From the peak of Li Shutong's career, what is the real meaning of life?

Modern people believe that most people who believe in Buddhism practice because of misfortune, or marriage failure, or to solve physical diseases. Therefore, the reason why Li Shutong became a monk has been debated for hundreds of years. People can't understand why he walked into an empty net without hesitation at the peak of his career and the wealth of his life.

Li Shutong is known as the so-called "pioneer of the New Culture Movement", but in the year before the May 4th Movement, this passionate man who actively explored western culture took a big detour, but returned to the China tradition and went deeper and further.

After the May 4th Movement, influenced by empirical scientism, China people gradually turned to atheism, and they could not understand Li Shutong's becoming a monk.

Zao Hui's "Prodigy"

1On September 23rd, 880, Li Shutong was born in a noble family in Tianjin. On the day he was born, a magpie with pine branches was sent to the delivery room. People say this is the blessing of Buddha. His father Li was 68 years old at that time, and he was very happy when he was old. He was named Wen Tao, uncle with the same word, and he ranked third. My mother, Wang, was Li's fifth aunt, then 20 years old.

Li Shutong's parents both believe in Buddhism. Li, a native of Jiaxing, Zhejiang, is a famous scholar. He was once the top scholar, and he was also called the three great talents of Qing Dynasty with Li Hongzhang and Wu Rulun. He is an official in charge of the official department. After he became an official, he managed the salt industry, set up a silver village, and eventually became a rich man in Kinmen, having many contacts with officials of the dynasty. In his later years, Li admired Wang Yangming's mind and believed in Zen. He is charitable. He once founded a charity relief group and carried out voluntary study, and was known as "Li".

Li Shutong was influenced by Buddhism when he was young. At the age of five, a monk was invited to recite the Diamond Sutra for his seriously ill father. Only Li Shutong can enter the inner room to listen to Buddhism with his father.

After Li's death, Li Hongzhang personally ordered a ceremony. The coffin was parked at home for seven days, and many monks chanted scriptures day and night, which left a deep impression on his brother-in-law. When he was young, his game with his younger brother was to learn the practice of monks. "They all use quilts or sheets as robes and recite Buddha at home or on the kang." My aunt Guo and her sister-in-law are also devout Buddhists. They teach their uncles to recite Buddhist scriptures, such as the great compassion mantra.

Li Shutong, a clever stranger, learned the tongue and followed his father to recite couplets; At the age of 6 or 7, he studied Selected Works of Zhaoming and became a hymn. At the age of 8, I read four books and five classics, and I never forget them; 13 years old, copying famous inscriptions of past dynasties. He is famous for his seal cutting and calligraphy, and is called a "prodigy".

However, Li Shutong felt the bitterness of life prematurely. /kloc-when I was 0/5 years old, I wrote: Life is like a western mountain, and wealth is like frost on a tile.

/kloc-at the age of 0/6, Li Shutong was admitted to Fu Jen College to study eight-part essay. Boring stereotyped writing, he writes well and often wins prizes. The format of the eight-part essay test paper is rigorous, and words must be written in the printed squares. However, Li Shutong, full of ideas, found that the paper was very short, and he often wrote two words in a square, so he got the nickname "Li Shuangxing". At that time, I also learned traditional poetry and seal cutting methods from famous artists.

Li Shutong, a teenager, is rebellious. He was addicted to the opera, which was called "cheap industry" at that time, liked singing and cameos, and even fell in love with his favorite Hannah Quinlivan, but failed.

/kloc-when I was 0/8 years old, I married a Yu girl who was a suitable family. This is the daughter of a Tianjin tea merchant hired by his mother, and later gave birth to three sons for him (one died).

The social atmosphere at that time thought that traditional culture was difficult to establish a country. Influenced by this, Li Shutong admired western ideas and technologies. My brother set aside a large sum of money from his family property for his home, and Li Shutong bought an expensive piano first.

During the political reform, Li Shutong was so excited that he carved the seal of "Nanhai Kangliang as my teacher" to show his lofty aspirations. After the failure of political reform, he was once suspected to be an accomplice. 1898 10, Li Shutong moved to Shanghai with his mother and family and rented in the French Concession.

