Chapter 90 public opinion

Regarding Li Shutong's escape from the world, researchers have the following theories: One, influence theory.It is believed that Li Shutong was influenced by his childhood environment.Li Shutong's father, Li Xiaolou, had always been a devout disciple of Buddhism, and in his later years he was even more devoted to the realm of Buddhism and was willing to do good deeds.The Buddha's seat is worshiped in the house all the year round, and the smoke is lingering.A maid surnamed Wang often took Li Shutong to a nearby dizang nunnery to watch monks performing rituals.Before his father died, he even asked Tianjin eminent monks to study the Dharma and recite the "Golden Steel Sutra" repeatedly at the sick bed.After the death of his father, he stayed for 7 days, inviting more than a dozen monks to chant scriptures every day, and performed the ceremony of "flame mouth".This left a deep impression on Li Shutong, who was under five years old at the time.Whenever monks are invited to chant scriptures and Buddha at home, he will pretend to be monks with his nephew Li Shengzhang and others who are similar in age. When he was three years old, he specially asked monks to teach him to put flames.

Li Xiaolou had a son in his later years. On the day Li Shutong was born, Li Xiaolou made great wishes for the safety of his wife and children.On this day, the fishermen at the gate of Li's house waited in a long line for the Li family to buy fish and shrimp. The water from the fish plate overflowed and almost merged into a canal. Li Xiaolou bought all of them and released them.From now on, every birthday of Li Shutong, Li's family will release life. On the other side of the rich Li family, Li Xiaolou is even more charitable. He often helps the poor, donating clothes, food, and coffins; every year at the end of autumn and early winter, he sends people to the countryside to check the conditions of the poor, and issues bills according to the population, which can be exchanged for cash at the end of the year. The Li family set up a free school, created a Youbei Jishe, and even spent huge sums of money to set up a nursery school to take in beggars.Li Shutong, who grew up in such an environment, has a feeling of compassion since he was a child.

Li's family believed in Buddhism, and Li Shutong had been influenced by it for a long time.After Li Xiaolou's death, every year on Qingming Festival, Yulan Basin Festival, Li Xiaolou's birthday, and memorial days, the family would invite monks to chant sutras.When Li Shutong was eight or nine years old, he often went to Wuliang Temple with his widowed eldest nephew (that is, the daughter-in-law of his elder brother Lin Wenjin) to listen to Wang Xiaolian's lectures on "The Great Compassion Mantra" and "The Mantra of Rebirth". Yuan Liaofan's "Recording meritorious deeds".

Li Shutong had a nurse surnamed Liu, who often taught Li to recite the aphorisms in "The Collection of Famous Sages", such as "A white horse with a high head and a thousand taels of gold is not a relative who comes to force a marriage. Once the horse dies and the gold is exhausted, the relative is like a stranger."But in this environment, Li Zao showed a melancholy and sad temperament. When he was enlightened, he read the note "Lin is a benevolent beast, not trampling on grass and not treading on insects" in "Mao Shi·Lin Zhi Zhang", and he felt good. Many, decades later still vividly before. At the age of 15, he wrote disillusioned poems such as "Life is like the moon in the West Mountain, and wealth and honor are like frost on the grass".

Li Shutong, who grew up in such an environment, experienced the world of mortals and vicissitudes, and the influence of Buddhism in his childhood revived again, which eventually led him to retreat to Buddhism. Second, the theory of bankruptcy.Li Shutong came from a prominent family in Tianjin. The Revolution of 1911 led to the bankruptcy of the Li family, and the huge sum of 300,000 yuan under Li Shutong's name also disappeared.Some commentators believe that Li Shutong became a monk because of bankruptcy. Three, the theory of escape from the world.Some people think that Li Shutong's unrestrained flirtatiousness is only a superficial phenomenon, but in his heart he is distressed, lamented, worried and helpless about the real society.Therefore, like Jia Baoyu, he has an antinomian personality tendency, unrestrained and cynical.And this kind of debauchery and cynicism is the harbinger of retiring from the world and becoming a monk.

