Spoiling History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

[Xuan Zang may be the first person in history who truly "learned from the barbarians and developed skills to control the barbarians".

After Qunvcheng discussed Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism respected Xuanzang as a heavenly being who had achieved the great righteousness, and was called the Mahayana Heaven; Hinayana Buddhism respected Xuanzang as a heavenly being who had attained liberation, and was called the Liberation Heaven.

It is believed within the Nalanda Temple that Xuanzang was proficient in the Buddhist scriptures of Sutras, Laws, and Commentaries on Tripitaka, and respected the title Tripitaka. Because he was from the Tang Dynasty, he was also called Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, there were only nine Tripitaka masters in India.

Before returning to the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzang's teacher Jiexian Sanzang was already about a hundred years old. He very much hoped that Xuanzang could succeed him and serve as the CEO of Nalanda Temple. However, Xuanzang insisted on returning to China. At that time, the director of Nalanda Temple The monks came to persuade Xuanzang.

"India is the place where the Buddha was born...traveling around to pay tribute is enough for a lifetime...and those who support the country despise the country, despise people and despise the Dharma...how can I even think about it!"

The meaning is very clear. India is a Buddhist country. Others who come here are unwilling to leave. Why do you want to go back?

At this time, the word Zhina does not have a derogatory connotation. The derogatory connotation is Mili Che. This word means barbaric evil person in Sanskrit, and the Tang Dynasty is called a contemptuous person and a slut.

In Xuanzang's answer, he had a positive attitude towards India's Buddhism, but a negative attitude towards the prejudices of the monks, and finally sighed:

It's a long way to go, and we don't know. How can we say that the Buddha will not go there? It's so easy!

The general meaning is that we will wait and see, who may be better than whom in the future. How can we despise it just because we say there is no Dharma there?

Xuanzang returned to China in the 19th year of Zhenguan. At this time, his sworn brother Qu Wentai had just been destroyed four years ago. Erfeng, who was working hard to manage the Western Regions, quickly grasped the importance of Xuanzang.

So Xuanzang, who was taken to Chang'an, received his first task, recording all the local customs and customs he saw along the way, and finally wrote the book "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty".

This book introduces the geographical conditions and humanistic customs of the Western Regions in detail. Xuanzang almost never mentioned himself in the book. Everything he saw and heard along the way was objectively recorded without any emotion.

"Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" was written in 646 AD. In 657 AD, the Western Turks who had entertained Xuanzang and sent troops to escort him to India were destroyed. The Tang army went west and had no rivals.

Therefore, it is reasonable to suspect that Erfeng was very happy to get this book and sent it to the Tang Army's staff department, where it was listed as a must-read book for the Western Regions.

What is more interesting is that in this book, Xuanzang divides the world into four masters:

The eastern country is dominated by people, where benevolence and righteousness are clear, and customs change. It is obviously the Tang Dynasty.

In the country of the Southern Elephant Lord, many people practice strange magic, which can clear their mind and relieve tiredness. This strange magic refers to Buddhism, and it is also the purpose of Xuanzang's trip to India, to take the essence of the country's civilization and embellish it in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

In the country of the Treasure Lord of the West, people are ungrateful. Only those who value money and bribes will have many treasures. This position should refer to the Sassanid dynasty of the Persian Empire established by Ardashir, the light of the third century and king of kings, after the fall of Parthia in the third century.

The horse-lord country in the north had ruthless people and a cold land suitable for horses. Geographically speaking, it should be the Western Turks. The country was destroyed in the tenth year after Xuanzang returned to the country.

The entire book "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" was dictated by Xuanzang and written by Bianji. Monk Bianji became famous for this. Later, he had an affair with Princess Gaoyang, the daughter-in-law of Fang Xuanling, and was beheaded by Erfeng.

In our modern times, because India has been conquered again and again, its people do not know its history. "The Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" has become the most authoritative source for studying Indian history.

The British who colonized India a hundred years ago lamented: The history of India in the Middle Ages was dark, and Xuanzang was the only light.

Many ruins in India, including the most important ruins of Nalanda Temple, were excavated based on the records of "The Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty".

The four lions on the national emblem of India are derived from the stone carvings on the top of the Ashoka stone pillar of the Mauryan Dynasty, and this stone pillar was also excavated according to the records of the "Datang Western Regions".

Master Xuanzang at that time might never have imagined that his casual remark, "It is impossible to know whether the bridle will travel a long distance" would actually become a reality more than a thousand years later. 】

After carefully looking at the records of the three monks on the light screen, one of them passed away during the troubled times and never returned. Everyone can understand this. After all, it was difficult to protect oneself in the troubled times, so enjoying the paradise of Tianzhu as a monk was not an option.

The second one made Zhenguan Jun and his ministers have some opinions.

"If India is regarded as righteous, where will it place the Central Plains, China, Zhongxia, and China? Their intentions are worthy of death!"