"Twenty earth-shattering"

After arriving in Shanghai, the 19-year-old Golden Gate genius, with his rare talent and unruly personality, quickly became famous in Shanghai. Every time he writes an article, he must be "amazed". Many years later, Li Shutong summed up the state of this period and said, "Twenty articles shocked the world. After all, what is empty talk?" .

He became "five friends in the world" with Xu, a leader of the Shanghai New School, a scholar, a Confucian doctor Cai Xiaoxiang and a famous scholar Zhang. These five like-minded people sing to each other, preach the concept of civil rights, enjoy tea and talk about art, immerse themselves in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and enjoy a charming and happy life.

190 1 year, Li Shutong was admitted to Nanyang public school (now Shanghai jiaotong university), where he took a special economics course and studied under Cai Yuanpei and others. Nanyang public school is characterized by Chinese style and western style. He received a systematic Confucian classic education and absorbed western culture. He got an A in English and was rated as "articulate and proficient in grammar". He also knows a little Japanese.

At that time, Li Shutong loved the law best and wrote a paper entitled "On the Relationship between Powerful Countries and Weak Countries". During my study, I also translated the legal works Jurisprudence and Private International Law, which had a great influence at that time.

During this period, Li Shutong once signed up for the imperial examination and criticized the shortcomings at that time, so he naturally fell into Sun Shan. After failing three exams, he returned to Nanyang College.

Cai Yuanpei 1902 resigned after the strike. In order to support the student movement, Li Shutong and many other students dropped out of school voluntarily. Later, he joined the "Shanghai Society", set up remedial classes and held lectures, advocated changing customs and discussing the so-called "new culture, new ethics and new morality".

Li Shutong wrote "Song of the Motherland" in 1905, and once published, it became popular all over the country and was widely sung. Later, he published the Collection of Songs of Chinese Studies, with the lyrics of The Book of Songs, Li Sao and Poems of Tang and Song Dynasties, which is rich in traditional cultural connotations and shows his profound "Chinese studies".

Li Shutong publicized the idea of marriage autonomy for men and women, and compiled Ye Wen's New Marriage Drama. He integrated new ideas and new knowledge into China's traditional dramas, and created the titles of Peking Opera such as Huang Tianba. He personally went on stage and sang from primary school to old school, winning full house applause; He co-operated the Calligraphy and Painting Newspaper with famous painters in Shanghai, which made him famous and became a celebrity in Shanghai calligraphy and painting.

Feng Zikai described Li Shutong's appearance in Shanghai at that time: "The velvet bowl hat was decorated with a white jade in the middle, an arc vest and a satin robe, with a fat braid hanging from the back, a ribbon tied at the bottom and a pair of platform shoes. Hold your head high and reveal a handsome spirit between your eyebrows and eyes. "

"If you want to ask how to express your feelings, don't call names to play." This is Li Shutong's portrayal of his state at that time. This rich dude has a bank in Shanghai, and he is rich and frivolous. Besides associating with literati, I often communicate with Grant and Geisha, and write songs and poems for them, which is very playboy.

Fireworks are in Liuxiang, dogs and horses are there. Although this sentimental dance academy is like a duck to water, it is also concerned about itself. The 22-year-old wrote to Xu: "Flowers and flowers are chasing all day, fans are gone forever, and the future outcome is worrying."

Studying in Japan and learning western culture.

1April, 905, her mother Wang was seriously ill and invited a famous doctor in time, but failed. It's a pity that he can't die in person, because he put a coffin on the street. His mother is only 45 years old.

Grieving, Li Shutong transported the coffin back to Tianjin and held a Western-style funeral for his mother. At the memorial service, the family did not wear white mourning clothes, but all changed into black clothes. Without gongs and drums suona, Li Shutong wrote an elegy dedicated to his mother with Western Mass, playing and singing.

After her mother died, Li Shutong changed her name to "Li Ai", saying that "he who sees through the world" and "the happy days are gone forever". Then I entrusted my wife and two sons to my second brother to study in Japan and learn western culture.

When he arrived in Japan, Li Shutong did as the Romans do. At that time, it was still the Qing dynasty, and he immediately cut off his braid and replaced it with the most fashionable three-seven points in the west. Put on legless glasses, take off your gown and coat, and put on your suit and pointed shoes. Before long, he can speak pure and fluent Japanese. He spent a huge sum of money to rent a private house in Ueno, Tokyo, and decorated it into a house with a strong literary atmosphere, named "Little Mystery Building".

