readx; Now that the entire storyline of Journey to the West has been finished, let's go back and see what kind of story this is. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

To a large extent, it is actually a story of monks, Taoism and Confucianism contending, monarchs and subjects entangled, and then the two in one are mixed together. Therefore, if you want to know what Journey to the West wants to express, you need to know some information about Buddhism.

Let's talk about Taoism first, Buddhism is also interspersed with more nonsense. Taoism is native to our country, and its belief purpose is "Tao". With "Tao" as the highest belief, the ancestor is naturally Lao Tzu, mainly believing in Lao and Zhuang thoughts, and later gradually added some ideas of Confucianism and Buddhism, and also derived two major factions of Jindan and Fu Zheng. However, to say that it is Taoism is actually two different things from the so-called "Tao" of the Taoist pioneered by Lao Tzu, and the "Tao" of Taoism is basically just a disguise. Lao Tzu's "Dao" is difficult to describe in words, even Lao Tzu thinks that he reluctantly uses "Dao" instead, and I am afraid that Lao Tzu himself knows a little confused, and he can't really know this "Dao". Then who can explain it clearly, this is really enough. Anyway, the Tao Te Ching is more than 5,000 words, and it is no less difficult to understand than an encyclopedia, not to mention that it seems that everyone's understanding is not the same, and it is impossible to come up with an authoritative explanation.

Speaking of the origin of Taoism, we cannot fail to talk about Lao Tzu, a great Han figure whose surname is Li Ming'er and the word Dan. He was born circa 571 BC and died in 471 BC.

Lao Tzu is very great, he created Taoist culture, left his own doctrine and thought "Lao Tzu", later generations sorted out and named "Tao Te Ching" (but it should be "Tao Tao Jing" is more in line with Lao Tzu's original meaning), including "Tao can be Tao, not constant Tao." The name can be named, but not the eternal name", "Heaven and earth are unkind to all things as dogs, and saints are unkind to the people as dogs" and so on.

His ideas can be said to be simple dialectical materialism, which has had a great influence on later generations. Therefore, he was even considered the ancestor of the surname Li by Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty, and later named Laozi as Emperor Taishang Xuanyuan. Even in the Song Dynasty, there was also the title of Emperor Taishang Laojun and Shangde Emperor.

From this point of view, Lao Tzu's status in the Song Dynasty was much higher than that of Confucius, and the title given to Confucius by the Song Dynasty was the throne, not the emperor's. Although the Western Xia State of the same period named Confucius emperor, this was not taken seriously in later dynasties.

The disciples of Lao Tzu formed Taoism (with the Yellow Emperor and Lao Tzu as their ancestors), and the disciples of Confucius formed Confucianism, and quarreled with the other eight schools during the period of contention among the hundred schools. However, many of the neighboring families have absorbed some of the ideas of Lao Tzu, so most of them respect Lao Tzu and dare not offend Lao Tzu easily, of course, attacking Taoism is another matter.

Taoism and Taoism are also two different things, we can think that Lao Tzu founded Taoism, but we must not simply think that Lao Tzu founded Taoism.

During the Warring States Period, an organization called "Fang Xian Dao" gradually appeared, which combined the doctrines of Fang Shi, Taoism, and Yin and Yang Schools. In fact, Fang Shi existed long before Lao Tzu was born, but it has not become too much of a climate, and later absorbed some of the culture of Taoism and Yin and Yang, and advocated himself as a first-class "immortal" with orthodoxy and means, and propagated that it could make people immortal.

Like after the unification of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang wanted to live forever, so he asked Xu Fu, the representative of "Fang Xian Dao" (he was still Qin Shi Huang's imperial doctor), to find the elixir, but failed, and finally Xu Fu also took 3,000 boys and women to develop overseas, and never dared to go back.

In the Han Dynasty, because Han Gaozu until Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty generally believed in Huang Lao's doctrine, and later Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fell in love with Confucianism, so Fang Xiandao and some Taoists and Confucians got together to form the "Huang Lao Dao" organization, which also integrated some of the ideas of Mojia and Yin-Yang.

