Riding the wind of rebirth

"Song Dynasty scholar Hong Mai pointed out in his article "Folk Customs Cremation" in Volume 13 of "Rong Zhai Xu Bi" that 'since the Buddhists' cremation theory, people have been burning their bodies everywhere since they died.'"

People in the Song Dynasty said: "According to the custom of Wu and Yue, one must accumulate money before doing anything. As for the poor families, they only try to keep the funeral items simple, so they have always used cremation for convenience, and it has become a custom." "According to the custom of the water towns in Zhejiang, when someone dies, even if they are rich and strong, they do not build a tomb and use the soil to live in peace, but will be cremated like a monk."

"There are many such records. In the "Records of Funeral Clothes for Scholars and Common People" in the "History of the Song Dynasty", there is a memorial from Rong Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue: 'I have heard that the custom in Wu and Yue is that funerals are very expensive and must be accumulated before they are done. As for the poor families, they only try to keep funeral ceremonies simple, so they have always used cremation for convenience. It has become a custom and is difficult to change.'"

"The custom in Wu and Yue is to accumulate wealth before burying one's deceased father. As for the poorer families, they try to keep funeral rites simple, so they usually cremate the deceased, which has become a custom."

"Zhou Hui's Qingbo Magazine also wrote: 'The custom in the water towns of Zhejiang is that when someone dies, even if they are rich and strong, if they do not build a grave for their grave, they will be burned like a monk.'"

"This was no longer a measure to solve the problem of poverty by making do with what is available, but a custom that even the rich and powerful were accustomed to, and even 'played music...throwing many servants, horses, camels, gold, silver, and cloth made of paper into the fire...After the corpse was burned, they played music again, and everyone sang that the soul of the deceased would be received by the idol and reborn in the other world.' It is estimated that the Chinese custom of burning paper offerings was left over from that time."

"These are mainly influenced by Buddhism. Of course, objective factors such as convenient operation and low cost also play a role, and even affect the top management."

"For example, Wang Dan, the prime minister during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, was a good friend of another politician and writer Yang Yi. Before his death, Wang Dan entrusted Yang Yi to hold his funeral, requesting that 'the bones be buried next to the tomb using the Chakun cremation method, and a thatched tower be built to fulfill his wish.'"

"Of course, this practice violated Confucian etiquette and was later deeply detested by Cheng Yi, Cheng Hao and Zhu Xi. They became representatives of a large number of literati and scholars, advocating funerals according to Confucian etiquette and opposing cremation."

"They believed that 'since Shuye Fei was abolished, cremation has gradually become the norm. Parents and other close relatives were cremated, their clothes and hats were reduced to smoke and dust, their bones and flesh were burned to charcoal, and the spirits were terrified. What pain could be greater than that?'"

"There are also many notes that record people opposing cremation as an act of filial piety and charity."

"For example, Zhu Xi recorded that Wang Shiyu refused to cremate his father: 'When my father died, we were too poor to bury him. Our relatives wanted to follow the custom and cremate him, but he cried and refused to eat for days. Those who saw this were moved and helped him.'"

"The Changgu Collection records: 'The people of the town were poor, and most of the dead were cremated, and it became a custom to bury the dead, and no one cared about it. The teacher told Zeng Gong about the matter and built the Xingxiao Garden on the barren land outside the city, and people thought it was convenient.' And so on."

"It was not until the Ming and Qing dynasties that cremation became associated with unfilial piety and was banned by the government, and burial became the mainstream."

"Elbow likes to say 'charming old ancestor'. It sounds funny at first, but when I hear him say it, I find it quite interesting," said Mai Xiaomiao.

"Yes." Lao Chiri also said: "The key is that Elbow treats everyone equally and is interested in studying the customs of the Yi people. He also categorized them for us, and it became clear to us immediately."

As everyone was chatting, they came to a small stone bridge. However, just when everyone thought that Lao Chi Ri was going to cross the bridge, he stopped by the bridge, cut through a clump of kudzu vines with a machete, and led the horse team down to the river.

