A close reading of The Journey to the West's description of Friar Sand and a search of China's imperial system will not make it difficult to see an image of an emperor who is a perfect match for Friar Sand. He is Genghis Khan, the Mongolian emperor of Wu Sheng.
As we all know, Friar Sand is the general of the shutter around the Jade Emperor in Heaven, but he was relegated to the lower bound because he accidentally broke the jade glass.
"Tiangong" is a social organization form and the unity of correct thoughts that represent the orthodox monarchy and justice of the Chinese nation in Kunlun culture. It is also a highly concentrated and representative of profound Chinese culture, and can also be understood as the core of a civilized, rational and efficient society for adults.
The "general shutter" is not for the jade emperor, who is the supreme ruler abstracted from the spiritual realm, so the jade emperor doesn't need a shutter, let alone a general shutter. In The Journey to the West, letting Friar Sand roll the curtain for the Jade Emperor in his previous life only made some arrangements for Friar Sand's soul in his previous life in terms of identity and status. In other words, if the prototype of the sand monk is also an influential emperor, then the identity and status of this emperor is lower than that represented by the Jade Emperor.
In fact, "roller blind" is a common trick in human daily life. Journey to the west named a battlefield general with this action, and its purpose is nothing more than to distinguish nationalities with different habits from tiny details of life. The trick of "rolling shutter door" is even more common in the Central Plains, especially among the nomadic people in the north. But comparing the lifestyles of the Central Plains people and nomadic people together, you will suddenly realize The Journey to the West's intention.
Therefore, the "roller blind" of life is a symbol of the living habits of northern ethnic minorities. Tents are houses of nomadic people. From Khan to ordinary herders, anyone who wants to go in and out in a day's life will have a "shutter" action. Therefore, "shutter" is one of the cultural symbols of a nomadic people. The Journey to the West distinguished the different characteristics of generals in the Han Dynasty from those in the desert with this common little trick in life, which really attracted the attention of the world for hundreds of years.
"Jade Glass" symbolizes the precious artifact in Journey to the West. In China, the glass products before the Qing Dynasty are very precious, and the glass antiques in the Sui and Tang Dynasties are basically from the West. Breaking jade glass under the account of the jade emperor can be punished. But in Journey to the West, "Jade Glass" represents the following two meanings.
In the Central Plains culture, "jade glass" is jade and crystal, and crystal symbolizes purity, holiness and nobility. If the prototype of the sand monk is the Mongolian king, did the Mongolian ancestor Ma have a bad moral record when he set foot in all directions? In troubled times, a hero like Genghis Khan is needed to maintain the state order, but the Mongols in the Yuan Dynasty killed innocent people and engaged in racial discrimination, which is definitely a stain on the cultural category of China. However, the author The Journey to the West seems to be forgiving this "stain". The Jade Emperor's "Jade Glass" was broken by a shutter general, not intentionally. The fundamental problem is that "jade glass" is too brittle. Perhaps this is the difference between the nomadic culture in the north and the farming culture in the central plains that the author wants to reflect.
"Jade glass" must be a kind of "home" and a living appliance. However, pulling out one or two similar "jade articles" in The Journey to the West is really beside the point. As an important figure like the Jade Emperor, his most precious life "tool" is nothing more than a symbol of state power, that is, "country to country" in the spoken language of literati. If the prototype of Friar Sand's life is the Mongolian king, in the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian king did seize the "Jiangshan" of the Central Plains dynasty, and he wanted to "return farmland to grassland" and forcibly replace farming culture with nomadic culture. These measures to govern the country have obviously not worked. Judging from the values of emperors of past dynasties, the Mongolian king once broke the "jade cup" of the Central Plains dynasty, which was also a national heavyweight.
Looking at the description of the image of Friar Sand in the original Journey to the West, I feel that the national image represented by Friar Sand is very similar to the Mongolian kingdom represented by Genghis Khan.
A red flame is hairy, and two round eyes are as bright as lights. The face is neither black nor blue, like thunder or drums and dragons. Wearing a goose yellow collar and a white vine at the waist. There are nine skeletons hanging around their necks and a treasure stick in their hands.
This is the description of Friar Sand in Journey to the West.
Let's take a look at the recent research results of Ilya zakharov, an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a well-known Russian genetic biologist. The genetic scientist discovered the direct descendant of Genghis Khan. Among the families surveyed, two brothers received DNA identification. Among the two brothers who have completed the appraisal, the elder brother's name is Devon and the younger brother's name is Raj. Among them, especially the 27-year-old brother Raj looks most like Genghis Khan in the portrait-with red and yellow hair and bright eyes. Zakharov believes that there are about160,000 descendants of Genghis Khan in the world at present.
The image of Genghis Khan can only be identified by the portraits of his descendants. Many netizens claim that Genghis Khan has a pair of cat eyes.
The Friar Sand in Journey to the West is "a fluffy red flame with two round eyes as bright as lamps". Zakharov's research and netizens' rumors confirmed that Genghis Khan's hair was red and yellow and his eyes were light.