At this time, there were three brothers of Shaanxi Taoist Mao who created the germ of Maoshan Taoism, but at first they believed in Dan Taoism, mainly to see a doctor and save people, and then gradually differentiated into a branch before turning to drawing talismans to catch ghosts or something. As a result, the Maoshan faction of Taoism has always been scorned by the so-called "orthodoxy" in Taoism, believing that it is not doing its job properly and is mixed into the ranks of Taoism, so it is excluded in every way, but seeing the existence of some Dan Taoist doctrines in the Maoshan faction, it is not embarrassed to expel it from Taoism.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, some characters in the "Huang Lao Dao" began to exert their might, and Zhang Daoling's Heavenly Master Dao, Zhang Xiu's Wudou Rice Dao, and Zhang Jiao's Taiping Dao appeared one after another. These Taoists are the real sects, and they are also the predecessors of later Taoism.

By this time, Buddhism had already made its way into Middle-earth, but it spread very little. The prevalence of Buddhism was still confined to some ethnic minorities in the Western Regions and around the Han Dynasty. China began to hear that there was a Buddhism, which generally refers to the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when Zhang Qian was an envoy to the Western Regions of Great Xia, only to know that there was a Tianzhu Kingdom and Buddhism. By 2 B.C., Buddhist scriptures began to spread in the eastern territories, and the earliest was probably the "Forty-two Chapters Sutra".

In the Western Jin Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms, it was a period of contention between Taoism and Buddhism, and Taoism and Buddhism both attacked each other and learned from each other. The north and south of the Yangtze River are dominated by the Heavenly Master Road, and the southwest is dominated by the Five Bucket Rice Road. The Tao and the Buddha began to attack each other, and their own strength has been unprecedentedly developed, and they both want to be the boss. Taoism claims that Lao Tzu sent a letter to the West to Guguan and even Tianzhu to enlighten Shakya to become a Buddha; Buddhism says that Shizun once came to the Central Plains and educated Lao Tzu and Confucius. At this time, the competition between the two families was generally quite elegant.

When it came to the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the north was occupied by the southern invasion of ethnic minorities. As a result, the competition between Taoism and Buddhism in the north gradually evolved into a battle between soldiers and bayonets. At this time, there was a figure in Taoism named Kou Qianzhi (365-448), and Buddhism also had a master Dao'an (312-385), both of whom made great contributions to the development and standardization of their respective sects. But in comparison, Kou Qianzhi's actions are too much worse than that of Dao'an monk, and it was only with the strong support of Emperor Wu of the Northern Wei Dynasty at that time that it was brilliant for less than 10 years.

This period is a very important stage in the development of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, Taoism and Buddhism are more cheerful, in comparison, Confucianism is much worse. Just like the Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu's "Jiangnan Spring" described, "Thousands of miles of warblers cry green and red, and the water village mountain Guo wine flag wind." There are 480 temples in the Southern Dynasties, how many buildings are in the smoke and rain". Buddhism is at least dominant in the Southern Dynasties, proud of Confucianism and Taoism, and the scenery is unique here. At that time, there were few Confucianists, and there was no climate, although this was inseparable from the troubled times at that time.

Because the rulers of the Northern Dynasties were constantly changing, but in order to strengthen their rule, they believed in Buddhism for a while and believed in Buddhism for a while, and as a result, conflicts between Buddhism and Taoism were inevitable. But it was also during this period that the internal reform of Taoism made the real Taoism almost out of the historical stage, the country fell into chaos, and Huang Lao's thought naturally had no market.

Taoism itself has also kept pace with the times, and its thinking has undergone a major change, that is, from Huang Lao to Lao Zhuang, because Zhuangzi's statement is more in line with the development requirements of Taoism. The theoretical basis of Taoism is mainly the Tao Te Ching, but it is written too mystically and many people cannot understand it; moreover, Lao Tzu advocates non-action and advocates nature, so that Taoist masters are not good at debating, and they do not easily organize debate competitions or anything. These Taoists either delve into how to make a dan or figure out how to draw talismans, and where do they have time to learn the various theoretical foundations, let alone debate. Another important factor is that the Taoists at this time were not monks. To put it bluntly, Taoism today is like a ragtag army with mixed good and bad, and it cannot form an effective group to fight Buddhism.

