The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 521 True and False Maitreya
Zhuge's name hangs down to the universe, and the portraits of Zongchen's portraits are clear and high.

According to the planning and planning of the three divisions, there is a feather in the eternal sky.

——Excerpt from Du Fu's "Yong Huai Ancient Site"

(The previous chapter has been rewritten, you heroes can go back and read a chapter.)
……

Fang Shuliu took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and continued to speak: "In the hundred years since the 'Faqing Rebellion', the Maitreya Sect has died down, and it seems that there has been no act of disrupting the law with prophecies.

Maitreya belief is still prevalent, but most of them take "educating the people" and "respecting the Buddha sincerely" as their teachings.Since then, "Amitabha belief" and "Guanyin belief" have also begun to come from behind.

After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, hundreds of years of war finally came to an end.

However, in the early years of Kaihuang, another prophecy that "the emperor in white goes out of the East China Sea" spread like wildfire.And the true meaning of "white clothes emperor" is precisely "Maitreya's birth", because it is said that Maitreya is wearing white clothes.

This prophecy has been circulated among the people for many years, and it can be said to be well-known and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Master Di often said: "Although the prophecy reflects the sufferings of the people, the fabricators of the prophecy are often rebels. '

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty built canals and conquered Korea, which caused turmoil in the world and the loss of life.The maker of this prophecy finally waited for the time and began to put it into action.

In the first month of Guihai, the sixth year of Emperor Yangdi's great career in Sui Dynasty, at dawn, dozens of strong Maitreya believers dressed in white skirts, holding flowers and burning incense, marched forward, claiming to be Maitreya Buddha, and broke into the Jianguo Gate of the imperial city.

The guards of Jianguomen respected Maitreya Buddha very much. Facing the believers dressed in white who claimed to be Maitreya, although they didn't know the authenticity, they dared not show disrespect to Maitreya, and kowtowed one after another.

So this group of Maitreya believers took the opportunity to snatch the guards' swords, rushed into the palace, and launched a rebellion.Fortunately, King Qi led the guards to arrive in time, and a fierce battle broke out to kill him.

The rebellion happened in the palace? !

Shocked, Emperor Fan of the Sui Dynasty ordered a large-scale search and arrest in Luoyang City, and thousands of families were successively arrested.

Although this rebellion ended in failure, it showed that the Maitreya Sect has considerable strength.Not only were there assassins and warriors who dared to risk their lives to die, but there were also officers of the Forbidden Army who were familiar with the palace guards as internal support.

However, what is paradoxical is that Emperor Yang of Sui tried his best, but in the end he failed to find the real mastermind who launched the palace rebellion, which shows how deeply the influence of Maitreya Cult was hidden.

The failure of the uprising did not stop the mastermind behind the scenes.

In the ninth year of Daye's reign in the Sui Dynasty, another Maitreya believer, Song Zixian from Tang County, called himself "Maitreya reincarnated".This person is very good at illusion, and he can conjure up the appearance of Maitreya Buddha, which won the admiration of all the believers.

At this time, Emperor Yang of Sui happened to be on a tour of Gaoyang. Song Zixian immediately held a meeting without cover, and invited Emperor Yang of Sui, who believed in Buddhism, to participate in the meeting through local officials and wealthy families, in an attempt to assassinate Yang Guang at the meeting.

The secret was not kept secret, Song Zixian was accidentally killed for leaking the news, and more than 1000 party members were convicted.

In the same year, Xiang Haiming claimed to be the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha in Fufeng.Once you become a believer, you will be able to dream of the pure land of the Buddha that night.This illusion amazed everyone, and the believers in Chang'an paid homage to him and respected Xiang Haiming as the "Great Sage".

Therefore, Xiang Haiming took advantage of his great prestige among the people, gathered tens of thousands of people to revolt, and was finally defeated by the Sui army.

In just one year, one east and one west attacked almost at the same time, which shows the strength of the Maitreya Sect.

……

In the early Tang Dynasty, Maitreya belief still had a huge influence.

In the second year of Emperor Gaozong Yonglong, a strange thing happened in Chang'an: on September 90, Liu Ningjing, a woman from Wannian County in Chang'an, rode a white horse, dressed in white, and led [-] to [-] believers, and broke into the Taishi Bureau to ask if there was any disaster here.

Yao Xuanbian was enraged by Taishi's words to confuse the crowd and make waves. Taishi arrested these monsters and put them in jail for questioning.

Since the prophecy that "the emperor in white clothes came out of the East China Sea", wearing white clothes and claiming to be "Maitreya Buddha is coming to the world" to raise troops has become a common practice of Maitreya believers.

The paradox of the "Liu Ningjing Incident" is that she broke into the Taishi Bureau with [-] or [-] men for no reason.

The Taishi Bureau is not an important place for the imperial court, nor is it a place where money gathers.Whether it is rebellion or robbery, it is worthless.

