Benji

Benji

Benji (840-901) was born in Putian County, Fujian Province. He was a famous monk in the late Tang Dynasty. He was one of the founders of "Cao Dongzong". He settled in Fuzhou for a long time. In 901, the 62 year old Benji passed away. He was buried in fengxingfang, a hundred steps to the west of the temple. The tower was named "Fuyuan". Because of his great contribution to the formation and development of Cao Dongzong, he was granted the title of "Zen master of Yuanzheng". In 1734, Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty was granted the title of "master of treasure Yuanzheng". Benji is "elegant and full of talent". He has written "explaining the five significant secrets of Dongshan" and "living in hanshanzi poem". Later generations have compiled two kinds of surviving works: "quotations of Zen master Benji of Caoshan in Fuzhou" and "quotations of Zen master Yuanzheng of Caoshan in Fuzhou".

Life of the characters

Benji became a monk in yunmingshan of Fuzhou at the age of 19, and received the full commandment at the age of 25. Later, he went to Puli temple in Dongshan, Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province to pay a visit to Liangjia Zen master. He was deeply valued by the good price and got his heart. In 870, the 11th year of Xiantong in Tang Dynasty, he went to Caoxi, Qujiang, Guangdong Province to pay homage to Huineng tower, the sixth patriarch of Zen Buddhism, and then to Jishui, Jiangxi Province. At the request of the monks, he began to speak. Because of the current turmoil, he came to Caoshan (now Chenfang xujiapai, South Township of Yihuang County, Jiangxi Province) in Yihuang County to practice Buddhism. Wang ruoyi, the local resident, gave up Wang Guan as his abbot. Later, due to the expansion of the temple and the merits of the sixth ancestor of Caoxi, the temple was renamed Caoshan temple. Benji had been practicing in Caoshan temple for 30 years. He opened the Mountain Gate widely and taught the disciples to explain the Dharma of the five kings and ministers of Liangjia Zen master, which greatly promoted the Zen style of Dongmen. While preaching Zen, Benji combined metaphysics and Confucianism, explained the five changing states of monarchs and ministers with Yin and Yang images, and publicized the Confucian way of monarchs and ministers. It was advocated and supported by the feudal rulers to use the method of dealing with the relationship between the monarch and the minister as the standard for monks to test their own cultivation level and understand the Buddha nature. At that time, Zhong Chuan, king of Nanping, invited him to Hongzhou many times to promote Buddhism, but Benji was not invited. Those who come to Caoshan temple to participate in Zen are all scattered at home and abroad. The theory of "five kings and ministers" publicized by him and Liang Jia became the Zen of Cao Dongzong, and thus Cao Dongzong, one of the five schools of Zen, came into being. the influence of Cao Dongzong is very extensive, many of its disciples become famous monks, and the famous temples in Xianshan all over the country have their disciples to carry forward the Zen of Cao Dongzong. Wei Quan, the governor of Fuzhou, once invited his disciple Zen master Kuang Ren to spread Buddhism in Shushan Temple of Jinxi, making Shushan Temple another missionary base for Cao Dongzong. Japanese monk shinawashi nengguang learned Zen from Liangjia for 30 years, while Korean monk Liyan also taught his disciples Zen from Benji. In the early 13th century, the Japanese monk Tong Yuan introduced the caodong patriarchal system into Japan and created the Japanese Buddhist caodong sect. By the 1980s, there were about 10 million Japanese believers. There are also many followers of Cao Dongzong in Korea, Southeast Asia and other places. In 1993, the people's Government of Yihuang County approved the restoration of Caoshan temple, and the first phase of the restoration project was completed in June 1995. In 1999, more than 30 Jade Buddha statues were invited to Myanmar, making it the first white jade Buddhist temple in China. In October 2003, Yihuang County Government invited Master Xin Liang, director of the National Buddhist Association, to be the abbot of the temple. Master Xinliang has attracted a group of Dade Jushi, such as Yang Zhao, member of the National Committee of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of Hong Kong Xuri group, to Caoshan temple. They have decided to give financial, material and human support to the reconstruction of the temple. Through five years' construction, they plan to build Caoshan temple into a Buddhist Taoist temple which focuses on Zen teaching and gives consideration to tourism. At present, the exploration, planning and design work for the reconstruction of Caoshan Temple by Shanxi Institute of ancient architecture protection, which is engaged by Hong Kong Xuri group, has been fully completed, and the construction of teaching building and Zhaitang has been completed and put into use. A large-scale jungle with influence at home and abroad and distinctive architectural style will soon appear in front of the world and become a bright pearl in the Buddhist circles of China and even the world. According to Huang's genealogy, Benji is the brother of Miaoying, the founder of cishou temple in Nangshan, Jiangkou Town. Puxian Buddhism has been known as "Huang brothers Zen master" for generations. According to the 13th biography of Cao Shanben in Liang and Fuzhou in biography of song eminent monks by song zanning and others, in the late Tang Dynasty, there were many well-dressed scholars living abroad in Putian, which was called "xiaojixia" because of the rise of Confucianism. Jixia is the place name of Qi in ancient times and the center of various schools in Warring States period. This Ji "less dye Lu Feng, rate more strong learning, since Er Chuncui alone coagulation, Dao nature day hair." When he was 19 years old, his parents had already passed away, and he did not want to make progress in his official career. He abandoned Confucianism to study Buddhism, and went to Cuishi courtyard of Lingshishan in Futang county (today's Fuqing City). Li yuanxiu monk became a monk for the apprentice. His name is Dharma, his body is seal, and his name is Benji. However, yuanxiu was one of the eight sects of Buddhism in China, and at the beginning of his becoming a monk in Benji, he stopped his master from practicing Tantric Buddhism. Five or six years after he became a monk, he and his brother Miaoying discussed that the house left by his ancestor should be changed into a Buddhist one, and his parents were buried in the east of the temple, known as "shuangyanqiliang", and the inscription on the tombstone was "the tomb of Huang Gong, the five great doctors". The temple was not named at the beginning, so it was commonly known as the pagoda courtyard. Later, it was named "Guohuan courtyard" by the king of Fujian in the Five Dynasties. In the five or six years after Benji became a monk, he was urged by his hometown Zhisu Buddha to return to Zikai mountain to establish Jiufeng temple, which still exists today. In the fifth year of Xiantong (864) of Tang Dynasty, Benji was "twenty-five years old, and the teacher (referring to Benji's Apprentice) would be admonished", but "his actions were as dignified as old habits". After he had received the full commandment, he left his school and went to the north of the province to seek enlightenment in order to invent his purpose. At this time, Liangjia Chan Master carried forward his first Zen style in Dongshan, Jiangxi Province, which was called "dongshangzong style" in the world. The Dharma mat was famous and admired by all sides. Benji went to Dongshan to pay a visit to Liangjia. He met and asked questions and answers, which was quite in line with each other. Liang Jia attached great importance to Ben Ji and became his chief disciple. This silence in the cave mountain for several years, day and night to ask for help, finally get good price secret confirmed understanding, heart pass on the purpose of the cave. Soon he said goodbye to Dongshan, went to Cao Xi, Shaozhou, Guangdong Province to worship the sixth ancestor Huineng Zhenshen pagoda, and quickly returned to Jishui (now Linchuan County, Jiangxi Province). The local monks have long heard about Benji's fame and reputation, and asked him to open the Dharma. However, in memory of the Daofeng created by Huineng, the sixth patriarch, in Caoxi, he changed the name of Jishui mountain to Caoshan. Zhuo Xi promoted his family's zongfeng, so he was called "Caoshan is originally lonely". Later, because Huang Chao led the peasant uprising army to the mountain, Ben Ji moved to Heyu mountain, and changed a believer's he Wang Guan into Heyu temple, and continued to gather disciples to explain the mystery. It is said that mount heyushan was changed into mount Caoshan. Or the two mountains are not far apart, both of which are called Caoshan.

