How is the Fairy Girl made?

Anyone who has a little knowledge of traditional Chinese culture will be familiar with the term "Eight Immortals". The so-called "Eight Immortals" refer to Han Zhongli, Zhang Guolao, Tieguaili, Cao Guojiu and Lu Dongbin. There are eight immortals, Han Xiangzi, Lan Caihe, and He Xiangu. They were all mortals, and they practiced hard and accumulated good deeds to become immortals. Among the Eight Immortals, there is only one female, He Xiangu. She is like the only red spot in the green bush among the Eight Immortals, so she is particularly eye-catching. He Xiangu's original name was He Qiong. She was born in an ordinary farmer's family in Lingling in the first year of Kaiyao, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty. Local people said that on the day He Qiong was born, a bright and auspicious purple air enveloped the He family's hut, and a group of cranes flew up and down in the purple air. After a while, a strong sika deer carried a pigtailed, The girl wearing a red bellyband rushed into He's house. At this moment, He's mother gave birth to a white and fat baby girl. Speaking of Lingling, He Qiong's hometown, it is a geomantic treasure land with beautiful mountains and clear waters. According to "Historical Records": "Shun was buried in Jiuyi in the south of the Yangtze River, which is called Lingling." The first sage Emperor Shun was buried in Jiuwei Mountain in Lingling. . Lingling City is located at the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang rivers. It looks to the south of Hengshan Mountain in the north and the towering Five Ridges in the south. It is the gateway to Chu and Guangdong. There is a mica mountain in the west of Lingling County. The mountain is rich in five-color mica stones. Mica stones were the medicine used to seek immortality in ancient times. A clear and meandering stream flows down from the mountain, called Mica Creek. He Qiong's family is here. By the beautiful Mica Creek. He Qiong, who grew up drinking mica water, has a beautiful appearance. She has liked to play and roam alone by the mica stream since she was a child. When she was fourteen years old, she met a white-haired old man with a long beard by the Mica River. The old man asked her about some local landscape conditions. He Qiong answered them one by one intelligently. The old man was very happy and learned from his own He took out a fresh flat peach from his backpack and gave it to He Qiong. He Qiong took it, thanked the old man, and then ate the flat peach in threes and threes. The old man watched her finish eating and nodded with a smile on his face. He nodded, turned around and disappeared. After returning home, He Qiong didn't feel hungry for several days, so she didn't want to eat, but her energy was stronger than before. A month later, He Qiong met the old man again by the mica stream. This time the old man gave her Take her to Mica Mountain and teach her how to collect mica and how to take mica. He Qiong followed his words and went to Mica Mountain to eat mica every day. Gradually, he felt that he was as light as a swallow, walking to and from the top of the mountain like flying. In addition, she can also identify and pick various fairy herbs and elixirs in the mountains, treat various diseases for nearby people, and can predict people's affairs, so people around her call her "He Xiangu." He Qiong became an immortal after attaining Taoism. The news spread to ten, then to hundreds, spreading farther and farther, and finally reached the ears of Wu Zetian, the imperial official in the capital. At that time, Wu Zetian was the queen of Tang Gaozong, but she controlled the real power of the court. Wu Zetian was influenced by her mother to believe in Buddhism since she was a child. When she became queen, she tried her best to promote Buddhism in the palace and throughout the country, hoping to overwhelm the momentum of Taoism respected by the Li and Tang Dynasties, and used certain Buddhist scriptures as her title to usurp the throne. Emperor's theoretical basis. The "Faxiang Sect" of Buddhism advocates "two emptiness", which means that one should regard oneself and all things as empty and void, so as to achieve the lofty realm where all things in the universe and one become one; in layman's terms, it means to comprehend with one's heart, If you forget both things and yourself, you will be able to soar in the daytime, ride on the clouds and mist, and live forever. Wu Zetian was very convinced of this. When she heard that there was a He Xiangu in Lingling, who could travel freely to the top of the mountain without eating the fireworks of the world, she was very interested. She specially sent someone to visit and gave He Xiangu a gift. Dressed