Ming edition

Ming edition

Ming Dynasty (1263-1323), monk of Yuan Dynasty. He is a resident of Qiantang new town (now Xindeng Town, Fuyang District, Hangzhou). Ming Ben liked Buddhism when he was a child. He recited Buddhist scriptures when he was a little literate. He often recited them late into the night with a lamp. When he was 24 years old, he went to Tianmu Mountain and was taught in Zen temple. He worked hard during the day and recited sutras and learned Taoism at night. He became a monk. Renzong once conferred the title of "Guanghui Zen master" and posthumous title of "Puying national master". The rest place is called the magic mountain house.

Life story

Zen master Zhongfeng Mingben was the most outstanding eminent monk in Yuan Dynasty.

The first stage

Life before becoming a monk, from 1263 to 1285. Mingben lost his mother at the age of nine. When he was young, he studied the Analects of Confucius and Mencius. Because of his lack of interest in these important Confucian classics, he dropped out of school before he finished. During the period of social unrest at the turn of the song and Yuan Dynasties, Mingben had long been devoted to Buddhism. At the age of 15, he adhered to the five commandments and was determined to become a monk. Since then, he has seriously studied Buddhist classics such as fahua, Yuanjue and Vajra, and he likes to meditate. He often goes to the mountains to meditate on his own. Therefore, Mingben had a good cultivation of Buddhism before he became a monk.

The second stage

He followed Gao yuanmiao (1238-1295) to practice Zen from 1286 to 1295. When Mingben was 24 years old, he encountered some difficult problems in reading Jingde Zhuandeng Lu. After being introduced by a monk named Mingshan, he went to Tianmu Mountain in Hangzhou to seek advice from Gaofeng yuanmiao, a famous Linji Zen master at that time. Under the guidance of Zen master yuanmiao, he studied Buddhist classics seriously and benefited a lot. "In a short time, he recited the Vajra Prajna Sutra, and when he arrived at the place where he was carrying the Tathagata, he suddenly became enlightened, so that both the internal and external classics reached their meaning and interest." (Note 1) in the second year, he formally became a monk with yuanmiao, and in the third year, he was given a full commandment. During the ten years of following yuanmiao, Mingben took part in labor during the day, practiced meditation at night, strictly abided by Buddhist precepts, and assiduously studied Zen, which won yuanmiao's appreciation. Yuanmiao once said that among his many disciples, "benvena is the only one on the pole. He will not be able to grow up easily in the future." As a proud disciple of yuanmiao, Mingben didn't want to preside over a big temple, and he didn't regard himself as the master of the sect. Before yuanmiao's death, he was asked to preside over Dajue zhengdeng temple. The temple was built with the donation of Huo tingfa, a bureaucrat closely related to yuanmiao, and it was the main base for yuanmiao to spread the Dharma. The Ming Dynasty did not take up the post, but recommended the first zuyong at that time. At the age of 60, Mingben once said: "Yu Chuxin became a monk. He wanted to be a monk in the grass, clothes and dirty face In the past, I only wanted to retire. I didn't want to rectify the world and make people believe in giving. I was in a precarious state (Note 3) it was the ambition of the early Ming Dynasty to pursue the strict Toutuo practice of living in no fixed place and begging for food and clothing everywhere. He didn't want to be the abbot of a big temple, not to raise his price, but to live a life of eating without work. In the decades after he left yuanmiao, he repeatedly declined the request of local officials for him to preside over the famous mountain giant temple. He traveled to and from all over the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, preaching Zen among the people.

The third stage

It's early travel life, from 1296 to 1304. After yuanmiao died, Mingben left Tianmu Mountain in the first year of Dade (1297) and traveled to Wanshan, Lufu and Jinling. In the second year of Dade (1298), he settled in Bianshan, Luzhou. In the fourth year of Dade (1300), he settled in Yandang Mountain, Pingjiang. At this stage, the Ming Dynasty mainly traveled around the south of the Yangtze River, where they lived in nunneries. Because he had followed yuanmiao all the year round, he was well-known in the south of the Yangtze River, and many people consulted him on Zen. He once spoke for Zhao Mengfu about "the purpose of preventing the recovery of emotion".

The fourth stage

He was in charge of the teachers' College from 1305 to 1308. In the eighth year of Dade (1304), the Ming Dynasty originally gave the original Miaowu tower, so he returned to Tianmu Mountain. From the winter of the ninth year of Dade (1305), he presided over shiziyuan, an important temple of yuanmiaoyi. At this stage, Mingben not only became the most famous Linji Zen master in Jiangnan, but also was valued by the imperial court. In the first year of the reign of emperor Da (1308), the name of Zen master "Fa Hui" was given to the prince at that time.