Li Shutong entered the oil painting department of Tokyo Fine Arts School and received the education of western realistic painting. At the same time, he studies music and composes music in a music school. While learning the piano, he did not hesitate to have an operation to lengthen the distance between his fingers. Later, he published the first modern music magazine in China.

Li Shutong also studied drama, and together with his classmates, he founded the first drama group in China, Spring Willow Society. In Tokyo, he raised money for the floods in China and Huaihe River, and performed La Traviata in a charity performance. He disguised as a man, successfully played La Traviata, beautiful and graceful, and was called superior to the Japanese. He also played the role of a man and a woman in the performance of Black Slave Record.

After studying in Japan for five years, Li Shutong accepted a lot of western modern art and practiced western modern ideas. His personal life is also unconventional. During this period, he freely fell in love with a Japanese model and got married.

Returning to China to teach

19 10 years old, Li Shutong returned to China with his Japanese wife at the age of 3/kloc-0. Soon he took his Japanese wife to live in Shanghai, and his original wife and two sons stayed in Tianjin.

He was hired as a painting and music teacher by Nanjing Normal University, and later as a part-time teacher in two schools by Hangzhou Normal University. During his teaching, he joined Xiling Printing Company and engaged in the research and creation of epigraphy.

Xia Mianzun, a close friend and colleague, said, "As far as learning is concerned, he is knowledgeable and versatile. His Chinese is higher than Mr. Chinese, English is higher than Mr. English, history is higher than Mr. History, and common sense is richer than Mr. Natural History. He is also an expert in calligraphy and epigraphy, and the originator of China's plays. He can not only teach music, but also teach him music in the background of many other knowledge. "

Our desk book is a biography of Liu in Ming Dynasty. On the cover, Li Shutong wrote the words "practicing". He often teaches students with the good words and deeds of ancient sages in books, and he also teaches without words. He is so careful and meticulous that he has to look at others when he walks.

At this time, Li Shutong took off his dress and put on a gray coarse robe, a black jacket and cloth shoes, and gold-rimmed glasses were also replaced with black steel-rimmed glasses. His understanding of art began to return to orthodox and Confucian literary concepts. He thinks that the accomplishment of literati is more important than artistic accomplishment, and artistic morality is more important than skill training. "A painter's hobby must be noble, and his conduct must be noble", and "a scholar should know before literature and art". "A writer and artist without instrumental knowledge, no matter how proficient and skilled he is in technology, is also ignorant." Instrumental knowledge refers to cultivation and realm. Li Shutong regards the cultivation of "artistic morality" as the basic standard for cultivating students. "To be a good writer, we must first be a good person", and his highest goal in cultivating students is "to let literature and art spread by people, not by people".

Following the tradition of "changing customs and not being good at music", Li Shutong attached great importance to music education and thought that music had a great influence on people's temperament. He advocated the aesthetic ideal of "learning from beauty" and believed that art has the power to enhance morality.

While boldly introducing western art and music, Li Shutong also attached great importance to China's traditional painting and music rhythm, and tried to integrate Chinese and western art. His knowledge and personality left a deep impression on students and colleagues. He sent money to Liu Zhiping every month to help him study in Japan until he finished his studies. He didn't ask for repayment. He also told Liu Zhiping not to tell anyone. During his seven years as a teacher, he trained many famous artists, such as Feng Zikai and musician Liu Zhiping.

In the field of fine arts, many firsts created by Li Shutong changed the history of fine arts in China. He first introduced western paintings in China, initiated China newspaper advertising paintings, and first created and advocated modern woodcuts in China. His works, such as History of Western Art, Introduction to European Literature and Usage of Plaster Model, were the first in the study of China at that time.

Li Shutong was a pioneer in introducing western drama and spreading western music. He first introduced western music theory to China, introduced western musical instruments and staff, and promoted piano music in China. Composed by him, Spring Tour is the earliest three-part vocal music work in China. Farewell is a book that not only draws lessons from western music, but also inherits the traditional culture of China. The lyrics have profound implications and are full of the aesthetic mood of China's classical poems.