However, from the very beginning of Buddhism, it has been particularly fond of expounding on the Dharma and has a fine tradition of debate. Moreover, some Buddhist monks are better at learning about other cultures. As early as when the Han Dynasty had just entered the Central Plains, no one cared about it. Because the cultural and ideological differences are too great. Therefore, some high-ranking monks put down their identities, actively studied Han culture, including Taoist and Confucian thoughts, and spread Buddhism, at first accommodating the surrounding environment everywhere, and did not hesitate to modify a large number of Buddhist scriptures, because this Sanskrit Buddhist scripture had to be translated into Chinese.

At this time, the Western Regions monk Kumarosh (344-413) and Master Dao'an worked together to carefully absorb Confucianism and Taoism and other sinological cultures, and deliberately translated Buddhist scriptures, which soon spread widely in the northern region. Although the spread was large at this time, there were still not many people who believed in it. Therefore, Buddhism consciously concentrated its firepower, mainly targeting the aristocracy.

This hand is very powerful, who doesn't want to have peace of mind, who doesn't want to continue to make a fortune in the next life. Taoism is very poor in this regard, and it is generally not good about the elendent of immortality or something, and there is a bit of a market for drawing a talisman to catch demons and exorcise ghosts, how can you let the powerful nobles "be quiet and do nothing".

Let's take a virtual example, where a nobleman asks for the advice of a Taoist Buddha at the same time. You see, how can a person like me, who kills people like me, who has a lot of money, who fights openly and secretly, and who has done all the bad things, calm his mind, and what should I do? Taoism can only say, "You have to be quiet and do nothing, you need to strengthen your moral construction, if you don't have time to cultivate the golden pill in your body, or I will catch ghosts for you, and put a magic weapon in your yard, and those unjust souls will not dare to harass you." Buddhism declared, "It's okay, put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the ground, as long as you recite the Buddha and have a good Bodhi, you can also achieve positive results, at least you will have good luck in the next life." If we hold a land and water conference for you, we will be able to give birth to those unjust souls and no longer come to you for trouble. Which of the Buddhist sayings will this nobleman choose in the end? The answer is self-evident.

Therefore, in the process of debate between the two schools, Northern Taoism was basically always at a disadvantage, so they had to absorb some Buddhist teachings again (including reincarnation, and also combined static movement and void reality with Buddhism's empty bodhi) in order to continue to survive and develop.

Therefore, we look at some Taoist scriptures, which are similar to Buddhist scriptures, and some Buddhist scriptures that are somewhat similar to the Tao Te Ching.

At this time, the battle between the two families has escalated, and it has developed to the point of using knives and guns. At this time, the Heavenly Master Dao has formed a great climate in the north and south of the river, and they dare to openly confront the imperial court, although they have been suppressed, but the emperors have also begun to pay attention to Taoism. Therefore, a typical example is that Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty respected Taoism (Tianshi Dao) as the state religion and began to implement the anti-Buddha movement.

At this time, Taoism also entered a relatively "standardized" period, but because of the belief in Lao Zhuang's thoughts, it did not reach the level of "specialization" of monks. Therefore, the organization of Taoism is naturally uneven, and compared with Buddhism, this aspect is much worse, so that when it comes to fighting, it is basically a loss.

When it came to the Sui Dynasty, it was a period of great development between the two families, although there were also fights, but Emperor Wen of Sui dealt with it relatively softly, and there was no life-and-death situation. However, Emperor Wen of Sui preferred more Buddha and contributed more to the development of Buddhism.

When the Tang Dynasty was established, Li Yuan enshrined Lao Tzu as his ancestor because of his surname Li (in fact, their Li family is of some ethnic minority blood) in order to be able to reflect that he is the authentic Chinese sect.

