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Lingbao Tianzun, at the top of the equal chain of immortals, ranks in Sanqing, and seems to be a soy sauce maker in Journey to the West.

In the whole book, the Buddha appears only three times.

First appeared in the fifth cycle.

At that time, the Monkey King was acclaimed by the Jade Emperor and was named Monkey King, at the peak of his life. I often brush my "circle of friends" when I am free.

Look at the description, "(the Monkey King) only knows how to eat three meals during the eclipse, sleep on the sofa at night, and be carefree and free. In leisure time, friends will visit the palace and make friends. Seeing Sanqing calling "Lao", every four emperors said "Your Majesty". With nine Yao stars, five generals, twenty-eight nights, four heavenly kings, twelve Chen yuan, five five elders, Putian astrology and Hehan gods, they all treat each other as brothers and call each other. "

It can be seen that in the Tianguan system, Lingbao Tianzun and Qi Tianshengda are probably friends. At least, on the surface.

The second time appeared in the seventh time.

The Tathagata laid off the monkey king who was in trouble, and the Jade Emperor had a whim and ordered the minister to arrange an anti-heaven reception for the Tathagata Buddha.

"In a short period of time, Jade Qing Buddha from the beginning, Qing Lingbao Buddha, Qing moral Buddha, Wu Gang Zhen Jun, Wu Dou Xing Jun, three officials and four saints, nine obsidian Zhen Jun, right Bi, Wang, Nezha, therefore, it should be well informed. For the standard, whether it is a banner or a cover, they all hold pearl treasures and live longer than Nanshan.

Lingbao Buddha bowed down on a line of gifts from the Buddha.

The third time appeared in 44 years.

At that time, the Buddhist scripture group was passing through the state of Guo. When the Monkey King saw the three goblin monks (Tiger force big fairy, etc. ) The Taoist school bullied the Buddhist staff and was outraged, so they took their two younger brothers to make a scene in Sanqing, and even removed the Sanqing clay sculpture from the view to worship, shot it with their big feet and kicked it in into the pit.

Of course, in this farce, Lingbao Tianzun did not actually appear, belonging to the type of lying down and being shot.

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Lingbao Buddha is in Journey to the West, although it doesn't have much sense of existence. But if we open the relevant Taoist scriptures, we will find his dignity.

In ancient primitive beliefs, Lingbao Tianzun was originally called Yu Chen Huang Yuan Avenue Jun on the high sacred platform. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Taoist Tao Hongjing compiled The Map of True Spirit, which ranked it in the middle of Er Shen order, second only to Yuanshi Tianzun, and Yuanshi Tianzun was in the middle of the first divine order (even worse than Taishang Laojun in the third divine order). In the Tang Dynasty, it was called "Taiwan businessmen's Avenue Jun", and since the Song Dynasty, it has been called "Lingbao Tianzun" or "Lingbao Jun" ..

His legend is also full of mysterious religious color. According to Taoist records, before the formation of the universe, Lingbao Buddha was transformed from chaotic vitality. It was originally "the essence of two mornings, the purple smoke of nine celebrations" and later came to earth. He lives in Du Xuan Yujing Fairy House, where thousands of gods are enshrined, and there are countless golden couple guards in the house.

In the Sanqing Hall where people worship, Lingbao Tianzun is in the left position of Yuanshi Tianzun (Taishang Laojun is in the right position), holding Artest Chitu or Jade Ruyi, which symbolizes the "Tai Chi" state of chaotic Yin and Yang, that is, the second century of the formation of the universe (the first century is the "infinite" state). Therefore, there is a folk legend that Christmas is the summer solstice with long days and short nights.

This provision has also been used 44 times in The Journey to the West. For example, Pig Bajie introduced the Monkey King to the idol furnishings of Sanqingguan. "In the middle is yuanshi county Tianzun, on the left is Lingbao Daojun, and on the right is Taishang Laojun."

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Since Lingbao Buddha is the second statue in Sanqing, why does it appear far less frequently in Journey to the West than the other two Buddha statues?

Of course, there is not much explanation in the original, and we don't know. However, if you turn to another fairy tale with a similar theme, you may find some clues.

