Tonight, the Yuxu Palace is brightly lit and its entire body is green and white. Against the backdrop of the stars in the sky, it looks like a fairy palace in the sky.
Among the Three Yuan Festivals, the Upper Yuan Festival is the most solemn, followed by the Zhongyuan Festival and the Lower Yuan Festival.
The Ghost Festival is the name of Taoism. It is commonly known as July Half, Ancestor Worship Festival, while Buddhism calls it Bon Festival. The main customs include worshiping ancestors, placing river lanterns, worshiping dead souls, burning paper ingots, and offering sacrifices to land. This
The festival can even be traced back to the ancestor worship and related festivals of ancient shamanism.
"The Book of Changes" says: "Repeat the path and come back in seven days, which is the way of heaven."
Seven is the number of yang, the number of days. After the yang energy between heaven and earth is extinguished, it can be resurrected after seven days. This is the way of heaven and earth, the principle of the cycle of growth and decline of yin and yang. People believe that this day will open the gate of ghosts, so it is also called ghost.
Festival.
Because this festival is so special, according to the usual practice, the Taoist sect not only invites many guests, but also all the masters Shenzhi and Pingzhang in Yujing will participate, and even the great master will appear in Yuxu Palace to meet with many ordinary Taoist disciples
Have fun together and light the "River Lantern" together - this is the only opportunity for many low-level Taoist priests to enter the Zifu.
Ordinary people's river lanterns just float along the water. There is no river on Yuxu Peak, so the Taoist sect instead puts out lanterns to pray for the sky, using the stars in the sky as the "river". Many Taoist disciples, regardless of their rank, can participate in putting out lanterns, and are organized by
The Grand Master personally selected a prayer lantern as the winner and rewarded the owner of the lantern with 777 specially made worry-free coins.
The competition among Taoist disciples, whether it is for reward money or to show their face in front of the Grand Master, is very fierce. All kinds of praying lanterns are blooming like a hundred flowers, with more and more patterns. When they are released together, they are like a gorgeous sea of lanterns, which can even overwhelm the stars in the sky.
The real people above are happy to see this happen. After all, such a scene is in line with the flourishing atmosphere of flowers and flowers, and can better demonstrate the magnanimity of the Taoist sect.
Although the position of Grand Master is now vacant, the rotating Grand Master will still attend and select the lucky ones.
There was less than an hour left, and the outside of Yuxu Palace was extremely lively. Many low-level Taoist priests arrived in advance with their carefully made various colorful sky praying lanterns, crowding the place.
It is precisely because today is so lively and it is necessary to embody "having fun with the people", so except for the great master who is on duty, all the high-quality Taoist priests come on foot without their entourage. Even if they are on duty, they represent the face of the great master and the Taoist sect.
A great person will also streamline his ceremonial guard and make his vehicle simple and obedient.
The closer you get to Yuxu Palace, the more dazzling the lights are. There is even a huge temporary lantern tower built in front of the gate of Yuxu Palace. It is more than three hundred feet high and decorated with tens of thousands of golden lanterns. It even takes the spotlight.
Pass today's protagonist Yuxu Palace, that is, there is a formation in Yujing
It is only possible to build such a lantern tower if it is shrouded. If there is no formation, just the wind on Yuxu Peak will blow it down.
When the Three Religions Conference was held a few days ago, this lantern tower did not exist here because the lantern tower was not built directly, but was built elsewhere first. After the construction was completed, the entire lantern tower was moved here through the formation.
At this time, the celebration has not officially started, so the lantern tower only lit up some golden lanterns to outline a general outline. It was far from the point where the lights were brightly lit. However, even so, the aura of the whole body was already clearly displayed. I don’t know if all the lights were turned on.
, how brilliant it should be.
According to the rules, the Grand Master will personally climb the tower and light up the golden lamp at the top. Then the light from this golden lamp will light up other golden lamps in turn through the mechanism, and finally the lamp tower will be completely lit.
At that time, the lantern tower will be transformed into the thirty-three-story Heavenly Palace of Taishang Taozu, far away from the thirty-three-story Babel Tower deep in Zifu and the statue of Taishang Taozu in Taiqing City.
The guards of the Deng Tower and Yuxu Palace are not very tight, because in addition to the real people stationed in the local Dao Mansion and Dao Palace, almost half of the Dao Sect real people gathered here tonight. They are not only the leaders of the Dao Sect, but also the highest level of cultivation.
Who dares to be the best in the world? Even if he is an ancient immortal, he will fall here.
The two masters and apprentices separated after arriving not far from Yuxu Palace. Master Cihang was going to meet other masters Shenzhi, and then entered the palace with the rotating master who represented the great master. Zhang Yuelu, as a third-grade Youyi Taoist priest,
He is not qualified to follow them yet, so he can only enter the temple on his own.
Zhang Yuelu stopped for a moment and looked up to admire the towering lantern tower built in imitation of the Babel Tower. She had to admit that this lantern tower was extremely majestic, exquisite and beautiful. But she still felt a little disapproval in her heart, let alone the construction of this lantern.
How much money is spent on the building? If it can exist for a long time and have practical functions, that's it. I'm afraid it will be demolished in less than a year and a half. So what's the point? Is it just to show the face of Taoism today? This is somewhat different from whitewashing peace.
But there is not much difference in essence, and there is no need to use this method to inspire people. Nowadays, the Taoist sect is quite prosperous and declining. It has reached the time when it needs to be reformed. This move may have a counterproductive effect. To sum up, it is probably
Four words: "Spectacles harm the country".
