Chapter 37 Li Shutong Chronicle (4)

In mid-October, he was ordained by a monk in Lingyin Temple.During this period, he read books such as "Baohua Chuanjie Zhengfan", "Lingfeng Vini Events and Yiji Collection", and vowed to learn the great precepts and carry forward the long-lost Vinaya. Since then, Master Hongyi has followed the precept of "not eating after noon". On January 31, 1919, he wrote "Postscript to the Motto of Yang Baimin" at Yuquan Temple in Hangzhou. In the spring, invited by Layman Fan Gunong of the Jiaxing Buddhist Association, he went to Jiaxing to read and sort out Buddhist classics.Seals commonly used by Master Hongyi

The Japanese wife made a special trip to Hangzhou Hupao Temple to seek an audience, but Master Hongyi insisted that she did not see her. The wife left in tears. After returning to Shanghai, she returned to China with the help of Feng Zikai. In autumn, I learned to sing praises from Master Hua De at Daci Temple in Hupao, and recorded "A Collection of Praises" by myself, and wrote "A Collection of Praises·By-words", summarizing the great convenience of singing and singing praises. In this year, inspired by layman Fan Gunong, in order to promote Buddhism and spread Buddhism, he began to write Buddhist words for calligraphy seekers, and his calligraphy art gradually reached its peak.

In 1920, he placed orders for travel in various temples in eastern Zhejiang. In summer, he wrote "Master Yinguang Wenchao · Abandoning Ci".Later, he went to Xincheng Beishan to practice in secluded practice, and intensively studied the Vinaya classics "Jiebenshu", "Kamashu", "Xingshichao", "Ganoderma lucidum" and so on. In autumn and winter, he moved to Lianhua Temple in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, where he continued to study the Vinaya classics. In 1921, he made a travel order in Hangzhou, Beishan and Yongjia in Zhejiang Province. In summer, when I went to Qingfu Temple in Wenzhou, I asked again and again before I could worship the abbot of the temple, Master Jishan, as my teacher.

In autumn, retreat and study Buddhist classics at Qingfu Temple. That year, before Feng Zikai went to study in Japan, he made a special trip to visit Master Hongyi and bid farewell to him. That year, Li Zhun, the second son of the layman of Master Hongyi, got his son and wrote a letter to ask the master to give him a name. The master named him "Zengci" based on promoting goodness and universal salvation. On January 30, 1922, his wife Yu died of illness in Tianjin at the age of forty-five.It was originally planned to go north for the funeral, but the north was facing the "Zhifeng War", turbulent and inconvenient transportation, so the trip did not take place.

Afterwards, he practiced Taoism in seclusion at Qingfu Temple in Wenzhou, and compiled "Remarks on Precepts of Bhikkhu of the Four Parts". In May, Li Shengzhang, nephew of Fusu, wrote a letter. This letter described the situation before and after becoming a monk, and the content was detailed. It became one of the important historical materials for later generations to study Master Hongyi. Suffering from dysentery in summer, it takes many days to heal. In winter, return to Wenzhou Qingfu Temple.According to the Ming Dynasty eminent monk Lingfeng's "Five Precepts and Xiangjing Sutra Notes" and "Youbulu" and other classics, a volume of "Five Precepts Observing Violations" was compiled, and later "Sanfu Lueyi" and other articles were added and published.

In the spring of 1923, he and You Xiyin co-authored "Printing and Making Statues of Sutras" with You Xiyin in Shanghai Buddhist Layman Forest. The content is divided into six parts: 1. The merits of printing and making statues; Opportunities for images of scriptures; 3. Method of printing and making images of scriptures; 4. Procedures for making vows; 5. Attention when writing and drawing; 6. Conclusion.Later, it was attached to Volume 4 of "Master Yinguang Wenchao Zengguang Edition" published by Shanghai Commercial Bookstore in 1924. In April, he was ill and lay in Qingfu Temple, Wenzhou.

