Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4742 Taoist Foundation
"Buddhism's 'cultivation of the afterlife' only needs to fool believers into believing it. After all, the afterlife is illusory and unpredictable. Taoism's 'cultivation of this life', whether one can achieve immortality or ascend to heaven is visible to everyone. Moreover, the path of 'cultivation of immortality' not only requires huge amounts of money to support it, but also requires extraordinary talent to comprehend. How many people in the world have such qualifications? Therefore, if Taoism and Buddhism compete for believers, they will only fail miserably."

It is obvious that Yin Wencao had given deep thought to the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism, and directly attributed the key to success or failure to the fundamental doctrines and concepts of both sides.

No matter how you look at it, there is no possibility of winning.

Cheng Xuanying sighed and said, "Jingxian's words have penetrated the essence of Buddhism. Although my Taoist tradition has countless ancient books, they are all profound and mysterious theories that directly point to the origin of the universe and the mysteries of heaven and earth. These have already been rejected by those peddlers and hawkers."

Strictly speaking, "Confucianism and Taoism are inseparable", and the two are interdependent. Therefore, it is difficult for an illiterate peddler to become a qualified Taoist priest. It is not as simple as chanting "Amitabha" a few times and donating a few ounces of incense oil to become a Buddhist believer.

How can one understand Taoist classics if one is illiterate and lacks a certain level of literary accomplishment?
How to become a Taoist disciple if you cannot understand Taoist classics?

From the moment Taoism was born, it was destined to be an impossible method to "save all living beings". It has its own steps.

Yin Wencao said: "So if the Taoists want to be invincible in this competition, they can only find another way."

Cheng Xuanying was very interested when he saw that he was so confident. After all, this was a question that made him feel desperate. "I'd like to hear more about it."

Yin Wencao stood up: "Follow me."

The two men left the thatched building and turned to a taller building behind the house.

"Caolou Temple" does not have only one thatched building, but a total of more than ten thatched buildings with wooden structures and covered with thatch. Although it is not as crowded with monks as some famous Taoist temples, it also has dozens of disciples.

Seeing their headmaster and a Taoist priest with an immortal look coming in, the disciples in the building bowed their heads and saluted, and stepped aside to the sides.

The two men climbed up the stairs to the second floor and saw a five-foot-long cylinder placed on a base, pointing diagonally upwards. What surprised Cheng Xuanying was that this building had no roof. The entire roof was lifted up, and the skylight poured down, with white clouds floating in the air.

Cheng Xuanying walked around the cylinder and asked curiously, "What is this?"

Yin Wencao opened the north window first, then stepped forward and turned the base. The cylinder changed direction and pointed at the open window, motioning Cheng Xuanying to put his eyes close to it. "This thing is called a 'telescope'. It is a product of the foundry. It is made of a set of lenses made of the purest and best glass through water grinding. The magnification is 80 times. The construction process is extremely complicated. There are countless discarded unqualified glasses. The cost is about 5,000 strings of cash. Of course, this is a gift from the academy."

Cheng Xuanying listened to the introduction while gnashing his teeth: "It can't be that expensive to make gold? It's incredible... My god! How can you see so far and so clearly?"

The most famous figure in Taoism could not help but curse in surprise. He took his eyes away from the telescope and looked out the window at the distant foothills of Zhongnan Mountain. Then he put his eyes back and estimated that the foothills dozens of miles away were vague, but through the telescope, he could see clearly every tree on the mountain and the birds perched on the branches looking around.

How is this going? !
Master Xihua, who had always only done theoretical research and knew nothing about the way of studying things, was shocked and lost his mind...

Could it be a magic weapon left behind by some immortal after his death? !
"I will explain the principle of this device later, but it can clearly see objects a hundred times farther away. At night, it can even observe the starry sky. Do you know what I saw when I used it to observe the moon last night?"

Cheng Xuanying: "Can you see clearly?"

Yin Wencao sighed and nodded: "You can also take a look at it in the evening. It is very clear, the craters, the peaks, the plains..."

Cheng Xuanying's eyes widened: "Where is the Moon Palace? Where is Chang'e? Where is the Moon Rabbit? Where is Wu Gang?"

Yin Wencao shook his head in pain: "No, there is nothing. Except for the mountains and valleys, everything else is dead silent. There is no Moon Palace, nor Chang'e, Moon Rabbit, Wu Gang, or osmanthus trees... All the records left in the Taoist Canon are wrong."

"..."

Cheng Xuanying covered his head. Yin Wencao would certainly not use such a thing to deceive him, but if this was all true, wouldn’t it mean that the records in the Taoist Canon were completely fictitious and fabricated?
Whether it is "Gui Zang" or "Huainanzi" and other ancient books, they all clearly record the story of "Chang'e flying to the moon". But now it is said that there is no Moon Palace and no Chang'e on the moon. How can Taoists justify this?

The collapse of his ideals and beliefs was more difficult for him to accept than killing him with a knife...

Yin Wencao was not surprised by Cheng Xuanying's performance. When he used a telescope to observe the starry sky with a bright moon at night for the first time, the intuitive shock could only be more shocking.

He looked up at the blue sky and white clouds from the open roof and said with emotion: "This sky has never changed since Pangu created the world, and it will exist forever, for thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands or millions of years... Compared with this eternity, the vicissitudes of the world are just a blink of an eye. All the imperial ambitions, merits and reputations will be gone in the blink of an eye."

