According to local records, the ordinary tower was built in Yongping decade of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 67). If so, this pagoda was built a little earlier than the recognized "China No.1 Temple" Baima Temple in Luoyang (built in the 11th year of Yongping) and Yun Qi Tower (built in the 12th year of Yongping), which is the earliest pagoda in China.
Whether this statement is true or not involves many problems that Buddhism was introduced into China in the early days, so it is necessary to discuss it. The construction date of the common tower has been recorded in Nangong County Records.
According to the survey, from the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, * * * compiled 10 volumes of Nangong County Records, among which 7 volumes were handed down from generation to generation, which can be consulted by modern people [①], among which Jiajing edition [Ming], Kangxi edition [Qing] and Nangong County Records of the Republic of China are the representatives.
[Ming] Jiajing edition of Nangong County Annals, Volume 1, Geography Annals No.1, records the common tower as follows:
Ordinary tower, in abandoned county. Emperor Yongping of Han Dynasty completed it in ten years, and Zhenguan was rebuilt in four years. There is a broken monument in the Tang Dynasty: the reconstruction of Da 'er Zen Master.
[Qing] Kangxi's Nangong County Annals supplemented Jiajing's Nangong County Annals;
Ordinary tower, in the old city. Emperor Yongping of Han Dynasty completed it in ten years, and Zhenguan was rebuilt in four years. There is a broken monument in the Tang Dynasty: the reconstruction of Da 'er Zen Master. The foundation is 12 martial arts on Wednesday, with a height of 10 meters. The government record is "Tongta Academy".
The Republic of China edition of Nangong County Annals has been supplemented:
The ordinary tower in the old city was built in ten years by Han Yongping and rebuilt in four years by Zhenguan. There is a broken monument in the Tang Dynasty: the reconstruction of Da 'er Zen Master. The foundation is 12 martial arts on Wednesday, with a height of 10 meters. Unified Record is called "Ordinary Temple". Zhengding government is called Tongta Academy.
The following information can be obtained from the above local records:
(1) It is clearly recorded in the Annals of Nangong County in the past dynasties that the ordinary tower was built in Yongping, Emperor Hanming for ten years, and there is no word "biography" or "smell" in the article. This shows that the legend of Yongping building an ordinary tower in ten years is very long, at least the Nangong local chronicles in the Ming and Qing Dynasties have no doubt about it.
(2) Each edition of county annals accurately describes the geographical location of the common tower, which enhances the credibility of the description of the construction year of the common tower. The so-called "abandoned county" or "old city" refers to Nangong County before the 14th year of Chenghua (1478), which was abandoned due to floods and located thirty miles west of the new county (see "Building the Second City" in Volume II of Nangong County Annals of Jiajing Edition). Distance to Nangong City1.5km.
(3) Due to earthquakes and floods, the common pagodas have been damaged many times in history, but they have been repaired and rebuilt many times, reflecting people's treasure of the pagodas at that time. In the county annals, it is especially mentioned that the Zen master Dahl presided over the reconstruction of the ordinary tower in the Tang Dynasty, which deserves special attention.
According to [Song] Daoyan's "Zhang in Jingde Road", Master Da 'er Sanzang was a "Buddhist paradise" monk, and when he arrived, he arrived at the Imperial Capital. I heard that Master Sanzang with big ears was "sharp-eyed" (he can perceive other people's thoughts with his mind, that is, he has "heart to heart") and ordered him to prove it face to face with China's monk Zhong:
When Sanzang saw the teacher, he prayed and stood on the right. The teacher asked: Do you think he understands? Yes: dare not. Teacher: Where is the Taoist monk now? Yue: The monk is the teacher of a country. Why should he go to Xichuan to watch the game? The teacher asked again: Where is the Tathagata now? Yue: Monks are the teachers of a country, so why should we look at the monkeys in Tianjin Bridge? The teacher's third question said that as before, Sanzang didn't know about that place for a long time. The teacher scolded: this wild fox! Where is his heart connected? Sanzang is no match.
