eight immortals He Xiangu Dojo in Shangdong. He Xiangu traveled eastward and admired the beautiful scenery, where he collected medicine and practiced alchemy, and named Yunxia Cave.
Third, the historical legends of He Xiangu
He Xiangu, formerly known as He Qiong, was born in an ordinary peasant family in Lingling in the first year of Kaiyao in Tang Gaozong. Locals said that on the day when He Qiong was born, a bright auspicious purple air hung over Hejia's hut, and a group of cranes danced up and down in the purple air. In a short time, a strong sika deer rushed into Hejia carrying a girl with a pigtail and a red Chinese-style chest covering. At this moment, He gave birth to a chubby baby girl.
Speaking of He Qiong's hometown Lingling, it is a beautiful place with beautiful scenery. According to Records of the Historian, "Shun was buried in Jiuqi in the south of the Yangtze River for Lingling." The sage Shun Di was buried in Jiuwei Mountain in Lingling. Lingling City is located at the confluence of Xiao and Xiang rivers, with Hengshan Mountain in Nanyue in the north and Wuling Mountain in the south. It is the gateway of Chu and Yue. There is a mica mountain in the west of Lingling county, which is rich in five-color mica stone, which is an ancient medicine for seeking immortality; A clear and winding stream runs down from the mountain, which is called mica stream, and He Qiong's family is beside the beautiful mica stream.
He Qiong, who grew up drinking mica water, grew up beautiful and witty. Since she was a child, she likes to play and roam by mica creek alone. At the age of fourteen, she met a white-haired old man with a long beard by the mica stream. The old man asked her about some local landscapes, and He Qiong answered them all wisely. The old man was very happy. He took a fresh flat peach from his backpack and gave it to He Qiong. He Qiong took it, thanked the old man, and then ate the flat peach three times and five times. The old man watched her finish eating, nodded with a big smile and turned around and disappeared. After returning home, He Qiong didn't feel hungry for several days, so she didn't want to eat, but her spirit was stronger than before. A month later, He Qiong met Ling by the mica stream again. This time, the old man took her to Yunmu Mountain and taught her how to collect mica and how to take it. He Qiong, according to his words, eats mica on the mica mountain every day, and gradually feels as light as a swallow, traveling to and from the top of the mountain and walking like a fly. In addition, she can identify and pick all kinds of herbs in the mountains, treat all kinds of diseases for the people nearby, and predict the personnel, so people around her call her "He Xiangu."
The news of He Qiong's immortality spread from one word to another, and spread further and further, and finally reached the ears of Wu Zetian, the imperial official of Beijing.
At that time, Wu Zetian was the queen of Tang Gaozong, but she held the real power of the imperial court. Wu Zetian believed in Buddhism under the influence of her mother since childhood, and when she became a queen, she tried her best to promote Buddhism in the palace and throughout the country, hoping to overwhelm the Taoist momentum respected by the Li and Tang Dynasties, and used some Buddhist scriptures as the theoretical basis for her usurpation of the throne. Buddhism "Faxiangzong" preaches "two emptiness", that is to say, self and everything should be regarded as empty and nothingness, so as to achieve the lofty realm of the integration of all things in the universe and me; In layman's terms, it is to understand with your heart, so that you can forget everything, and then you can soar in the daytime, walk on clouds and live forever. Wu Zetian was very convinced of this. When she heard that there was a He Xiangu in Lingling, she was able to travel freely on the top of the mountain, and she was very interested. She specially sent someone to visit and gave He Xiangu a morning glow suit. He Xiangu accepted the morning glow suit and put it on cheerfully. The people around him heard the news and came from all directions to look at it. I saw He Xiangu's body shining and dazzling, as if he were a fairy; Villagers looked at frightened, involuntarily qi qi knelt on the ground and prostrated themselves before He Xiangu. He Xiangu was quite complacent, but her mother was greatly frightened and thought, "Who dares to marry such a daughter!"
As expected, when He Xiangu was eighteen, her mother earnestly asked the matchmaker to choose a husband for her. Although He Xiangu was as beautiful as flowers, no one dared to marry her because of her great skill. What mother worried, He Xiangu himself as if nothing had happened, all day out of rural Shan Ye, busy collecting herbs to treat people, had a very fulfilling life.
One day, He Xiangu went deep into the dense forest of Mica Mountain to collect herbs, and met two magical people. Among them, there was a lame old man with an iron crutch, a huge wine gourd on his back, and a beggar-like appearance. The other is dressed in a neat blue shirt, holding a medicine hoe and carrying a medicine basket on his shoulder, and his expression is very elegant. Not far in front of He Xiangu, the two men sang and murmured. In a short time, they flew away and suddenly disappeared. These two men were Tie Guai Li and Lan Caihe in the Eight Immortals. He Xiangu paid attention to their appearance, chanting the formula of stealing learning, thinking that he could fly over the valley in Feng Ling like them. Since then, she has often quietly come to the mountains to practice, and her posture has become more and more skilled, and she can fly farther and farther. She used this kind of kung fu to often fly to distant mountains, go back and forth, and bring back some strange mountain fruits for her family to taste. The family felt sweet and delicious after eating them, but they didn't know what kind of fruits they were.
