Chapter 200

【Stone Buddha Pedestal】

【Era: Tang Dynasty】

【Specification: side length 51 cm, lotus pedestal diameter 49.5 cm, total height 43.5 cm, weight 191.6 kg】

【There is a rectangular recess in the middle of the lotus pedestal to place the Buddha statue, the Buddha statue has been lost. The side of the square pedestal is engraved with a total of 20 characters: 'Great Tang Longshuo Second Year, Tripitaka Master Xuanzang respectfully made Shakyamuni Buddha statue for worship'....】

113. The forgotten Master Xuanzang, subverting cognition! (Please subscribe)

Fang Yang stared at the system panel for a long time, mainly because Xuanzang's life story made him feel something.

His understanding of him had always stayed at Tang Seng in Journey to the West.

At this moment, he seemed to see a different Xuanzang, a Tang Xuanzang who made him stand up in respect.

Chen Feng leaned over to ask: "This should also be an artifact, right?"

Fang Yang nodded: "Look at the characters on this!"

Chen Feng saw the characters engraved under the Buddha pedestal and read them silently in his mouth.

"This... is Master Xuanzang's Buddha statue lotus pedestal?"

"Yes! There should have been a Buddha statue on this before, but it's gone now!"

"Doesn't that mean this is an artifact from the Tang Dynasty?"

Fang Yang didn't speak, but his thoughts drifted to the distance, his mind constantly savoring Xuanzang's life.

【Popularity】 +1+1+1+1.

——【Where is this? Does anyone know! I searched for half a day on the satellite map and couldn't find this location, this place is good today, especially open, no need to worry about crowding. This dug up something, I didn't even find the address, so anxious!】

——【I always thought Tang Seng was a fictional character in Journey to the West, so there really is such a person? Then are there Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie? One day Fang Yang digs up a big rock, and suddenly Sun Wukong jumps out and calls him master, is this plot okay?】

——【Xuanzang is a real person in history, our Big Wild Goose Pagoda was built to commemorate Xuanzang. If you like playing Fantasy Westward Journey, you should know that there is a Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Chang'an City, which was built to worship the Buddha statues, relics, and Sanskrit classics brought back by Master Xuanzang from India. Next to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is not Huasheng Temple, but Ci'en Temple, where Xuanzang translated scriptures.】

——【This construction site looks like it's going to suffer again today, if nothing unexpected happens, this road won't be repaired for a short time, maybe consider detouring. If it really doesn't work, everyone go up and drive Fang Yang away!】

Chen Feng arranged for the archaeology team to move the stone Buddha pedestal out of the mud pit.

"Pity, no stone statue, just a stone Buddha pedestal is ultimately a bit lacking!"

Fang Yang smiled and shook his head: "There are very, very few relics left by Xuanzang, just this one piece is already considered very rare! And its historical document value behind it is also very important, at least I think so, because most people's understanding of Tang Seng is not the real Tang Seng!"

Chen Feng was confused hearing this.

Asked suspiciously: "What exactly did Tang Seng do in history? I only know there is such a person, I don't even know if the pilgrimage is true or false!"

"Of course it's true, it's just that almost everyone has forgotten him!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone around pricked up their ears.

Even the foreman became curious, although he didn't know what these people were doing.

Fang Yang pondered for a while and started explaining: "Speaking of Xuanzang, I think the first thing that should ring in everyone's mind is Tang Seng in Journey to the West, going through eighty-one tribulations on the way to get scriptures, he cried forty-six times, every time he encountered something, he was always timid!"

"But the real Xuanzang in history was not like this at all, even completely opposite!"

Now even the police officers behind were surprised.

Indeed, in most people's impression, Tang Seng was the one with a stubborn temper, but nagging all the way and being a burden, which had long been deeply rooted.

As for what he was originally like, it can be said that one in ten thousand people might not know.

They weren't even sure if there was such a person as Tang Seng in history!