The Nangong County Records Jiajing Edition, Volume 4, Magazine, Article 8, Immortal Interpretation, records:
I don't know who it was. During Zhenyuan period of Tang Dynasty, I lived in an ordinary temple and built a floating figure, which was more than ten feet high.
The reign of Tang Daizong was 763-779. Zhenyuan is the national title of Tang Dezong, which is equivalent to 785-805 AD. It seems that Master Da Er arrived in Beijing when he was in Tang Daizong, and in Nangong when he was in Tang Dezong. An Indian monk who traveled to China made a special trip to the abbot of Nangong Ordinary Temple for a period of time and spared no effort to repair the damaged ordinary tower. This incident confirms the lofty position of the ordinary pagoda in the eyes of overseas monks, and also confirms the special life experience of the ordinary pagoda.
It should be noted that the "four years of Zhenguan" recorded in the above-mentioned county annals is suspected to be "four years of Zhenyuan", because Master Da 'er Sanzang should have rebuilt the ordinary tower during Zhenyuan, unless there is evidence that someone else rebuilt the ordinary tower during Zhenguan. If there is a lack of county records, then the cultural relics found can provide supplements and evidence.
During the period of 1 and 1995-2006, hundreds of white marble and bluestone Buddha statues were found in Nangong, which should be the remains of the event of "Wuzong destroying Buddha" in the late Tang Dynasty. In particular, nearly 100 Buddhist statues of white marble in the Northern Qi Dynasty were found at the bottom of Qunying Lake Lake next to the common tower, which is a rare discovery in Buddhist archaeology in China. These Buddhist statues are numerous and long-standing, and the names of their supporters are engraved on the pedestals of many statues, which can make up for the shortage of local chronicles and prove the age of the Nangong ordinary tower and its excellent reputation [2].
2. According to the introduction of Nangong Cultural Relics Management Department, during the maintenance of the common tower sponsored by Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau 1990- 1992 and presided over by Hebei Provincial Institute of Ancient Architecture, an inscription fragment with an inscription was found, which was the bulletin board for the maintenance of the common tower in the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), with an inscription indicating the construction date of the common tower.
..... Emperor Gaozu Yongping was founded ten years ago, and it was completed on the fifteenth day of the first month of the fifteenth year of Yongping. ...
This inscription shows that the construction time of the ordinary tower was Yongping 10 year, and the completion time was Yongping 15 year, which lasted for nearly 5 years, which should be in line with the material situation of Nangong County and the energy situation of the tower-maker at that time. In addition, the decade of Yongping is a landmark year when Buddhism was first introduced into Chinese mainland. If the ordinary pagoda was built in Yongping 10, then the initiators of the pagoda can only be the legendary first batch of Indian monks who came to China to preach, including Kashyapa-matanga (also translated as "Kayamoteng" and Dharma-ratna) and Dharma-Ratna.
3. Xingtai Cultural Relics Bureau now collects three bronze Buddha statues of Ming Dynasty that fell from the top of the common tower during the 1966 earthquake. The largest one (4 1cm in height and 6.25kg in weight) has an inscription on the back, indicating that the builder of the ordinary tower is indeed a photographer, such as Mo Teng;
..... was taken in Yongping on May 15th ... Zhu Falan ... Da 'er Sanzang Palace ... Zhiyuan and Wuhai monks were rebuilt on April 5th, and on July 15th of Jiajing 15th. ...
The "fifteen years of Yongping" in this inscription should be the year when the ordinary tower was built.
Perhaps it is because the original builder of the ordinary tower was a foreign monk, and later many foreign monks restored it. In addition to the "Three Monks with Big Ears" mentioned above, the "Sea Monk" in this inscription is suspected to be "Haidong Monk", that is, a Silla monk who came to China to study in the Tang Dynasty (see [Song] Zanning's Biography of Song Monks, Volume 4). Two overseas monks built a stupa in China, which is rare in the history of Buddhism. Does it imply that the life experience of the ordinary tower is extraordinary? The clues provided by local chronicles and cultural relics link the construction of ordinary towers with "seeking dharma in Yongping", so it is necessary to review this famous event in Buddhist history.
