Make a vow at your alma mater to take the Buddha's heart as your own heart
Buddhism was introduced to Taiwan at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and there were many deeds of supernatural monks, but the bodhisattva in the body did not appear until the 50s of the 20th century, and he was Master Cihang, a monk of the Minnan Buddhist Academy of Nanputuo Temple.
Cihang(1895-1954), commonly known as Ai Jirong, was a native of Jianning, Fujian. At the age of 17, he became a monk at Qingyun Temple in Taining, and then went to Nengren Temple in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province to seek ordination, and visited Jiuhua Mountain, Putuo Mountain, and Tiantai Mountain ashrams. In 1927, he entered the Southern Fujian Buddhist College and worshipped Master Taixu as his teacher. Although it was only 3 months, he made a grand wish of "taking the Buddha's heart as his own heart and the teacher's ambition as his own will".
In 1929, Cihang served as the abbot of Yingjiang Temple in Anqing, Anhui Province. In the second year, he went to Hong Kong and Nanyang to give lectures, and founded the Chinese Buddhist Society in Yangon. In 1935, when Cihang returned to Shanghai from Yangon and passed through Xiamen, he specially visited his alma mater, Minnan Buddhist College, and visited Master Hongyi at the Meritorious Building of Nanputuo Temple. It shows that his alma mater has a deep complex.
In 1939, Cihang accompanied the Chinese Buddhist International Delegation to Myanmar, India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Malaya and other places to contact believers and publicize the anti-Japanese salvation of the country. Due to the retention of overseas Chinese Buddhists, Cihang was stationed in Xinanyang to promote the Dharma, and successively founded Sin Chew Bodhi College, Penang Bodhi College and other institutions, and organized the Sin Chew Buddhist Society, Selangor Buddhist Society, Ipoh Buddhist Society, Penang Buddhist Society, etc.
In October 1948, at the invitation of Miaoguo, the abbot of Yuanguang Temple in Zhongli, Taiwan, Master Cihang went to Taiwan to establish the Taiwan Buddhist Academy of the temple. When Cihang returned from Singapore and took a ferry to Taiwan via Xiamen, he visited his alma mater again and gave a speech. He donated the offerings given by the Nanyang disciples to charities in the Minnan Buddhist Academy and temples, and entrusted them with setting up fasting tents to relieve the hungry.
When he went to Taiwan, he was falsely accused of "suspected bandit espionage case"
In the spring and summer of 1949, some young monks studying at the Mainland Buddhist Academy heard that Cihang was running a school in Taiwan, so they crossed the sea to Taiwan in turmoil and loss. At the time of the defeat of Taiwan, the *** authorities issued a "martial law order", but Cihang did not shy away from danger and detained more than 20 mainland monks to study in Buddhist academies. This move caused panic and dissatisfaction on the part of Yuanguang Temple. After negotiations, the temple finally left 10 of them. Cihang took the remaining more than 10 people to various monasteries, and later placed them in two monasteries in Keelung and Miaoli in exchange for helping to run a Buddhist college.
Soon, rumors spread on the island of Taiwan, and people were panicked. At this time, all three monasteries formally proposed to Cihang that due to financial difficulties, they decided not to open a Buddhist academy. Cihang led more than 20 teachers and students to wander all over the world, and finally settled down in Lingyin Temple in Hsinchu to run a school. Unexpectedly, the Hsinchu Police Department arrested Cihang and 13 mainland monks on June 19 and secretly escorted them to the Criminal Police Corps of the Taipei City Police Department.
Cihang was falsely accused of "suspected bandit espionage case" and was released on bail by a friend after 18 days of interrogation and detention.
After being released from prison, Cihang was invited to the Xizhi Monastery in Taipei to give lectures to bhikshunis every day. During this period, young monks from mainland China often came to visit quietly, and after the Taipei Police Department discovered it, they sent police to arrest three times. Later, under the persuasion of the abbot of the monastery, Cihang had to hide in the deep mountains and old forests and live an ascetic life like a savage cave dwelling.
In the winter of 1949, after the authorities finally confirmed that the "monk's difficulty" was a wrong case, Cihang went down the mountain and returned to the monastery, and the imprisoned mainland monks were also released one after another.
