Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva

At this time, the owner of Jiuhua Mountain was named Min Ranghe. He was a philanthropist who built bridges and roads in Jiuzi Mountain, practiced medicine and delivered medicine, and preached as a monk. People called him Duke Min. In the house of the Duke of Fujian, he often holds fasting parties to entertain monks from all over the world. There were ninety-nine monks who often came to his house to participate in fasting meetings. The Duke of Fujian deeply regretted that the monks there were not satisfied with the number of monks.

On this day, Duke Fujian heard that an ascetic called the cave monk came to the mountains and lived in a cave in Nantai. I was quite happy. It is hoped that the cave monks will also come to participate in the fasting meeting to fulfill the wish of hundreds of fasting monks.

On the 30th day of the seventh lunar month of this year, Duke Fujian invited the monks on the mountain to have a fasting party, and sent his son to visit Nantai in person to invite the cave monks to attend.

Jin Qiaojue thought that as a foreigner, he should ask the donor for a place to stay. So he happily went to the appointment and came to Min's house. When Duke Fujian saw the cave monk coming, he came forward to worship him and made a request: "If the eminent monk doesn't dislike it, please come more often in the future." After Jin Qiaojue thanked him, he said: "I am a foreigner who comes to practice in your place. I hope that the benefactor will be merciful and use my place as a place for the poor monk to live."

The Duke of Fujian asked: "I don't know where the eminent monk is in Feng Shui, and how many avenues are needed?"

Jin Qiaojue said: "A poor monk only needs a place with a cassock!" "

Min Gong said: "What's the difficulty? The ninety-nine peaks in Jiuzi Mountain, the mountains and rivers are my territory, and the eminent monks can choose them at will."

At this time, Jin Qiaojue said: "I have received a generous gift from the donor." Then he took off his cassock and stretched it into the air. Suddenly, the mountain wind suddenly rose. The cassock swirled higher and higher, spread wider and wider, and finally covered the ninety-nine peaks of Jiuzi Mountain.

When Duke Fujian saw it, he was shocked and hurriedly knelt down on the ground and said: "Old country folk, I didn't know that the holy monk arrived today. It's a sin, a sin! I would like to remove the ninety-nine peaks in the Jiuzi Mountain. , all the territory of hundreds of miles in Fangyuan is dedicated to the sacred monks as a dojo."

Jin Qiaojue quickly stretched out his hands to help the Duke of Fujian, and said: "Thank you so much, thank you so much. ."

Later, Duke Fujian became more and more influenced by Buddhism. He first sent his son to become a monk, and then he became a monk. Both father and son worshiped Jin Ji Zang as their teacher. From then on, Duke Fujian and his son practiced devoutly in Jiuzi Mountain together with Jin Qiaojue. Finally achieved success. From then on, the master began to recruit disciples in Huacheng Temple, and then taught widely and became famous far and wide. Not only has it won the love and support of the local people, but it has also received praise and support from local officials and the court.

Time flies, the sun and the moon fly by. Ten years have passed in a flash. The incident spread to Silla. When the royal family heard that Jin Qiaojue had opened such a large monastery in the Tang Dynasty, they felt that Jin Qiaojue was indeed extraordinary. They immediately discussed inviting Jin Qiaojue to return to the country to serve as the great protector of the country and preach Buddhism in Silla. . And decided to send Jin Qiaojue's two uncles, who were also recognized as the smartest and most prestigious ministers in Silla, to the Tang Dynasty to welcome Jin Qiaojue back to the country.

The two envoys took the king's imperial letter and immediately boarded the ship and set off. Before leaving, Jin Qiaojue's wife came to see the two uncles off and warned them repeatedly: No matter what, Jin Qiaojue's wife came to see them off. I want to persuade Jin Qiaojue to return to the country.

Not long after the two envoys sailed out to sea, they encountered an unprecedented storm, and rough waves hit their ship. The sail was torn into pieces and the mast was broken into three pieces. The storm lasted for three days and three nights. The two ministers were already destitute. After another five days and five nights of sailing and going through many difficulties and dangers, they finally finally arrived. Arrived in Datang.

After arriving in the Tang Dynasty, the two ministers were hungry and broke, so they had to rely on begging to survive. After going through many hardships, they finally arrived at the foot of Jiuhua Mountain. They looked up and saw that the entire Jiuhua Mountain was shrouded in clouds and mist, with undulating peaks like white lotuses in full bloom. I admired in my heart: What a great place! Looking towards the road leading to the mountain, I saw that the entire mountain road was almost full of pilgrims from all over the world who came to Jiuhua to offer incense. There are people old and young, coming and going in an endless stream.

When the two ministers saw this situation, they thought, there is such a good place and so many people come to worship, can he go back? It seems that it will not be so easy for us to invite him back this time!

So the two ministers calculated as they walked, although we have the king's royal letter with us, this is the Tang Dynasty, not Silla. If Jin Qiaojue does not accept the royal letter, we can't do anything to him; Although we are his uncles, he has become a monk and refined himself, and various family rules and customs have no effect on him... The two uncles kept thinking in their minds, and the more they thought about it, the more difficulties they felt and the unpredictable future. Suddenly they remembered that in the Silla Kingdom, it was customary to place hairpins first on the occupied land. So they decided not to disturb Jin Qiaojue first, but secretly inserted the golden hairpin engraved with the name of the Silla Kingdom on the south platform where Jin Qiaojue first practiced Taoism, and then quietly went down the mountain.