Liu Ningjing broke into it at the risk of beheading, just to ask: "What's wrong here?"

Whether it is a person who deceives the public with false words or a rebel who is rebellious, unless he is crazy, he will never do such a stupid and useless thing.

Liu Ningjing's crazy behavior troubled Mrs. Di very much, and she couldn't understand it. "

Bai Fu also felt that this matter was far from simple, so he couldn't help interjecting: "What is the truth about this matter, has Liu Ningjing confessed anything?"

Fang Shuliu shook his head and said, "The outcome of this matter, Liu Ningjing's life and death, is unknown. All files related to this matter, whether they belong to the Six Doors or the Ministry of Punishment, will be destroyed.

From the "Jianguomen Incident" to the "Liu Ningjing Incident", the group of white-clothed men who launched the rebellion several decades before and after may be the same sect, secretly lurking in the dark, hidden from the court's sight. "

Speaking of this, Fang Shuliu paused for a moment, pondered his words, and said: "Looking back, the 'Liu Ningjing incident' is not worthless. One person has gained great benefits from this incident."

"Who?" Bai Fu and Tang Kui asked in unison.

"A generation of empress Wu Zetian!"

Fang Shuliu said: "During the 'Liu Ningjing Incident', Emperor Gaozong was seriously ill, Wu Zhao listened to the government behind a curtain, and held great power.

However, in order to become the real Ninth Five-Year King, Wu Zhao still has a gap that is difficult to bridge-there has never been a woman in history who has ascended to the throne and became an emperor.

After all, in the tradition that men are superior to women, even though there are women who are powerful in the world, such as Empress Lu and Queen Mother Dou, there has never been a real female emperor.

Liu Ningjing's crazy behavior solved Wu Zhao's problem of not being able to sleep at night.

After this incident, Wu Zhao was convinced that not only would women not be discriminated against in Maitreya Sect, but they could call themselves 'Maitreya reincarnated' and lead the pack.

This realization made Wu Zhao sleepless all night, overjoyed.

In the next ten years, Wu Zhao gradually eradicated the political enemies who could compete with him for imperial power through means such as Gaozong's death, Zhongzong's succession and abolishment, Ruizong's succession and abdication, the failure of the king of Yue and the British rebellion, bloody cruel officials, etc. Become the supreme ruler of the empire. "

"Could the 'Liu Ningjing incident' be planned by Wu Zhao himself to test the reaction of the government and the public?" Bai Fu asked.

Bai Fu met Wu Zhao in Wulong, and knew that Wu Zhao, who possessed the Ninth Cauldron Pill, was unstoppable in terms of martial arts and desire, and he would definitely give birth to the heart of a dragon chair.

"This possibility is not ruled out, but there is no evidence to support this inference." Fang Shuliu replied seriously.

……

Because the story of Maitreya's descent into the world was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, when Emperor Gaozong fell ill, Wu Zhao also announced that Li's destiny would end in order to be able to ascend the throne smoothly.

In July of the first year of Empress Wu Zetian's conferment, Faming, a monk in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, wrote four volumes of "Da Yun Jing". On the table, it was stated that the Empress Dowager was born under Maitreya Buddha. .

In the previous Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, it was only said that women can become Buddhas just like men, but this scripture allows the goddess to "king the land" and "power the world" in the female body.

This "treasure scripture" can be said to be rain after a long drought for Wu Zhao, who is eager to become emperor but has no name.Wu Zhao ordered the eminent monk to ascend to the throne, explain the sutra to the believers, and took the queen's deeds in the "Dayun Sutra" as the Buddhist principles for changing dynasties and conquering the hearts of the people.

At the same time, Xue Huaiyi, Wu Zhao's lover, created the "Da Yun Jing Shu", saying that Wu Zhao is the goddess of pure light, the wheel-turning king, and the transformation of Maitreya.

Tang Zhu Sanzang Bodhidharma Liuzhi translated "Buddha Said the Precious Rain Sutra", following Xue Huaiyi's theory, saying that Moonlight Bodhisattva took the female body as the king of Mahachina (Middle Earth Tang), and Wu Zhao was said to be the reincarnation of Moonlight, known as Moonlight.In order to bless Wu Zhao and create an orthodoxy in which the heroine can also ascend the throne and become emperor.

In the first year of Wu Zetian's Zhengsheng, Master Yijing, who had traveled all over the Western Regions, returned to Luoyang and was ordered to translate the "Buddha Said Maitreya's Rebirth Sutra".

From then on, during the Wu Zhou dynasty, Maitreya religion and imperial power mutually benefited and flourished for a while, almost becoming the state religion.

……

Since the prosperity of the Maitreya Church was based on Wu Zhao's personal faith, it was thought that with the death of Emperor Zetian, the Maitreya Church would decline.Unexpectedly, in the Xuanzong Dynasty, the Maitreya Sect regenerated right and wrong.

