Guliangzhou has been an important part of the Silk Road since ancient times, as early as four or five thousand years ago, there were Rong, Cui, Yueshi, Wusun and other northern ethnic groups to live together.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the hussar general Huo Qubing led his army to defeat the Xiongnu and incorporated the Hexi Corridor into the territory of the Western Han Dynasty. "Hanshu Geography II" said: Since the west of Wuwei, the Xiongnu Kun Evil King, Hutu Wangdi, Emperor Wu was in charge, and the four counties were initially placed to pass through the Western Regions.

Tang, the second year of Kaiyuan, Liangzhou County Government. At that time, because of the influence of the prosperous era of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, all countries came to the dynasty, the Silk Road became more and more prosperous, people from all over the world passed through Liangzhou Mansion to the Central Plains, and the streets of Liangzhou Mansion were bustling and lively.

As the most prosperous Xianxiao Street in Liangzhou Mansion, you can see people of different skin tones coming and going, the teahouses on the side of the road are scattered, as if to set off the beautiful scenery of this prosperous world, the graceful posture of the Western Trick in the pavilion on the second floor looms, and the Xiliang music and Xiliang words that come from time to time provoke people outside the museum to stop and listen from time to time, and echo the rich businessmen in the hall to applaud, and the end is called a comfortable and happy. But in such a prosperous area, there is a shop next to it.

The storefront is not small, it is a three-storey pavilion-style building, and the lintel hangs a big plaque with the three words of "come and go pavilion" with a small seal, which is quite ancient. But what is strange is that the doors and windows of this shop are closed all day long, and outsiders can't see a trace of the inside through the doors and windows, only the water stains left by the spilling of the door, announcing to others that this place is not an ownerless house, and our story begins here.

On the fourteenth day of the first month, the beginning of spring.

The spring in the north is still quite cold, the wind in the north of the Saibei rises from the more distant Kunlun Mountain, Tianshan Mountain, blowing to the foot of Qilian Mountain like a knife, pedestrians on the street go out, are covered with a towel, otherwise a little careless, the face may be cracked. Although the weather is still cold, the number of pedestrians on the streets has not decreased at all, for no other reason than that tomorrow is the most important day of the Sanyuan Festival: the Shangyuan Festival.

Shangyuan Festival, since the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, is the grand festival of the Chinese nation, is the Valentine's Day in the traditional sense of China, called the Yuan Xi at the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, and in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed the Shangyuan Festival due to the influence of Taoist culture, so on this day, there is a saying that "the heavenly official blesses, there is no taboo", so on the first day, every household will buy incense, candles, flowers and fruits, to wait for the next day, worship God and pray for blessings.

On the evening of the 14th day of the first lunar month, people who believe in Buddhism will also light lanterns to make offerings to the "Ancient Buddha of Burning Lamps" to dispel disasters and pray for peace.

In the evening, the number of pedestrians on the street gradually decreased, and the door of the "Coming and Going Pavilion" was gently pushed open. The owner of the house just lit a lamp, heard someone push the door in, stunned, turned his head to look at the door, a monk dressed in yellow Sanghari walked in, the owner of the house saw this and turned his head to continue to light the lamp, the monk did not care, he covered the door by himself, the movement was very light, as if afraid of disturbing the master, and then stood still, quietly looking at the master.

The night became deeper and quieter, and the monk remained motionless from the moment he entered the door, and after a long time, the master finally finished lighting the last lamp, looked at the monk at the door and said, "It is not easy for you to come from afar, please take a seat." Seeing this, the monk came over, sat opposite the master, and took off the hat that he had been wearing on his head, and under the hat was a young face, perhaps because of the long journey, or because of the cold wind in the north, his face was dull, his face was dry, the only difference was that his eyes were clear and bright, and the divine light was looming.

After the monk sat down, he took the tea and moistened his chapped lips, and then looked at the master steadily. Seeing this, the master poured him another cup of tea and said slowly: "You have come here thousands of miles away, not just to ask for a cup of tea." ”

The monk shook his head and said, "I once saw the world changing color at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, the city walls collapsing, the houses falling, the people in the Buddha country being displaced, and a sea of hell and fire. But I met a person on the road, and he told me that there was a high-ranking person in Liangzhou Mansion, who used the change of dynasty as spring, and the rotation of the sun and moon as autumn, and knew that all the vicissitudes of the world changed, and could solve the pain of reincarnation of others, so I temporarily changed my route to this place. ”

The master looked at the person in front of him and said, "Since the Venerable Driver went to the west to save everyone for the scene in his dream, his heart is commendable, and his courage is commendable, but what can I help you?" ”

The monk pointed to the rows of lamps next to him and said, "I have come here to light the lamps. ”

"What lights?" The host asked calmly.