This all-rounder and generalist, who knows everything from ancient times to modern times and integrates Chinese and western cultures, is at the peak of his career, but he has nowhere to live in his heart. According to Li Shutong, literature and art still belong to the category of "art". No matter how good literature and art are, they are only the last way, not the ultimate truth. However, the impermanence and mutation of life are the unavoidable essence of gorgeous life.

Shave and become a monk

19 16, Li Shutong went to Hupao Temple in Hangzhou for a holiday. At first, he wanted to treat the neurasthenia that had tortured him for a long time. In some magical experiences, he realized a lot, but also contacted a lot of Buddhist scriptures, and further realized the vanity of fame and fortune. In the following year, Li Shutong went to attend the Fa Conference again and changed his name to "Li Ying" to show his intention of being thoroughly remoulded.

19 18. He spent the Lunar New Year in Paohu Temple and became a disciple at home. His name is Yin Yan, and his name is Hongyi. After returning to school, I taught as usual, but when rusu recited the scriptures, the taste of the world faded.

/KOOC-0/9/KOOC-0/8 July/KOOC-0/3, Li Shutong gave or destroyed all his treasures, including books, calligraphy and painting seals, folding fans, gold watches, etc. After that, he went to Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou and officially became a monk.

In fact, before becoming a monk, Li Shutong used the metaphor of lotus to express his feelings of "being indifferent to wisdom". I also wrote a letter to Liu Zhiping, saying, "I will never die, and I have never started, so I will practice quickly ..." At that time, all my friends thought that he was just talking, and ordinary scholars often made such remarks, but I didn't expect him to be serious.

In Huang Yanpei's reminiscence article, Li Shutong's farewell to his Japanese wife was recorded: after Hongyi became a monk, the Japanese wife rushed from Shanghai to Hangzhou to find her husband through two friends. "I went to several temples and found it. I asked my uncle to go to the vegetarian restaurant by the lake in front of the Yue Temple for a meal. When three people asked questions, Tong Shu answered them. Finally, Tong Shu never said a word automatically, and never looked up and opened his eyes to see three people. After dinner, Uncle Tong left for the temple, hired a boat, three people took it with him, and Uncle Tong got on the boat with the same person. The ship set sail and Uncle Tong never looked back. However, I saw a paddle swinging into the middle of the lake until people and boats were buried in the Yun Shenchu of the lake, and I saw nothing. Uncle and his wife finally ignored it and went home crying. "

Hongyi wrote to inform his family in Tianjin that he had become a monk and asked them to fast and recite Buddha. He also told his two sons to study hard. His family in Tianjin often wrote to him, but Hongyi didn't open the letter. The trustee wrote on the back of the envelope: "This person has gone elsewhere and returned it intact." My original wife died before she was 50. At that time, her family wrote to Hongyi to express their condolences and did not receive a reply. Later, it was discovered that Master Hongyi copied scriptures for his dead wife.

Li Shutong's colleague Jiang Danshu had a conversation with Li Shutong before becoming a monk:

Jiang Danshu: "Are you going to become a monk?"

Li Shutong: "Yes."

Jiang Danshu: "Why?"

Li Shutong: "Nothing."

Jiang Danshu asked again, "You are an affectionate person, but you can't bear to lose your flesh and blood?"

Li Shutong "What will happen if he dies of a tiger epidemic?"

What can I do if I die of sudden illness or cholera comes, even if I can't bear to part with my wife and children?

Never look back at Zhang Gu. Li Shutong's fate is related to his pure purpose of becoming a monk. In his meditation room, he wrote down the words "though I live, if I die". In his view, becoming a monk is related to life and death, and the love of his wife, children and friends can be broken. Short life, relatives will be separated sooner or later, and what should come will always come. Becoming a monk is just to advance.

The unruly son became a veritable ascetic monk.

In the first few years of becoming a monk, Li Shutong seldom saw any visitors. In addition to giving lectures, he reported "honest chanting of Buddha" to those who sought audience, saying nothing.

Xia Mianzun once saw Hongyi and many monks huddled in a crowded meditation room, then drew water by the river and washed his teeth with fresh bamboo. The towel was broken like a rag. Xia Mianzun wants to replace him with a new one. Hiroichi said, "No, it's still useful. There is no need to change. " In his opinion, tattered mats, towels, Chinese cabbage, radishes and pickles are all good, and everything is good.