And what Fang Yang was going to tell today completely subverted the impression in their hearts.

"First of all, let me talk about Xuanzang's background. He was born in Yanshi, Luoyang. His father was Chen Hui, who served as a county magistrate in some places, and later resigned to live in seclusion. Chen Hui had four sons in his life, and Xuanzang was the youngest."

"Early on, Xuanzang's secular name was Chen Yi, 'Yi' means beautiful. After all, he was the youngest son, receiving all the love, so his father hoped he could have a stable and beautiful life!"

"But life often goes against one's wishes. When Chen Yi was young, he lost his mother at 5 and his father at 10, becoming an orphan just as he started to understand things."

"His second brother, who had already become a monk, brought him to Jingtu Temple in Luoyang to help take care of him and teach him to learn. From then on, the temple became his new home. At the age of thirteen, because he was exceptionally intelligent, he was exceptionally ordained as a monk, truly becoming a monk! His Buddhist name was Xuanzang!"

Everyone listened attentively, this seemed indeed different from the Journey to the West they saw.

Remember in Journey to the West, Tang Seng was put in a basket, thrown into the river, finally fished up by a monk, and then brought back to become a monk.

And what Fang Yang said was his second brother taking him to become a monk.

This kind of strange story is often more fascinating.

Fang Yang cleared his throat and continued: "In the later days, he traveled all over the country to visit famous teachers to learn Buddhism. But he found that the more he knew, the more doubts he had in his heart, because he found that for the same problem in Buddhist scriptures, the explanations of different schools were often vastly different."

"So to solve the doubts in his heart, he decided to go to India, the birthplace of Buddhism, to seek true scriptures and obtain first-hand information. So there really is such a thing as seeking scriptures in history!"

"This year, Xuanzang was 26! But the Tang Dynasty had just been established at that time, and the restrictions on citizens going abroad were very strict, Xuanzang's application to go abroad was not approved. This might be different from what you think, in Journey to the West, there were customs clearance documents, and he was treated as a guest of honor everywhere!"

The listeners at the scene nodded one after another.

In Journey to the West, when Tang Seng went to get scriptures, the emperor even swore brotherhood with him at that time, and even called him 'Imperial Brother'.

But hearing this story now, it was completely opposite.

Not only did they not know each other, but they didn't let him go abroad.

"Although he couldn't get approval to go abroad, he had already decided to go to the West to seek true scriptures, so he left Chang'an privately, first passing through Qinzhou, Liangzhou, and Guazhou, alone leading an old horse, entering the hell-level desert alone, the Gobi Desert!"

"Eight hundred miles of quicksand, no birds flying above, no beasts running below. After he entered the desert for a hundred miles, he soon got lost! The worst thing was, when he drank water, he accidentally knocked over the leather bag containing water, and all the water sources were lost!"

"You know, in the desert, without water, it's no different from waiting for death. He was already lost, didn't know the direction, and plus no water, if he continued to walk, there was a 99% probability he would die in the desert!"

"So he could only walk back, but after walking more than ten miles, he suddenly remembered the oath he had once made: 'Better to die going west than to live returning east!' At this moment, Xuanzang made a decision that affected his whole life!"

"That is to turn the horse's head and continue west!"

Everyone at the scene was moved.

Is this still the Tang Seng they know?

Is this still the one who is timid and only relies on his disciples when encountering things?

At this moment, the Xuanzang in their hearts was completely subverted.

This kind of history, not only them, but even the netizens in the livestream room had almost never heard of it.

The comment section was already scrolling, they all recalled Tang Seng when they watched Journey to the West as children.

【Popularity】 +1+1+1+1....