The so-called "Seeking Dharma in Yongping" refers to the fact that Emperor Han Ming (Liu Zhuang, the second emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty) sent envoys to the western regions to welcome Dharma in Yongping years, which is recognized by the world as the beginning of Buddhism's introduction into Chinese mainland. However, due to the fact that there are only a few words in the official history and the later Han Dynasty, other works recording this incident have different opinions. Later generations can't know the details of the incident and can only speculate on its general outline: One night in the seventh year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 64), Emperor Hanming dreamed that there was a golden god flying in front of the temple, so he asked the courtiers; Someone replied: there is a gold god in the west, which is10.6 feet high, called Buddha; So Emperor Han Ming sent messengers to India to welcome Buddhism. The Chinese envoy met Kashmotong, an Indian monk, in Yueguo (Guishuang), and then led the monk back to the land of the East, riding a white horse carrying Buddhist scriptures and Buddha statues, and finally arrived in Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, at the end of December of Yongping decade [3]; Emperor Han Ming received Modern and others, and ordered the monks to be placed in the place under the crack hon temple, the official department in charge of foreign affairs. In the second year (AD 68), he ordered the construction of a temple outside Yong Men in Luoyang City, namely the White Horse Temple, and in the twelfth year of Yongping (AD 69), the "Sakyamuni Buddha Tower" was built. Indian monks Morten and Zhu Falan completed the compilation and translation of China's first Buddhist scripture "Forty-two Chapters" at Baima Temple, and Buddhism was introduced to Kyushu, China.
Judging from this historical outline, if the Nangong ordinary tower was built in Yongping for ten years, then its date can only be before Morton and others entered the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, because they arrived in Luoyang at the end of Yongping for ten years.
If she and Mo Teng and others began to build ordinary towers before they arrived in Luoyang, it would mean that their travel route from the Western Regions to Luoyang would pass through the Nangong. Is this possible?
First of all, it should be admitted that the most convenient route from the western regions to Luoyang is not through the Nangong. This route is divided into three sections, from Wuzi Beili Mountain Pass in the west to Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty in the east. The first section is the Hufu area in the western regions, and the route is Wuzi Beilishan Pass-Shule-Qiuci-Yanqi-Wuji City-Yihe City-Yumenguan; The second section is the Liangzhou secretariat jurisdiction, and the route is connected in series with "Five Counties in Hexi" (Dunhuang County, Jiuquan County, Zhangye County, Wuwei County and Jincheng County) and the administrative offices of Longxi County and Hanyang County (Shuijun County was established in the seventeenth year of Yongping); The third section is a captain's jurisdiction in Li Si (that is, the central jurisdiction at that time), and its route is Tianshui-Chang 'an-Hongnong-Naichi-Hanguguan-Luoyang.
In this "convenient route", from Wuzi Beilishan Pass to Yumenguan Pass, it is a series of desert oases under the control of the Han Dynasty regime, which is naturally the best route for the envoys of the Han Dynasty to travel; From Yumenguan to Guzang (now Wuwei City, Gansu Province), there is no other choice in the narrow Hexi Corridor. But from the east of Wuwei, there are many roads for travelers to choose from. In the year when Emperor Hanming ascended the throne, a serious situation happened on the road east of Wuwei. "Were Volume II Ming Di Ji Er" is recorded as follows:
In autumn and September, Longxi burned Qiangkou, and the county was defeated by Yunjie. Pardon prisoners in Longxi is reduced by one degree, and the new year is more rewarding. Zhang Hong, who sent him to crusade against Qiang, agreed to our request and was defeated and killed. In the winter of November, Dou Gu, a corps commander, was sent to capture Ma Wu, a general of the State of Lu, and burned to death in his name.