It's amazing. Kudzu is a climbing plant that grows vigorously. In a year, it can cover several deliberately placed tree stumps here completely. No one would have thought that there would be a path next to the stone bridge.

Arriving at the riverbank, the horse team turned around and passed under the stone bridge. After bypassing a huge rock beside the stone bridge, everyone came to a hidden path behind the stone bridge. "This place is amazing!" Zhou Zhi understood a little, and turned his head to find that the big rock blocked his view. He could not see the stone bridge at all, and even the small river and Pantuo Village could not be seen.

Since we can't see them here, then if we stand in their positions, we naturally can't see here either.

"This is actually the entrance to a secret place, and you can only enter in winter."

"Why can we only come in in winter?" Chi Xueli also felt that this entrance was truly magical. It was right next to an obvious road landmark. But if no one pointed it out, anyone passing by here would ignore the entrance. But she didn't understand why Zhou Zhi said that this place would be closed according to the season.

"Because the river will flood in summer." Lao Chi Ri answered this question in front: "Elbow is right, and there will be snakes in the woods near the river in summer. Even if people are not afraid, it is no joke to hurt the horse."

Chi Xueli suddenly felt creepy and quickened her pace.

This trail is quite difficult to walk on because no one has walked on it for many years. The plants on both sides block the road, and the grass on the ground also covers the road, and both need to be cleaned manually.

This speed is destined not to be faster.

It was not until we had walked five miles up the mountain, passed through the difficult broad-leaved forest trail, and returned to the top of the coniferous forest belt that the road became easy to walk on.

Zhou Zhi turned his head again and found that Pantuo Village and the river below were covered by clouds. He couldn't help but sigh at the magic of this place: "Which generation of Bimo chose this place? They are really good at finding places."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"How does it compare to the Bodhisattva Cave where you found the Dragon Sutra in Jiachuan?" Chi Xueli knew about Zhou Zhi's search for the Dragon Sutra, so she asked, "I heard that you calculated the location of the Sutra based on the two poems. Is it really that amazing?"

Zhou Zhi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Actually, it's not like that. Those two poems are actually stories about the two great masters Yuanyin and Yuanxiu trying to protect the Dragon Sutra. The two of them made an appointment that year. The monk Yuanyin stayed in the Dharma King Temple to deal with various forces, while the monk Yuanxiu carried the Dragon Sutra into the mountains as a bandit to protect it."

"Later, before his death, Genhide ordered his men to escort him back to the Dharma King Temple and asked Genin to ordain him again. Genin was moved by his fellow disciple's lifelong efforts to protect the Dharma, and recited a stanza when he ordained him: The source of the source came from Mount Lingshan, but after crossing Mount Sumeru several times, it was lost. The Dharma has now returned to the mustard seed, and the two of them, the dragon and the phoenix, are at peace."

"And Yuan Xiu also answered: It is too late to read books in this life, how long will the treasure mountain be guarded in vain? I have read the Dragon Sutra and there are not many words, the clouds are in the blue sky and the shadows are in the pond."

"After hearing this story, I thought the old bandit leader in the story might be the monk Yuanxiu. I then guessed that this was the agreement between the two monks, Wen and Wu, to stay together for the rest of their lives to protect the Longzang Sutra. I also guessed that the Longzang Sutra might have been properly hidden by Yuanxiu, and that's when I decided to look for it."

"Because Yuanxiu named his bandit village Vajra Village, I wondered if the place where the scriptures were stored would also have a name related to Buddhism like Vajra Village. So I searched all the places related to Buddhist stories around the Dharma King Temple, such as Guanyin Cliff, Medicine Master Cave, Lion Mountain, etc. It was also with the protection of the spirits of the two great powers that we finally found the long-lost Dragon Sutra in the Bodhisattva Cave on Lotus Peak." (End of this chapter)