——【Feeling after listening to this history lesson, it subverted my understanding of Tang Seng. I suddenly remembered the 'Great Might Heavenly Dragon' that has been very popular in recent years, now in my impression, Tang Seng should be like this. Just like our China's Long March back then, people without perseverance and faith couldn't persist. And like him, knowing he would die but still willing to move forward, I have to say it's really great!】

——【Watching Journey to the West as a child, every time Tang Seng nagged, I wanted to beat him, besides mouth cannons, he was nothing. But now after listening to Fang Yang's explanation, I'm a bit dazed. Is this really Tang Seng? If Tang Seng in Journey to the West was like this, would he have to go through eighty-one tribulations? I guess he would have cleared the level long ago.】

——【Unimaginable, and incomprehensible. Knowing that continuing to walk would basically mean death, he actually turned around. I believe no one here can do it, at least I ask myself, I absolutely can't do it. In the face of death, the desire to live is infinitely increased, which shows that his belief far exceeded the desire to live, otherwise he really couldn't persist.】

——【What happened later? Did he meet Sha Wujing in the desert, then he sprayed water for him, and then followed him to get scriptures. I remember in Journey to the West, the place where Sha Wujing lived was also called the Eight Hundred Mile Quicksand Land.】

Fang Yang also felt deeply while talking.

Xuanzang's courage of not fearing death touched everyone.

"Relying on a powerful obsession, in the following four days and five nights, he could be said to have not stood for a drop of water, as for what he drank, you can imagine for yourselves. Finally, he couldn't support it anymore and fainted in the desert."

"Maybe it was heaven's blessing, the desert temperature dropped sharply at midnight, and a cold wind blew Xuanzang awake. In a daze, he followed the old horse and walked more than ten miles, suddenly miraculously seeing a pool of water, he was saved!"

"After replenishing water resources, he finally walked out of the 800-mile quicksand land, although later on the way to get scriptures, he received the support of the King of Gaochang, but while crossing the snow-capped mountains, he saw with his own eyes that more than 30 people traveling together, half of them died in a big avalanche!"

"Just like that, after hardships, after three years of long journey, he finally reached his destination, India!"

Chen Feng couldn't help but sigh: "In Journey to the West, he went through eighty-one tribulations, with Sun Wukong helping him. But in reality, he was just an ordinary person, experienced so many life and death, finally got the true scriptures, I feel his difficulty is completely no less than Journey to the West!"

The dozen police officers next to him all looked serious and nodded.

There is a saying that 'a great disaster survived, there must be future blessings', it is very difficult for a person to experience a life-and-death disaster in a lifetime.

But Xuanzang went west, it can be predicted that in that era, there was no transportation.

Crossing the desert, crossing the snow-capped mountains, which one is not a place that tests life and death.

Not to mention that the national security at that time was definitely not like now, there were robbers and bandits everywhere, maybe he would be killed just walking on the road.

The more this is the case, the more difficult this westward journey is.

Everyone continued to look at Fang Yang, they knew the story wasn't over yet.

Fang Yang smiled: "After arriving in India, he found the highest Buddhist academy, Nalanda Temple, to study for 5 years, and traveled to visit famous teachers for 9 years. Later, in the highest-standard Buddhist debate conference in India, he was invincible, becoming the Buddhist master recognized by India!"

"To this point, Xuanzang finally got the answer in his heart, but he was like Shakyamuni back then, besides his own enlightenment, he also wanted to save the sentient beings of the motherland."

"So despite India's retention, he still resolutely returned to Chang'an with more than 600 scriptures."

"When Chang'an City knew that such a high monk had returned, the whole Chang'an was empty, tens of thousands of residents all went out, all wanting to see this high monk who had sought the law in the West for seventeen years."

"Tang Taizong valued Xuanzang very much, arranged for him to translate scriptures in the royal temple Hongfu Temple, and after Ci'en Temple was built, he was honored as the superior of Ci'en Temple, becoming the religious leader at that time."

"After 19 years of fame, Xuanzang, who was already 63 years old, one morning, when passing by a small ditch behind his house, accidentally fell, at that time he only scratched a bit of skin. But it caused this old man who had crossed countless snow-capped mountains and walked through countless quicksand to fall down and never get up again!"