However, at this time, the northern aristocracy (many of them were originally ethnic minority families) mainly believed in Buddhism, and they insisted in front of Li Yuan that they wanted to develop Buddhism, and at the same time, Buddhism was constantly infiltrating the Li clan. Because of the Li clan, it is also a powerful super noble.

At this time, the Taoists clashed with the Buddhist Farin. Fa Lin has studied Taoist and Buddhist theories well, and Taoist people are not opponents of others. In the end, I had to find Fu Yi, but don't say it, Fu Yi is really amazing, don't look at him as a half-hung Taoist, let alone a monk, but he specializes in using Buddhist scriptures to deal with Buddhist scriptures, turning Fa Lin's head around in a flickering way, and finally admitting defeat in shame. In the end, Fa Lin continued to study the Taoist scriptures and Confucianism, trying to find the theoretical basis for Lao Tzu and Confucius's appreciation of the Buddhist scriptures, and really found some of the so-called "Lao Confucius respecting the Buddha" that we mentioned earlier, so he continued to work against Fu Yi, repeatedly defeated and fought, and the spirit of not admitting defeat is indeed worth learning.

No matter how stupid Li Yuan is, he knows that Lao and Kong Lin have never heard of Siddhartha Gautama when they died, and Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, is probably the first emperor to know the character of the Buddha. Therefore, it was difficult for Falin to get an explanation in front of Li Yuan, so she could only hope for Li Shimin.

Li Yuan's suppression of Buddhism is not small, and he may have offended many nobles who believed in Buddhism. In addition, during the Xuanwumen Mutiny, relatively speaking, there were some civil and military people who were inclined to Taoism, but they all watched the fire from the other side and did not help each other, such as Li Jing, Li Xiaogong, Xu Shiji and others. There were few Taoist people, and they still refused to help Li Yuan, so Tang Gaozu had to abdicate soon and use absurdity to pass the depressed years.

Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Mutiny, which was a bit weak-hearted. So the next step was to seek wider support, including Buddhism, of course, because most of the generals and ministers who supported him believed in Buddhism. Later, when his rule was firmly established, he gradually learned from his father, but it was too late, and Buddhism was already out of control. Even the monk who beheaded the debate machine did not bring about a slight change.

Li Zhi is similar to Li Shimin, slightly more Buddhist than his father. Since Wu Zetian, he has been very supportive of Buddhism.

Old man Wu Chengen regards Fu Yi as an idol, and of course he has a great opinion of Li Shimin.

Later, Buddhism also had some ups and downs, but the Tang Dynasty was still the golden age of Buddhism development, Li Shimin gave a start, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian came to a great development, and Buddha overrode the Tao again (Wu Zetian also launched a Taoist martyrdom, and as a result, Taoism almost collapsed). At this time, Zen Buddhism, a faction in Buddhism, eventually came to the fore and established the sutras in the homeland. Relatively speaking, the development of Taoism has lagged far behind.

In the Song Dynasty, Buddhism began to be deliberately suppressed, but it could no longer be suppressed. But vigorously support Taoism, but at this time, Taoism is fragmented, and there is no unified law. As mentioned earlier, the internal conflict between the northern and southern factions of Taoism escalated again, and Jindan Dao, Fu Zheng faction, and Fang Shiliu poured into each other. Around the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Taoism completed the unification of the situation, and the Heavenly Master Tao fused the five buckets of rice Dao, which can also be regarded as a positive one. Of course, there are great differences within Buddhism, but compared to Taoism, it is much more peaceful. At this time, many schools of Buddhism gradually disappeared, and Zen Buddhism began to dominate the crowd.

By the time the Jin Dynasty ruled the Central Plains, there were new changes in Taoism, and Wang Chongyang and his disciples established the Quanzhen Sect. Wang Chongyang and they are not anti-Jin and anti-Yuan at all, on the contrary, in order not to anger the rulers, they advocate that "Confucianism and Taoism are connected, and the three religions have always been one ancestral style". But at this time, the Quanzhen Dao in Taoism was truly standardized, requiring that the Quanzhen disciples must be monks and can no longer live in the fire. In comparison, it is a thousand years behind Buddhism.

