Chapter 6 Section Three

The title of this article is a quote from the poem "Guoqin Shangrenyuan" by Yao He, a poet of the Tang Dynasty.The full poem can be found in Volume 500 of "Quan Tang Poetry". Readers who are interested are welcome to search for it by themselves.This poem illustrates the close relationship between "chime" and monks: monks knock the chime all the time, so that when they hear the sound of the chime, they think of monks and monks chanting sutras.In modern temples, chimes are also one of the main instruments of magic. "Zhong chime" is also used to summarize Buddhist chant instruments, which has been the case since ancient times.Let me cite a famous sentence from Tang Dynasty poet Chang Jian's "Tiposhan Temple Back Zen Courtyard" (see "Complete Tang Poetry" Volume 144) to prove it: "All sounds are silent, but the remaining bells and chimes sound." Chapter 57 , using "Dian Lai chime" and "Dian Lai Zhong" to explain that monks are extremely poor is really penetrating.As we all know, "Like being thirsty and poor, you only collect fur but not the piano!" (Qing Dynasty poet Huang Jingren's sentence) You can't leave your hands as a treasure for housekeeping skills!

Anyone who went to the temple to celebrate with him knows the chime used in the temple—commonly known as the "bowl mouth chime".Having said that, it seems that the introduction is over.However, if we delve deeper, there are at least several issues that need to be clarified—and they need to be clarified from history and reality.It must be explained that the author believes that, based on the available information, some of them are still unclear. First of all, the chime in ancient China is the first musical instrument in the "eight tones". "Zhongqing" is also known as the first of the "Jinshi" two music, ranking above other musical instruments.This kind of chime is a percussion instrument made of jade, flat and curved, and hung on a shelf.The ancients called the bending state of the body bent over to pay respects "Qing fold", which vividly illustrates the shape of the chime.This kind of chime is the authentic Chinese chime, and it is still one of the main traditional musical instruments of the Han nationality in China.There are many varieties of it, which can be divided into two categories that are used alone and in groups.

As we have said before, the percussion instruments used in early Buddhism in the South Asian subcontinent are all called "Qianzhui" or "Qianzhi", which are both transliterations of the Sanskrit word Ghanta.According to the "Five Parts Law" in the Chinese text, ancient Buddhism in the South Asian subcontinent does not seem to have a fixed ringer. When meeting a crowd, they pick up pottery, wood, bronze, iron, etc., in short, knock whatever they pick up. What, all knocking things can be called "Qianzhui".Therefore, "Qianzhui" can be translated as "bell" or "Qing".Since the Chinese have many musical instruments, when it is translated as "Qing", it will naturally take out the Chinese chime as a representative.From the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, the chimes used in Buddhist temples were probably all Chinese-style hanging flat chimes.Existing documentary evidence:

(1) In the story of "Liu Sahe" recorded in "Fayuan Zhulin", there is a record of "bronze chime hanging in the middle"; (2) Lu Lun, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote "Song of the Stone Chime of Ci'en Temple"; (3) Shi Jianwu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, in his poem "Anji Tianning Temple Smells the Chime", has the sentence "When the jade chime is knocked, it is clear and the night is divided"; (4) "Youyang Zazu" by Duan Chengshi in the Tang Dynasty contains: "There is a stone chime in Guangzheng Temple in Licheng County, which is shaped like a half moon."

The physical evidence is the late Tang chime brought back by Japanese monks who entered the Tang Dynasty, which is a bit like the chime or Fangxiang that became popular in China later.It may be that there is such a "square chime" picture in the "Xinxi Entrance to Taoism Ancient Music Picture" painted in the 12th century AD.It is said that there are also single cloud-shaped, lotus-shaped and butterfly-shaped chimes.Those chimes are somewhat similar to the cloud plates that are often hung in temples today. Based on this, we have reason to believe that from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, the chime used in temples was still the traditional Chinese flat chime.The round chimes used in temples today appeared only between the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty.Documentary evidence is:

(1) There is an article in Song Qi's "Notes of Song Jingwengong" in the Northern Song Dynasty: "Music, there is a chime in the stone. Today the Buddha holds a copper bowl, which is also called a chime. The world does not know the music stone, and the Confucianists do not understand the meaning of 'Qing folding'. Therefore, not only do you not know the chime, but you also cannot know the bowl." (2) In the early Southern Song Dynasty, Fan Chengda's "Fan Village Plum Book" mentioned wax plums: "The flowers are sparse, although they are in full bloom.

(3) Lu You's poem "Winter Dynasty": "Although the sages and sages are far away <poetry> and <book>, they are better than the sound of the neighbor's knocking the chime." From these three cases, we can see that in the Northern Song Dynasty, there were copper bowl-shaped chime specially used by monks;Pushing back the time of creation to the end of the Tang Dynasty, it would probably not be too far behind to say that the round chime was first created during the Five Dynasties.As for the reason for its creation, the author has a bold inference: the monk's life bowl, the bowl, is generally made of copper.When Sinicized Buddhist monks recite scriptures, they also used flat chimes.Later, when some monks begged for alms bowls to chant scriptures or proclaim the Buddha's name for alms, they followed the example of ordinary people in restaurants by knocking on the side of the rice bowl with chopsticks to urge the rice to be served, and knocked on the bowl.When it develops to regular chanting, it is also knocked, and further, special large and small round chimes are created.Gradually, the round chime replaced the flat chime when reciting lessons and doing Buddhist rituals.