In May, he declined the invitation from the Master of Jishan to serve as the abbot of Baoyan Temple, expressing his ambition to concentrate on the law. In autumn, go to Quzhou Lotus Temple.Composed "Shaoxing Kaiyuan Temple Fundraising and Building Halls" and "Dazhong Xiangfu Langyuezhao Zen Master's Tower Inscription". At the end of the year, he returned to Wenzhou to recuperate. In the spring of 1924, he completed the writing of the book "Remarks on Precepts of Bhikkhu of the Four-Francis Law" at Qingfu Temple in Wenzhou.This book is the most important Buddhist work of Master Hongyi. It is based on "Xing Shi Chao Shu Jie" written by Nanshan Lu Zu in the Tang Dynasty, and then written notes in sections based on the annotations of Ganoderma lucidum lawyers in the Song Dynasty and Master Jianyue in the Ming Dynasty.The whole book was written in regular script by master Hongyi himself, and then published by Zhonghua Book Company.

In May, went to Lianhua Temple in Hengzhou, and wrote a volume of "Huayan Jingxing Pinpin". In June, after sending three letters of "sincere condolences", Fang was able to go to Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang Province to pay homage to Master Yinguang.Master Yinguang specializes in promoting the Pure Land and secretly protecting the sects.Master Hongyi had to live with Master Yinguang in the back mountain for seven days, seeking advice attentively and benefiting a lot. In autumn, he suffered from bacillary dysentery and became seriously ill. At the beginning of 1925, he devoted himself to studying Buddhist classics at Qingfu Temple in Wenzhou.

In the late spring and early summer, I went out for a cloud tour, planning to go from Wenzhou to Ningbo, and then go on a pilgrimage to Mount Jiuhua in Anhui via Nanjing.In desperation, when the warlords of Jiangsu and Zhejiang were fighting, the traffic was blocked. After arriving in Ningbo, Master Hongyi stayed here and hanged himself in Qita Temple.After hearing the news, Xia Zun invited the master to live in Baima Lake in Shangyu.A few days later, the master went to Shaoxing again.Later, the master went to Hangzhou again, and presented the famous calligrapher and painter Wu Changshuo in the book "The Brahma Net Jing" in Hangzhou, and Wu Yishu presented it to the Prime Minister Qiluyi.

In autumn, he returned to Qingfu Temple in Wenzhou, studied the "Huayan Shuchao" intensively, and vowed to promote the "Huayan Sutra". In the spring of 1926, at Zhaoxian Temple in Hangzhou, he began to collate "Huayan Shuchao", determined to "graduate in 20 years". In June, he traveled to Lushan, Jiangxi by way of Shanghai, where he met Feng Zikai and revisited his former residence "Chengnan Thatched Cottage".In summer, he went to Lushan Mountain with Master Hongsan to participate in the Jinguangming Taoist Temple, and distributed 300 scriptures and verses. He lived in Qinglian Temple behind Guling and returned to Hangzhou soon after.

In the first month of 1927, at the Changjiguang Temple in Wushan, Hangzhou, he was concealed. Layman Du Shenfu was specially invited to come to the temple to protect the Dharma, and intensively studied "Huayan Shuchao". During this time, Li Shengzhang, the secular nephew of Master Hongyi, visited the master in the monastery and tried to persuade him to return to secular life, but he returned in vain. The parting master gave him a copy of the Avatamsaka Sutra and an old monk's robe. In the spring, the Northern Expedition was successful. Under the banner of "anti-feudalism", the radicals in the revolutionary army advocated "destroying Buddhism and expelling monks, taking back temples" and demolishing some temples. The Buddhist circle was extremely nervous for a while.At this critical juncture, Master Hongyi, who lives in Changjiguang Temple, stepped forward and invited Xuan Zhonghua, the head of the local Revolutionary Party, to discuss the protection of Buddhism. He also invited a group of political figures to hold a symposium; Cai Yuanpei, dean of the Kuomintang Government University College, and others.With the master's efforts, the theory of extermination of Buddha was finally stopped. In the winter of that year, "Fifty Famous Chinese Songs" edited by Feng Zikai and Qiu Menghen was published by Kaiming Bookstore in Shanghai, which included twenty-five songs written by Master Hongyi in his early years.After the book was published, it was selected as a music textbook by many schools and reprinted many times, which had a huge impact.