User:Whipsandchains/Long Nu

18 lohans
The Eighteen Luohans, or Arhats, are individuals in Buddhism who have followed the Eightfold Path and attained the Four Stages of Enlightenment like the Gautama Buddha. They have reached the state of Nirvana and are free of worldly cravings. They are charged to protect the Buddhist faith and to await on Earth for the coming of Maitreya, the Future Buddha.

In China
Originally the Arhats composed of only the 10 disciples of Gautama Buddha, although the earliest Indian sutras indicate that only 4 of them, Pindola, Kundadhana, Panthaka and Nakula, were instructed to await the coming of Matreiya. Earliest Chinese representations of the Luohans can be traced back to as early as the fourth century, and mainly focused on Pindola

釋惠簡

sramana Shi Huijian

Method for Inviting Pindola

Later this number increased to 16 to include patriarchs and other spiritual adepts. Teachings about the Arhats eventually made their way to China where they were called Luohans (excellence), but it wasn't until 654 AD when the Nandimitrāvadāna, Record on the Duration of the Law, spoken by the Great arhat Nadimitra, was translated by Xuanzang into Chinese that the names of these Luohans were known. For some reason Kundadhana was dropped from this list.

Somewhere between the late Tang Dynasty and early Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China two other Luohans were added to the roster increasing the number to 18. But this depiction of having 18 Luohans only gained a foothold in China whereas other areas like Japan continue to revere only the 16 Arhats. This depiction of having 18 instead of 16 Luohans continues into modern Chinese Buddhist traditions. A cult built around the Luohans as guardians of Buddhist faith gained momentum amongst Chinese Buddhists at the end of the ninth century for they had just been through a period a great persecution under the reign of Emperor Tang Wuzong.

but because no historical records detailing how the Luohans looked like existed there were no distinguishing features to tell the Luohans apart. The first portraits of the 18 Luohans was painted by the monk Guan Xiu in 891 AD who at the time was residing in Chengdu. Legend has it that the 18 Luohans knew of Guan Xiu's expert calligraphy and painting skills they appeared to the monk in a dream to make a request that he paint their portraits. The paintings depicted them as foreigners having bushy eyebrows, large eyes, hanging cheeks and high noses. They were seated in landscapes, leaning against pine trees and stones. An additional theme in these paintings were that they were portrayed as being unkempt and "eccentric" which emphasize that they were vagabonds and beggars who have left all worldly desires behind. When Guan Xiu was asked how he came up with the depictions, he answered: "It was in a dream that I saw these Gods and Buddhas. After I woke up, I painted what I saw in the dream. So, I guess I can refer to these Luohans as 'Luohans in a dream'." These portraits painted by Guan Xiu has become the definitive images for the 18 Luohans in Chinese Buddhist iconography, although in modern depiction they bear more Sinitic features and at the same time lost their exaggerated foreign features in exchange for more exaggerated expressions. The paintings were donated by Guan Xiu to the Shengyin Temple in Qiantang (present day Hangzhou) where they are preserved with great care and ceremonious respect. Many prominent artists such as Wu Bin and Ding Guanpeng would later try to faithfully imitate the original paintings.

The Qianlong Emperor was a great admirer of the Luohans and during his visit to see the paintings in 1757, Qianlong not only examined them closely but he also wrote an eulogy to each Luohan image. Copies of these eulogies were presented to the monastery and preserved. In 1764, Qianlong ordered that the paintings held at the Shengyin Monastery be reproduced and engraved onto stone tablets for preservation. These were mounted like facets into a marble stupa for public display. The temple was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion but copies of ink rubbing of the steles were preserved in and outside of China.

Roster
In the Chinese Tradition, the 18 Luohans are generally presented in the order they are said to have appeared to Guan Xiu, not according to their power: Deer Sitting, Happy, Raised Bowl, Raised Pagoda, Meditating, Oversea, Elephant Riding, Laughing Lion, Open Heart, Raised Hand, Thinking, Scratched Ear, Calico Bag, Plantain, Long Eyebrow, Doorman, Taming Dragon and Taming Tiger.

