Maoshan, Jurong, Jiangsu, is known as the "Shangqing Altar" by Taoists. There is "the first blessed land, the eighth cave heaven"

It is the birthplace of the Shangqing School, a famous school of Taoism in China, and the location of the Maoshan School of Taoism, which is famous for catching ghosts and subduing demons in the world, and the literati call it "the Qin and Han Dynasty Immortal Mansion, the home of the Prime Minister of Liang and Tang Dynasties"

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During the Han Dynasty, there were three Mao brothers in Xianyang, Shaanxi, brother Mao Ying, second brother Mao Gu, and third brother Mao Zhen, because they saw through the red dust, and wrote "only to see the willow green in spring, and see the chrysanthemum yellow in the autumn wind, and the glory is finally the dream of three watches, and the wealth is also the same as the frost in September"

sighed, and then sought the mountain to cultivate.

When I visited this mountain, I saw the forest towering to the sky, the green shade covered the sun, the grass was like grass, and the lemongrass was everywhere, so I stayed in the mountain to live in seclusion, cultivate the Tao, collect medicine and alchemy, and save the world.

After a long time, the Mao brothers finally achieved positive results and were ranked in the immortal class.

Therefore, the descendants built the Sanmao Taoist Temple, called them Sanmao Zhenren, and called the mountain Sanmao Mountain, also referred to as Maoshan Mountain, which is the origin of the Maoshan faction.

Maoshan faction is famous for its exquisite Taoism, the disciples in the door are mostly strong and aggressive attack Taoism, because Maoshan disciples pay attention to walking the rivers and lakes to help the world, so the story of Maoshan disciples catching ghosts and subduing demons is widely spread everywhere, especially in South China and Southeast Asia, Maoshan Taoist once became a symbol of Chinese Taoism, people will want to wear a yellow Taoist robe, holding a peach wood sword and an evil bell, using a variety of means to ward off evil spirits and ghosts to play Maoshan Taoism vividly and exquisitely.

Maoshan is not far from the northwest of Zhejiang, but the traffic at that time was also inconvenient, Cha Wenbin and the fat man and Ye Qiu had to go to the county seat to change cars to the provincial capital, and then take the car to Zhenjiang, and then transfer to the car to Jurong.

At that time, Maoshan was not as brilliant as it is now, and there were not so many tourists, and the slightly dilapidated Taoist temples and narrow mountain roads were telling the story of history.

On the mountain road, the porters hummed trumpets, and in narrow places they could only lean close to the stone wall to let the sweaty men go first, and the fat man wondered: "How can there be a team carrying materials everywhere?" ”

Cha Wenbin sighed and said: "The prosperity of Maoshan is long gone, this should be rebuilding......

In fact, the fate of the Maoshan sect and the fate of Taoism are indeed very similar, and there are as many as 257 palaces and Taoist temples in Maoshan at its peak, with more than 5,000 houses.

During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, this thousand-year-old dojo did not escape the catastrophe, because it was destroyed by the Taiping army, and at the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were still "three palaces and five views".

The three palaces are Chongxi Wanshou Palace, Jiuxiao Wanfu Palace, Yuanfu Wanning Palace, and the five views are Deyou Guan, Renyou Guan, Yuchen Guan, Baiyun Guan, Ganyuan Guan.

In September 1938, the Japanese invaders swept Maoshan Mountain, burned down more than 90% of the Taoist houses, and looted a number of very valuable Taoist classics and physical objects, but the final destruction was in the hands of their own people.

In the "Cultural Revolution" more than ten years ago, the Maoshan Taoist Temple was destroyed again, and only some ruins remained.

It was not until after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the People's Republic of China that the religious policy was implemented, and the government allocated funds to rebuild the Jiuxiao Wanfu Palace and the Yuanfu Wanning Palace, which is now collectively known as the Maoshan Taoist Academy.

When they went, Maoshan was in full swing to carry out the construction period, and the Taoist temples were mostly located in the dense places of high mountains and forests, and the roads up and down the mountains were very steep, and many materials could only rely on people to carry horses.

Along the way, the procession stretched like ants, in fact, in that catastrophe, it was not only the Maoshan faction, many folk Taoist priests changed their professions for fear of being criticized, some became farmers, and some went to the city to engage in business, saying that the Cultural Revolution was the last straw that broke the Chinese native religion is not false at all.

And those that have been rebuilt like the Maoshan School are some famous Taoist temples in some famous mountains and rivers, and some of them are small or not famous, and there is no future.

On the way to the foot of the mountain, I didn't meet half a Taoist priest, the construction site was in full swing, the reinforced concrete was bright, and the pillars were placed on the ground one by one with paint.

Back then, there were no less than a thousand pillars used to support each courtyard, each of which was a towering tree that could barely be held by one person, and only the middle section was taken, and the two ends were definitely the same thickness.

The hand-carved carvings are so exquisite, and the ground paved with green bricks will not be damaged no matter how you smash it.

Now the new courtyard is two-thirds complete, the wooden pillars have been replaced by concrete pillars, the green bricks have been turned into concrete blocks, and the exposed steel bars are even a little glaring.

On the way here, they heard that Maoshan will become a scenic spot after it is repaired, and there are five A's, which is said to be the highest honor.