In modern temples, roughly three types of chimes are used. One is a bowl-shaped round chime.It is big and small.Mostly copper, but also iron.The large round chime has a diameter of no less than 60 cm, has a wooden frame support, and is struck with a chime hammer. It is often placed on the left side of the altar in the hall (the left hand side of the Buddha statue), in front of the wooden fish.According to the eighth volume of "Edict to Revise Baizhang Qing Regulations", the occasion and executor of the chime are: "When the abbot and the governor of the main hall are offering incense in the morning and evening, and when the public reads and recites the mantra, those who go straight to the hall will sing it. Singing clothes (dead at auction) Monk’s relics), Wei Na sings it. When a walker puts on his shaved head, he sings it as Fanshe Liming.” There are also small round chimes that can be placed on the table, usually less than 30 cm in diameter, and there is often a flat ring-shaped pad underneath. The chime seat is used by mages when doing Buddhist rituals (such as putting flames on the mouth to recommend death).To sum up, it can be seen that large and small round chimes are often used in formal and solemn occasions, and it is rare to see them used for beating festivals when monks chant sutras alone.

The other is called "hand chime", which is usually made of copper and shaped like half a small ball with a wooden handle attached to the center of the bottom.When in use, the left hand holds the handle down, the mouth of the chime faces upward, and the right hand holds a slender wooden arbor with a copper or iron head to strike. Volume 8 of "Edict Xiu Baizhang Qing Regulations" also contains: "Small hand chime: the hall secretary often carries it with him, and recites it satirically when he meets the crowd, which is the festival of beginning and ending." It is used as a guide when going out, ascending to the seat, and speaking.There is a specific description of its use in the 90th chapter "Songjiang Chan Zen in Wutai Mountain": "Let's say that the next day Kusi's fasting is complete, and in the Dharma Hall of Wutai Temple, bells and drums are ringing. Elder Zhizhen gathers all monks to pray Lectured in the hall and practiced Zen. After a while, all the monks of the Hesi Temple wore cassocks and seats and sat down in the hall. Song Jiang, Lu Zhishen and the leaders stood on both sides. At the sound of the chime, two bowls of red gauze lanterns led the elders to ascend to the seat of the Dharma. "Modern In the monasteries, masters also use it when doing rituals (such as putting flames).

The other is a flat chime in the shape of a cloud, usually made of stone or metal, which is hung outside the porch of the abbot's courtyard for notification.In fact, it is a dedicated cloud version.There are regulations on how many times to knock to report something. For example, when a guest comes to see you, you should ring three times for a monk who knows the guest;This utensil and its usage may have been learned from lay nobles.The family of emperors and princes used it quite early, and it has been popular for a long time.In the thirteenth chapter, when it was written about Qin Keqing's death, there was a saying: "I only listened to the two door uploads and knocked on the cloud board four times. It was the mourning sound, which woke up Sister Feng. People replied: "Grandma Rong of Dongfu is gone." !'"

Ancient monks used the traditional flat chime, and also endowed it with a purpose, that is, "beating the impermanent chime". The second volume of "Shishi Yaolan" says that the monks who are dying should "beat the impermanent chime": "When they are not dying, they always hit the chime, so that they can hear the sound, send out their good thoughts, and get reborn in a good place. When the wise master was dying, he said to Wei Na Said: 'When a person's life ends, he must hear the sound of the chime to increase his righteous thoughts. The only thing is long-lasting, don't let the sound stop, and use the breath to last.'" This practice has been around for a long time.In the Southern Dynasty, Liang Bao sang and wrote the second volume of "The Biography of Bhikkhuni", which records that Shanmiaoni did not forget to ask Wei Na to beat the chime when she set herself on fire, which is an example.Later, the theory of the pure land in the West became popular, and when the seven sentient beings passed away, they used the method of reciting the Buddha's name with the help of the masses. Finally, we return to the title of this article, "A few monks and neighbors in the Qing Dynasty".It is necessary to remind readers of ancient works to pay more attention: the chimes written in the Tang Dynasty and before the Tang Dynasty, including the chimes in the title of this article, are all traditional chimes.Incidentally, the Taoists also knocked on the chimes.For example, Xiang Si, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote in his poem "Sending Palace People to the Tao" (contained in the fifth and fifth volumes of "Complete Tang Poems"): "I will knock on the chime of the new Zhai in Biluo, but enter the old one in Zhaoyang and give me the zither." This is what he said. The scene.That is also a traditional Chinese chime.The chimes used in temples mentioned in poems after the Tang Dynasty mostly refer to bowl-shaped chimes and hand chimes.Fortunately, historical misunderstandings should not occur.However, both the round chime and the hand chime are magical instruments created by Sinicized Buddhism, there is no doubt about it!