Carry forward the Zen style of Cao Dongzong

In the past 30 years since Cao Shanhong took over the Zen Buddhism, the Dharma seat has flourished and scholars have gathered. There are 14 outstanding followers and countless disciples. The ten monks who tend to gather under his seat to participate in the Zen Buddhism are always "rich in winter and summer". The good price of Dongshang sect is greatly promoted, forming a new sect. Later generations took the name of "Cao Dongzong" as their master and apprentice, and the name of the two mountains was "Cao Dongzong". When Cao Shan's Zen style was booming, there was a king of Zhongling at the foot of the mountain who admired Benji's Sheng deyicai and repeatedly sent envoys to invite him to the mansion. All of them were politely rejected by Benji. When he sent an envoy to welcome him for the third time, the king told the messenger, "if you don't see Master Cao Shan coming, you can't live!" The emissary was ordered to go to the mountain, knelt down in front of his silent seat, and wept: "the monk is merciful and saves everything. If the monk doesn't go to the king's command this time, his disciples will be full of ashes! " Benji lifted him up, sat down and comforted him, saying, "I don't need to worry. I will be a great master of the ancient verse, and nothing will happen." He said: "destroy the dead wood, lean on the green forest, several times in spring, never change heart.". When the woodcutter saw it, he did not care about it, but the woodcutter pursued it even harder. He expresses his feelings and aspirations in a simple and graceful way, especially when he compares his friends with his friends. After reading this verse, King Zhong Ling saluted Cao Shan and said, "I have no chance to see Master Cao Shan in my life." As a Zen master of Benji in the fifth generation of Qingyuan, he is a great master of the Zen method of Cao Dong sect. His Zen style established "five monarchs and ministers" as the main point of the sect, and explained the truth that there is no difference between reason and practice from the relationship between reason and practice. Song zhishao's "eyes of man and heaven" said that his "family style is delicate, his words and deeds are corresponding, he benefits things at random, and he meets people with words." The formation of this sect and the rise of a new force, greatly invigorate the Zen style of Qingyuan Xingsi.

Character honor

The Zen master Benji traveled north when he was twenty-five years old. Later, he passed Zen on Mount Caoshan for a long time. During the thirty years from the beginning of Buddhism to the end of Shiji, there was no record of his return in Buddhist scriptures and local chronicles. On June 16, 901, in the year of Tian Fu Yuan of Tang Dynasty, he personally burned incense and sat down in the Abbot's room of Heyu temple in Caoshan. He lived for two years in his 60s and was buried in Caoshan hill in the 37th year of Seng Xia. Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Dynasty conferred his posthumous title as master Yuanzheng, and the tower was named "Fuyuan".

personal works

Before his death, Benji wrote a volume of quotations of Zen master Yuanzheng of Caoshan in Fuzhou, a volume of quotations of Zen master Benji of Caoshan in Fuzhou, and an explanation of the five significant formulas of Dongshan mountain. He also annotated hanshanzi's poem, which was popular in the world with elegant diction.

Chinese PinYin : Ben Ji