During the Song and Jin dynasties, the basic Taoist pattern was the Quanzhen Tao in the north and the Heavenly Master Tao in the south.

The Yuan Dynasty was a prominent period for Buddhism, especially Tantra, so I won't say much about it. Taoism (Quanzhen Sect at that time was too much worse than Wang Chongyangqiu Chuji and others, but his heart was much higher, thinking that Taoism was the best, and he threw the predecessor's "three religions in one" to the "Tomb of the Living Dead", not only that, but also issued the "Lao Tzu Hu" theory, which was the biggest failure, which directly led to the escalation of the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism. In the debate between Taoism and Buddhism, outstanding figures of Taoism did not attend, although they did not participate because they knew that the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty had a tendency to defend Buddhism, but in several debates, Taoism ended in a fiasco, providing an excuse for Meng Ge and Kublai Khan) After experiencing two major disasters, his vitality was greatly damaged.

This led to the destruction of many of the "classic" Taoist collections. In addition to learning from the pain, the Taoist priest had no choice but to add a large amount of Buddhist and Confucian culture to the fragment again due to the situation. This was accepted by the later rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, raising its status, but also under Buddhism. At this time, within Taoism, Quanzhen Dao was gradually robbed of the leadership position by Zhengyi because of the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism.

Fortunately, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Taoism regained some vitality, and with the help of Confucianism, it gradually became the climate again. But at this time, the protagonist has become the Heavenly Master Dao (Zhengyi, that is, the Heavenly Master Dao that merges the Five Bucket Rice Dao and so on), and the Quanzhen Dao is "respected" and far away.

If we take a closer look at the content of the twenty-fourth to twenty-sixth chapters of Journey to the West, we will find that Wang Chongyang's true way has not been taken seriously by Lao Wu at all. To a large extent, it is because Wang Chongyang developed in the territory of foreign races in the north, catering to the Mongolian people, and also advocating the unity of the three religions, and his views largely absorbed the ideas of Buddhism. Quanzhen Dao is okay north of the Yangtze River, but south of the Yangtze River, Taoism is still the world of the Heavenly Master. That's not all, around 1280, Wang Chongyang's disciples and grandchildren picked up "Lao Tzu Hu" again, and as a result, the Yuan Court and Buddhism joined forces, Taoism was subjected to the biggest catastrophe in history, and the Heavenly Master Tao in the south also fell into bad luck. Countless so-called classics of Taoism have been burned, and it is extremely difficult and impure to reconstruct the Taoist collection since then.

Therefore, in the Jiajing period, Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen were Taoists and the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Taoism was like the state religion, with infinite scenery. Although these two men were cautious everywhere, the country was still corrupted by Taoism. In addition, later Jiajing Xu Jie's likes to use "Fu Ping" and the like to predict good and bad fortunes, such as Lan Daoxing (this guy is not simple, and he has studied Wang Yangming's psychology), which at least interfered with the handling of some court politics and committed the biggest taboo. Even in the Longqing period, Taoism was completely abandoned. Later, the Wanli Emperor gradually embraced Buddhism.

During the Qing Dynasty, both Taoism and Zen Buddhism were suppressed, and Tantric Buddhism in Tibet made a comeback. The two factions of Taoism and Buddhism are not too good characters, so they can't fight. They all began to write novels and books, and in a different way, they were too high to belittle their opponents, and they returned to the state of Wendou in the Wei and Jin dynasties. The most ironic thing is that many Taoist figures believe that Journey to the West is a book of preaching, and many monks feel that it is a work of veneration of Buddhism.

Then the development process of Confucianism will not be elaborated, it is also tortuous and complicated, even if it is 10,000 words, it may not be able to say clearly, of course, the same is true of Buddhism and Taoism, and the dispute between the three schools is no exception, but we still need to have time to look at more historical materials in this area, the more clear, the more helpful it is to understand Wu Chengen's version of the Journey to the West.