Long Nu
Long Nü, translated as Dragon Daughter (in Sanskrit Nagaranya), along with Shan Cai are acolytes of the Bodhisattvas Guan Yin, however there are no scriptural sources that connect both Shan Cai and Long Nu to Guan Yin at the same time. She and Shan Cai being depicted with Guan Yin was most likely influenced by the Jade Maiden and Golden Youth  who both appear in the iconography of Yù Huáng. She is described as being the 8 year old daughter of the Dragon King of the East Sea.

Lotus Sutra
She is depicted in the 12th Chapter of the Lotus Sutra as being full of wisdom and achieving instant enlightenment. After which she offers a pearl to Buddha, while in other sutras she offers the pearl to Avalokitesvara.

Tale of the Southern Seas
A single chapter in the Complete Tale of Guan Yin and the Southern Seas, a sixteenth century Ming Dynasty novel is the first text that connects Long Nu and Shan Cai together as being acolytes of Guan Yin. When the Dragon King's third son was out for swim in the sea in the form of a carp and was captured by a fisherman. Unable to transform into his dragon form due to being trapped on land, he was going to be sold and butchered at the local market. Once Guan Yin learned on his predicament, she gave Shancai all her money and sent him to buy the price from the market and set him free.

When Guan Yin learns that the third son of the Dragon King, Ao Guang, was caught by a fisherman when swimming in the sea in the form of a carp and unable to transform into his dragon form because he was trapped on land, she immediately sends Shancai to the market to buy the price and set him free. Because the carp was still alive hours after it was caught. This drew a large crowd and soon a bidding war started due to people believing that eating this fish would grant them immortality. Shancai was easily outbid and begged the fish seller to spare the life of the fish, but to no avail and earning the scorn of the people at the market. It was then that Guan Yin projected her voice from far away saying "A life should definitely belong to one who tries to save it, not one who tries to take it." The crowd realizing their mistake soon dispersed and Shancai was able to bring the carp back to Guan Yin and return it to the sea.

As a token of gratitude, the Dragon King asked Ao Guang to bring the "Pearl of Light", but his granddaughter volunteers to go in his father's place instead. After offering the pearl to Guan Yin, she decides to stay with her and become her disciple to learn the Buddha Dharma.

The Precious Scrolls
Unlike the Complete Tale of Guan Yin and the Southern Seas which only briefly mentions Long Nu, the Precious Scroll of Shan Cai and Long Nu, an eighteenth-nineteenth century scroll comprising of 29 folios, is completely devoted to the legend of Long Nu and Shan Cai and seems to have a Taoist origin. The text is set during the Qianfu period of the Tang Dynasty. One day when Shan Cai was walking down a mountain path to visit his father he hears a voice crying out for help. Upon investigation, it turns out to be the voice of a snake trapped in a bottle for the last eighteen years. The snake begs Shan Cai to release her upon which she turn into her true form, that of a monster and threatens to eat him. When Shan Cai protests at the snake's behavior, it makes the argument that than ēn (恩, a kind act) is repaid by a feud and that is the way of the world. However the snake agrees to submit the argument to three judges.

The first judge the argument is presented to is the incarnation of he Golden Water Buffalo (from the story of The Wolf of Zhongshan) who agrees with the snake given it's pas experience with humans. The second judge they encounter was the Taoist priest Zhuangzi who also agreed with the snake citing an experience he had when he resurrected a skeleton who then immediately took Zhuangzi to court and accused him of stealing his money. The last judge they met was a young girl. The girl told the snake that it could eat her as well if the snake could how her how it was able to fit into the bottle which Shan Cai had released it from. As soon as the snake wormed itself back into the bottle, it was trapped. The girl then reveals herself to be Guan Yin. When snake begs for mercy, Guan Yin tells it that inorder to be saved it must engage itself in religious exercises in the Grotto of the Sounds of the Flood (present day Fayu Temple) on Mount Putuo.

Three years later, Shan Cai formally becomes an acolyte of Guan Yin along with the Filial Parrot. After the snake submitted itself to seven years of austerity, it cleanses itself of its poison and produces a pearl. It then transforms in Long Nu and becomes an acolyte of Guna Yin.

