Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 40: Regulated Poetry (th update, please read and vote)

The next morning, Su Ze got up early, dressed neatly, and headed to Longhua Temple to attend the party organized by Liu Gui.

The Longhua Temple where they agreed to meet was near Jianyangli. This temple was funded and built by the children of Yulin and Huben, and can be regarded as the ancestral temple of the imperial guards. The ashes of Su Ze's father were kept in the Buddhist hall in Longhua Temple.

After preparing some items for worship, Su Ze told Su Yuyao to take good care of the house, then walked to Longhua Temple.

Compared to the huge Yongning Temple, Longhua Temple is located next to Caohe River and is not particularly large. Apart from a few white pagodas in the backyard, there are no iconic buildings in the temple.

However, as the ancestral temple of the Yulin Huben, this temple is still somewhat special.

Su Ze arrived the earliest. He crossed the mountain gate and went directly into the temple. When Longhua Temple was built, it was also conferred by the emperor. It is also a Buddhist temple of the highest standards with three halls. However, what makes Longhua Temple different from other temples is that the most popular hall among the three halls is not the last "Main Hall" dedicated to Buddha, but the second hall.

There were many Buddhist temples in the Northern Wei Dynasty. In order to attract believers, a worship system with different emphases was formed. The second hall of Longhua Temple is dedicated to Weituo Bodhisattva, the guardian deity of Buddhism.

This statue of Weituo Bodhisattva was also created by the most famous Buddhist sculptor of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It took a full three years to complete. The huge Buddha statue holds a vajra in his hand and has eyes wide open, symbolizing the Bodhisattva's determination to defend Buddhism with his vajra eyes.

Because Weituo Bodhisattva is also considered a god of war, he can protect the imperial troops on the expedition and receive incense from the families of the surrounding Yulin Huben.

Su Ze just took a look at the entrance of the Buddhist temple but had no intention of going in to worship. He went straight to the backyard of the temple with the offerings.

As the ancestral temple of the Imperial Guards, there are three pagodas in the backyard of Longhua Temple, where the ashes of the deceased imperial guards are stored.

There are also cemeteries near Luoyang. The most famous one is Beimang Mountain to the north of Luoyang. Many emperors and generals built their tombs in Beimang Mountain, and many ordinary people in Luoyang are also buried in Beimang Mountain.

After the flourishing of Buddhism, cremation gradually became popular in Luoyang. We often heard the news that some believers had burned out relics. A few years ago, when our clan relative King Xiecheng passed away, he also left a will to be cremated. This shows how popular cremation is in Luoyang today.

Su Ze's father chose cremation mainly because it was not easy to offer sacrifices at Beimang Mountain, and the ashes of the imperial guards were enshrined in Longhua Temple for free.

After offering tribute and completing the worship, Su Ze walked out of the pagoda in the backyard and came to a row of small buildings next to Longhua Temple. He ordered some tea and began to wait for Liu Gui and others.

Not all Buddhist temples have royal donations. Like Yongning Temple, not all of them were built with generous donations from the royal family and dignitaries and were built by the Chief Architect himself.

Although Longhua Temple was also a temple built by imperial decree, the cost of its construction came from donations from the Yulin Huben. As a newly built temple, Longhua Temple's main income came from donations from the families of the nearby Yulin Huben and the income from these rows of small buildings.

These temples in Luoyang City all set aside a portion of their space for business, and some even have fixed stalls that collect rent, or they rent out monk quarters to wandering monks. These are things that temples like Longhua Temple, which have no background, do.

A big temple like Yongning Temple would not make such small amounts of money. Not only did they have offerings from the royal family, they also had thousands of hectares of monk land outside the city of Luoyang. These were all rewards from Empress Dowager Hu and donations from ministers to the temple.

In addition, the temple is also a financial center. Yongning Temple also has a "Golden Box Office" that is specifically responsible for lending high-interest loans to the people of Luoyang.

In comparison, temples like Longhua Temple made Su Ze feel more comfortable.

While thinking, Su Ze heard Gao Huan's cheerful voice.

"Brother Su!"

As soon as Gao Huan appeared, he attracted the attention of the pilgrims around him. The customs of the Northern Wei people still had some of the fierceness of the Hu people, and several female pilgrims cast greedy glances at him.

