The Living Buddha of Helping the Poor: Jigong

According to legend, the surname of Jigong is Li, whose first name is Tiantai in Song Dynasty, and his legal name is "Tao Ji". Because he often plays the fool, he is called "Jiepilepsy". However, according to legend, his Buddhism is boundless, he often helps the poor and has great magical powers, so he has the nickname of "Jigong Living Buddha". Jigong is the public's respect for him. The word "assistance" means helping people in need.

Legend has it that Jigong's father is Li Maochun and his mother is Wang. Because they are over 30, but have no children, they pray to God and Buddha day and night. One night, Wang dreamed of a Lohan and gave him a colorful lotus flower. The king took the lotus and swallowed it, and soon became pregnant. Shaoxing gave birth to a son on the second day of February in the third year of the Southern Song Dynasty. The couple were very happy and held a grand banquet. At that time, an unprecedented monk came to congratulate and named it "Xiu Yuan".

When Jigong was eighteen, his parents died. After three years of mourning, he went to Lingyin Temple in West Lake to be a monk. The abbot of Yuanmangtang knew that he was the reincarnation of Lohan, so he accepted him as a disciple and took his dharma name as "Daoji". In Lingyin Temple, Jigong loved wine and meat, and the monk told him not to obey the law. The abbot said, "The Buddhism is so vast that there is no room for a monk?" From then on, people called him a monk. After the blind hall passed away, the prison temple could not accommodate him, so he was forced to leave Lingyin Temple and go to Jingci Temple. The story of "transporting wood from an ancient well" took place in Jingci Temple, and later he became a secretary in Jingci Temple.

Don't look at Jigong's broken hat, broken fan, broken shoes and dirty clothes. In fact, he is a learned monk who does good deeds and accumulates virtue. In the fourth year of Jiatai (1204), Jingci Temple was destroyed by fire. He took his books to Yanling Mountain to raise money and let himself regain his old ideas. He knows medical skills and cured old patients with intractable diseases; When traveling, it is often effective to recite scriptures for city people, solve troubles and difficulties. He is a legend in folklore. It is said that he fought side by side with Prime Minister Qin to punish corrupt officials, which is described in detail in the folk biography of Jigong.

Besides, Jigong can not only play Weiqi, but also write good poems. Every time he writes a sparse article, the whole city of Lin 'an competes for publicity. Another example is "I went to the West Lake several times by myself, and the teacher knew that I didn't care about money. A crow bird broke the silence just before the mountain fell. " This poem is quiet and humorous, which not only reflects his good popularity, but also shows his literary talent.

The statue of Jigong in saionji, Suzhou, China is very special: wearing rags and holding a broken fan, the facial expression inside is very vivid and interesting. From three angles, there are different faces: one is "full of spring breeze"; Another kind of "woebegone"; The last one seems to be a bit "dumbfounding", which is also in line with the attitude of helping the public and swearing.

After the death of Jigong, kiku wrote an inscription for the Fiona Fang stupa in the lake, which was another name of Jigong. It is worth noting that the title also notes the word "several codes". It can be seen that Jigong, whose legal name is Daoji, is really a hermit in the West Lake and is called an enlightened monk.