What is God?

Therefore, immortals protect the truth of life, while those who swim outside seek the truth. Han Shu's literature and art

Immortal belief is the basic belief and the core content of Taoism. The immortals believed by Taoism can be roughly divided into two categories, namely "gods" and "immortals". God refers to gods, including gods, earthly gods, secular gods, human gods, ghosts and gods and so on. Among them, "gods" such as gods, earthly gods, underworld gods and human bodies are innate true saints. According to Bao Puzi, they belong to different kinds of gods and "can't be learned". (See Bao Puzi on Immortals) "Immortals" refers to immortals, including immortals and real people. This is the "immortal" pursued by Taoism. Xian Zhen is actually an outstanding figure with outstanding deeds. The meanings of "God" and "Fairy" are different. In essence, the difference between the two is: God comes from heaven, but from people (except human ghosts and gods); From man to heaven, it is called a fairy. God is innate, and fairy is acquired.

Although "God" and "Fairy" have different connotations, they both belong to the belief of "Tao". Tao is the origin of all things in the universe, and it cultivates all things in the world. Then there is faith in gods, earthly things, etc. Of course, it belongs to the belief of Taoism, and the highest Taoist god "Sanqing" was directly transformed by Tao Qi. Immortals are really people who learn Taoism and cultivate immortality, and naturally they also belong to Taoist beliefs.

Taoism is a polytheistic religion with a system of spoiled gods. It is undoubtedly difficult to give many "immortals" a unified, accurate and comprehensive definition. But we can see the true meaning of "immortal" from all the immortals in Taoist belief.

First of all, the gods

The gods are gods in the sky. Shuowen Xiu Yuan said: "God is the foundation of heaven and earth and the beginning of all things." "Heaven speaks myth, but the earth has nothing to say." Shuowen said, "The gods lead everything." The gods lived in the sky, and Tao Qi gave birth to them for 36 days. From bottom to top, the thirty-six days of Heaven are six desires, eighteen colors, four colors, four kinds of people, three clear boundaries and big Luo Tian. In the middle of heaven, there are "thirty-six palaces, among which there is a master" (see Shu Wei's Historical Records). There are three palaces on the left, the middle and the right in the Sanqing, and there are immortal officials such as Wang Xian, Gong Xian, Xianqing, Xianbo and Xianfu in each palace (referring to the immortal who was given the title in heaven, the Taoist scriptures say: a sergeant gets the word and is promoted to the celestial official; The sergeant got the word and lived in Kunlun; Corporal got the word and lived forever. (See "Bao Pu Zi Nei Zhang CuO"), and there is also an old gentleman, a heavenly teacher. "Dong Zhen's Return to Yuan Jiu Fei Yu" said: "There were 36,000 officials, officials, doctors and Hou Bo in the Sanqing Day, all in one place, more like being born. Each of the three realms has its own heaven and man, its own spirit, and its own spirit, namely, three public officials and nine ministers, twenty-seven doctors, eighty-one yuan scholars, one hundred and twenty counties, one thousand and two hundred counties, two thousand townships and thirty-six thousand pavilions. " Besides, there are nine kinds of "immortals" in Taiqing, nine kinds of truths in Shangqing and nine kinds of "saints" in Qing Yu. The Three Cave Zongyuan in Volume Three of the Seven Signs of Cloud says: "There are nine immortals in Taiqing, nine truths in Shangqing, nine saints in Yuqing, and twenty-seven in 390 ... Nine immortals are the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth immortals. The real holy land, its number depends on it. Gao, Tai, Xuan, Tian, Zhen, Shen, Ling and Zhi are the second brothers. "

There are many gods in heaven. Sanqing deities, namely Jade Qing Yuan Shi Tian Zun, Qing Qing Lingbao Tian Zun and Tai Qing Moral Tian Zun, are the highest deities. "Four Imperial" assisted "Sanqing". The four royal families are the highest jade emperor in Haotian Jinque, the highest arctic emperor in Zhongtian Wei Zi, the highest palace emperor in Gouchen and the earth emperor. The jade emperor is in charge of the three realms, ten parties, four lives and six roads. The great emperor Wei Zi was in charge of three stars in the sky and the gods of mountains and rivers. The great emperor Gou Chen assisted the Jade Emperor in charge of the North and South poles and the talents of heaven, earth and people, ruled the stars and presided over the military revolution on earth. Houtu dominates the fertility of Yin and Yang, the beauty of everything and the beauty of the earth. In addition, for example, the Empress Dowager Dong and Xi * * *, manage Yin and Yang, reconcile heaven and earth, and fully accumulate; Three officials, god bless the people, local officials forgive sins, and water officials slow down; Doom, the mother of the bucket, integrates the sun, the moon and the stars; Nine-day Ying Yuan Lei popularized Buddha, Emperor Wenchang, Emperor Tsinghua of Dongji and so on, all of which were deities worshipped by Taoism. In addition, such as: the sun, the moon and the stars, the gods of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, the heavenly emperor, Buddha, immortal officials and so on all belong to God.