Su Ze's appearance is already outstanding, but in terms of looks, he is still inferior to Gao Huan. It turns out that this world, no matter ancient or modern, is an era where appearance matters!
When Liu Gui, who was dressed in brocade, and another scholar in white appeared, they attracted the attention of the female pilgrims again. Su Ze looked at his rough linen clothes and realized that besides appearance, clothes also make the man. When the three of them went upstairs one after another, the monks brought tea cups, tea mortars and stoves, and Liu Gui waved his hand to let the monks go downstairs.

"Brother Su, this is my cousin Liu Bozhi, who works as a white-robed scholar in the Qinghe Palace."

Su Ze hurriedly saluted. Compared with Liu Gui, Liu Bozhi was much more arrogant. He just nodded slightly as a greeting to Su Ze.

Gao Huan was somewhat displeased when he saw Liu Bozhi's arrogant attitude, but when he thought that Liu Gui had invited him for Su Ze's future, he suppressed his displeasure.

Liu Gui was good at livening up the atmosphere. He picked up the tea set and said, "I will make tea today. Please tell me about the selection of the front line."

Liu Gui picked up the pressed tea cake, crushed it with a tea mortar, lit the tea stove, and waited for the water in the pot to boil.

Liu Gui's movements were so smooth that Gao Huan couldn't help but ask, "Brother Liu, is this how all the people in Luoyang drink tea?"

Liu Gui put the crushed tea cake into the tea stove. After it turned tea-colored, he used a wooden spoon to scoop the tea into the cup. He picked up the tea whisk and stirred the tea in the bowl thoroughly to produce white foam. Then he handed the tea bowl to everyone and said:

"Isn't this how Brother Gao drank tea in Huaishuo?"

"There are also tea drinks in Huaishuo, but they are made by boiling milk and tea leaves together, and taking a sip will leave your mouth full of tea foam."

Gao Huan looked at the dense white bubbles floating in the green tea. The whole bowl of tea was like an exquisite work of art. He was reluctant to drink it.

Liu Bozhi on the side glanced at Gao Huan with disdain. Su Ze picked up the tea bowl and took a sip. Feeling the rich tea flavor in the foam, he couldn't help but sigh:
"The green clouds are blown by the wind, and the white flowers are floating on the surface of the bowl. What a great tea!"

After listening to Su Ze's poem, Liu Gui savored it carefully and praised it repeatedly: "What a good poem!"

Liu Bozhi also raised his head and looked at Su Ze with admiration.

Gao Huan, whose cultural literacy was in question, touched his head and asked, "Poetry? Brother Su wrote poetry? Aren't all poems written in five-character verse?"

Liu Bozhi spoke first: "Isn't what Su Lang wrote the new style of poetry advocated by Shen Xiuwen of the Southern Dynasty?"

Su Ze then remembered that this era was exactly the time when seven-character regulated verse originated, and the Shen Xiuwen mentioned by Liu Bozhi was none other than Shen Yue, a founding hero of the Southern Liang Dynasty and also a leader of the literary world of the Southern Dynasties.

Shen Yue was a man of profound knowledge and proficient in music. Together with Zhou Yong and others, he created the theory of four tones and eight faults, requiring that the four tones of Ping, Shang, Qu and Ru be adjusted to each other and applied to poetry and prose. On the basis of traditional five-character regulated verse, he innovated the seven-character regulated verse and determined the requirements for the rhythm and parallelism of the seven-character regulated verse. This led to the creation of so many great poems in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Liu Bozhi was also a descendant of a prominent family and served as an official in the Qinghe Palace, so naturally he was very interested in literature.

He changed his previous arrogant attitude and said:

"Your Highness particularly likes new-style poetry, but it's a pity that the Southern Bandit King was jealous of Shen Xiuwen's talent and killed him. There is no more good work in the world that can catch Your Highness's eye."

"Brother Su can write modern poems, can you please write down the whole poem? Prince Qinghe is more interested in literature, if you can win the prince's favor, you will be able to serve in the palace without participating in the selection!"

I posted 10,000 words today, and will update at least 6,000 words tomorrow.

There are many problems and there are still too few updates. Fei Niao, please write faster!
Monday is related to the new book list, please vote and read on, thank you everyone!
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(End of this chapter)