The locals who talk about this are relishing, becoming a scenic spot means that they have business opportunities, a steady stream of pilgrims will bring them rich benefits, and then think about coming to this Maoshan Mountain in the future, I am afraid that it will not be possible to give tickets, and the iron fence raised around it has explained everything...... After some inquiry, the workers on the construction site said that there were several small rooms behind the main hall and there were Taoist priests.

Following the guidance of the worker, Cha Wenbin saw several dilapidated and simple huts like thatched houses, and the building materials placed outside were like hills, carefully bypassing those obstacles, Cha Wenbin buckled the wooden door with copper rings and mottled and said, "Is there anyone inside?" ”

After a while, a Taoist man with white hair and a shabby Taoist robe opened the door and asked, "Who are you looking for?" ”

"Is Rong Ping here?"

"Rong Ping?"

The old Taoist looked at Cha Wenbin and turned around and retreated back and said, "We don't have this person here, you are looking for the wrong one." ”

"Squeak"

With a bang, the wooden door was closed, and the fat man took the first step to hold down the door and said: "Why is there no such person, he is a disciple of your Maoshan faction, and he is the former thief king Rongping......"

"Nope,"

The old Taoist no longer talked to the fat man, this time the fat man only felt that there was a heavy force coming from the wooden door and pushed him straight out, "Bang"

With a bang, the door is shut!

"This old man has so much strength, if he doesn't have it, he won't have it, why is he so cold."

He looked at Cha Wenbin and said, "Are all Maoshan Taoist priests so individual?" ”

"Maybe he's really not there."

Cha Wenbin looked around, this is the only place that is not under construction, so he went to knock on the door again, and after a while, the old Taoist came out, he frowned and said: "I have already told you, there is no Rongping here, please look elsewhere." ”

"Old Daoist,"

Cha Wenbin pressed his hand into the crack in the door and said, "Since Rong Ping is not here, then may I ask if I can come and place the head of your faction." ”

The old man looked at Cha Wenbin suspiciously and said, "Who are you?" ”

Cha Wenbin hurriedly took out the big seal he was carrying and said: "The younger generation is Cha Wenbin, the head of Tianzheng Dao, and the family teacher is Qingfeng Dao man Ma Sufeng, who was originally a fire Taoist priest in the northwest of Zhejiang, but the nameless small sect also has some roots in the noble faction, and he came to worship the mountain after passing through this Maoshan blessed land. ”

Lao Dao pointed to the construction site that was in full swing outside and said: "Look, look at it, I have a few rooms here, and you can look at the halls outside." ”

After that, he was going to close the door again, this time the fat man couldn't stand it anymore, and took a step forward and said: "You old man is so rude, and he said that he is a monk, even if the pilgrims come, they can't refuse to leave the door, not to mention that we Cha Ye Tang Tang A head of the family even ate behind closed doors when he visited, isn't it that you regard this mountain as your family's private property!" ”

The fat man's throat was loud and there was a shout, and then an old voice came from inside: "Who is outside, why is it so noisy?" ”

The old man turned around and said, "Senior brother, a few people who claim to be Tianzheng Dao say that they want to come to find Rong Ping, and I have explained to them that there is no such person, but the other party refuses to leave and is entangled here. ”

At this time, an old man came out of the inner room, this person opened the door half open, glanced at Cha Wenbin a few times, and said, "You said that your master is Ma Sufeng?" ”

Cha Wenbin replied: "In the next day, Cha Wenbin visited his seniors, and Ma Sufeng was the family teacher. ”

The man nodded and said, "If you are a fellow Daoist, come in......"

"Didn't the senior brother in charge say ......"

"Alas, the senior brother in charge said that he would not let idle people and others trespass into the Taoist hall, but he didn't say that he would not let Taoist friends come in with him, then Ma Sufeng I know that I had a relationship with him decades ago."

After entering, Cha Wenbin learned that the Taoist priest who opened the door before was called Kong Chengzi, and later this was his senior brother Liu Yangzi, who said as he walked: "It's unfortunate that you came, the senior brother in charge went down the mountain a few days ago, and it is estimated that it will take a while to come back, and there is a bit of chaos here." ”

Cha Wenbin saw that this Liu Yangzi was easier to talk to, so he asked: "Senior, I originally had a friend named Rong Ping, and when I separated from him half a year ago, he said that he would return to Maoshan, and I don't know if your faction has re-accepted him?" ”

Liu Yangzi paused and said, "Rong Ping, this person is indeed no longer in Maoshan now, but I can take you to meet someone, maybe he will give you an answer." ”

Walking to the last hut, Cha Wenbin, who was far away, heard someone chanting the Taoist scriptures inside, Liu Yangzi pointed to the door and said: "That person is inside, Taoist friends, please take care of yourself......"

Cha Wenbin gently pushed open the door, the room was dimly lit, three fairy-like portraits were in the center, and there was a desk in front of it, on which incense burners were placed.

There were a few gossip-like futons on the ground, and there was a Taoist who was meditating on the futon with his back to them, presumably the one who was reciting the scriptures.

Taking a step forward, Cha Wenbin bowed and said: "Senior, I am here to find someone, thanks to the guidance of Liu Yangzi's seniors, I have come to visit, may I ask where is a disciple named Rong Ping in this Maoshan now?" ”

The man's ears trembled suddenly, and then a voice said: "Rong Ping is dead, there is no Rong Ping in the world, Brother Cha,"

After saying that, the man slowly got up and turned around and said softly: "Return to the truth in the next road number, and don't come unharmed if you don't see it for many days!" ”