As Guanyin Bodhisattva, the great disciple of Buddha Tathagata, said, "Dragon Painting Meeting" is a Buddhist ritual to commemorate Maitreya's birthday.
This Longhua gathering should refer to the day when Buddha Sakyamuni preached the Mahayana doctrine, and it was the day when the three religions got together. That is to say, Kong Xuan knew the birth of the Tathagata and that he would become the second teacher of western religions, but Kong Xuan swallowed him when he became a Taoist.
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Cihang is the most special person in the pedigree of Taoist immortals. He is both a Taoist immortal and a Buddhist bodhisattva. The process from immortal to bodhisattva is also a process from male to female. Most people's impression of Ci Hang's real person comes from The Romance of Gods, in which Ci Hang's real person was one of the Twelve Jinxian under the Buddha's seat in the early Yuan Dynasty, and later became the Guanyin Bodhisattva.
In fact, the legend of Cihang was finalized in the late Ming Dynasty. Cihang real person is one of the twelve disciples of Yuanshi Tianzun in Yuxu Palace of Kunlun Mountain. It is also called "Twelve Jinxian" of Taoism with Guang Chengzi, Hong Jing, Zhenren, Taiyi Zhenren, Huanglong Zhenren, Manjuguangfa Tianzun, Pu Xian Zhenren, Lingbao Exorcist, Liu, Daoxing Tianzun and Qingxu Zhenjun.
First, the origin of Cihang real people
There is a description in "The Mirror of Immortals in Past Dynasties" that in Shang Dynasty, there was a jurchen in Luojiayan Tidal Cave in Putuo Mountain, vowing to purdue men and women in the world. She often uses elixir and nectar to help people, and is called "a real person of kindness and navigation" by Nanhai people.
Since the Six Dynasties, the concepts of the same origin of immortals and buddhas and Laozi's transformation of Hu into Buddha have been passed down to this day, so Guanyin, Manjusri, Pu Xian, etc. All of them attained enlightenment in China and later became Buddhists in the West. For example, the Romance of the Gods directly reads: "A Taoist of Guanyin in Luojiadong, Putuo Mountain-later became Guanyin".
In the Taoist classic "Enlightenment of Cihang on the Blue Sky of Mount Tai", it is described as follows: "Cihang Master takes the root seedling of the Western Heaven Jade Country as the heir of the king of Fotu Village, points out the truth, puts the root in the Nangong, explains and helps others, wins glory for the Western Heaven Mother, and the yin and yang are mixed. The prophet's fruit lies in Kun, and the unknown begins with walking and hiding.
Therefore, Cihang became the predecessor of Guanyin Bodhisattva after experiencing the transformation from "former servant to immortal" to "macro-teaching to Buddha".
Second, the dragon lady worships Guanyin.
The virgin around Cihang is called Dragon Lady, the little daughter of the Dragon King of the East China Sea. She is both beautiful and clever.
One day, when she heard that someone was playing with fish lanterns, she slipped out of the Crystal Palace in the middle of the night and became a fisherman's girl watching the lights. Suddenly, half a cup of Leng Cha was poured from the attic, and it just splashed on the dragon lady's head. The dragon girl who became a fisherman's girl revealed her true colors as soon as she touched the water. Anxious dragon lady squeezed her way through the crowd and ran to the seaside.
But as soon as she ran to the seaside, the dragon lady became a fish. Just then, two fishermen came, carrying fish to the streets to sell.
At this time, Guanyin was clearly seen in the purple bamboo forest and was moved by compassion. He ordered the good boy behind him to buy the fish and put it back into the sea. When the Dragon King learned that his daughter had violated the dogma, he was furious and expelled her from the Crystal Palace.
The dragon lady who was expelled from the Crystal Palace wept bitterly. Guanyin heard the cry of the little dragon girl and ordered Shancai to take the dragon girl to Zizhulin. Since then, Dragon Lady and Sugi have followed Guanyin to practice in Dong Chaoyin like brothers and sisters.
Third, the gender changes of Cihang real people
Guanyin Bodhisattva was a male image in the early days, but it became a female image in the Tang Dynasty, and experienced the transformation from a brave husband to an elegant and beautiful lady.
Cihang was originally a male fairy and then became a goddess, and also experienced gender changes, but this change is more humane.
Legend has it that Cihang traveled around the world and saw a pregnant woman lying on the ground moaning after helping Jiang Ziya to seal the gods. In order to avoid the embarrassment and gossip of pregnant women, Cihang real people turned into girls and treated pregnant women with bottles. However, because the midwife was contaminated with the filth during childbirth, it could not be turned into the original body.
Because the kindness of real people touched the sky, the reputation of the Jade Emperor saved people from suffering. From then on, Cihang real people began to show people as women.
Another legend about Cihang's real person changing from a man to a woman tells that Cihang's real person lost the precious mirror given by the moral Buddha in the East China Sea. The light of the mirror shines on a carp essence cultured in the East China Sea. Carp essence took the opportunity to become a beautiful woman. In order to really grow up, carp essence eats all over the world. When the Jade Emperor learned about it, he sent Cihang down to collect the demon.
In order to attract the carp essence and turn it into a female body, Cihang caught the carp essence with thousands of hands and eyes. However, when I returned to the sky, I forgot to be a man and missed the time. Cihang real people can never recover their true colors and eventually become immortals as women.
The appearance of the real person of Cihang was much later than that of Guanyin Bodhisattva. However, both Cihang and Guanyin experienced the transformation from male to female. The role of the two is the same, saving the suffering and helping the children. Due to the mutual integration of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism in ancient China, Guanyin Bodhisattva became a Taoist priest and a Taoist immortal. It also provided material for later romantic novels.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-cihang real person