[Stolen pen fan] The ultimate extreme

"The history of medieval India was dark, and he was the only light." British historians once praised Xuanzang, and Xuanzang occupies an important position in Indian books, because Indians oral history through legends, and legends The mythological color in the book and the flash of a certain inheritor's aura at a certain moment all make these historical truths more confusing.

Homer's epics were once considered untrue because they were sung history and there were a lot of exaggerated descriptions of the gods in the epics. history.

Although there was a small revival of Buddhism in India due to various reasons within a few decades, Buddhism has died out in India for a long time-so that the Indians themselves do not know that Buddhism originated in India.People far away in China instinctively believe that India is the holy land of Buddhism, just because the story of "Journey to the West" is widely circulated.In fact, India is no longer a Buddhist country, but the traces of Buddhism have been transferred to some local customs, entering the mud and sand into the sea, but its existence has disappeared.

Today's Indian territory is not as large as that of Xuanzang's period, but because the situation in ancient northern India is not very stable today, the archaeological team can only bypass these places.

India is a place where fish and dragons are mixed, and those who pass by may be philosophers or poor people in poor clothes.Some people will go to the Ganges to wait to die. The Ganges is a holy river, but there are dead bodies floating there.

During the period in India, a large number of Buddhist holy sites and historical sites excavated by British archaeologists and Indian scholars based on "The Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" were important parts of the archaeological team to observe.In fact, it was originally planned that the place where Tufuzi’s experience was needed for this archaeological excavation was in the tomb of King Gaochang, so Pan Zi and Qi Suan were quite free after leaving the country.

However, Pan Zi's string has never been relaxed, because when we parted, Chen Wenjin told him:

Continue to keep an eye on those two surnamed Zhang.

Yes, he always knew that Xie Xinning was Chen Wenjin, and he even took care of the hospital's medical records that Xie Xinning wanted to keep for rest.

Not all site observations, Pan Zi, Qi Suan, Heixiazi, and Lao Litou all had to participate, but based on his status as a consultant, Heixiazi still participated in most of the site observation and on-site re-search activities.However, because he has a considerable understanding of Tibetan Buddhism, he had a good conversation with a person in charge of the reception who studied the history of Indian Esoteric Buddhism.

Some of Heixiazi’s interest in Buddhism came from his own study of Tibetan Buddhism, and Zhang Qiling asked him to ask some questions on his behalf. People were overwhelmed by the question.

The person in charge was very enthusiastic and eager to learn, so one day, when the archaeological team finished the day's activities, the door of the blind man who returned to the hotel was knocked on by the person in charge.

"Consultant Qi!" He bowed, "You know, the questions you asked these days are very important to the study of the history of Buddhism or Buddhism itself. I couldn't answer you, so I used my relationship to ask a Master, unexpectedly, he is willing to see you!"

The blind man couldn't help laughing: "Is this master usually unwilling to meet people?"

The person in charge shook his head: "This master has some origins with you Chinese. It is said that his ancestor came here from China more than 1000 years ago. Although the ancestor disappeared in the end, there are many great people in his descendants. This kind of greatness does not mean what kind of high positions they occupy or how much wealth they have accumulated, but because of their deep understanding of "philosophy". Now, he is the most familiar with the history of ancient Indian Buddhism, and at the same time he likes to study Chinese It is not easy for ordinary people to meet the person who taught Chinese, Tibetan Buddhism, and Master Xuanzang’s deeds in India. He is a very distinguished scholar, and even the Brahmins of the past should respect him.”

On a sunny afternoon, the blind man met this Indian "sage" who lived in seclusion.This gentleman lives in a well-known rich area in India. The house is a small three-story bungalow.The decoration of the lobby on the first floor is European style. When the blind man and the Indian receptionist followed the servants into the lobby, the gentleman was sitting on the sofa reading a book.

Seeing the guest coming in, he stood up and saluted with clasped hands, and the blind man and the person in charge also clasped their palms and saluted.

After being seated, the servant made a pot of Earl Gray black tea with Indian black tea during the simple greetings between the two parties, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became more like a weekend afternoon tea party.