If the prototype of the sand monk is Genghis Khan, the remaining characteristics of the sand monk can be better attached to Genghis Khan.
Before Friar Sand met the Tang Priest, there were nine skeletons hanging around his neck. Journey to the West thus explains the origin of these nine skeletons. Friar Sand said, "Bodhisattva, I have eaten countless people here. I have always had several Buddhist scriptures and have eaten them all. People who eat their heads throw quicksand to the bottom. This water, goose feathers can't float. Only the skeletons of nine Buddhist scriptures float on the water and can't sink any more. I thought it was a foreign object, so I put Saul in one place and used it in my spare time. "
It is also a human skeleton, but the skeleton of the nine Buddhist scriptures can't sink in weak water, which can't be explained by Archimedes principle in physics. It can be explained by the laws of Kunlun culture.
As we all know, China culture comes from Kunlun. Since Indian Buddhism was introduced into China, it seems that Indian Buddhist culture will swallow up Kunlun culture in China, and any thorny legends and headless philosophies have to be solved by Indian Buddhism. In fact, during the Tang Dynasty, India suffered from the infiltration of Islam, and Indian Buddhism suffered a devastating blow. In India, where Buddhism thrives again, most of the scriptures are the result of returning from the western regions of China. Modern people go to India to learn Buddhist scriptures, and many of them are retrieved from Kunlun culture in China's western regions.
Many modern people, when talking about Kunlun culture, will only think of the Queen Mother of the West. They regard the description of the Queen Mother of the West in Shan Hai Jing as a biblical worship, and regard the myths and rumors created by literati as Kunlun culture unilaterally.
So, what is Kunlun culture? Everyone can have a different understanding of this proposition, and it is best not to form a conclusion. If we use blunt words to define Kunlun culture, it is like putting a deformed coat on Kunlun culture. Because Kunlun culture is the unity of material and spiritual value orientation, code of conduct, folk customs and all civilized and orthodox thoughts created by all ethnic groups in the western plateau for thousands of years ...
Since the prevalence of Buddhist culture, Kunlun culture and Buddhist civilization have been organically combined. It is hard to say whether it comes from Buddhism or Kunlun culture, but it is a "time and space view" popular in people's minds and formed on issues such as heaven, earth and hell.
If we want to distinguish the origin of Buddhist culture and Kunlun culture, we can only say that Sakyamuni is the "God" of India, and Emperor Jixian of China is the male god of China-Jade Emperor; The collection of female leaders in the Western Regions is the goddess China, the Queen Mother of the West. The custodian of the Western Regions Temple is a collection of western region leaders.
The purpose of chasing Buddha can be summarized into three kinds: First, to achieve the stability of the country and the nation by worshipping Buddha. Second, realize the safety of families and family members. Third, realize individual becoming Buddha.
The nine monks who were eaten by the sand monk wanted to learn from the West in a difficult environment for the benefit of the group, but they became a pile of bones and their souls were wronged. Finally, Guanyin was put on a red Buddha hat, and these ghosts were willing to disperse. The nine skeletons who died unjustly are linked together and form a weak water ferry with the Red Buddha Hat (representing the famous Buddhist sects in the western regions), which indicates that the nine skeletons, Tang Taoists, disciples and others can become Buddhas as long as they practice together.
Of course, Journey to the West is about Buddhism. Specifically, the nine skeletons mentioned in the book may represent the Han people who were unjustly killed in the Central Plains at that time. The ethnic group represented by Friar Sand once regarded the Han people in the Central Plains as dirt in a specific historical period and political environment. The Journey to the West, the author of these sad stories, also said, "Only the skeletons of nine Buddhist scriptures float on the water, and they can't sink any more. I thought the words "foreign body, put Saul in one place and play hard in my spare time" were an understatement. The author also believes that the tens of thousands of Han people represented by the skeletons who gave their lives for the country and the nation must have succeeded in becoming a Buddha. Because my personal understanding of becoming a Buddha is: "People who have contributed to family and friends for the benefit of the country and who can make future generations remember their names can all be classified as Buddhas. "
Mongolian society represented by Genghis Khan is no exception. Since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Mongolians have advocated Buddhism, strongly supported Gelug Tibetan Buddhism, established excellent nomadic culture, and made positive contributions to national integration, national unity and social progress in China.
In the process of restoring Friar Sand, the book mentioned "Twenty-four Heavenly Ways". China has a "Twenty-four History" (Journey to the West mentioned: "The Day of the Sun", which means history). Generally speaking, if a Buddha dharma protector was born in every dynasty, there should be 24 dharma protectors in the Ming Dynasty. In Buddhism, there are indeed twenty-four ways to protect the sky.
In this way, the learning team formed in The Journey to the West fully embodies the ideal situation of national unity in China. The history of "learning from the scriptures" by the Chinese nation and the nomadic people in the north is embedded in the The Journey to the West.