Friends who are familiar with Jin Yong's novels all know about a Taoist sect called "Quanzhen Sect" and martial arts masters such as Wang Chongyang and Qiu Chuji.

In fact, not only the Quanzhen Sect, but Wang Chongyang and Qiu Chuji were also real people who existed in history. But Quanzhen Religion is somewhat different from our understanding. It is not a purely Taoist organization. The founder, Wang Chongyang, requires his followers to study the classics of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism at the same time, and he advocates the theory of the unity of the three religions.

Wang Chongyang has a famous saying: "Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are all connected, and the three religions have always had the same ancestral style." His disciple Qiu Chuji said: "The origins of the three religions, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, have been shared by thousands of sages throughout the ages. ”

Later, people added the sentence “Red flowers, white lotus roots and green lotus leaves, the three religions are one family” after Wang Chongyang’s poem, which was often quoted in various novels. For example, in "The Romance of the Gods", the leader of Tongtian Cult said this.

Coincidentally, the Wudang Sect in history also advocated the unity of the three religions. The founder Zhang Sanfeng believed that Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism all belong to the same "Tao".

This is a very interesting thing.

Because in the eyes of other religions in the world, "paganism" is an extremely sensitive matter. In order to eliminate "infidels", many cruel wars broke out in the Western world, and countless people died.

However, the Chinese people have always been confused about the differences between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and they are not always bloody like in the West.

For example, "Three Smiles in the Tiger River", which describes Hui Yuan, Tao Yuanming, and Lu Xiujing, although it is inconsistent with historical facts, has become a popular subject in Chinese painting because this story implies the unity of the three religions, which is in line with the ideals of Chinese literati taste.

The Song Dynasty's "Wu Deng Hui Yuan" recorded the appearance of the monk Fu Dashi in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, saying that Fu Dashi was wearing monk's clothes, a Taoist hat, and lay people's shoes. In the eyes of ordinary people, this kind of dress should be called "nondescript". However, "Wu Deng Hui Yuan" appreciates this story as a beautiful story about the integration of three religions.

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, more and more statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva were erected in Taoist temples and statues of Confucius were erected in Buddhist temples. Not only the common people, but also probably many Taoists and monks cannot tell which gods and Buddhas belong to our religion. This fully demonstrates the politeness of the Chinese people: no matter whose deity or Buddha it is, it is better to worship more than not at all.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Jianshen painted an interesting picture of "A Harmony of Harmony".

Why have the Chinese been particularly tolerant of “pagans” since ancient times?

"A Picture of Harmony"

This painting is very interesting. On the surface, the painting shows two profiles facing each other. But the two figures were combined to form a frontal one.

This picture was later renamed "The Picture of the Three Religions and Nine Streams of Hunyuan" and was engraved on the stone tablet of the Shaolin Temple, which believes in Zen Buddhism. When we visited Songshan Shaolin Temple today, we could also see this picture.

Shaolin Temple appreciates this painting, perhaps because the Buddhist figures are located in the center. However, the word "Hunyuan" in the title of the picture is a Taoist term.

In the same courtyard, there are also murals painted "Ten Halls of Yama" and "Twenty-Four Filial Piety".

"Yam" was originally a character in the Indian Brahmanical mythology. Later it was absorbed by Buddhism and came to China with Buddhism, where it was transformed into the Taoist "Ten Halls of Yama". These ten gods in charge of hell are all famous kings and generals in Chinese history. As a result, these ten Yamas were painted on the walls of the Zen Shaolin Temple together with the "Twenty-Four Filial Piety" representatives of Confucianism.

Luojiang Dingtou Village in the Mindong region of Fujian Province is even more interesting. There are both Buddhist temples and Catholic churches in the village. But when the ancestral hall is built in the village, everyone has to pay for it, whether they are Buddhists or Catholics. After the ancestral hall was built, monks and Christians used the same ancestral hall. One burns incense and kowtows, and the other prays with flowers. Each uses its own rules, so what can we do together? Let’s “worship our ancestors” together!

Chinese people have always had an optimistic attitude towards faith, whether it is the many down-to-earth legends about gods and Buddhas or the ridicule of sealing the mouths of gods with stove candy. From another perspective, we can also say that Chinese culture is extremely tolerant. After the complex Buddhist teachings are completely absorbed by Chinese culture, they also become distinctively Chinese.