Chinanews.com, February 6th. According to comprehensive news, Master Hsing Yun, the founding patriarch of Taiwan's Fo Guang Shan and the founder of the International Buddha's Light Association, passed away peacefully on the 5th.
Xing Yun, who became a monk in his teens, has been patriotic all his life and devoted himself to promoting Chinese culture. However, behind the glamorous appearance, Master Xing Yun also has some unusual life experiences.
He was a witness to the Nanjing Massacre, calling the massacre a "hell on earth"
Master Hsing Yun was born in Jiangdu County, Jiangsu Province in 1927.
At the end of 1937, his father was doing business in Nanjing, but there was no news after the fall of Nanjing.
The young Xingyun followed his mother to Nanjing to find his father and witnessed the tragedy of the Nanjing Massacre.
"I saw people in the river with their heads upside down and their feet upside down. There were corpses everywhere. The blood seeped into the leaves and mud at the bottom of the river. I could see clearly. There are too many examples like this." Master Xingyun described during his lifetime The Nanjing Massacre created by the Japanese invaders was a "hell on earth".
"The dead are dead, and the living always want to live. Everyone has a sad heart and wants to live their lives." Master Xingyun said before his death that he had the idea of becoming a monk since he was a child, but the Nanjing Massacre really made him hold on determined to become a monk.
The picture shows Master Hsing Yun recalling the Nanjing Massacre during his lifetime.
video screenshot
During his lifetime, Master Hsing Yun specially invited a painter to create an oil painting "Tu·Sheng·Buddha—Nanjing Massacre" and donated it to the permanent collection of the memorial hall, asking the world to "never forget history".
"The Nanjing Massacre took the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. My father disappeared, which can be said to be a blood feud, but in our Buddhist view, human wars continue, and it is impossible to stop killing by killing. Only by moving, using compassion, Use forgiveness, let him admit his mistakes and repent, so that there is real hope for peace." Master Hsing Yun said before his death, "We must let all Chinese children remember this Sino-Japanese war. Our victory was hard-won. Everyone continue to work hard, Make China stronger; we want to let the whole world know our attitude towards Japan and know that history is forever."
Mother refused to become a monk
Master Hsing Yun, who is commonly known as Li Guoshen, became a vegetarian with his grandmother who believed in Buddhism at the age of 5. At the age of 12, he became a monk at the age of 12 at the Lizhikai Master of Qixiashan Temple. His Dharma name is Wuche, and his name is Jinjue.
Master Hsing Yun recalled the fate of becoming a monk and said that when he went out with his mother to look for his father, he never found his father's whereabouts. When he was disappointed, he passed by Qixia Mountain and saw the army going out for training. He stopped to watch curiously, and suddenly a A teacher in the monastery casually asked him: "Little friend, do you want to become a monk?"
Influenced by his grandmother since he was a child, Master Hsing Yun has long had the habit of believing in and worshiping Buddha, so he subconsciously heard the word "becoming a monk", and before he had time to think about it, he replied, "Yes!" Soon, a person came over to him and said, "The head of the family Master is looking for you!" He and his mother followed the man to a temple, asked his mother to wait outside, and followed him into the Qixia Mountain Temple.
The picture shows Master Hsing Yun Source: Taiwan United Daily News
After entering the mountain gate, a 30-year-old mage asked him repeatedly, "What's your name?" , will you become a monk with me?" Master Hsing Yun saw that he was kind and compassionate, and immediately said "Yes".
The master said that to become a renunciation requires the consent of parents. Master Hsing Yun said: "My mother is outside." The master said that if the approval is obtained, the mother will be invited to meet him.
Master Xingyun found his mother and told her that he wanted to become a monk here, and his mother immediately replied: "No!" Xingyun also said: "I have made a promise to others, and there is no way to go back on it!" His mother immediately said: "It doesn't matter, I will help you Say no to the head teacher!" Master Hsing Yun brought his mother to the master, and the master told his mother how to cultivate him in the future and how to have a future... Finally, Master Hsing Yun's mother was moved and agreed to let him become a monk. Master Tian Xingyun became a monk in this way.
