Textual research on everyone's immortals

　　□ Bian Yufang

　　This article is a textual research on ancient immortals. Can immortals take the exam?

　　Yes, it's a daily lesson for those who seek immortality to bind themselves up and practice. Whether they become immortals or not is like a carp jumping off the dragon gate, and they have to go through a big exam.

　　Xuanzang recorded an immortal test story in India in "The Tale of the Western Regions of Datang". The protagonist is a hermit, who has been practicing for a long time and has succeeded in magic, but he is not satisfied and longs for immortality. One day, he found a "guide to testing immortals" from ancient books. The "guide" says that "taking an examination of immortals" tests the firm will to climb the ladder. The examination room was built by the yogi himself, one foot away from Fiona Fang. In the venue, besides the yogi himself, there must be a "martyr" (meaning a fierce man) as an examiner. At that time, the martyr will stand with a knife from dusk to dawn. In the meantime, no matter what kind of horror they encounter, the martyrs should turn a blind eye, listen but not smell, and never say a word. At the same time, the yogi sat in the altar, holding a long knife in his hand, reciting the mantra, ignoring sight and smell, and staying up all night. If it is successful, both the yogi and the martyr will become immortal.

　　Do you understand? The key to taking an examination of immortals is that during the whole process, the examiners must not say a word.

　　So the hermit in the story began to look for it. There are many loyal and brave people in the world, but it is not easy to find a martyr who can be calm and calm in the face of any test. The hermit searched for a year before he locked his target in the vast sea of people. The man looks brave and resolute, and has a lot of immortal roots. The hermit started from the fact that the man was cheated by his employer and fell into poverty, and constantly cultivated his feelings with him. The man thanked the hermit and repeatedly said, "Thanks to your kindness, I will go through fire and water if I can be useful!" The hermit opened the skylight and said, "I really have something to help. That is, on the night of my immortal test, you protected the law for me all night, and you can't say a word from beginning to end." The man smiled. "I don't care if I die. Do I care if I don't talk all night?"

　　Things will go as planned. That evening, the hermit and the man took their places. One sat on the handle, recited the mantra and went to heaven to listen. One stood with a sharp sword and kept silent, guarding the examination room. Seeing that the night was drawing to a close and the East was dawning, the man suddenly let out a miserable cry.

　　As the man opened his mouth, a fireball fell in the air and burned the examination room to ashes in an instant.

　　Failure in the exam fell short. The hermit blamed the man: "I warned you not to make any noise in advance. Why did you break the agreement?" The man replied with shame: "Everything was normal at first, and I fell asleep after midnight. When I saw my former employer apologize to me, I thought about your instructions and ignored them. My employer was furious and killed me. After my death, I remembered my promise before my death and vowed to be mute in the next life and the next life. I was born into a great Brahmin family in South India, and I still didn't say a word. At the age of 65, the old wife said,' Speak. If you don't speak, I'll kill your son!' I think, the agreement with you is a past life, and this life is coming to an end, and there is only one flesh and blood behind me. I wanted to protect my son, so I couldn't help screaming. "

　　The hermit sighed with a heavy sigh: "It's all because my fairy fate has not arrived and I have provoked demons to interfere."

　　It is correct for hermits to blame themselves for failing in exams and to reflect on themselves after making mistakes. Generally, practitioners are not ready, otherwise, the "guide" will not emphasize the need to find a martyr to jointly tackle the problem. The martyr in the story has gone through one level after another, and finally he can't help but open his mouth before the test of parent-child love, which exposes the endless dust.

　　This story spread to the east because of the "Datang Western Regions". Our country implements the imperial examination to select scholars, and the examination system is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. But the fairy can take the exam, but it is unexpected. Someone with a good heart, has a good effect, and perfunctory out several China versions of Kaoxian.

　　Among them, Du Zichun, written by Niu Sengru in the middle Tang Dynasty, is the most famous. Its conception and structure are similar to those of the Indian version, but the plot has expanded and the characters have changed-the hermit has changed to a Taoist and retired to the second corner; The martyr was changed to Du Zichun, the son of Gao Liang, and he became the protagonist; The location is in Chang 'an.

　　At the beginning, Du Zichun lost his family, and a strange old man spent a lot of money to help him. Du Zichun lost again, and the old man gave him a huge sum of money. In this case, Du Zichun repented and turned over a new leaf. Three years later, at the request of the old man, he went to Huashan Yuntai Peak. There is a Taoist temple, and the old man turned out to be a Taoist.

　　Next, I entered the China version of the quiz. The Taoist priest asked Du Zichun to sit in the lobby, made it clear that "Be careful not to speak" and "Don't be afraid at ease, there will be no pain in the end" and so on, and then left. Suddenly, a fierce general with his troops rushed to the front of the hall, reached for the sword and pointed it at Du Zichun's forehead. "Who are you?" What are you doing here? " Du Zichun knew it was an illusion and held his head high. After a while, the troops disappeared, and tigers, poisonous dragons and lions came from all over the mountains, eager to swallow. Du Zichun NingRan sitting. Then it rained cats and dogs, and the water flooded his chest ... He remained motionless.

　　Finally, the general beheaded Du Zichun. Du Zichun went to hell and tasted torture. He kept in mind the Taoist priest's exhortation and silently gritted his teeth. He was reincarnated as a beautiful woman who could not speak. Later, her husband threw their son to death, and she was heartbroken, throwing her agreement with the Taoist priest out of the sky and crying out, "Oh, my God!" So I went back to the ending of the Indian version. The Taoist priest fell down and sighed: "You, joy, anger, sorrow, fear, evil and desire can be abandoned, but only love can't be forgotten." Alas, the world is so big that it is hard to find a fairy! "

　　Wait a minute! It's not so much that a fairy is hard to find, but that human nature is eternal. As the saying goes, "Nature is unchangeable on the top, but human relations are not taken away on the bottom", and family ties can not be taken away. Du Zichun's reincarnated love generate is his "bottom line" of human relations, while the devil's trump card to destroy the examination for ascension to immortality is "love", which is the affection of parents to their children. It's puzzling that it will happen. Supposedly, the immortal is a high-dimensional creature, and his supreme respect should be reflected in his concern for human sufferings. The essence of the immortal test here is to reject worldly desires and not eat human fireworks. I would like to ask: What is the positive significance of such "jumping out of the world of mortals and being detached from things"?

　　Du Zichun's story appeared in version 2.0 of Awakening the World, edited by Feng Menglong in the Ming Dynasty, and the title was changed to Du Zichun's Three Visits to Chang 'an. The plot is similar, and the narrative is more novel and dramatic. There are two biggest changes: First, the true identity of the Taoist priest is the old gentleman. Secondly, Du Zichun's performance is just like that of the Tang Dynasty. But after Reiko lost his voice and smashed the examination room, the old gentleman did not abandon him, but gave him a chance to continue to realize the Tao: to practice at home. This is quite human. Later, Du Zichun really "cleansed his mind and got six quietism roots", so he was convinced by the old gentleman on Tai Shang and became immortal. Even his wife was taken care of by the old gentleman on Tai Shang, and she joined the ranks of immortals. This is already the combination of divinity and humanity. In the end, Du Zichun and his wife, in order to thank Taishang Laojun, built their ancestral home in the south of Chang 'an as Taishang Xianci before Xiaju soared. Taishang Laojun naturally accepted it-you see, he who sees through the world of mortals still cannot help but be seen through by the world of mortals. Don't you say that the Xianci, the golden statue and the incense seal give off a strong smell of human fireworks?