As can be seen from this record, when Emperor Hanming ascended the throne (the second year of the Central Plains in 57 AD), "Burning as Qiang" (a branch of the Qiang nationality) rioted in Jincheng County and Longxi County, first defeating the Han army stationed in Longxi, Yun Jie (Yan Jia) in Longxi County, and then defeating the imperial army near Wu Yun, Jincheng County (Yanya). In case of emergency, Emperor Han Ming appointed Dou Gu as the army supervisor and Ma Wu as the commander-in-chief, and led the troops to suppress the riot. However, the activities of the Qiang people have never stopped. In the early years of Yongping, thoroughfares in Jincheng County and Longxi County were regarded as dangerous roads by travelers. Therefore, it is inevitable to avoid this section of the road and bypass the northeast.
Bypassing the northeast, it may be a "small detour" or a "big detour". The former refers to passing through Anding County (east of Wuwei County and northeast of Jincheng County, also under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou Secretariat), entering the jurisdiction of a surname in Li Si along the water mirror, and continuing the third section of the "convenient route" after arriving in Chang 'an; The latter refers to entering Bingzhou secretariat area through Anding County and Beidi County in Liangzhou secretariat area (including most of Shanxi today and one in Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia), then entering Jizhou secretariat area (roughly equivalent to south-central Hebei today), and finally transferring to Luoyang. Because Chang 'an City and its surrounding areas (including Fufeng, Jing and Zuo Fengyi) were repeatedly killed by soldiers in the Han Dynasty, there was a situation of "three auxiliary hunger, food for the people and empty battlements" during the Jianwu period. It is estimated that she and others may take a "big detour". In addition, there are two reasons why Han emissary and She Morteng chose the "big detour" route.
First, Ming Di's motive of seeking dharma. Everyone knows that Emperor Hanming "feels dreams" and seeks Buddhism, but few people analyze why he "feels dreams". There are two "dreams" recorded in the Book of Were Han, one of which happened in the seventeenth year of Yongping, and it is recorded in Book of Were Han Volume X Hou Ji Ji as follows:
In the first month of the seventeenth year, when I visited the original mausoleum, Ming Di dreamed of the first emperor and the queen mother at night. I can't sleep because of sadness. It's the case calendar. In the Ming Dynasty, the ecliptic was auspicious, leading officials to visit the mausoleum, and the nectar and jade tree fell on its day, and the emperor ordered officials to take it as a recommendation. After the meeting, the emperor squatted down from the table and looked at the queen mother in the mirror. He was moved to tears and made the clothes look good. I dare not look up when I cry on both sides.
Another kind of "dream feeling" occurred before the "Yongping seeking dharma" incident, and its dream has been widely known. The book of Were Han, Volume 118, Biography of the Western Regions, back to the seventy-eighth time, is recorded as follows:
According to the explanation, Emperor dreamed that the Golden Man grew up and had a bright roof, so he asked the ministers. Or: in the west, there is a god named Buddha. His figure is six feet long and golden. The emperor then sent messengers to Tianzhu to inquire about Buddhism and Taoism.
The latter record does not indicate the date of "dreaming", but it is related to the collapse of Yin Empress Yu Yongping in Guimao in the first month of the seventh year and her burial in Gengshen in February (see Ming Di Ji Er, Volume II of the Later Han Dynasty). It can be inferred that the time of "dreaming" should be not far from the date of the death or burial of Queen Yin.
There are many records about the deep feelings between Emperor Han Ming and his mother in history books. It is not surprising that his two "dreams" are related to his mother, Empress Yin (played by Yin Lihua). However, it can be explained that the original intention of Emperor Hanming to send envoys to seek the law is not to seek the way of governing the country overseas, but to worship foreign gods with great merits to protect his mother from death and fulfill his filial piety. Jizhou is closely related to the experiences of Empress Yin and Emperor Han Ming. For example, Empress Yin (then a noble Yin) gave birth to Emperor Han Ming in Yuanshi County, Jizhou. Since the emissary of the Han Dynasty knew the heart of Emperor Hanming, it was not inconceivable that he took Jizhou to please Emperor Hanming when he was forced to make a detour to Luoyang.