Why is the Dharma name "
Xingyun
"
In the spring of 1939, 12-year-old Xing Yun was ordained in Qixia Temple.
When he became a monk, the master named him "Jinjue", which means enlightenment today.
Later, he accidentally saw the "nebula map" in "Wang Yun's Five Great Dictionary". The above explanation is: "Before the universe was formed, countless cloud-like stars combined, which were large, ancient, and boundless." He appreciated it very much. This kind of broad, vast and boundless realm may also give people light in the dark, so he changed the name of the Dharma to "Xingyun".
When Master Hsing Yun was ordained, Nanjing had already fallen to the Japanese invaders.
After spending 7 years in Qixia Temple, Master Xingyun later went to Tianning Temple in Changzhou to do work (hard work).
Soon he transferred to Zhenjiang Jiaoshan Buddhist College.
At the age of 20, he left Jiaoshan Buddhist Academy and ended his study career.
He first went to Dajue Temple in Baita Mountain, Yixing, and served in Baita National Primary School for less than two years. Then he went to Huazang Temple in Nanjing to participate in the Buddhist innovation movement initiated by his classmates.
However, the current situation is turbulent and the civil war has begun, which has prevented him from doing anything.
"Therefore, after getting the permission of Venerable Master Zhikai Jiashi, he simply brought a few changes of clothes, led more than 70 young fellows, and crossed the sea to Taiwan in the name of joining the monk rescue team."
According to a disciple of Master Hsing Yun, when Nanjing was liberated and they were planning to return to the mainland, they caught up with the collapse of the Kuomintang regime and martial law was imposed in Taiwan.
According to martial law regulations, at that time only people from the mainland were allowed to come to the island, and people from the island were not allowed to go to the mainland.
In this way, the shallow Taiwan Strait blocked Master Hsing Yun's way back to his hometown, and also made his legendary life of becoming a monk in the mainland and spreading the Dharma in Taiwan.
The picture shows Master Hsing Yun's one-stroke calligraphy exhibition.
The picture is taken from the official website of Fo Guang Shan
Write "calligraphy" and create "one-stroke characters"
Master Xingyun has suffered from diabetes for decades, and suddenly his vision became blurred in his later years, and he could not see his own handwriting. Calligraphy must be completed at one stroke, which also makes Master Xingyun's "one-stroke calligraphy" a masterpiece of art.
In June 2012, someone filmed the process of Master Xingyun writing "one-stroke calligraphy".
"One-stroke calligraphy" has become the unique art of Master Xingyun.
Chen Wenqian, a senior Taiwanese media person, also mentioned in particular when recalling Master Hsing Yun: Master Hsing Yun's "one-stroke calligraphy" is quite famous, and he is almost blind. A trick of art.” Master Hsing Yun’s disciples “auctioned it for alms”, and the funds obtained were not only for the construction of the Buddha Memorial Hall, but also for the establishment of the “Truth, Goodness and Beauty Journalism Award”, which is the highest award for news in Taiwan.
In January 2010, Xingyun himself wrote that more than 40 years ago, he suffered from diabetes due to excessive hunger. Over the years, the complications caused by diabetes have gradually weakened his eyesight.
"I was at Fo Guang Shan in May and June last year. I couldn't read books or newspapers because I couldn't see clearly. When I thought of some readers, friends, and groups who often asked me to sign, I said, 'Then write!' because I couldn't see. You can only calculate how much space there is between the characters. Once you dip in the ink, you have to write it in one stroke. If you can’t finish one stroke, where to put the second stroke, you don’t know where to start. .Only by measuring in my heart, no matter how many characters are in the sentence to be written, can I achieve the goal by completing it in one stroke, so I named it 'one stroke'." (text)