Seeing that she went out early and came back late every day, Mother He was suspicious and asked her where she had been and what she had done. He Xiangu couldn't beat her mother, so she said that she went to the famous mountain fairyland to talk about Buddhism and Taoism with the immortal Buddha every day. Gradually, the news that He Xiangu was familiar with Buddhism and Taoism spread again. When Wu Zetian heard about it, she sent an envoy to Lingling to get ready for the funeral, and called He Xiangu to Luoyang, the eastern capital, to discuss Buddhism and Taoism. All the officials came to Luoyang city with He Xiangu. While waiting for the boat to cross Luoshui, all of them suddenly disappeared from sight of He Xiangu. The envoys panicked and hurriedly ordered people to look around, but they didn't find any clues. Everyone was so scared that they sat in a daze by the Luohe River. At dusk, He Xiangu flew down in the air and told the emissary in no hurry: "I have gone to the Forbidden Palace to see Tianhou, and you can report back to the DPRK."
The envoys returned to Luoyang Palace in a dubious way. When they inquired, it was sure that He Xiangu had visited Wu Hou that day and had a long talk with her in the palace for half a day, which surprised the envoys.
It is said that He Xiangu talked with Wu Hou about the art of immortality in the palace. She persuaded Wu Hou that to live a long life, we must first achieve lust, silence and see through fame and fortune; Secondly, we should do more good deeds, curb torture, prohibit false waste, implement benevolent policies, and Xiu De will accumulate blessings. At the same time, she also talked about the way of governing the country and keeping the country safe. She must be close to the sages and far away from the villains, and never take a different surname as an heir. What she said was actually very targeted at Wu Hou.
Wu Hou is a wise man. After listening to He Xiangu's reasonable words, she gradually put them into action. Soon, a group of cruel officials such as Lai Junchen were punished by law. Then Di Renjie, the sage, was reused: As for the heir, Wu Hou wanted to make his nephew Wu Chengsi a prince, but under Di Renjie's loyal advice, she followed the advice of Xiangu and gave up her original intention of adopting a different surname. As for abstinence, abstinence, seeing through fame and fortune, Wu Zetian, who has been addicted to lust and power, has never been able to do it, so-called to the point where she is lost.
In order to reward He Xiangu's kindness, Wu Zetian specially ordered the local officials of Lingling to build a magnificent Huixian Pavilion at the Phoenix Terrace in the south of Lingling, as a place where He Xiangu preached the Dharma. After preaching, He Xiangu often sat on the stone steps in front of the museum, peeled off a round fairy fruit, and threw it around casually. Later, around the Huixian Museum, there were lychee trees, and the lychees on these trees were all green and green lychees. People called them "lychees hanging green on the phoenix platform".
He Xiangu also wrote a poem "Phoenix Terrace":
Phoenix mica is like smallpox, refined into hibiscus and white clouds;
Laughing fanatics have no opinions, and where to find cinnabar.
On the surface, this poem is about the Phoenix Terrace, but in fact, it hides the true meaning of taking food and seeking truth, and the method of taking mica. People say that He Xiangu is a Taoist believer from the characteristics of taking food and practicing; Some people attributed her to a Buddhist disciple according to the ideological content of her sermon. In fact, He Xiangu can be said to be a Taoist and a Buddhist, but not a Taoist and non-Buddhist figure. It has reached the realm of harmony between man and nature. How can earthly Buddhism and Taoism frame her?
One day, He Xiangu was suddenly inspired and wrote a poem entitled "Ma Gufeng":
Ma Gu laughed at me for falling in love with the hubbub of dust, and I was far away from Xianfan Road.
Fly to Cangzhou to get the bright moon, and ride the yellow crane to listen to the flute.
This poem full of fairy rhyme seems to imply some kind of omen. Sure enough, one day in the first year of Tang Zhongzong Jinglong, 26-year-old He Xiangu sat on the Phoenix Platform, looking up at the distant sky, and suddenly saw Tie Guai Li standing in the distant cloud, waving his iron crutch, as if to greet her. Unconsciously, He Xiangu's body like Cai Feng Ran Ran rises, volley, followed by Tie Guai Li. A beaded shoe on her foot fell to the ground at this moment. The next day, a well suddenly appeared where the beaded shoe fell. The well water was clear and sweet, and it smelled like a strange fragrance. The well field around it was shaped like a bow shoe. The local people built a He Xiangu Temple next to the well, and the incense flourished day by day. Because the water in the well was not only cool and thirsty, but also cured all kinds of diseases, it was talked about by people from far and near.
It has been more than 30 years since Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty became an immortal in He Xiangu. After a day of heavy rain, the blue sky was like washing, and people in Lingling saw a colorful auspicious cloud drifting leisurely. He Xiangu stood in the clouds in a sunrise suit, and while people knelt down to worship, a bunch of yellow silk fell from the air to the Phoenix Platform, which read this poem:
Mica creek wins the rooftop, and thousands of trees blossom;
Jade flute blows through Huanglong Cave, so don't lead it across the crane.
Send a message to the Zhang family and the Li family, and the body will be idle;
Penglai's weak water is now clear and shallow, and the ground is covered with flowers to protect the moon.
The fairy has entered Ziwei, and the water town is still slow to look back;
For thousands of years, I left my shoes by the well and said that I knew them with the fairy of Caotang.
The poem contains nostalgia for the scenery of hometown, exhortation to the villagers, and an account of the lonely feelings of the immortal life, persuading mortals to cherish their lives. It's really "everyone says that immortals are good, but immortals have troubles. When advising you to cherish mortals, don't wait for time to disappear!"
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