The fifth stage

It was later missionary life, from 1309 to his death. At this stage, the scope of Mingben's activities became wider. In 1309, he left Hangzhou for Yizhen and lived on a boat. The next year, at the request of the monks, he returned to live in Tianmu Mountain for a year. In the third year of Zhida (1311), he took a boat to Wujiang. Chen Zicong asked him to abandon the boat and land, and built "Shunxin nunnery" for him. Soon after, Mingben crossed the river and traveled north to Shaolin. Although the Ming Dynasty had "hidden its name in the north and lived in the earth house in the corner of the city", the monks who heard him still "vied with each other to pay homage, saying:" ancient Buddha in the south of the Yangtze River. " In the first year of Huangqing (1312), he built an nunnery in Lu'an mountain, Luzhou, and soon went to donghaizhou. The next year, Huo tingfa's son asked him to preside over Dajue temple, and he recommended the first Yongtai Zen master to replace him. In the first year of Yanyou (1314), Mingben presided over the Academy again, but soon left Tianmu Mountain. In the fourth year of Yanyou (1317), Jiang Jun in Danyang built "Datong nunnery" and asked him to live in it. In the fifth year of Yanyou (1318), Mingben returned to Tianmu Mountain at the request of monks. In September of that year, Renzong granted the title of "Buddha's benevolence shines Guanghui Zen master" and ordered the academy to be renamed "Shizi Zhengzong Zen Temple" and Zhao Mengfu to write inscriptions. In the second year of Zhizhi (1322), xingxuanzheng temple asked Mingben to preside over Jingshan temple in Hangzhou. He didn't answer the order and settled in Zhongjia mountain. In October of that year, Yingzong specially ordered to send down incense, and gave Jinchen Senga pear. Ming this perennial grass habitat wave sleep, travel around the south of the Yangtze River. Everywhere he went, he was devoutly supported by monks and laymen, and thus established a base for spreading the Dharma, forming a great influence in the south of the Yangtze River. According to his own experience, song Ben described the situation at that time: "I tasted the Jiangnan envoy, heard the arrival of the master (the specified version), four people admired him, drank tea and gold coins, worshipped him and offered him, and learned that he had become Baofang." (Note 6) there are not only many Han believers in Ming Dynasty, but also many monks of other nationalities. It is said that "when master Sanzang's saru cherishes the sabiya room, he also tries to consult his teacher." (Note 7) Ming Ben not only kept a close relationship with many Han literati, but also communicated with many Mongolian bureaucrats. Huo tingfa, Zhao Mengfu, Feng Zizhen, Zheng Yunyi, Wang Zhang, Jingyan, dalahantuohuan and others all consulted Mingben about Zen. Ming Ben is famous for his lofty moral example and exquisite Zen cultivation in Jiangnan, and has attracted monks from remote areas and neighboring countries. The so-called: "as far as the northern court of the western regions, Dongyi Nanzhao came one after another." (8) Ming Ben taught Zen to monks from Japan and Korea. Xuanjian, a monk from Yunnan Province, was attracted to the Ming Dynasty for advice. Later, xuanjian died of illness on his way home. His disciples Pu Fu and others drew pictures of the Ming Dynasty going back to the south. They established Zen in Yunnan Province and regarded the Ming Dynasty as "the first ancestor of Nanzhao.". Ming Dynasty contributed to the spread of Zen to remote areas and surrounding countries. Ming Ben was not only good at Zen, but also good at poetry and prose. In order to expound his Zen thoughts and make them widely spread, he wrote Shanfang Yehua and fanghanshan poem; in order to answer the questions of monks who pay attention to classics, he wrote Lengyan Zhengxin debating or asking; in order to correct the wrong tendency of some Zen monks who "do not seek understanding, but speak", he wrote Xinxin mingpi Yijie; because Mao nunneries he established everywhere are all called "faith" In response to the request of the monks, he described the correct methods and ways of Zen meditation, and wrote the family precepts of illusory residence. The above five chapters were compiled and sorted out by the author after the Ming edition was completed. The title of the self titled book is "Yihua Wuye", which can be said to be the representative works of the Ming edition. Ming Dynasty was a famous poet monk in Yuan Dynasty, who left a lot of poems. In addition to the hundred poems of imitating Hanshan collected in Yihua Wuye, there are ten poems of Chuanju, Shanju, Shuiju and juanju, all of which are well-known. In order to expound his pure land thought, the Ming Dynasty wrote 108 poems about pure land. In addition, there is "Zhongfeng monk and Feng Haisu (Zizhen) plum blossom poem 100 Yong". There are more poems such as Geji and farewell poems. The works, poems and French of the Ming edition are included in CI Ji's Tianmu Zhongfeng monk Guanglu and Tianmu Mingben Chan Shi zalu. In the second year of Yuantong (1334), Huizong was granted the title of "Puying Guoshi" in Ming Dynasty, and thirty volumes of "Tianmu Zhongfeng monk Guanglu" were also allowed to be included in Dazangjing. In the first year of the Zhiyuan Dynasty (1335), the publication of Tianmu Zhongfeng monk Guanglu had a great influence: "after the book of Guanglu is finished, although the monk is gone, the four people recite it as if they were living in the world."

achievement

Ming Dynasty is good at poetry and music, and has considerable attainments in literature, especially in poetry writing. At that time, Feng Zizhen, a famous Sanqu writer in Yuan Dynasty, was very famous for a time and despised the original intention of Ming Dynasty. Mingben and calligrapher Zhao Mengfu visited Feng together. Feng produced a hundred rhymed poems of plum blossom, and Mingben took over the list. He immediately "wrote and completed" and produced his own nine character plum blossom song. Feng Zizhen finished reading the big clothes. From then on, they became close friends. The Ming edition is good at calligraphy, and there are many calligraphy relics left in the courtyard. In the history of calligraphy and painting of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Jiru called the Ming edition "the willow leaf of calligraphy, though not in the standard, is also a family.". In the second year of Yanyou's reign (1315), he wrote the book of Lotus Sutra. He was sixty-one years old. In addition, the Palace Museum has a collection of qiaosongfuxiu seven character poem axis, which was written in 1344. If so, the year of death should be 80 years old. Many authentic works were brought back by Japanese monks studying abroad at that time and are now treasured in Japan. His deeds are also included in Songjiang annals and Shiqu Shiji sequel.

Chinese PinYin : Ming Ben