in morning glow clothes. He Xiangu accepted the morning glow dress and put it on with great interest. After hearing the news, the people around her came from all directions to watch. They saw He Xiangu's body was covered with thousands of rays of light, which were dazzling as if she were a god descending to earth. The villagers were shocked when they saw this and couldn't help but Everyone knelt down on the ground and worshiped He Xiangu. He Xiangu felt quite contented, but her mother was in panic, thinking: "Who would dare to marry such a daughter?" As expected, when He Xiangu was eighteen years old, her mother was anxious. She hurriedly asked a matchmaker to choose a son-in-law for her. Although He Xiangu was born as beautiful as a flower, no one dared to marry her because of her great ability. He's mother was very worried, but He Xiangu herself acted as if nothing had happened. She went out in the mountains and countryside all day long, busy collecting medicines and treating people's illnesses, and lived a very fulfilling life. One day, He Xiangu entered the deep forest of Mica Mountain to collect herbs and met two magical people. One of them was a lame old man, holding an iron crutch, carrying a huge wine gourd, dressed in rags, and looked like a beggar; One was wearing a neat blue shirt, holding a medicine hoe, and carrying a medicine basket on his shoulder. He looked very handsome.

The two people were not far in front of He Xiangu, singing together and murmuring words. After a while, they flew away in the air and disappeared. These two people were Tieguai Li and Lan Caihe among the Eight Immortals. He Xiangu paid attention to their appearance and recited the secret formula, thinking that she could be like them, riding the wind and flying across the valley. From then on, she often quietly went to the mountains to practice alone. She became more and more proficient in her body skills and could fly farther and farther. She used this skill to often fly to distant mountains, returning in the morning and evening, and brought back some strange mountain fruits for her family to taste. The family found them sweet and delicious, and their spirits increased, but they did not know what kind of fruits they were. Seeing that she went out early and came back late every day, He's mother became suspicious and asked her where she was going and what she was doing. He Xiangu couldn't resist her mother, so she said that she went to famous mountains and fairylands every day to talk about Buddhism with immortals and Buddhas. Gradually, the news spread that He Xiangu was knowledgeable about Buddhism and Taoism. After Wu Zetian heard about it, she sent an envoy to Lingling, prepared Luan Yu, and summoned He Xiangu to Luoyang, the eastern capital, to discuss Buddhism and Taoism. The officials and He Xiangu traveled through mountains and rivers to the outside of Luoyang City. While waiting for the boat to cross the Luoshui River, they suddenly disappeared. The envoys panicked and ordered people to search everywhere, but no trace was found. Everyone was so frightened that they sat in a daze by the Luo River. At dusk, He Xiangu descended from the sky and told the envoys calmly: "I have gone to the Forbidden Palace to see the Queen of Heaven. You can return to the court and resume your orders." The envoys were doubtful. After returning to Luoyang Palace, he inquired and found out that He Xiangu had come to visit Empress Wu that day and had a long talk with her in the palace for half a day. The envoys were surprised. It is said that He Xiangu discussed the art of immortality with Empress Wu in the palace. She persuaded Empress Wu that in order to live a long life, she must first have few desires, abandon sensuality, and see through fame and fortune; secondly, she must do more good deeds, restrain torture, and strictly prohibit false accusations. Implement benevolent government, cultivate virtue and accumulate blessings. At the same time, she also talked about the way to govern a country and ensure peace. It is necessary to keep close friends with virtuous ministers and stay away from villains, and never use people with different surnames as emperor's heirs. What she said was actually very specific to Empress Wu. Empress Wu was a smart person. After listening to He Xiangu's sensible words, she gradually put them into action. Soon, Lai Junchen and other cruel officials were punished; Empress Wu originally wanted to make her nephew Wu Chengsi the prince, but under Di Renjie's advice, she followed the advice of Wen Xiangu and gave up her original intention of creating a different surname. As for being pure in desire, abandoning all appearances, and seeing through fame and fortune, Wu Zetian, who was