Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 102: The Shit Mountain Code of Buddhism (Update )
Su Ze reacted immediately and bowed to the old man in front of him, "Greetings, Mr. Cui."

Standing in front of Su Ze was Cui Guang, Marquis of Ping'en County, who was the prime minister of Wei, the chief academic officer of the Imperial Academy, the mentor of the current emperor Yuan Xu, and a veteran of three dynasties who had supported two emperors.

In fact, Su Ze had met Cui Guang. When he was in Yongning Temple, it was Cui Guang who assigned him to guard Princess Chenliu.

But at that time, Cui Guang was wearing a red and purple official robe and looked very imposing, and it was dark so he couldn't see clearly.

That's why Su Ze didn't associate the ordinary old man in gray robe in front of him with Cui Guang, a veteran of three dynasties.

But the more this happened, the more Su Ze dared not underestimate Cui Guang.

He was the right-hand man who assisted Emperor Xiaowen in reforming the system. He played a decisive role in the enthronement of Emperor Xuanwu Yuan Ke and the current Emperor Yuan Xu. He was able to escape unscathed after the failure of the political struggle against the powerful minister Yu Zhong, and still maintained a huge influence in the court.

Cui Guang was born into the Qinghe Cui family. At this time, both he and his family had reached the pinnacle of Han Chinese officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

The only Han minister who could be compared with Cui Guang was Cui Hao, who was also from the Qinghe Cui family and served as Si Tu under Emperor Taiwu Tuoba Tao.

Compared with Cui Hao, a fellow ancestor who was involved in a national history case and was killed by Tuoba Tao, Cui Guang understood the principle of retreating at the right time. Although he was dependent on Yu Zhong when he was in power, he secretly saved many ministers who were against Yu Zhong, and made efforts to expel Yu Zhong and help Empress Dowager Hu to ascend to the throne. Although he has left the center now, he can enjoy his old age as an important official.

Facing such an old fox, Su Ze just lowered his head and let Cui Guang look at him.

"The teacher always praises Zilin in front of me and always complains that I cannot recommend Zilin to be an official. How can a teacher be so protective of his shortcomings?"

Cui Guang talked about his teacher. According to etiquette, he could no longer act like a coward. He could only raise his head and say, "The teacher always recommends the virtuous regardless of their relationship."

Cui Guang said with a gleam in his eyes: "What a great example of recommending talents regardless of nepotism. There are also people who say they are talented. But that's right. In ancient times, people recommended themselves. So what if they say they are talented? Young people should have this spirit!"

Cui Guang then returned to being the ordinary old man he was just now, and said casually: "The charitable man asked someone to tell me that you were coming to copy the scriptures, so I waited at the gate of the Imperial College. Zilin is indeed extraordinary."

"If you have any scriptures that need to be copied, please write them on these bamboo slips and I will send someone to bring them here. This place is much quieter than the Sutra Translation Hall."

"The Sutra Translation Hall is the most comprehensive repository of Buddhist scriptures in our Great Wei Dynasty. During the reign of the previous emperor, the scriptures translated by the eminent monk Bodhiruci were all stored in this hall."

"In addition, there are Buddhist scriptures collected by the imperial court from all over the world, totaling 3,217 volumes."

Seeing Cui Guang knowing everything, Su Ze looked at him in confusion. Didn’t his teacher say that Cui Guang suppressed Buddhism?

Cui Guangren was very experienced and asked immediately, "You heard from the benefactor that I borrowed Theory of the Extinction of Gods from him, but why do you know so many Buddhist scriptures by heart?"

Su Ze nodded, and Cui Guang said, "Buddhism is nothing but emptiness and righteousness. Everything in this world emphasizes that excess is as bad as deficiency. During the reign of Emperor Taiwu, Buddhism was worshipped and taught the royal family, nobles and aristocrats to do good deeds, reduce killings, and comfort the people. The Buddha at that time was good."