Cultivating the first "bodhisattva in the body" of the treasure island
In the spring of 1950, the abbot of the monastery built the Maitreya Inner Courtyard for Master Cihang at the foot of the mountain behind the monastery. During this period, more than 30 young mainland monks who had been released from prison and scattered in various places returned to him, so he founded the Maitreya Inner Monastery Buddhist Research Institute and the Retreat Monastery Women's Buddhist Academy, and opened English courses to cultivate new types of monks and nuns, making it the center of Buddhist education in Taiwan.
In the education and propagation activities of monks and nuns, in order to eliminate the influence of Japanese Buddhist customs on Taiwan, Cihang insisted that those monks, nuns and believers who had blindly worshipped Japanese Buddhism must learn Chinese and not forget that they were descendants of Yan and Huang. He attached great importance to carrying forward the basic spirit of Chinese history and culture, praising the patriotic deeds of Taiwan compatriots against colonial rule, and expounding the fine tradition of Chinese Buddhism patriotism and apologetics.
Then, at the invitation of all parties, Cihang held a Dharma propagation activity around the island. He took the promotion of "Buddhism on Earth" and the idea of knowledge as the main purpose, changed the world and guided the world, and benefited all living beings; At the same time, he raised the banner of Dharma and advocated orthodoxy, thus promoting the spread and development of Chinese Buddhism on the island, cultivating a group of monks for the innovation of Taiwanese Buddhism, and contributing to the elimination of the "imperial people" poison of Taiwanese Buddhism.
Since 1952, Cihang has abandoned trivial matters and written in seclusion. During this period, he still lectured to monks and nuns for 5 hours a day through the closing window.
On May 6, 1954, Master Cihang died of a cerebral hemorrhage. When he passed away, his face was like life, sitting in a jar, like an old monk in meditation, and he was buried in the tomb tower on the back mountain of the temple after sealing the jar. Five years later, the disciples opened the tank and found that his body was not bad. The news came out and caused a sensation in Taiwan. The disciples put Cihang's body in gold and became Taiwan's first "bodhisattva in the flesh", which was enshrined in the Cihang Memorial Hall in Xizhi Xiufeng Mountain, Taipei County.
Wood carving simulated icon
Return to Taining Qingyun Temple
On September 14, 2007, Taiwan's first "bodhisattva in the flesh" Cihang wood carving simulated statue arrived at Xiamen Peace Wharf via the Xiamen-Jinzhou route by the "New Golden Dragon" ship.
The wooden carving simulated statue of Cihang Bodhisattva that returned to the ancestral court this time is 77 cm long, 64 cm wide, 57 cm high, 63 cm in lotus seat, and 69 cm in seat, and was donated by the Taiwanese Buddhist community. On the same day, Xiamen Nanputuo Temple held a grand "Cihang Bodhisattva Statue Return to the Ancestral Court and Cross-Strait Peace and Development Blessing Ceremony". After the meeting, the cihang wood carving simulated icon was transferred to the Qingyun Temple in Taining, where he became a monk.
Master Cihang has a verse: "Come empty-handed, go empty-handed, come and go, never stop." As a Buddhist, he knows that all dharmas are impermanent, so everything can be given up and released. However, Master Cihang, who has experienced vicissitudes of life, has become more and more homesick in his later years. According to historical records, he once said to his disciple Lu Hang: "Before I left Nanyang, I originally planned to go directly back to my hometown in northern Fujian, buy a cemetery, and then spread Buddhism in three nearby counties as a base for improving Chinese Buddhism." This time I came to Taiwan, just to build a bridge. He also said to his disciple Xingyun: "My ancestral court is in Taining, northern Fujian, where the mountains and rivers are beautiful and the Buddha is prosperous." In the future, I will take you to my hometown in Fujian to see...... "The affection for Sangzi is beyond words.
Before his death, Cihang also said to his disciples: "I am old and sick, and it is impossible to return to the mainland in this life." I hope that after falling into silence, there will be a day when the leaves fall and the soul returns to its hometown. ”
However, the artificial isolation of the two sides of the strait did not realize his last wish until 53 years after his death.
