Jian Zhen, a monk in the Tang Dynasty, died on June 6, 763 (the first year of Guangde) at Zhao Ti Temple in Jian Zhen, at the age of 76. The Japanese people call Jian Zhen a "master of balance", which means that his achievements are enough to represent the roof of the culture of a balanced era.
The Tang and Zhao Temple in Nara, Japan. Why did my Tang Priest finally die in a foreign country?
The story begins in the Japanese Year of the Tortoise, when Emperor Shengwu, the eldest son of Emperor Wu Wen, succeeded to the throne.
Emperor Shengwu believed in Buddhism and especially loved the culture of the Tang Dynasty. He sent a large number of envoys to the Tang Dynasty more than ten times, not only introducing the treasures of the Tang Dynasty, but also ordering people to imitate them. During his reign, "Tian Ping culture" flourished.
In the 21st year of Kaiyuan (733), the Japanese sent monks Rong Rui and Pu Zhao to study in China [2]. Rong Rui and Pu Zhao, Japanese monks, were entrusted by the Japanese Buddhist community and government to invite Jian Zhen to give lectures in Japan, in order to give precepts to Japanese believers. At that time, all the monks in daming temple were "silent and unresponsive", only Jian Zhen said "it's for legal affairs, so why not". So I decided to cross east.
Since then, Jian Zhen and his disciples have crossed the sea five times in ten years, but they all failed because of the sinister natural environment and the obstruction of local officials. Especially for the fifth time, 62-year-old Jian Zhen was attacked by evil winds and rough waves and drifted at sea for half a month. This adventure also directly led to his blindness.
However, his ambition to spread Buddhism eastward became stronger and stronger and never wavered. Finally landed in Japan for the sixth time.
This trip not only brought a lot of Buddhist scriptures, medicine and calligraphy, but also brought cats (also known as Tang cats), originally to avoid being bitten by mice. This move introduced cats to Japan. After Jian Zhen entered the Zhengcang Courtyard of Dongda Temple, Tang Mao continued to guard Buddhist scriptures, medicine and calligraphy classics. Because of its scarcity, only the royal family can keep it, and with the aura endowed by Buddhism, the Japanese who believe in Buddhism have endowed it with spiritual abilities: recruiting troops, sailing, transshipment and guarding, which means: driving cats in the warehouse and then entering Haode.
Because of the popularity of lucky cats around the world, people only know lucky cats, but they don't know that they are opening cats. In fact, Zhengcang Cat and Lucky Cat are of the same ancestry and both originated from "Tang Cat". Haode Temple was once a branch of Zhengcang School, and its mental ability has also changed, only "lucky".
After Zhengcang began to transport cats, the civet cats gradually evolved. Different roles have different mental abilities. Generally speaking, they have eight fortunes: transportation access, house, love, children, wealth, health, career and social interaction.
Speaking of Japanese temple culture, we can't avoid the "amulet". No matter our native or tourists from all over the world, after visiting the temple, they always ask for a guardian to pray for happiness and avoid bad luck.
Many temples and shrines have their own unique guards, with exquisite styles, rich types and different guard functions. Garrison has become an indispensable item in Japanese life, and even in China, it is becoming more and more popular now.
Masakura cats and lucky cats have become the first choice for many people who travel to Japan to pray. In addition, peripheral products can be seen everywhere in life, and lovely images carry people's expectations for a better life.
Back to the very beginning, if Tang cat hadn't been brought aboard, if it hadn't happened to catch the east wind of Buddhism, perhaps the cat culture in Japan would have been delayed for many years, and even never evolved to this day.