Three, disillusionment theory.Some people think that Li Shutong once devoted himself to the revolution with great enthusiasm, was rumored to have joined the Tongmenghui, and placed great hopes on the success of the revolution.However, the invasion of foreign powers and the melee of warlords disillusioned Li Shutong's ideals, and he suddenly felt that his future was bleak.So he broke through the world of mortals and retired to Buddhism. Fourth, lovelorn theory.Li Shutong's first wife, Yu Shi, was an old-fashioned woman when he was in secular life. Their marriage was arranged by their parents, and there was no emotion at all.However, in his early years, Li "wandered around Yan City, wandering around the city, grinding for gold powder", and had close contacts with famous actresses and prostitutes, and had mutual affection for each other.Later, he married a Japanese concubine in Japan and had a good relationship.However, there was an article in Hong Kong saying that on this day, the concubine Hongxing had an affair and returned to Japan.This kind of emotional blow made Li Shutong think of retiring from the world.However, there are many opinions against this law, and the reason is far-fetched and not credible.

Regarding Li Shutong's renunciation, his student Feng Zikai explained his understanding with the term "three-story building".He wrote: "At that time, people were very surprised, thinking that Mr. Li had been stimulated by something, and suddenly 'took into Buddhism'. But I can understand his heart, and I think it is natural for him to become a monk. I thought that the life of a person , can be divided into three layers: one is material life, the other is spiritual life, and the third is soul life. Material life is food and clothing. Spiritual life is academic literature and art. Soul life is religion. "Life" is such a three-story building. Those who are too lazy (or unable) to walk up the stairs live on the first floor. That is to say, they can make their material life very good. They are well-clothed, well-fed, honored and rich, and they are filial to their sons and grandchildren. This is also a kind of outlook on life. Hug People with such an outlook on life account for the majority in the world. Secondly, those who are happy (or powerful) walk up the stairs, climb up to the second floor to have fun, or live in it for a long time. These are people who concentrate on academic literature and art. They put all their efforts Contribute to the study of learning, put all your heart on the creation and appreciation of literature and art. There are many such people in the world, namely the so-called 'intellectuals', 'scholars', 'artists'. There is also a kind of people, 'desire for life' They are very strong and strong in their feet. If they are not satisfied with the second floor, they will take the stairs and climb up to the third floor. This is a religious person. They are very serious about their lives. It is not enough to satisfy their 'material desires', they are satisfied' Spiritual desire' is not enough, we must explore the truth of life. They think that property and descendants are things outside the body, academic literature and art are temporary beauty, and even their own bodies are illusory existence. They refuse to be instinct slaves, they must investigate the soul The source, the foundation of the universe, can satisfy their "desire for life". This is religious people. There are only these three kinds of people in the world. Although I use a three-story building as a metaphor, it is not necessary to go from the first floor to the second floor. Then get the third floor. There are many people who go straight from the first floor to the third floor and don’t need to stay on the second floor. There are also many people who don’t even live on the first floor and run up to the third floor in one go. But we Master Hongyi went up one level at a time. Master Hongyi's "desire for life" is very strong! He must be thorough in his life. On the first floor. The middle-aged man concentrates on the study of art and exerts his talents in many aspects, so he moved to the second floor. The strong "desire for life" could not satisfy him on the second floor, so he climbed up to the third floor to do Monk, it is a matter of course to cultivate the pure land and study the precepts.”

Jiang Danshu once asked Li Shutong why he became a monk, and he recorded a dialogue between him and Li in "Hongyi Master Yonghuailu": "The Venerable Master will be a monk, and Yu once asked him: 'What did you do?' He said: 'Nothing to do.' He said: 'The king is solid and passionate, forbearance to throw away flesh and blood?' Then he replied: 'For example, a tiger suffers. What will happen if the epidemic dies?'" Master Hongyi once talked about the reason why he became a monk: "It was not suitable for childhood.... When my mother died, I felt that the four elements were not me, and I was the source of suffering. Afterwards, I became a monk. If it is not the time, I have to shave, and I don’t know. That’s why. I don’t have any other concerns, but my wife is not allowed to worry about it, but I sighed and left the vulgar in peace.”