"More than 1000 years ago, my ancestors came here from China because of some unavoidable reasons." The gentleman was straight to the point, "This ancestor was a very special person. At that time, the Indians called him Pilu Layman. .He is the patriarch of a very remarkable family in China, this family is called the 'Zhang family' in China. Therefore, every generation of us also has our own Chinese name, and the surname is Zhang."

"I'm quite surprised. I didn't expect you to bring up such a secret topic with us as soon as you saw us." The blind man smiled, "As far as I know, this Zhang family has always existed in China, but I have never heard of it. But the Zhang family still has direct descendants in India."

The person in charge of India doesn't know much about the Tufuzi class in China, so he doesn't understand why the topic that the black blind man said is so secretive, and he can't understand what the Zhang family they said represents. .

"You know the Zhang family, and you think the topic I mentioned is secret. It seems that you are an insider in China. However, it is rare to see someone in the industry as clean as you." The gentleman smiled, "But, maybe it is Because the status of the Zhang family in India and the dark side of China is completely different, and even the Zhang family is not well known in India, so this topic is actually not a secret topic for me. And why are you talking to me from my This ancestor talked about it, and you will understand after a while."

The story of this gentleman is a bit long, but after sorting it out, it is roughly as follows:

In the 11th year of Tang Zhenguan, the emperor of Tang Dynasty dreamed that his death was approaching.Maybe it was because of the successor's problems, or maybe because his own health was getting worse, so Emperor Taizong, who had never believed in longevity, began to look for ways to make himself live longer.

The Zhang family has always lived in the dark side of history, and they have always played a role in some way during the process of changing the imperial power.In the process of civilization development, there was a generation gap.There are three kinds of people who may come into contact with the truth of the generational layer.But one of these three kinds of people may have been cursed, so his ancestor believed that there were only two kinds of people who could really get in touch with this truth.

As for which two, he did not leave any more words, but what is certain is that the patriarch of the Zhang family became interested in a certain clue left by his ancestors, and therefore told the emperor when he met with the emperor. Emperor, go west to seek longevity.

No matter what method he used to convince the emperor that Longevity lived in the Western Regions, in the end he set off with a group of monks all the way west, and found traces of the Western Queen's Kingdom in Kucha, and even found a map to the Western Queen's City there.

In the Tang Dynasty, the royal city of the Queen Mother of the West has become a legend. It is not easy to find this place, but the patriarch of the Zhang family is not an ordinary person. Of course he found the last place where the Queen Mother of the West was shrunk. The hardships are not worth it. But when he finally came into contact with the secret of the immortality of the Queen Mother of the West, he found that it was more like a curse for the Zhang family with special blood.

But he has come into contact with such things, just like opening Pandora's box, he must find a way to close it.He traveled westward with the monks and found that Buddhism was inextricably linked with the Queen Mother of the West and the roots of the Zhang family. Therefore, he simply traveled westward to India like Xuanzang, trying to find a way to relieve this curse.

He lived in India for some years, and during these years his appearance did not change.Of course, this is a conclusion inferred from the diary left by this ancestor, and whether the diary of this ancestor is true remains to be discussed.

The final outcome of the head of the Zhang family is unknown to his descendants in India. We only know that he left many documents, his own experiences, and notes of searching for clues. Among them, there are not many lost due to poor storage or some reasons.

Now this gentleman, who is very interested in his ancestors, has conducted repeated research on his life and deeds, and tried to complete a picture about the Zhang family coming to India in the Tang Dynasty through the fragments left by the ancestors and his own research. , who lived for years and then left the puzzle of the truth.

For him, the Zhang family, or the Zhang family, is not a hidden existence. He is just a scholar who is curious about the founder of his family in India, and his family has provided him with great convenience for his research.With a smile, he introduced to the black blind man all kinds of Buddhist scriptures, statues, masks and various things collected by his family in India over the past 1000 years. In the collection of an entire National Museum, and even more so.

Due to the invasion of Islam (Islam), Buddhism has gradually weakened in India since the 8th century AD, and tended to die out around the 13th century, and India lacks a written history, so these numbers are considerable, belonging to Buddhism still occupying India The documents and classics of the important period can be said to be priceless treasures.

This gentleman looked at the calm attitude of the black blind man appreciating these treasures with approving eyes. In front of these rare treasures, this man did not show a state of fanaticism or ignorance, but a kind of leisurely appreciation. Said, quite aristocratic demeanor.