Second, the special relationship between Jizhou and Liu Xiu and Liu Zhuang. As we all know, Jizhou is the birthplace of Liu Xiu, Guangwu Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty. When Liu Xiu began to rule Hebei, he was chased by the strongman Wang Lang (who occupied Handan at that time). When Liu Xiu passed the Nangong, he hid in a private house to avoid the wind and rain. At that time, he didn't know where to go. Miraculously, he saw an old man in white and pointed out that he was going to Xindu County (Nangong County belonged to Xindu County at that time) about 80 miles away, so he got the first city under his control. It was after the establishment of the new capital that Liu Xiucai was able to lead the army to Hebei, take a true decision, capture Yuanshi County, seize the government, occupy Handan, and claim the title of emperor in Gou County (later renamed Gaoyi) (see History of Emperor Guangwu, Volume I of the Later Han Dynasty). In order to commemorate the adventure in Nangong, the Eastern Han Dynasty later established the "Gale Pavilion" in Nangong County (see the Jiajing edition of Nangong County Annals, Volume I, Geographical Annals, Historical Sites), indicating that this is the "blessed land" of the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the reign of Liu Xiu and Liu Zhuang, Jizhou was always the most stable area ruled by the Eastern Han Dynasty. So, the Han envoy passed through Jizhou with Mo Teng and others, which not only ensured the safety of the journey, but also paid tribute to the "holy places" in Yuanshi County, Gaoyi and Nangong along the way.
To enter Jizhou Cishi area from Bingzhou Cishi area, it is necessary to cross Taihang Mountain, and several roads are all river valley passages, such as Huanshui River Valley, Hutuo River Valley, Mianman River Valley and Zhangshui River Valley, among which Hutuo River Valley is probably the road that She Moteng walked. There are two reasons for this speculation: first, the water flow in the center of the valley is constant all the year round, the roads along the river are spacious, and the vegetation on both sides of the peaks is lush, which is rare in the middle of Taihang Mountain and has the best geographical conditions. Secondly, the Hutuo River meanders through Taihang Mountain, that is, east longitude113 30'-114 30', and north latitude 38 00'-39/kloc-0'. Later, several famous temples were built here. About 75 kilometers southeast of Linjiyuan (Temple), there is Zhaozhou Bailin Temple; About 80 kilometers further south, it is the ordinary temple in Nangong. Although these temples vary in scale, they all have legends that originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Legend is not equal to history, but it may contain historical information.
Judging from this, the photographer Morten and others' third trip may be from Bingzhou secretariat jurisdiction, along the Hutuo River into Jizhou secretariat jurisdiction, and then through Calm (Changshan country), Yuanshi County (Changshan country), Gaoyi (Changshan country), Nangong (then Anping country), Handan (then Zhao country) and other places, and then into Duwei jurisdiction. There are several explanations for the above conclusion.
First, Yongping decade was the year when ordinary towers were built. According to the known historical data, the common pagoda is the earliest pagoda built in China. Therefore, there is every reason to call the ordinary pagoda "the first stupa in China".
Second, although the common tower is also commonly known as "tower", it is estimated that it is not a "tower" but a "support". According to Indian Buddhist practice, the tower where the relics are placed is called "stpa" and the tower where the relics are not placed is called "Caitya". According to the records of Nangong Cultural Management Department, when 1990- 1992 repaired the ordinary tower, it was found that the tower body on 1-6 floor was hollow, with a well at the bottom, and the floors 7-9 were solid structures, and there was no space for placing relic boxes in the whole tower body. Therefore, it is inferred that the stupa has not placed relics, which should be a symbol of promoting Buddhism, so as to show that Buddhism has taken root in Chinese mainland since then.
Thirdly, some scholars have noticed that Morten and Zhu Falan did not arrive in Luoyang at the same time, that is, Morten arrived in Luoyang on December 30th in Yongping, and Zhu Falan arrived later. This can't help but make people wonder, what delayed Zhu Falan's trip? Could it be the compilation of ordinary towers?