Second, land.

The earth is the god of the land, and all the gods related to the land belong to the earth, such as the gods of country, mountains, rivers and seas. The secular gods such as country, five mountains and four blasphemies that Taoism believes in also belong to the conventional system of ancient religious sacrifices in China, and have been included in the national sacrifice code. There are still remains of national altar and earthen altar in China, such as the national altar in Beijing Zhongshan Park and the earthen altar in ditan park. Others, such as Town God, Land God, Door God, Kitchen God, Well God, Ce Shen, etc. , or protect one party and one household, or post, are called land gods. However, earthly gods are not completely born true saints, such as country gods, emperors of five mountains, and gods of four disgraces. , all belong to the natural god, and the city god, the land god, the door god and so on. Most of them are human gods and belong to personality gods. In fact, it can also be included in people, gods and ghosts.

Third, the gods of man and ghost.

There is a saying in ancient theology in China that "wisdom and integrity are called gods", which is what the word "god" here means. Taoism is a people-oriented religion, and many gods in Taoism are deified by people in real life. People, ghosts and gods regard people as gods on the principle of serving and worshiping people. These include the ancestors of all ethnic groups, sages and heroes of all ethnic groups, founders and protectors of all walks of life, and even ancestors of all families.

Ghosts and gods originated from ancestor worship and sage worship in ancient China. Sacrificing sages is also included in the national sacrificial ceremony, with high specifications and diverse ceremonies. For example, in the Zhou Dynasty, it was said that "the ancestral temple to worship the emperor was in spring, summer, autumn and winter" (see Book of Rites, Wang Zhi), and the sacrificial ceremony was of great significance at any time. "Rites of Sacrifice to Ancestors" said: "Taste has great meaning and is also the foundation of governing the country." The divinity of sages lies not only in the significance of "pursuing the future with caution", but also in their merits or character being respected by future generations, as the Book of Rites says: "If a husband is a sage, he will sacrifice to the monarch, and if he applies the law to the people, he will sacrifice to the monarch. If you are diligent, you will sacrifice. If you can defend your country, you will sacrifice. "

There are many ghosts and gods, such as Three Emperors and Five Emperors, Confucius and Mencius, Guan Gong Yue Fei, carpenter's ancestor Lu Ban, tea god Lu Yu, wine god Du Kang, jade ancestor Qiu Changchun, Liyuan God Jiro and so on, all of which are worshipped by Taoism.

Fourth, the god of human body.

Taoism believes that heaven and earth are a big universe and human body is a small universe. There are 36,000 gods in the clay pill, which is another feature of Taoist belief in immortals. The god of limbs, seven orifices and six internal organs are all bodies. In the cultivation methods and rituals of Taoism, thinking about the inner god is an important content. Keeping Gengshen, that is, keeping people inside and keeping three gods of death inside, is also a part of Taoist belief in immortals, and many monks are still practicing it.

The gods of the human body, such as Sanzang God, Mud Pill God, Spleen God (the word Soul Stop), Kidney God Xuanming (the word Baby Care), Tongue God, Heart Dan Yuan, Throat God, etc.

Five, the god of hell

Thirty-six places correspond to thirty-six days, and the land weighs nine times. Each place has four places, each place has a god, and * * * has thirty-six local tyrants. The gods of the underworld also include ghosts of the underworld. People die like ghosts, and ghosts return to the underworld. China has two traditional places, namely Mount Tai in Shandong and Du Feng in Sichuan. God is the Emperor Dongyue and Fengdu Emperor, both about ghosts and gods. Ten kings of the underworld: the first king of Qin Guang, the second king of Chu and Jiang, the third king of Song Dynasty, the fourth king of five officials, the fifth king of Yan Luowang, the sixth king of Bian Cheng, the seventh king of Taishan, the eighth king of equality, the ninth king of metropolis and the tenth king of wheel. Besides, there are many judges and ghosts.

Six, immortals and real people

Taoist belief in "immortals" is unique in religion. About "immortals", including "immortals" and "real people", they are people who have achieved Excellence through cultivation, which is commonly known as immortals. Han Shuzhi explained: "those immortal people, therefore, protect the truth of their lives, while those who swim outside seek it."