Wei Zheng was the most vehement:

"What is righteousness? Zhongye. If you say this, then the China of other generations is India, not China. This is a remark that betrays morality and forgets the ancestors!"

At this moment, Wei Zheng deeply understood what a spiritual Indian monk was, and he disliked it from the bottom of his heart.

Since India is regarded as China, why bother to stay in the Tang Dynasty? The Western Regions are fully connected, and it is easy for the sages to go to India. Why bother to make such derogatory remarks about the national character in China?

As for the subsequent remarks about Tang being called Mili Che, it made Zhenguan monarchs and ministers frown even more.

"This India is really ignorant!"

Li Shimin was still worried about empress Wu and seizing the throne. At this time, he was in a bad mood. He immediately broke out and became furious:

"Fan Bangqi'er, Yelang is arrogant! How dare you call me, a slave of your caste, a despicable person?"

"How dare you call yourself China after being conquered eleven times in a row? You have no martial arts skills and no courage. Sooner or later, you will have to look good!"

At this time, they needed Zhenguan Jun and his ministers to persuade their Majesty. After all, if he continued to scold him like this, they were very worried about His Majesty's headache.

However, I don’t have half a favorable impression of India in my heart. After all, the younger generation in the light screen also said that after the founding of the country in later generations, India was evil and took the initiative to stir up trouble, but it was punished before it could live in peace for a while.

We might as well just fight it off ourselves!

At this moment, several ministers reached a consensus in their hearts.

As for Xuanzang, Li Shimin's evaluation was simply one word:

"good!"

The successful attack on the Western Regions was due to his own wise judgment and Xuanzang's return to proactively explain the geographical information. Li Shimin could still distinguish this clearly.

Therefore, Li Shimin almost instantly planned several methods for Xuanzang who had not yet set foot on the westward journey.

It is too dangerous for Xuanzang to travel westward alone, so he should send one or twenty good men to protect him!

But how to pick the right candidate is also a problem, right? Li Shimin murmured in his heart that although he did not believe in Buddhism, he also knew that Buddhism's preaching was very sophisticated.

Don't forget that the information was not collected by then. It would be ridiculous to add more than a dozen guardian Arhat Vajras to the Buddhist sect.

Li Shimin, who was wandering in his own thoughts, was dragged back by Changsun Wuji.

As soon as he looked up, he saw Fang Xuanling's face was as white as snow, looking at him with hope.

After glancing at the screen, Li Shimin understood, and his face suddenly looked as if he had eaten a fly.

Li Shimin knew clearly in his heart how much he valued Fang Xuanling. Especially after seeing the sculpture of Fang Du in Chang'an, which never sleeps in later generations, he valued this minister even more.

Therefore, the daughter he married must be a very precious daughter, so as to show the grandeur of the Fang family's holy family.

But in the end it ended up like this...

Shaking his head, Li Shimin made a golden promise to Fang Xuanling:

"Such a thing will never happen again!"

…………

In the Chengdu government office, everyone's evaluation of the three monks was surprisingly unanimous: only Xuanzang was praised.

"Don't you hear about Su Wu's festival?"

This is everyone's most direct evaluation of whether to return to the country or not.

Kong Ming noticed the name of the person from that country, squinted his eyes and recalled:

"The third century...isn't that what we are talking about at this time?"

"If the light curtain tells what happened in Rome, then the destruction of Parthia may be right around the corner."

Pang Tong shook his head and felt that this title was a bit exaggerated:

"King of kings? One century is a hundred years, and this Ardashir is the light of a hundred years?"

Zhang Fei didn’t quite understand and asked in confusion:

"Isn't it comparable to the brilliance of a military advisor for eternity?"

"Go, go." Pang Tong pushed Zhang Fei away in disgust, thought for a while and said:

"If we reopen the Western Region, I'm afraid we will have to deal with this King of Kings sooner or later."

"I wonder what his character is like?"

[The story of Master Xuanzang has been circulating among the people until the Ming Dynasty. Jiajing was a superstitious believer in Taoism. As the saying goes, what is good at the top must be bad at the bottom. You can imagine the atmosphere in Jiajing.

Wu Cheng'en, who couldn't stand this trend, resigned angrily and integrated folklore to create Journey to the West, which satirized Buddhism and Taoism and the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, but that's another story.

It was difficult for Li Shimin in the early Tang Dynasty to predict the impact that later Buddhism would have on Li Tang. At that time, he had to face a more difficult problem.

That's what's left over from the battles in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties: the battle between the mighty powers of Guandong and Guanzhong! 】

【Additional update tomorrow】

I am very constrained in writing about Buddhism because many people have reminded me that there are too many things that I cannot write about, so it is in a bad state today.

Come back and write about the disputes between the Tang Dynasty families with peace of mind.