Soon after, the two ministers returned to Jiuhua Mountain. They swaggered to the gate of Huacheng City and asked the young monk at the gate to tell Jin Qiaojue that his two uncles had come to see him. When Jin Qiaojue heard that his uncle was coming, he immediately came out personally to take the two uncles into the temple. After ten years of separation, my nephew and uncle are reunited today, so naturally they are overjoyed. The two uncles told Jin Qiaojue about the hardships along the way. But he didn't talk about the gold hairpin and occupied the land. Jin Qiaojue also told his two uncles about his situation over the years, and also asked about the situation in the royal family and at home. Seeing that the time had come, the two uncles immediately took out the royal book from their arms, held it to Jin Qiaojue with both hands, and then detailed the royal family's plan to invite him back to serve as the great mage who protects the country. Finally, he specifically mentioned the situation at Jin Qiaojue's home: "Since you ran away from home, your mother has often cried alone, her eyes have been blinded by crying, and she has been mumbling your name from time to time while sleeping. Over the years, she has really been Thanks to your wife's busy schedule and careful service, on the day we boarded the ship and went to sea, your wife came specially to see us off, so that we would invite you home no matter what, Jin Qiaojue picked up. When Guo Yushu read the book, he was deeply moved. Hearing what his two uncles said, he felt even sadder in his heart. The two uncles took the opportunity to persuade him to go back. They also said, "It's just that you don't want to stay." Silla, you might as well go home and take a look. Jin Qiaojue thought for a while and finally raised his head and said: Amitabha, although my mother has worked hard for me for most of her life, I have also worked hard to serve my parents on my behalf. Become a monk. After becoming a monk, you will no longer care about outside affairs. Moreover, everything I do now is not for the sake of personal happiness, but for the purpose of relieving the suffering of the world. Selfishness harms the happiness of all sentient beings. Besides, preaching Buddhism has no geographical boundaries. Its purpose is the same in Tang Dynasty and Silla. Therefore, I can only fulfill my mission and stay in Jiu forever. Among the mountains and rivers of Huashan. Will you never return to your homeland of Silla?

When the two uncles heard this, as expected, their nephew really did not intend to go back. The two exchanged glances. We talked together: Nephew, you really don’t want to return to the country. If we can’t fulfill the mission entrusted to us by the royal family, we won’t go back. But please explain something to us...

<. p>Jin Qiaojue smiled slightly: I wonder what my uncle was talking about?

The two uncles said: Before you came to China, we bought this land and put a gold hairpin on it. Proof.

Jin Qiaojue said: If this happens, I will return to Silla country immediately with my uncle. If it is not what my uncle said, can he agree to his nephew's request?

< p>Nephew, please talk to me face to face.

Jin Qiaojue said: My nephew wants to stay in this mountain to guard the mountain gate for me. I wonder if that’s okay? Both sides said in unison: It’s settled. .

So the three of them walked towards Nantai. The two uncles had just inserted the gold hairpin a few days ago, so they were familiar with the road and led Jin Qiaojue straight to the place where the hairpin was inserted. A five-inch long golden hairpin was still stuck on the ground. The two uncles laughed when they saw it and said: Nephew, let’s go to Jiuhua Mountain first. There is a golden hairpin stuck in the ground as proof.

Jin Qiaojue was not in a hurry, and walked slowly to the golden hairpin. He first circled around the golden hairpin, and then said to the two uncles with a smile: Please come closer and see. The two uncles thought they had it again. Something unexpected happened and he quickly stepped forward to watch.

I saw Jin Qiaojue slowly bending down, gently peeling away the soil around the golden hairpin, and then pointed at the golden hairpin and said: Uncle, look, your golden hairpins are inserted right into the eyes of my copper coins. Which one of us is it? Come first?

The two uncles bent down and took a look, right? The golden hairpin fits right into the eye of a copper coin! Then I picked up the copper coin and looked at it carefully. It was indeed a Silla coin. The two looked at each other, speechless...

It turned out that Jin Qiaojue’s two uncles had just come down the mountain after inserting the gold hairpin that day. Jin Qiaojue happened to be passing by Nantai and spotted the shining golden hairpin at a glance. When he took a closer look, He immediately recognized the gold hairpin belonging to his two uncles and was shocked. After thinking for a moment, he immediately gently pulled up the gold hairpin, peeled away the loose soil underneath, took out a Silla copper coin and placed it underneath, and then removed the gold hairpin from the copper coin. The hole is inserted into the ground, and finally the floating soil is put back into place.

The two uncles believed that they had indeed inserted the gold hairpin into Jin Qiaojue’s copper coin hole, so they had no choice but to stay in Jiuhua Mountain and live at the foot of the mountain. After their death, the local people tried to To commemorate them, a palace was built in their original residence. This is the "Two Holy Temples" that remain to this day.

From then on, even the Silla monks learned that the Bodhisattva performed asceticism in Jiuhua and came to seek Dharma in droves. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva has been in Jiuhua for more than 1,200 years. People come to the mountain to offer incense one after another. Every year, the incense is full in the world.