Taoism has its own understanding of immortals. "A Long Journey to Shi Ming" explains the immortal saying: "If you are old and don't die, you will say immortals, and immortals will move mountains." Immortals live forever. After becoming immortals, they avoid the world and "move mountains". From the perspective of philology (pictographic characters), people will naturally become immortals on the mountain. It can be said that the pursuit of immortality is the fundamental feature of immortal belief. Another feature of immortals is that they can't change, and they are miraculous. Kim has made a vivid description of this. He said: "Immortals, or spicy bodies, fly without wings; Or ride a dragon in the clouds and build terraces; Or become a bird and beast, floating in the clouds; Or sneak in rivers and seas and soar in famous mountains; Or eat vitality; Or Ru Zhicao; Or in and out of this world, you can't know ... "(see" The Fairy Peng Zu Biography ". Immortals can go from heaven to earth and dive into rivers and seas. They are omnipotent and omnipotent.

Immortals have different tastes. Jin regarded immortals as third-class, saying, "Staff sergeant praised their shapes and their emptiness, and called them immortals;" The sergeant traveled to a famous mountain and was called a fairy; The corporal dies first and dies, which is called the corpse to solve the fairy. " (See "Bao Puzi's Inner Chapter on Immortals". ) In "The Sound of Heaven", immortals are divided into five categories: celestial immortals, underground immortals, daffodils in water, and immortals with magical powers. The Mystery of the Immortal Library is also called "Buddhism has three times, and immortals are divided into five grades". The five-grade immortals are immortals, immortals, earthly immortals, human immortals and ghost immortals. In Taizhenke, he is classified into nine categories, namely, Shangxian, Gaoxian, Daxian, Shenxian, Xuanxian, Xian Zhen, Tianxian, Lingxian and Zhixian. There are many kinds of fairy products, so I won't introduce them here.

In the history of Taoism, the ultimate goal of Fang, Huang and later immortal Taoism is to pursue immortality. Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there have been many practices, theories, beliefs and philosophies of cultivating immortals, and the immortal system has become more and more perfect. However, from Laozi, Zhuangzi and Taoism in the pre-Qin Dynasty to Quanzhen Taoist in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, the ideal goal is "real people", and real people also belong to the broad category of "immortals".

A "real person" is a person who preserves nature and realizes the road. Zhuangzi said: "There are real people and then there is true knowledge." (See "Master Zhuangzi") In other words, a person with real talent and learning is a real person. Zhuangzi's "true knowledge" is the so-called "knowing what heaven has done and what people have done" (see Master Zhuangzi). "What heaven does" refers to heaven, and "what man does" refers to man. Tomorrow, people will understand the relationship between man and nature, and the universe breeds life. Life must be in the universe, and people can't go against the sky with wisdom, so they can "watch heaven."

Quanzhen Tao refers to the pursuit of the realization of Tao, that is to say, real work and behavior are real people. "Real merit" refers to a person's inner cultivation. It is said that in order to achieve the realm of "true work", it is necessary to be "clear-headed, mentally overlapping, motionless, really quiet, seize one thing and seize the spirit" (see Quotations from Jin Zhenren). "True practice" refers to the activities of preaching and helping the world. It is said that to be "true", it is necessary to "cultivate benevolence and accumulate virtue, help the poor, always cherish the heart of saving the world when things go wrong, or induce good people to practice in the Tao, put their ancestors before themselves, and be selfless in things" (see Quotations from Jin Zhenren). And "Ten Doors: Sit Still" says: "He is a real person, doing good deeds, doing whatever he wants in the world, without delusion, infection, stagnation, birth or death." When a real person enters the WTO, he is detached from the world. "The shape is born in the dust, and the heart is clear outside the object." (See "Fifteen Theories on Chongyang Education")

The essential difference between real people and immortals is that immortals pursue immortality, while real people "don't know how to live (happily) or die" (see Master Zhuangzi) think that "death and life are the same" and pursue spiritual immortality, not physical immortality. Changyue Wang, the master of Quanzhen, said: "Immortals are mortal, and immortals are not filthy", "Immortals are my vitality" and "Where the Tao is, the Dharma is there" (see Longmen Mind Method), which shows that real people can be above life and death.

It is true that most of the ancestors of Taoism were immortals. Zhuangzi said, "Guanyin and Lao Dan were great men in ancient times". (See the second part of Zhuangzi) Taoism respects Zhuangzi as "South China Reality", Liezi as "Xu Chong Reality", Wen Zi as "Xuantong Reality" and Sang Zi as "Cave Spirit Reality". Wang Zhongyang, Ma Danyang, Qiu Chuji, Zhang Boduan and Bai Yuchan, the founders of Quanzhen religion, are all "real people". In the Ming Dynasty, Zhengtian Normal School changed the concept of "teaching the real person with proper etiquette". There are many immortals who have studied Taoism in ancient and modern times, such as Biography of Immortals, Biography of Immortals, Biography of Immortals in Cave and Fairy Tales in Yucheng. The famous ones are Guang, Rong Chenggong, Red Pine Seed, Ning Fengzi, An Jisheng, Monk Gong, San Mao Zhenjun, Xu Zhenjun and the Eight Immortals.