Tao Hongjing: a Taoist scholar who advocates "three religions are all good"
2022-12-26
Known as the "Prime Minister of the Mountain", Tao Hongjing, a famous Taoist in the Southern Dynasty, was also an official and reclusive all his life, realizing his desire to live in a troubled world and help the people, indulging in the mountains and rivers to adapt to his own nature, which can be called a legend of a generation. Tao Hongjing (456-536 years) is a Taoist scholar, thinker, learned and versatile scholar and naturalist. He was eager to learn from an early age. "He read more than ten thousand volumes, but he did not know anything, so he thought he was ashamed." He was knowledgeable about Confucian classics, Taoist books, articles, poems, music, chess, calligraphy and painting. History books say that he "had different exercises when he was young". When he read Ge Hong's "The Legend of Immortals" at the age of 10, he was influenced by his spirit of prolonging life and immortality. At the age of 15, he wrote "The Record of Searching for Mountains", which said that "the ease of tiring the world is to search for mountains with a stick", expressing his yearning for seclusion. He Chang, Tao Hongjing, who is famous for his talent and learning, and the famous talents at that time, Jiang Xuan, Chu Xuan and Liu Mina, together called him the "Four Friends of Shengming". He has made many academic contributions, and has dabbled in medical health, gold pill smelting, geography, astronomical calendar, etc. Portrait of Tao Hongjing. Information picture Tao Hongjing lived through three dynasties of the Southern Dynasty, namely, Song, Qi and Liang. When he was 20 years old, he was a servant of all kings. Most of his later posts were idle jobs, which made it difficult for him to carry out his political ambitions. Therefore, he resigned from the imperial court and chose to live in seclusion in Jurong Qushan (now Maoshan, Jiangsu), known as "Tao's seclusion". Tao Hongjing, "living in Linquan and keeping Wei Que in mind", still pays attention to the government. When the Qi Dynasty was in decline, Xiao Yan wanted to seize the Qi regime but hesitated. Tao Hongjing encouraged his old acquaintance with Xiao Yan by "looking up at the sky, knowing the changes of fortune; looking down on people's hearts, and sympathizing with the sufferings of being besieged with charcoal.". Later, when Xiao Yan conquered Jiankang (now Nanjing), the national title was not fixed. Tao Hongjing helped Xiao Yan establish the national title as "Liang". After Emperor Wu of Liang ascended the throne, he sent envoys to invite Tao Hongjing out of the mountain many times. Tao Hongjing paints a picture to express his desire to seclude in the mountains and forests. In the picture, two cows, one of which is tied with a bow, are led and driven by a whip, while the other is leisurely eating grass. He writes a poem: "The flowing water is leisurely in front of me, and I lie down and love the green fields. I laugh at the golden cage and take my nose away, but when I wait, I will be whipped." Xiao Yan knows his meaning well and no longer forces him to do so. However, the court often consults with Tao Hongjing whenever there is a big event. At that time, he was called "the prime minister in the mountains". Tao Hongjing has lived in the mountains for 45 years, and his birth is far away, while his entry into the world is also deep. During his seclusion, in addition to keeping personal relations with Emperor Liangwu, Tao Hongjing also kept close contact with royal relatives and ministers in the court, and many of his disciples were dignitaries in the court. Tao Hongjing paid close attention to the political developments. He once wrote a poem to satirize the current politics by saying that the Western Jin Dynasty was defeated because the scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties did not practice martial arts and talked about the country. Later, in the last years of the Liang Dynasty, the "Rebellion of Hou Jing" happened, and the traitor Hou Jing usurped the Zhaoyang Hall. It can be seen that Tao Hongjing has a clear understanding of current affairs and a Confucian ambition to manage the world. Tao Hongjing's construction of Taoist immortal belief pedigree is of great significance in the history of Taoism. Worship and belief in the supernatural world is a common feature of all religions. Taoist deity creation activities began in the process of the formation of Taoism in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The earliest Heavenly Master Taoism, Taiping Taoism, later Shangqing Sect and Lingbao Sect all created a large number of gods respectively. In addition, they collected the gods that existed in ancient China, resulting in the Taoist holy group package
Edit：luoyu Responsible editor：jiajia
Source：mzb.com
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