However, we should also note that in history, it is not enough to simply rely on Confucianism to govern the country. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty listened to Dong Zhongshu's suggestion and deposed the Confucianism of the Hundred Schools, and as a result, the Han Dynasty gradually went downhill. Let's look at Shang Ying's change of law, and compare it with Wang Anshi's change and Zhang Juzheng's change. The development of the early feudal dynasty in history was only possible by a Legalist who understood the economy, science, and society. In the later period of peace, it is a comprehensive problem, and no one can maintain a smooth growth by a single family, and it takes multiple families or comprehensive families to solve this situation. It's easy to say that we can adapt to the times and improve and change, but it's too difficult to do.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, did a good job in most aspects, but he and his descendants did not understand economics and science, resulting in the country's financial revenue has been very low, the development of social productive forces has been slow, and the country's prosperity was based on rapid population growth.

Wu Chengen and Li Chunfang saw the scourge of Taoism, but they also noticed the imminent movement of Buddhism, and they were horrified before revising Journey to the West. It is to remind Emperor Wanli not to repeat the mistakes of the past, at least you are like Li Shimin, control Buddhism and Taoism, implement the policy of integrating the three religions, and do not have a situation where one family is dominant.

But if we carefully analyze the hidden Confucian psychology in Journey to the West, we will find some commonalities between Lao Wu and Li Chunfang, but there are also big differences.

Caesar believed that Li Chunfang was a conservative of Confucian psychology, while Old Man Wu was a reformist. Lao Wu's original intention has been changed by Li Chunfang in many places, which has led to a warning that the emperor and his auxiliary ministers should be led by Confucianism and supplemented by Taoism and Buddhism.

At the same time, these two people felt the crisis of the conflict between the auxiliary ministers, the eunuchs involved in politics, and the emperor either ignoring the government or wantonly playing with the imperial power, so as to warn those first auxiliary consuls like Zhang Juzheng. However, how to restrain and regulate power and make it conform to feudal society, this planning plan is incompatible with the emperor's dictatorship itself, so let alone Wu Chengen and Li Chunfang, even Zhang Juzheng and others can't do it anyway, and they can't do it.

The replacement of feudal dynasties is all falling into a cycle. We can't simply think that "the general trend of the world, divided for a long time, must be united, and combined for a long time must be divided", this is a theory formed by superficial phenomena. The real key lies in the irreconcilable contradiction between the feudal system and the development of society, economy, population, and so on.

For example, after the turmoil of the feudal country, a new dynasty was established, and at this time, people hoped for peace and stability, and people had no intention of rebelling again. The population is relatively small, and although there are too many problems, they will not erupt in a concentrated manner. It's easier to deal with. However, once the population exceeds the carrying capacity of the current society, various conditions will be mixed accordingly, and there will inevitably be turmoil. The change of dynasties is unstoppable, and all kinds of wars will inevitably break out until the population has fallen to a certain level, and then it will enter the next cycle of history.

Even in the middle of a feudal dynasty, there will be turmoil, which will have to be resolved by war. Because there was no simpler and more direct means, at that time, no one could fully understand the importance of science and technology, the legal system, the economy, and so on. Only by generating income through foreign wars or civil wars can the population be reduced for a while.

Therefore, the characteristics of the feudal dynasty itself determine that any changes and changes are doomed to failure, and they are all short-term. This is an inextricable nine-link that can only fall into the cycle of dynastic change, and history is slowly moving forward in such a cycle.

However, Wu Chengen and Li Chunfang were also bound to be trapped by the historical limitations of the feudal period, and they could not realize the complex concepts of governing the country such as rejuvenating the country through science and technology, establishing the country by law, protecting the country militarily, and becoming an economic power. It is impossible to put forward a truly short-term and effective plan, and we can only take out some historical facts that have happened in the past and polish them and use them as a mirror for those in power. In fact, it is saying that this is not good, that is not good, but how to do it, I can't say why. Of course, this question cannot be said to be Lao Wu's shortcomings, after all, Old Man Wu is not a fairy. This is not a problem faced by a few people, it is a problem faced by Confucianism as a whole, but even if all Confucians work together, I think that the Ming Dynasty will still perish, that is, it will take a few more decades or so.