In the first year of Kaiyuan, Wang Huaigu, a native of Beizhou, spread prophecy and instigated rebellion: "Sakyamuni Buddha will end, and a new Buddha will appear. The Li family wants to end, and the Liu family wants to prosper."When there is black snow this winter, go down to Beizhou and leave Yincheng together. '

Wang Huaigu advocated that the destiny of the "Li family" came from the old Buddha near the end of the world, while the "Liu family" represented the new Buddha in the future.

"A new Buddha emerges" and "the Liu family wants to prosper", implying that Maitreya will establish a dynasty with the "Liu family" after he is reborn in the world.Even if 'Liu' is not Maitreya himself, he will be reborn as a wheel-turning king or Moonlight Bodhisattva before Maitreya and create conditions for Maitreya's next rebirth.

Xuanzong was furious when he heard about it, and ordered all the Daoist envoys to arrest and kill Wang Huaigu's extremely believers.

Although Wang Huaigu and his believers were killed by the imperial court, his prophecy that "the Li family wants to end and the Liu family will prosper" touched the foundation of Li Tang's rule of the world.Throughout the Kaiyuan period, a large proportion of demon thieves and demon people rebelled, all related to the Liu family.

In the third year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong promulgated the edict "Forbidden Demons and Frauds" and "Forbidden White Clothes and Long Hair Association", accusing white clothes and long hair believers of "pretending to entrust Maitreya to be born", spreading demons and lies, asking local governors and county magistrates to punish Gatherings and associations of Maitreya believers are strictly prohibited.

In addition to the case of Wang Huaigu, there are still many important rebellions in the world:

In May of the 13th year of Kaiyuan, Liu Dinggao, a demon thief from Luoyang, invaded Tongluo Gate at night, captured and beheaded him.

In the winter of the 23rd year of Kaiyuan, Liu Pu, a native of Dongdu, rebelled and was executed.

In May of the 24th year of Kaiyuan, Liu Zhicheng, a demon from Liquan in Chang'an, made a rebellion, drove away passers-by, and captured Xianyang.The villagers went to the county magistrate and refused by burning bridges and cutting off roads.The crowd collapsed, and they were all captured and beheaded in a few days.

Therefore, Xuanzong was very sensitive to the "Maojindao". Concubine Yang's brother Yang Zhao begged Xuanzong to name him Yang Guozhong because of the hidden alloy sword in his name.

It can be seen that as long as the Li Tang royal family encounters a ruling crisis, prophecies such as "Mao Jin Dao" and "Liu Shi is king" will reappear.

One thing is intriguing. The Maitreya rebellion and Liu's rebellion mostly occurred in the Youji area: Liu Lingzhu, a native of Yanjun, served as the governor of Youzhou.

Wang Huaigu is from Beizhou near Youzhou.Earlier, Liu Sengshao also raised troops in Youzhou, claiming to be the Dharma King of Jingju Guoming.One year after Liu Sengshao's failed rebellion, Faqing, a recluse in Jizhou, called himself Mahayana, rebelled.All in the same area.

Why did so many Maitreya rebellions occur in the Youji area?
I personally think that the belief in Maitreya is more prosperous in this area.In addition, it may also be related to the appearance of the Moonlight King in the north of the Yellow River and south of Ruoshui as advertised in the "Sura Bhikshu Sutra".

……

With the imperial court's suppression of Maitreya religion and the rise of Amitabha belief, Maitreya belief began to fade out of the mainstream of Buddhism. The status of the Wuzhou Dynasty, which could almost rival Sakyamuni Buddha, was already a "golden flower", and Amitabha belief and Avalokitesvara belief also far surpassed it.

The Maitreya religion, suppressed by orthodox Buddhism, has gone further to extremes and violence. Once the world is in turmoil, Maitreya believers are likely to take the opportunity to revolt. "

　references:
　　1. "The Era of Divine Words: Prophecy, Jushu, and Medieval Politics", Sun Yingang, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House,
　　Published June 2015.

　　2. "Listening to Wu Han's History: The Mirror of History", Wu Han, Zhejiang People's Publishing House, published in January 2020

　　3. "The Shadow of Dark War Under Maitreya's Smile", Mingyue Chuxiao, "3000 Years of Secret Warfare", China Chang'an Publishing House, published in January 2019

　　reference poem

　　Zhuge's name hangs down to the universe, and the portraits of Zongchen's portraits are clear and high.

　　According to the planning and planning of the three divisions, there is a feather in the eternal sky.

　　Seeing Yilu between brothers and sisters, the commander is sure to lose Xiao Cao.

　　It is difficult to move Han Zuo back, and he is determined to wipe out the army and work hard.

　　——"Ode to Ancient Sites" by Du Fu

　　
　
(End of this chapter)