His eyes drooped and his expression was serious. In the past, the delicate and unruly son became a veritable ascetic. There is only one bed in the room. Traveling is also a seat, an umbrella, and sometimes you pick your own luggage. He does all the washing and mending by himself. Get up at dawn every day and wipe your body with cold water, but whenever you are sick, you never care. He is ill in bed and someone goes to greet him. He said, "Don't ask me if I am well, you should ask me if I have studied Buddhism."

Hongyi strictly abides by the strictest and most rigid precepts of Legalists and has become a model of adhering to the "three thousand prestige and eighty thousand fine lines" of Buddhism. He ate a meal in the sun and stopped eating after noon. Vegetarian food, do not eat Chinese cabbage, winter bamboo shoots, mushrooms and so on. Because their prices are much more expensive than other vegetarian dishes.

1924, hony hung asked to see Yin Guang, but he was turned away by Yin Guang, and no one saw him. He waited from dawn until dusk, and finally met Yin Guang. He practiced with him for seven days. These seven days profoundly influenced his later spiritual career. Hongyi seriously studied the legalist theory that had been interrupted for more than 700 years, wrote books and put it into practice. Travel around the world tirelessly for the rest of my life and publicize law schools everywhere.

Before going to the lecture, Hong made three rules: don't worship the teacher, don't hold a welcome party, and don't brag in the newspaper. In order to prevent people from taking the boat, sometimes he will change to another boat temporarily. In addition to preaching the law, he also closed the door to thank guests, and it was difficult for the mayor and other senior officials to invite him. In his later years, when Hony was giving a lecture in Fujian, he suddenly received a letter from a teenager accusing him of being busy socializing. Hony reflected on herself and felt deeply ashamed. He immediately wrote back and said, "I just want to obey your orders, close the door and practice intensively, and abandon everything."

1at the end of 937, Xiamen was bombed constantly, and Hongyi gave a speech to help all living beings in Du Jie. He preached in southern Fujian, when Xiamen fell, and his friends advised him to go to the mainland to avoid disaster. He said:

An elegant chrysanthemum,

Set high standards for the party.

What color is the cloud?

Martyrdom requires blood.

Not a Buddhist book, not a book, not a Buddhist language.

After becoming a monk, Hony vowed not to read Buddhist books, scriptures or speak Buddhist language. He believes that "being addicted to calligraphy increases freedom, and Buddhism remonstrates deeply", and resolutely cuts off the art such as drama, oil painting and western music that he was once obsessed with. It turned out that he abandoned all art, but later he kept calligraphy, because he could "write Buddha characters and become attached to life." Hongyi often writes "taking precepts as a teacher". He often writes: "If I don't pray for my own happiness, I hope all beings will be relieved of their sufferings."

Hongyi's calligraphy is a spiritual trace. His writing is meticulous, neither arrogant nor impetuous, not wonderful and incomplete. Liu Zhiping recalled that Hony was very slow in writing a book, and it took two hours to write a five-foot full picture.

In a speech about writing methods, Hongyi once said to the monks, "If you can only write a few good words, if you don't concentrate on studying Buddhism, even though people praise his good handwriting, it's just' people pass the word'! In my opinion, although the word "monk" is not well written, if a harsh person has morality, then his words are precious, and the result can be passed on from person to person. If you don't study Buddhism, but you don't have morality, you can write well. Such people are insignificant in Buddhism ... "

He thinks that he is guilty, and it is not enough to eliminate obstacles without cool precepts.

Li Shutong is known as the so-called "pioneer of the New Culture Movement", but in the year before the May 4th Movement, this passionate man who actively explored western culture took a big detour, but returned to the China tradition and went deeper and further.

He has been rich and talented all his life, but he has nowhere to live in his heart, which is difficult for realistic people to understand. After the May 4th Movement, influenced by the empirical scientism, China people gradually turned to atheism, and of course they could not understand Li Shutong's becoming a monk.

When people were still lamenting Li Shutong's unparalleled talent, he totally denied his poems and absurd life when he was young. 1923, Xiling printing house printed a book of his poems "Washing the Drum", which was denounced by Hongyi as "too much nonsense, too humble style and too unsatisfied world outlook". Yee language refers to frivolous, rude, obscene and evil words; On 1929, Ming Kai Bookstore asked Hongyi to write a model. At first he agreed, and then he went back on his word. The important reason for his treachery is that some words are not suitable for monks to write, such as the cruel and fierce words in the knife department, the worse words in the female department and the extremely obscene words in the corpse department. ...