When the Ming Dynasty was first established, the population was about 50 million, and when the Ming Dynasty fell, it was 2-250 million. And in feudal society, even if all kinds of experts are airdropped to the Ming Dynasty to help, there is nothing to be done.

So the natural disaster **, can only be beaten and beaten. In the end, the population fell back to less than 100 million, and although various problems intensified, the Qing Dynasty still successfully entered the customs and established the country, and history entered the next cycle.

Then the emptiness that Buddhism refers to is also mysterious. Many of the Buddhist scriptures are also very philosophical. For example, the "Mahaprajnaparamita Heart Sutra", there are not many words, and the historical master Xuanzang is really quite remarkable, and the translated Buddhist scripture is no less incisive than the original Sanskrit Buddhist sutra itself.

Regarding this Sutra of Many Hearts, its status in the history of Buddhism is quite high, and the name of this sutra translates to say, using great wisdom to reach the other side. The whole sutra is only 260 words, which belongs to a section in the "Great Pruna Sutra". After Li Shimin read Xuanzang's translation of the Duoxin Sutra, he also praised it very much, and even later attached its content to the "Holy Order", and engraved the tablet and handed it down.

However, we don't know much about it now, and many people don't know much about it. That's because our Sinicized Buddhism-Zen Buddhism is not so cold to this multi-heart sutra, thinking that it is not as good as the classics of the "Diamond Sutra". The specific reason is not clear, and the speculation has something to do with Master Xuanzang being the representative of the Wisdom Sect, which thinks that it has to be passed on to the authentic sect.

However, Wu Chengen obviously also thinks that this "Multi-Heart Sutra" and Zen Buddhism's "clear mind insight" are the views of Buddhist classics, and they are also mentioned in many places in Journey to the West. Other Buddhas said that Lao Wu basically didn't pay attention.

Indeed, these two Buddhist sayings also had a great influence on Confucianism and Taoism. Even if it is not clear to say it, we can still find that many later Taoist Confucian ideas (especially Wang Yangming's psychology) are more or less included in the culture.

The same is true of Lao Wu, on the one hand, he strongly expressed his dissatisfaction with Buddhism, and on the other hand, he was deeply affected by some of the ideas of Taoism and Buddhism. Therefore, there are contradictions everywhere in Journey to the West, the views on the characters are contradictory, and the attitudes towards the three religions are complicated.

However, it takes a lot of willpower to read the classic Buddhist scriptures. Although it may not be as serious as Fu Yi's warning to his descendants "don't read Buddhist scriptures", it is still necessary to understand it objectively by yourself, and don't be fascinated.

Confucian culture is still broad and profound, and Taoism and indigenous Buddhism have also absorbed a lot of them into their own thoughts. Otherwise, Buddhism would not have been able to spread in the country.

Finally, in fact, Siddhartha Gautama was only the founder of Buddhism, and it was later Buddhists who gradually grew after absorbing various cultures. The most typical is the spread of Buddhism in China, perhaps Lao Tzu's "Tao" and Confucius and Mencius's "benevolence and righteousness" have had a fundamental change in their influence.

If you want to understand some Journey to the West, you must understand some of the dispute between Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism and the development process of the three schools. Otherwise, you will be stuck in the quagmire of whether to worship Buddha, promote Taoism, or respect Confucianism.

What exactly is Journey to the West, let's judge for ourselves. Journey to the West is a mirror that allows people to understand themselves by examining the complexities.

Caesar vaguely believed that in fact, Lao Wu's original intention was not to Buddhism, nor to promote Confucianism, let alone the integration of the three religions, but to "learn". The Legend of Journey to the West can have another name, "Tang Zhu Mingjian".

Next, I will continue to explain some things about the subjects of the court, please listen to the nonsense next time.