already addicted to lust and lust for power, was never able to do it, so to speak, to the point of being lost and unable to return. In order to reward He Xiangu for her kindness, Wu Zetian ordered the local officials in Lingling to build a majestic Huixian Pavilion at Fenghuang Terrace in the south of Lingling City as a place for He Xiangu to preach and preach. After preaching, He Xiangu often sat on the stone steps in front of the hall, peeling and eating a round fairy fruit, and throwing the cores around. Later, lychees grew all around the hall. The lychees produced on these trees are actually emerald-green lychees with green bark. People call it "the lychees hang green on the Phoenix Terrace". He Xiangu also wrote a poem about "Phoenix Terrace": Phoenix mica is like smallpox, refined into hibiscus and white cloud buds; laughing madman has no idea, where to find cinnabar. On the surface, this poem is about Phoenix Terrace. In fact, the poem contains the true meaning of taking food to seek the truth and the method of taking mica. People say that He Xiangu is a Taoist believer based on her characteristics of taking food and cultivating. Others attribute her to a Buddhist disciple based on the ideological content of her sermons. In fact, He Xiangu can be said to be both Taoist and Buddhist, but neither Taoist nor Buddhist. figure. She has reached the realm of unity between heaven and man. How can the Buddha and Taoism in the mortal world frame her! One day, He Xiangu suddenly had an inspiration and wrote a poem "Inscribed on Magu Peak": Magu laughed at me for falling in love with the hustle and bustle of the world, just across the immortal road, I flew to Cangzhou to see the bright moon, and rode the yellow crane upside down to listen to the flute. This poem full of fairy rhyme seems to contain some kind of omen. Sure enough, one day in the first year of Jinglong, Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty, 26-year-old He Xiangu was sitting on the Phoenix Terrace, looking up at the distant sky in trance. Suddenly she saw Tieguai Li standing in the distant clouds, dancing his iron Hui, seemed to be greeting her. Unknowingly, He Xiangu's body rose up like a colorful phoenix, soaring into the sky, following Tieguai Li. A beaded shoe on her foot fell to the ground. The next day, a well suddenly appeared where the beaded shoe fell. The water in the well was clear and sweet, and the fragrance was fragrant. The well fence around it was shaped like a bowed shoe. It seems that the local people built a temple of He Xiangu next to the well, which was full of incense every day, because the water in the well was not only refreshing and quenching thirst, but also cured various diseases, so it was talked about by people near and far. He Xiangu ascended during the day and became an immortal, thus becoming the only red pink among the Eight Immortals, creating a situation of a little red among the green.

After becoming an immortal, He Xiangu never forgets the sufferings of the world, and often spreads clouds and rain in the south to eliminate epidemics and relieve suffering. Whenever kind people need her help, they just need to silently pray to the sky, and she can catch up with them like "timely rain". to give people magical powers. In the ninth year of Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao reign of the Tang Dynasty, it had been more than thirty years since He Xiangu became an immortal. One day after a heavy rain, the sky was clear and blue. People in Lingling saw a colorful auspicious cloud floating leisurely. He Xiangu was standing in the clouds dressed in morning glow clothes. , when people knelt down to worship, a bunch of yellow silk fell from the air to the Phoenix Platform, with this poem written on it: The Mica River is the best rooftop, with thousands of trees and peach blossoms blooming; the jade flute blows through the Huanglong Cave, don’t lead The length spans a crane. I send a message to the Zhang family and the Li family, reflecting on the leisurely affairs of the world; the weak water in Penglai is now clear and shallow, and the ground is covered with flowers to protect the moonlight. It's too late to look back at the water town after the gods have entered the crape myrtle. I have kept the shoes by the well for thousands of years and told them to the fairy in the thatched cottage. The poem contains a nostalgia for the scenery of the hometown, a sincere admonishment for the locals, and a confession of the lonely feelings of the immortal life, advising mortals to cherish their own lives. It's true that "everyone says that gods are good, but who knows that gods have troubles? I advise you to take advantage of mortals and don't wait for time to disappear.