"But now, everyone in Luoyang is worshipping Buddhism. Some people have abandoned their wives and children to sacrifice their lives for Buddhist temples. It takes a huge amount of money to redeem them. From the royal family to the ministers, everyone is building Buddhist halls and temples, spending thousands of gold and conscripting thousands of civilians."

"If this continues, Buddhism will be plagued by karma."

"Many monks in Luoyang do not observe the precepts, do not recite Buddhist scriptures, and treat becoming a monk as a business. This kind of Buddhism is contrary to the original intention of the Buddha."

"When the nobles discussed Buddhism, they often only talked about emptiness (metaphysical philosophical content), ignoring the sufferings of the world. What is the difference between such Buddhism and the discussion of metaphysics in the Wei and Jin dynasties?"

Su Ze couldn't help but sigh that there is no shortage of knowledgeable people in any era, and they can all see problems from their own perspective.

But whether it was Li Daoyuan, Cui Guang, or Princess Chenliu, they could not save this increasingly decadent world.

Cui Guang laughed and said, "Old people talk a lot. Zilin, don't you think I'm annoying?"

Su Ze said quickly: "Mr. Cui is concerned about the country and the people, and I can only admire him." "Okay, what scripture do you want?"

Su Ze said respectfully: "I would like to ask for four scriptures."

"The Infinite Life Sutra translated by Kang Sengkai of the Cao Wei Dynasty, the Contemplation of the Infinite Life Sutra translated by Zhiliangyeshe of the Liu Song Dynasty, the Amitabha Sutra translated by Kumarajiva of the Yao Qin Dynasty, and the Upasika Wish-to-Be Born in the Infinite Life Sutra translated by the great monk Bodhiruci of this dynasty."

Cui Guang originally thought that Su Ze wanted the scriptures that were popular in Luoyang, but he had never heard of the first two of these four books.

"The last two are in the library. I'll have someone look for the first two for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Cui."

After a while, Cui Guang's subordinates came to the office with scriptures in their arms, and the four scriptures were actually all there.

Su Ze thanked Cui Guang, took out bamboo paper, writing brush and ink, and began to copy scriptures at the desk.

Cui Guang was also a little curious and looked through the scriptures that Su Ze asked for.

As he watched, confusion appeared in Cui Guang's eyes.

This was the time when Buddhism was most prosperous, whether in the Southern or Northern Dynasties.

There is an endless stream of eminent monks coming to China from India and the Western Regions. For example, the famous Bodhidharma, who is now on his way to China.

After the translation work that began in the Jin Dynasty, there are now too many Buddhist scriptures in the Central Plains instead of too few.

Various versions of Buddhist scriptures and various schools of practice even contain conflicting and inconsistent contents.

To use a simple analogy, the Buddhism founded by Sakyamuni is an operating system with simple functions but clear goals.

Later, various disciple processing and various scriptures were invented, and the entire program expanded into a complex program, which was crammed with various functions.

Because there is too much shitty code, only a small number of people can use this operating system well. The worst part is that there are even more people adding shit to this system.

It was not until the Sui and Tang dynasties in history that various sects were created.

These sects are equivalent to programs developed for this system. When facing different goals, people who use the programs do not need to study the shitty codes of the operating system, but only need to learn how to use the programs.

Although Su Ze only selected four Buddhist scriptures, the contents of these four Buddhist scriptures are related and can verify each other.

You should know that these four scriptures were written in different periods, but they are able to fit together with each other, forming a set of self-consistent practice theories.

This surprised Cui Guang, who had extraordinary attainments in Buddhism.

Let’s look at the bamboo paper that Su Ze used to copy the scriptures. Li Daoyuan had recommended this kind of paper to himself. It was inexpensive. Although it had various shortcomings, it was much more convenient than bamboo slips and much cheaper than silk.

The craftsman who was able to make bamboo paper was also presented by Su Ze.

Cui Guang stood aside, stroking his beard. Su Ze was giving him more and more surprises.

(End of this chapter)