History can't bear to look at the complete collection

Chapter 44 The Anecdote on the Dragon Chair 1
The farce of not being an emperor but becoming a monk
It sounds unreasonable to be a monk instead of an emperor, but there are indeed such a few emperors in Chinese history who took off their dragon robes and put on monk robes, walked down the palace, and entered the temple.

As the lord of a country, he sacrificed himself as a slave in a Buddhist temple several times, and was "redeemed" by his officials at a high price.The protagonist of this outrageous incident is Emperor Wu of Liang Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan, a native of Lanling (now northwest of Changzhou), sent troops to invade Jiankang (now Nanjing) in 501, destroyed Qi and established Liang Dynasty.He originally believed in Taoism, but three years after becoming emperor, he issued an edict declaring that he would give up Taoism and serve Buddhism.He built Buddhist temples extensively, and there are more than 500 temples in Jiankang, the capital city, with more than 10 monks and nuns.He himself is also known as the "Emperor Bodhisattva".Because of his advocacy, the Han monks and nuns changed their habit of eating three clean meats.

After several failed Northern Expeditions, in order to win a good name, he became a monk many times, but his monkhood was purely for show, and he did not really convert to Buddhism.

In 527, Xiao Yan went to Tongtai Temple, which was the largest in Jiankang at that time, and had thousands of monks. Suddenly, he took off his dragon robe and became a monk, saying that he sacrificed his life to the Buddhist temple to pray for the country.However, three days later, he went back in despair.

Less than two years later, Xiao Yan sacrificed himself to Tongtai Temple for the second time.He turned a deaf ear to the pleas of his ministers.After more than two months, the ministers finally understood the emperor's intention: to donate money to Tongtai Temple.Therefore, the minister "redeemed" him after donating [-] million yuan.

After that, Xiao Yan went to "sacrifice his life" twice, and each time he "redeemed" the minister back with a worth of [-] million yuan.

In March 546, Xiao Yan, who was nearly 80 years old, entered Tongtai Temple again to lecture on the "Three Wisdom Sutra".This time, I will lecture during the day and return to the palace at night.A month later, Tongtai Temple caught fire and burned all the statues and Buddha paintings in the temple.

Ironically, the Buddha did not bless this pious disciple. In 548, Hou Jing, who rebelled against the Eastern Wei and surrendered to Liang, launched a mutiny. In the second year, Emperor Wu of Liang died of starvation and disease.

In history, it is well known that emperors who were monks, such as Emperor Wu of Liang and Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty.It is said that there is another little-known figure in the Tang Dynasty, that is Tang Xuanzong Li Chen.Whether he was a monk is still debated.

Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was more accomplished and was known as the "little Taizong".According to unofficial history, Li Chen is the youngest son of Tang Xianzong Li Chun. Because of his talent, he was deeply jealous of his two emperor nephews Tang Wenzong and Wuzong.After Tang Wuzong ascended the throne, he sent someone to arrest Guang Wang Li Chen and soak him in the toilet.A eunuch named Qiu Gongwu sent him out of the palace under the false pretense that he had killed King Guang.Li Chen shaved his hair and disguised himself as a monk, and finally became a small novice monk in Haichangyuan (Anguo Temple) in Zhenguo, Yanguan (now Haining), Zhejiang. Fang Wenqi'an also named him Qiongjun.A few years later, Emperor Wuzong died of illness, and Li Chen returned to Beijing to become the emperor. Not forgetting the kindness of the abbot, he bestowed the posthumous title of Wukong Guoshi, expanded the Buddhist temple, and named it Qifeng Temple.

According to the "Haining County Chronicles" during the Kangxi period, Qi An was also the "son of the emperor", who became a monk since childhood and was the master of the late Tang Dynasty.Li Chen and Qi An are close and have a long-term relationship.

Some scholars also believe that Tang Wuzong once carried out a campaign to destroy Buddhism, which aroused the resentment of monks.After Xuanzong came to the throne, Buddhism was revived. These monks were very grateful, created public opinion, and made up this matter.

There are also some strange things in the official history.For example, in the "Old Tang Book", it is recorded that Xuanzong pretended to be demented in order to avoid disaster when he was King Guang, and Wenzong and Wuzong often used him as a joke at banquets.Then he said: "Emperor Xuanzong has a profound knowledge of weapons, has endured hardships for a long time, and is well aware of the sufferings of the people." It makes the world wonder: Where did these words come from?Wu Zong died of illness within a few days, and Tang Xuanzong ascended the throne. The time was only more than 10 days apart. Why did the eunuchs find him so easily?In addition, Xuanzong's grievances and grievances are clear. After he came to the throne, why didn't he take any revenge on Wuzong?
It seems that whether Tang Xuanzong was a monk or not still needs to be explored.

These emperors did not sit on the good dragon chairs, but they insisted on doing meditation to ask the Buddha, but in fact, they were not sincere to the Buddha, but just to satisfy their own petty temper, but in the end they harmed the country and the people.

(End of this chapter)