Hony constantly examines his past "hooliganism". He once told Feng Zikai that before he became a monk, he was simply bookish and secular. In "The Last Confession", he wrote: "I have been doing evil since I was a child, and it is getting worse every day. Although my body is not an animal, my heart is no different from an animal ... "

At the age of 60, Hongyi summed up his experiences from childhood with a phrase "I can't bear to look back", and thought that he was guilty, and non-cool precepts were not enough to eliminate obstacles.

Against the background of rejecting tradition and religious belief, Hong said: Buddhism is not superstitious, Buddhism is not religious, Buddhism is not philosophical, and Buddhism is not anti-science. He became a monk not because he was tired of the world, nor because he escaped from it, but because he thoroughly understood life. Since the body is an illusory existence, then wealth and fame, or the family business of later generations, are all things outside the body. Learning, painting, music and other literature and art in the world are only temporary illusory beauty, and returning to nature and pursuing the ultimate truth is the real meaning of life.

After becoming a monk, Li Shutong's restless heart due to impermanence finally ended in peace.

"I've always wanted to come to this world."

1942 In the spring, Hongyi went to Lingrui Mountain to give a lecture, and soon lived in Wenling Sanatorium. He gave a lecture to the public on the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15, and told the elderly in the hospital the essentials of pure land. On the 23rd of the Gregorian calendar, Hongyi had a minor illness, but refused to take medicine or visit him, and only concentrated on chanting Buddha.

On the 27th, Hony started a hunger strike and only drank water. On the 28th, he wrote a will and told Master Miaolian to be responsible for the funeral. On the afternoon of September 1, Hongyi wrote "Sorrow and Joy" on a piece of paper and gave it to Master Miaolian, and told him: If you see me crying while helping me read, it is not nostalgia for the world and concern for my loved ones, but feelings of sadness and joy. He also specifically told him that when he stopped breathing, he had to wait for the heat to dissipate before cremation. When his body stops, he will fill the four feet of the niche with four small bowls, and then fill them with water to prevent ants from climbing up, so as not to hurt ants when burning. He admitted that he was not lucky enough, saying that when cremating, "you don't have to wear good clothes, just wear old shorts to cover your roots."

After that, Hongyi silently recited the name of the Buddha. On his deathbed, Master Hongyi said, "I will always come to this world." "Sakyamuni Buddha has endless karma with our world, and so do we and the future world."

On the 4th (from 7 pm to 9 pm), Hony lay on her side and died peacefully at the age of 63. This day is 1942 65438+ 10/3.

Early the next morning, Xia Mianzun received a letter from Hony:

⑦ Highly respected bench for laymen: Corrupt officials moved to China on the fourth day of September (to be filled in after the instructions are expected). Zeng Fu wrote two poems, which are attached at the end of the article:

A friendship between gentlemen is as light as water;

Hold the image and ask for it, thousands of miles away.

Ask the stone, Kuol;

Man Chun of flowers, full moon of heart.

Honestly, I don't know. The voice sounded.

The usual explanation of "the intersection of sadness and joy" is to rejoice in one's liberation and lament the distress of all beings.

After being a monk for 28 years, Master Hongyi's last legacy is a patchwork of clothes, a small amount of clothes and an umbrella. He sewed more than 200 patches on patchwork clothes by himself.

Seven days after Master Hongyi's death, he fulfilled his will: "If the niche is used for nursing homes, it will be sent to Chengtian Temple for incineration." After tea, I got 1,800 relics and 600 relics.

Master Hongyi is honored as the 11th ancestor of Legalism, and is also called "the four great monks of the Republic of China" with Yin Guang, Taixu and Xuyun.

References:

Complete works of Li Shutong

Xia Mianzun's Art of Life

Mr. Li Huai Shu Tong from Feng Zikai,

Jiang Danshu's Memories of Master Hongyi

Ou Qijin and Yi Sheng: Getting rid of the old and entering the new: the influence of the special economic class of Nanyang Public School on Li Shutong

Chen Hailiang, Jiang Danshu and other "Master Hongyi's Poems"

Lin Ziqing's Chronicle of Master Hongyi