The monk stood up, folded his hands to his master, bowed, and then sat down and said: "I have two lamps, one is a lamp, listen to the words of the Taoist, you should be a person of great virtue, I want to ask for ten thousand lamps, for the tens of thousands of Buddhas who have fallen into hell in my dream to light the way to the West, so as not to fall into the three paintings, in case I go to the West, the scene in my dream becomes a reality, then this time I will definitely go and there will be no return, so I plan early, in case I am in danger." ”

"And what about the second one?" The master asked as he picked up the charcoal and threw it into the stove.

"The second is to ask for a heart lamp."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I went only because I felt it in my dreams, and if all the scenes in my dreams were reality, how could I save the people? I also thought about it all the way this way, but I didn't come up with a way after all, which is one of the reasons why I changed the route, I want to ask you to light this heart lamp for me, and relieve the confusion in my heart. ”

The master sighed, pointed to the burning flame in the furnace and asked, "Can you put out the fire in the furnace with your hands?" ”

Answer: "No"

The master asked, "The wind can extinguish the fire, but can the moth flap its wings?" ”

Answer: "Not yet"

The master sighed: "In this case, it is better to return to the east, otherwise this time I will not be a moth to the fire?" ”

After hearing this, the monk stopped talking, leaned less, and asked again: "Is there really no way to deal with it?" I have heard that God has the virtue of a good life, and the Buddha has compassion, but why has no one come to save the lives of these tens of thousands of people? ”

The master looked at the monk and did not answer, but asked, "There is a word in Buddhism called cause and effect, and since you are a monk, I will ask you with the Buddha's principles." Buddhism has four great bodhisattvas, I heard that the Buddhist Guanyin Master, known as the great compassion of relieving suffering, saving suffering, but why is the throne under the general trend to the Bodhisattva? ”

The monk replied: "Because the cause and effect are long ago, non-supernatural powers can be changed, and all supernatural powers are in the void under the general trend, so the general trend to the Bodhisattva is the first position, which is also the origin of my Buddhist family, not touching cause and effect." ”

"Isn't that it, I know that I can't change, so why force change, and besides, the cause and effect here have been going on for a long time, and you and I can't decide whether it's right or wrong, don't you hear that 'manpower is sometimes exhausted, beyond the reach of power'?"

The monk listened and was silent for a long time. After a long time, he got up, put on the hat again, and saluted the master with his hands together, "Despite this, I still want to try, not for anything else, just for the Buddhist scriptures that I have recited in front of the ever-bright lamp in the past twenty years, I want to see for myself, the Buddha in my heart, can save the world." ”

After saying this, he paused, and then said: "I told you about the ten thousand offering lamps before, and I also ask you to help, I am a monk, I have no money to spare, only this string of prayer beads, which was handed down by the ancestors, should be used as a fee, please don't be too little." ”

Then he took the rosary from his neck, put it in his master's hand, and gently opened the door as he had come, and walked into the distance until it disappeared into the night.

The master looked at his distant back, stretched out his hand, and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't say it for a long time. So, he withdrew his hand, put it back in his sleeve, turned and went into the house, and the moment he turned around, there seemed to be a Buddha light in the night, but when he turned his head, there was nothing but endless darkness. So, he walked back to the house on his own, muttering: "If you just want to offer lamps to others, what about yourself?"

So saying, he took another lamp from the cupboard, lit it, and put it side by side with the previous lamp, and when he had done all this, he shook his head and walked upstairs.

(On August 20 of the second year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (714), the Tubo generals Kun Dayan and Qili Xu led 100,000 horses to invade Lintao, and the men and horses were stationed in Lanzhou and plundered the horses in the Weiyuan area; Tang Xuanzong ordered Xue Ne to serve as the defense envoy of Longyou in cloth clothes, and Guo Zhiyun as the deputy defense envoy of Longyou, and led more than 100,000 troops to meet the Tubo army together with Wang Hui, Shaoqing of Taifu Temple. On the tenth day of October, Xue Ne fought with the Tibetan army in Wujie and won a great victory, and the Tibetan army was killed and captured tens of thousands. ）

〈Author's note:

There is the Tang generation, with outstanding military achievements. In its early heyday, the Tang Dynasty subdued Zhuyi externally and made great military achievements. However, in the history of the Tang Dynasty's wars, it was always troubled by the emerging dynasty of "Tubo". Although Tibet was a slave regime from a relatively barren plateau, it emerged as a powerful regional government during the period from the seventh to the ninth centuries AD. The story of the grievances between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo even changed the historical fate of the entire Hehuang and even the Western Regions.

Although we have been acknowledging the historical contribution of Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet to the cultural exchanges between the Han and Tibetan countries, we must admit that there was never a real peace between Tibet and the Tang Dynasty.

According to the Chronology of the Tang-Tibetan Wars, there were a total of 192 wars between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet. The statistics of classics such as "Shufu Yuangui" and "Old Tang Book" are one hundred and nine, of which there were as many as eighty-eight major battles. It can be said that the war played a major role in the entire history of exchanges between Tang and Tibet. 〉

〈As the saying goes, prosperity, the people suffer; Death, the people suffer, historical merits and demerits are entangled, and they can only be left for future generations to comment on carefully. 〉