Zhang Yuelu looked away and sighed softly: "How can there be other principles that can be deceived by just whitewashing them and deceiving the world?"
After saying that, she started walking again and was about to enter Yuxu Palace.
At this moment, several Confucian scholars who had been invited walked over and blocked Zhang Yuelu's way.
After these few Confucian scholars took the lead, more Confucian scholars gathered later, more and more, first a dozen people, then dozens, and soon there were hundreds of people.
Those who come are guests. The so-called hospitality, coupled with the Taoist sect's always advocating preferential treatment to the Confucian sect, actually no one dared to take any action immediately.
So there was an extremely funny scene. Hundreds of Confucian people surrounded a Taoist woman in Yujing, the core of the Taoist sect, with a fierce attitude. It seemed that they were the masters here, and the woman was just an unwelcome outsider.
.
Most of these scholars are young people who were invited to Yujing to participate in the Ghost Festival celebrations with their teachers. They have a scholarly spirit. Some of their elders have already entered Yuxu Palace, and some are watching from a distance, although they are talking about it.
I also gave some advice, but most of them just looked on with cold eyes, or even deliberately condoned it.
After all, since the dispute between Taoism and Buddhism, the Taoist sect has repeatedly elevated the status of the Confucian sect in order to win over the Confucian sect. In order to implement the concept of uniting Confucianism and subduing Buddhism, the Taoist sect has mostly treated the Confucian sect with appeasement. If a Taoist sect disciple conflicts with the Confucian sect, the Taoist sect will
Not only will they not favor their own people, but they will favor the Confucian disciples. The alliance between the Taoist sect and the Confucian sect is the most important thing in everything. The Confucian sect has long been used to being pampered by the Taoist sect, making these young Confucian sect disciples confident even in Yujing.
Furthermore, in such a battle, it would be unjustifiable to say that there is no one behind the scenes who is secretly cooperating and adding fuel to the flames.
Collusion between the inside and outside, and attacks from both sides, put Zhang Yuelu in such an embarrassing position.
When Zhang Yuelu faced hundreds of people alone, he was not at all panicked, nor was he at all pitiful, nor was he angry or angry. He could only face it calmly. This was probably what he meant by having composure in the face of important events.
Zhang Yuelu put his hands behind his back and stood upright, motionless.
The Confucian scholars originally thought that Zhang Yuelu would be afraid after seeing the momentum on his side, and then take the initiative to avoid it. They would have regained the victory, but they did not expect that Zhang Yuelu would not retreat.
This woman is so bold!
It was just a matter of speaking nonsense at the conference of the three religions, but at this time there was no intention of repenting at all.
This made the Confucian scholars even more angry.
Today I am going to press this woman's head hard and make her swallow back what she said.
One of the leading Confucian scholars asked loudly: "Zhang Yuelu, just because you read some high-level sermons and learned some specious things,
You dare to talk about Confucian principles and give advice on benevolence, justice, etiquette and wisdom?"
Zhang Yuelu did not refute and remained silent, but he never lowered his stance.
In fact, this was the first time for many people to meet Zhang Yuelu. If Zhang Yuelu hadn't said those words that criticized Confucianism when discussing Taoism, if they had met him by chance, with such a handsome appearance and such a family background, they would have been shocked.
, and even a heartfelt admiration. Especially today, Zhang Yuelu is wearing a third-grade Taoist priest's crane cloak and a Five Mountains Crown, also known as the Five Mountains Spirit Picture Crown, which is in the shape of a bucket with the "True Shape Picture of the Five Mountains" engraved on it.
It illuminates people and has an awe-inspiring and inviolable dignity.
If they were not in large numbers but alone, they would not dare to act so righteously.
Zhang Yuelu looked around without looking at the Confucian scholar, trying to find the person who was watching the show behind the scenes, but in vain, and couldn't help but sigh.
As the youngest third-grade Youyi Taoist priest in decades, she is too popular and popular. As the saying goes, anything good in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. Someone must suppress her limelight and cool her down. With this,
The encounter is also reasonable and even more expected.
Fortunately, she was a woman, so she just found a group of Confucian scholars to block the road. If she had been a man, it would have been even more despicable.
For example, if it were Qi Xuansu, a woman with a child would rush over and hug his legs. The child would call him daddy, and the woman would scold the person who betrayed his heart. In the end, the big deal would be to admit the wrong person. Regardless of whether it is true or not, the bad reputation will spread.
, in the end, he spread lies, and he really became a heartless person who was criticized verbally and written by the female champions.
This is the advantage of being a woman. You can't find a man to bring a child to call you mother. You can't hide a pregnancy in ten months from others.
This kind of approach may seem absurd, but it actually works. In the previous dynasty, with the strict etiquette of Confucianism and the strict rules of the royal family, rumors of "a black-hearted prime minister lying on the dragon's bed" were spread, just because the new policies harmed the interests of others
That’s all, it shows that it’s not that difficult to tarnish someone’s reputation.
At this moment, another Confucian scholar shouted loudly: "Zhang Yuelu, you are uttering arrogance, saying that you are crazy about etiquette and are deceitful and hypocritical. It shows that you are also a person who does not follow etiquette and law in daily life. You have no king and no father, and you have abandoned the country.
Abandon home.”
"It is a great responsibility to have no king and no father." Zhang Yuelu smiled, "That's why I said, you Confucian disciples always regard the world as one family and try to turn all relationships between people into father and son.
When it comes to relationships, you either find yourself a father or you become someone else's father. There has to be someone who kneels down. I force you to kneel down, and you force me to kneel down. Haven't you ever thought about it, that people can sit down and talk about each other?"