However, because he promoted good and eliminated evil, he was always loved and respected by the working people. Many temples in the Song Dynasty had statues that benefited the public. His facial expression is very interesting. From the left, you look sad, as if you have no money to buy rice; But from the right, he is smiling, and from the front, it is even more interesting. His left face looks like he is crying, but his right side is smiling. Now in the Tiger Running Scenic Area in Hangzhou, there are still relics such as the Jigong Hall and the Jizu Tower. There is also a folk song about Jigong: "It's unusual to be immortal, open a thorn forest and cross a diamond ring." Eyebrows knotted, nostrils cocked, amulets burned, and scraps of paper fell like clouds. Sometimes, Mao Yan sits in the desert and sometimes sleeps in a restaurant in Chang 'an. Swallow Kyushu, there is no money in the bag. Season solstice, choose like cicada, and benefit the market by 84 thousand. I can't breathe, but I still say it. Alas, this is a relief! "This folk song fully embodies the personality characteristics of Jigong monk, so it has been passed down to this day.
The "Ji Dian" mentioned in the ballad is that monks help the public. There is an introduction about him in Ci Yuan: "Jigong was a famous monk in the Song Dynasty. 1 129, from Tiantai county (now Zhejiang province). His birth is unknown. His common surname is Li, and his first name is Doggi. People think that he is crazy all day, slovenly, careless, drinking, eating meat, playing games and being at home all over the world. By AD 1202, the monk Jigong died of illness and lived to be 73 years old. " From this point of view, there must be a man named Jigong in history. However, some people think that the introduction materials about Jigong monk in Ci Yuan came from Notes on the West Lake in the Ming Dynasty, but the Notes on the West Lake is just a book similar to unofficial history's, not a serious history book, and its credibility is very low.
In addition, there are a lot of folklore about Jigong, such as Red Money Is Hard to Help, Biography of Master Jigong Drunken Bodhi, Quotations of Zen Master in Jidian, Commentary on Jigong's Performance, Biography of Jigong 242, etc., all of which describe the monk of Jigong as a legend, which makes Jigong full of mystery. It's really hard to believe that there is such a thing in the world.
Although Jigong is a monk, since the Southern Song Dynasty, there is no record of Jigong in various works of monks. Buddhist Annals is an authoritative work of Buddhism, which records 44 1 famous monks in China, but the name of Jigong can't be found. So, is the Kiki Palace a fictional character fabricated by people out of thin air? According to research, there was indeed a man named Jigong in history, but Jigong was not a monk in the Song Dynasty, but a monk named Bao Zheng who was born in the Song Dynasty in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and experienced the Song, Qi and Liang Dynasties. In Notes on China, there is a record about Taoist Bao Zheng.
Monk Baozhen, whose common name is Zhu, was born in a poor family when he was young. Before he was ten years old, he became a monk at the Shaolin Temple in Jiankang Road. He was originally just an ordinary temple monk, but later, under very accidental circumstances, he learned Zen from Liang Yeshe, a famous monk in the western regions, and his mana increased greatly, making him famous in Jiankang City. It's just that in the early years of Taishi Emperor in Song and Ming Dynasties, Bao Zhen suddenly went crazy. People don't know why. Barefoot every day, ragged, unkempt and unpredictable. Like a beggar, he sometimes mumbles something and doesn't know he is talking to himself. People laughed at him. The first year of the establishment of Emperor Wu of the Southern Qi Dynasty was even more incredible. Sometimes he doesn't see a grain of rice or a drop of water a day, but his face is as usual. People reported the strange behavior of monk Baozhen to Emperor Wu of Qi, and the ministers and ministers of Qi were surprised. Later, Emperor Wu invited him into the palace, but as soon as he entered the palace, the monk Baozhen was divided into three people, which surprised Emperor Wu of Qi and thought he was a fairy. Monk Baozhen used magic to show the situation in hell, and let Emperor Wu of Qi see his father suffering in hell. So Emperor Wudi of Qi ordered that people's wealth should be greatly reduced and torture such as stabbing with a knife should be put an end to.
In the Liang Dynasty, Liang Wudi, who was proficient in Buddhism, had long heard the name of Monk Baozhen. He has great respect for monk Baozhen. Immediately after he ascended the throne, he invited monk Baozhen to the palace, asked him to be his disciple and made him the "national teacher" of the Liang Dynasty. He specially sent a letter to the imperial secretary. No one is allowed to ban the activities of monk Baozhen, and no one is allowed to ignore him. He was allowed to enter and leave the court freely. It's glorious that monk Baozhen suddenly became above ten thousand people. However, monk Baozhen always doesn't care too much about the honors these people ask for, and just wants to be happy all day.
History is recorded in a five-year prison. During the drought in the south of the Yangtze River, monk Baozhen prayed for rain on behalf of the emperor, which was very effective. It rained cats and dogs on the day of praying for rain. Later, Monk Baozhen died in the Forbidden Palace at the age of 90. After Bao Zheng's death, people built Linggu Temple in Jiu Nan in memory of monk Bao Zheng, which is called Southeast Giant Temple, and Baogong Ancient Pagoda is his graveyard. The Baogong Ancient Pagoda is engraved with the Eleven o'clock Song of Baogong Bodhisattva written by calligrapher Zhao Meng.
Presumably, it's because monk Baozhen shouted in Wunong soft language, as if he was helping the poor. Later, people simply called him a "poor monk". However, Zhen Bao's transformation into Kikuya Palace is just a guess. Perhaps the Kikuji Palace is not recorded in the official history, but its influence in history far exceeds that of Bao Zheng. From this point of view, perhaps the monk Jigong is not a folk fictional character, but also a real one.