According to the current general understanding, The Romance of the Gods should be written after the Journey to the West. The contents of these two books are inconsistent. However, because the book was probably written between Jiajing and Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the time point is relatively close, and there are many similarities in melody.

For example, in the Romance of the Gods, there is a Taoist priest in western Shintoism, and his image is described as "a tall man with six golden bodies". Obviously, he is the Tathagata of the Journey to the West (the image of Tathagata is "a tall man with six golden bodies"). Another example is the western doctrine that makes Taoist priests speak, which is described in the book as "When Jin Xian was at its best, the western magic method was Bodhi Zu. If you don't die or live three or three lines, you will be full of goodwill. Emptiness changes with it, just like nature. Live a solemn life with the sky and rob the bright heart of the exorcist. " This is almost exactly the same as the description of Wukong's first encounter with Bodhi in Journey to the West. Another example is Manjusri Guangfa Tianzun and Kindness Waterway, which appeared in the Romance of the Gods. People in Journey to the West can find benchmarking figures, so I won't list them here.

Then, who is the benchmark figure of Lingbao Tianzun in the Romance of the Gods? Needless to say, it is the Tianshi interception.

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The decency in the Romance of Gods is undoubtedly a man of insight led by Jiang Ziya who resisted the tyranny of Zhou Wang, and the founder of Buddhism, who gave them a platform behind. Of course, the villain BOSS, who has enough weight to wrestle with the original Buddha and Taishang Laojun, naturally left Lingbao Buddha.

Interestingly, in the seventy-seven chapters of The Romance of the Gods, the old gentleman in Taishang and the leader of Tian Tong had a one-on-one fight, which was quite wonderful. "(The old man) picked up Qing Niu Yi and jumped out of the circle; Pushing the fishtail crown, I saw three breaths on the top, which turned into three clears. " The Sanqing here is called Shangqing, Yuqing and Taiqing. In fact, it is nothing more than the illusion used by the old man. As the original text said: "The three clean-ups of Laozi's gasification are just vitality. Although the tangible color wraps the leader of Tian Tong, it can't hurt him. This is the magic of Laozi's gasification, which confuses Tianshi. "

It was also at this time that the specific concept of Sanqing appeared for the first time in the apotheosis era, which also laid the groundwork for the ranking of Sanqing of the three religious leaders (Yuanshi Tianzun, Tian Tong Leader and Laojun) after the apotheosis war. And all this seems to be arranged by their master-ancestor Hong Jun, just like after a war, the old gentleman sang a song on the back of the green cow. "Once I worshipped Hong Jun (the ancestor) Xiu De, and I knew I would be able to be clean for three times."

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Combined with the story of Romance of Gods, we probably know the reason why Lingbao Tianzun kept a low profile in Journey to the West.

The distribution of theocracy is hidden behind the commercial war in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Three religions war, countless casualties. Most of these casualties are religious factions. However, most of these characters are gods, who work in heaven or are under their jurisdiction. For example, Master Wen was named Buddha, and 28 famous men, such as Kuimu Wolf, were also cut off.

As their former leader, Lingbao Buddha was in a rather delicate situation. Besides, he is a loser in the war of God, and his resume is tainted. If we consider this comprehensively, we should naturally treat the world with caution.

On the other hand, the Jade Emperor, who benefited from the perfection of heaven, used an old-fashioned political means to move the Dojo of Yuanshi Tianzun and Lingbao Tianzun from the Jade Palace and Biyou Palace to the realm of heaven and heaven. In fact, it is monitored.

The situation of Lingbao Giant Buddha is quite similar to that of the famous Jia Xu in the Three Kingdoms period.

This drug Lord, who caused untold suffering by his own selfish desires at the end of the Han Dynasty, always looked back on his own life stain. When he took refuge in Cao Cao, he presented an inscription saying, "Unless Mao (Cao Cao) is an old minister, he must have a long-term strategy, be afraid of seeing suspicion, stay behind closed doors, retreat from the friendship of selflessness, and never close the door." In the same living environment, it is not difficult for us to understand that when Lingbao Tianzun wanted to make friends with the young monkey king, he readily put down his airs and sang praises to the Buddha in the West.

However, is there something hidden behind the low-key and forbearing Lingbao Buddha? This may be an unsolved mystery in fairy tales.