Chapter 19 4. The "monk company" in the Anti-Japanese War

From January 10 to 15, 1938, the Military, Political and Civilian Congress of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region was held in Fuping.The meeting decided to unify the military, administrative, financial, economic, cultural and educational, and democratic movement work in the border region, and democratically elected the administrative organ of the border region—the Jinchaji Border Region Provisional Administrative Committee. On the 10th, Nie Rongzhen, as one of the 149 representatives, gathered together with representatives of various anti-Japanese parties, various anti-Japanese classes and groups, representatives of ethnic minorities, and representatives of monks and lamas from Mount Wutai.The streets of Fuping are bustling and bustling, the most eye-catching ones are the monks from Mount Wutai in fiery red cassocks.

Wutai Mountain is located in Wutai County, northeast of Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, with an average altitude of more than 1,000 meters. It is centered on Taicheng Town and surrounded by five peaks in the east, west, south, north and middle, called Wutai.Within the five peaks is called Tainei.The highest peak, Beitai, is 3058 meters above sea level, known as the "roof of North China".Wutai Mountain is a mountain with fault blocks formed by ancient granite and gneiss. The top of the mountain is as flat as a platform, and the valleys and streams are continuous. Mount Wutai is a well-known Buddhist holy place both at home and abroad, and it is the dojo of Manjusri Bodhisattva.Together with Mount Putuo in Zhejiang, Mount Emei in Sichuan and Mount Jiuhua in Anhui, it is also known as the Four Famous Mountains of Chinese Buddhism.Mount Wutai ranks first among the four famous mountains of Buddhism because of its long history of building temples and its grand scale. It enjoys a high reputation in Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal and other countries.

The Wutai Mountain Temple was first built by Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty.According to historical records, Emperor Liu Zhuang of the Han and Ming Dynasties dreamed that the golden man was sitting on an auspicious cloud at night and floated from the west. Knowing that there was a Buddha's response, he immediately sent ministers Cai An, Qin Jing and others to look west and pray for Buddhism.Cai, Qin and others obtained Buddhist scriptures and statues in Dayuezhi, and happened to meet She Moteng and Zhu Falan, the eminent monks of Tianzhu Kingdom (now India) who were preaching there, and invited them to China.

In AD 67 (the tenth year of Yongping), Buddhist monks and Han envoys arrived in Luoyang carrying scriptures and Buddha statues on white horses.When Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty saw the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, it was just like what he saw in his dream. He believed in Buddhism more and more, so he ordered the construction of Baima Temple in Luoyang, and invited Shemo Teng and Zhu Falan to spread Buddhism in China. In 68 A.D. (the eleventh year of Yongping), two eminent monks came to Wutai Mountain, a holy place of coolness, and saw the hinterland platform surrounded by five platform tops. After returning to Luoyang, he asked Emperor Han Ming to build a temple in Mount Wutai.Therefore, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty issued a decree to build Dafu Lingjiu Temple in Wutai Mountain.In this way, the White Horse Temple in Luoyang and the Dafu Lingjiu Temple in Wutai Mountain became the earliest temples established in China.Dafu Lingjiu Temple is the predecessor of today's Xiantong Temple.

Later, with the widespread spread of Buddhism, the large-scale construction of temples, and the increase in the number of monks, Mount Wutai gradually became a Buddhist holy place.In the Tang Dynasty, due to the strong national prestige and economic prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, it had a high international reputation and was the center of economic and cultural exchanges among Asian countries. International exchanges expanded, and Mount Wutai was favored by Buddhists from India, Japan, North Korea and Sri Lanka. admiration. In the Qing Dynasty, Lamaism was introduced to Mount Wutai. By the time of the Anti-Japanese War, there were more than 300 temples on Mount Wutai. These temples were divided into two types: Qing Temple and Huang Temple. The monk temple was called Qing Temple, and the Lama Temple was called Huang Temple. "Lama" is a transliteration of Tibetan (bla-ma). The word was originally translated from Sanskrit (gu-ru, Guru), and its original meaning is "Guru"; however, Tibetan also contains Meaning of "Supreme One or Supreme Teacher".Therefore, with the formation of the living Buddha system, the title of "Lama" gradually became another important title of "living Buddha", to indicate that the living Buddha is a "mentor" or "guru" who guides believers on the way to becoming a Buddha.

Mount Wutai is the earliest foothold of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area.After the establishment of the military region, the troops had no place to live, so they had to live in a temple on Mount Wutai.According to Nie Rongzhen's recollection: "At that time, there were more than 1,700 monks of Han, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Manchu ethnic groups on the mountain. We respected these monks and lamas very much and got along very well with them." Nie Rongzhen always remembers the scene when he went to Mount Wutai for the first time.Master Ranxiu, the president of the Mount Wutai Buddhist Sangha Association, learned that Commander Nie was coming to visit the monks, so he specially organized a temple band to welcome him. The 12 monks were dressed in cassocks and lined up in two rows. The cymbals, xiao, sheng and flute were beeping together, and the leather drums and gongs were beating lightly.Nie Rongzhen said happily: "It's unexpected that in this remote mountain village surrounded by enemies on all sides, such elegant music can still be heard."

Nie Rongzhen visited the temple in person to publicize the Chinese Communist Party's religious policy and the anti-Japanese and national salvation program. After the Eighth Route Army entered the temple, it took great care of cultural relics and historic sites, and was very friendly to the monks. The monks saw it and were deeply moved.The monks are also Chinese and hate the Japanese devils. On behalf of the monks in Wutai Mountain, Master Ranxiu said: "The monks are compassionate. If we become monks and do not go abroad, we will not be able to protect the country. How can Buddhism and temples survive! It is the responsibility of the monks to resist Japan and save the nation!"

Inspired by Nie Rongzhen and others, the Wutai Mountain Temple established an anti-Japanese self-defense force composed of young monks.They took advantage of their special identities and specific circumstances to actively participate in various forms of resistance against Japan, and tried every means to rescue the Eighth Route Army and the masses imprisoned by the Japanese army. Many of them even took up guns and bravely fought against the Japanese army. The monks alone wiped out more than 30 Japanese soldiers, and the local people praised the monks in Mount Wutai as "revolutionary monks."Later, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region specially organized these monks and monks and established a company called "Monk Company".

Nie Rongzhen, commander and political commissar of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region, put his palms together to receive representatives of monks from Buddhist holy places before the meeting of the Jinchaji Border Region Military, Political and Civilian Congress.But what he didn't expect was that at the beginning of the meeting, when reviewing the qualifications of the representatives, there were differences of opinion on the issue of the representation of monks in Mount Wutai. At the meeting, someone suggested that monks can only burn incense and worship Buddha, and there is no need to recruit them to participate in politics.Huang Jing and Deng Tuo, who participated in the preparatory work, listed Wutai Mountain monks armed with knives and guns to stand guard and provide food and lodging for the anti-Japanese troops in the past.

In the end, Nie Rongzhen said: "The monks and lamas are also Chinese. Although they became monks, they did not go abroad. In the national revolutionary united front, we should work closely with all ethnic groups and walks of life to fight against Japan. The religious beliefs of monks and lamas excluded them from resisting Japan." Nie Rongzhen's words convinced everyone, and they unanimously agreed that the patriotic monks would serve as official representatives to attend the Jinchaji Border Region Military, Political and Civilian Congress.The Xinhua News Agency also issued a newsletter announcing that monks from the temple on Mount Wutai, a famous Buddhist mountain, also joined the Anti-Japanese War. The resounding slogan was: We became monks, but we did not go abroad!The news aroused strong repercussions in religious circles across the country.