He looked at Cheng Xuanying, pointed at his head, his eyes flashing with passion and determination: "Only knowledge can run through the ages and never decay! Our Taoists have never disdained to preach and teach, and fool the people. The reason why we have been passed down for thousands of years from slash-and-burn farming to the prosperity of firearms today is that our knowledge of the unity of man and nature is the root cause. Whether it is Confucianism, military science, Mohism, medicine, etc., which one is not derived from Taoist knowledge? In this case, why not return to the origin and root in knowledge? Put aside those illusory techniques of seeking immortality. Those things can only be provided to emperors, generals, high-ranking officials, and nobles. Next, the entire Taoists should concentrate all their strength to create and strengthen the two disciplines of "astronomy" and "medicine". As long as there is a breakthrough, Taoism can be passed down through the ages and never be cut off."

Fighting for believers?

Harvesting the people?

The Taoists never bothered to do this. Even if they wanted to reap the harvest, they would reap the emperors and generals...

But what can we do even if the harvest reaches its limit?

If a disaster like "destruction of Buddhism" strikes upon them, all the prosperity will vanish into smoke and return to dust in an instant.

But knowledge will not disappear into thin air. Taoist classics contain the doctrine of "harmony between man and nature" and grasp the rules of the operation of heaven and earth. They have nourished the land of China from generation to generation. How can they be compared with those specious, empty and weird Buddhist scriptures?

If we can make achievements in "astronomy" and "medicine", two disciplines with a deep Taoist heritage, it will be enough to pass it on for thousands of years.

No matter how many believers there are, it is not as good as integrating the sect’s heritage into the nation’s bloodline.

Cheng Xuanying calmed down the shock in his heart, thought carefully, nodded and said: "Daoyou has already glimpsed the way of heaven. As long as you keep going, you will definitely be able to carry forward Taoism. However, the inheritance of my Taoism must not be abandoned. After this matter is over, I will return to the East China Sea and stay in seclusion, concentrate on sorting out the concepts and teachings of various Taoist sects, and lay the foundation for my Taoist inheritance."

The Taoist heritage is too old, and can even be traced back to the days of slash-and-burn agriculture and eating raw meat and drinking blood. At that time, there were no pens, and all the Taoist scriptures were passed down orally. After countless wars, natural disasters, and man-made disasters, they were either lost or mistransmitted, resulting in an endless stream of Taoist factions and branches. The core concepts were disorganized and even very different. If one does not want to be suppressed by Buddhism and never be able to turn things around, then one must sort out, summarize, and conclude these core concepts so that the entire Taoist system has a unified heritage.

Only by taking Taoist scriptures as the main focus and academic knowledge as the supplement can we create a Taoist heritage that will last forever and never be interrupted.

Yin Wencao said happily: "Daoyou are extremely talented and a rare talent in our Taoism. Now that you are devoting yourself to compiling the Daoist Canon, you will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort. When Daoists from all over the world gather here during the Zhongyuan Festival, you can invite them to join us in the celebration."

Although Taoism has many factions and different affiliations, they all share the same origin. Now that they are facing unprecedented pressure from Buddhism, they will certainly be able to work together to launch a counterattack.

As long as the various Taoist sects can put aside their prejudices and work together, there is nothing that cannot be done in this world.

Back then, Zhang Daoling’s words “In the year of Jiazi, the Yellow Heaven should be established” made even the mighty and majestic Han Dynasty riddled with holes and its foundation completely destroyed, let alone a mere Buddhist sect at that time?
He held out his hand and smiled.

Cheng Xuanying also stretched out his hand and shook it with him. The two looked into each other's eyes and felt a sense of mutual admiration.

After drinking a pot of tea and discussing some details, Yin Wencao suddenly remembered something: "Last night, Li Chunfeng sent someone to tell us that the court intends to reform the tax system for Buddhism and Taoism, which is probably to increase taxes and even impose corvée labor. We should prepare for it as soon as possible to avoid being in a hurry when the imperial edict is issued."

Cheng Xuanying frowned, "Taoism was decreed as the 'state religion' by Emperor Gaozu, and all systems were tolerated. The tax rate was only symbolic. Emperor Taizong even reduced taxes for many Taoist temples and sects. If the tax rate is suddenly increased, isn't the court afraid that the various Taoist sects will be dissatisfied and cause unrest?"

At this point, he suddenly realized and held his forehead with his hand, saying, "How foolish! I think the court is taking advantage of the moment when we are fighting with the Buddhist sect to increase taxes, fearing that we will not agree. If my guess is correct, the Buddhist sect will surely treat us the same way."

"Buddhism and Taoism have a large number of people and rich assets. Which temple is not connected with a large building and a vast expanse of fertile land? In particular, Buddhism often engages in lending and borrowing, taking advantage of the low-income and high-income, and sucking the marrow out of the bones. I don't know how many honest officials regard it as a thorn in their eyes and a thorn in their flesh. Now that both sides of the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism are busy with their own affairs, they take the opportunity to increase taxes, which can not only increase the annual income of the national treasury, but also curb the power of Buddhism and Taoism. I don't know who proposed it in front of Your Majesty and acted so ruthlessly and accurately?"