External References

 * Putuoshan
 * Chinese Customs - Guan Yin
 * Chinese Customs - Jade One and Golden Child
 * Antiques - Guan Yin

Longnu Category:Chinese mythology Category:Buddhist deities, bodhisattvas, and demons

Shan Cai
Sudhana (Wade-Giles: Shan3Tsai2) translated as Child of Wealth, is the main protagonist in the next-to-last and longest chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra. In Chinese traditions he is also one of the acolytes of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guan Yin) and is paired with Long Nü. He and Long Nu being depicted with Guan Yin was most likely influenced by the Jade Maiden and Golden Youth  who both appear in the iconography of Yù Huáng.

The Gandavyuha Sutra
Sudhana was a youth from India who was seeking enlightenment. At the behest of Mañjuśrī Sudhana takes a pilgrimage on his quest for enlightenment and studies under fifty-three "good friends". Avalokitesvara is the 28th spiritual master he visits at Mount Potalaka. Sudhana's quest reaches it climax at when he meets Maitreya, the Buddha to be who snaps his fingers and opens thereby opening the doors to his marvelous tower. Within the tower Sudhana experiences all the Dharmadhatu (dimensions or worlds) in a fantastic succession of visions. The final master that he visits is Samantabhadra who teaches Sudhana that wisdom only exists for the sake of putting it into practice.

The pilgrimage of Sudhana mirrors that of Gautama Buddha and the Gandavyuha Sutra becomes very popular in China during the Song Dynasty when it was adapted and circulated in small amply illustrated booklets, each page dedicated to one of Sudhana's spiritual teachers.

Tale of the Southern Seas
In chapter 18 of the Complete Tale of Guan Yin and the Southern Seas, a sixteenth century Ming Dynasty novel, is the first text that connects Shan Cai as being an acolyte of Guan Yin. Here Shan Cai was a disabled boy from India who was very interested in studying the Buddhist teachings and Guan Yin had just achieved enlightenment and retired to Putuoshan. When he heard that there was a Bodhisattva on the rocky island of Putuo he quickly journeyed there to learn despite his disability.

Guan Yin, after having a discussion with Shan Cai, decided to test his resolve to fully study the Buddhist teachings. She has the tree and plants turn into sword wielding pirates running up the hill to attack them. Guan Yin took off and dashed to the edge of a cliff and jumped over with the pirates still in pursuit. Shan Cai, still wanting to save Guan Yin jumped after her.

Shan Cai and Guan Yin managed to reascend the cliff at which point Guan Yin ask Shan Cai to look down. There Shan Cai saw his mortal remains at the foot of the cliff. Guan Yin who now asked him to walk and Shan Cai found that he could walk normally and that he was no longer crippled. When he looked into a pool of water he also discovered that he now had a very handsome face. From that day forth Guan Yin taught Shan Cai the entire Buddha Dharma. Next Guan Yin and Shan Cai encounters the the third son of the Dragon King and in the process Guan Yin earns Long Nu as a new acolyte. (see Long Nu for how Shan Cai and Guan Yin aid the Dragon King)

The Precious Scrolls
The Precious Scroll of Shan Cai and Long Nu, an eighteenth-nineteenth century scroll comprising of 29 folios, gives a different legend for how Shan Cai and Long Nu come to be acolytes of Guan Yin and seems to have a Taoist origin. The text is set during the Qianfu period of the Tang Dynasty.

A virtuous minister by the name of Chen Bao, and his wife Lady Han, are still childless and not getting any younger. When Chen rejects his wife's suggestion of taking a concubine, she then suggests praying to Guan Yin. Guan Yin, who sees that the couple is destined to remain childless, orders a Boy Who Brings Wealth to be born into the family. Soon Lady Han gave birth to a boy named Chen Lian, but she passed away when he was only 5 years old.

As a child, Chen Lian was interested not in civil or military pursuits but in religious enlightenment much to his fathers disapproval. At the age of 7 his father finally gave into to his pleas and allows him to learn under the tutelage of the Yellow Dragon Immortal at Ma Gu. Here Chen Lian is called Shan Cai and becomes a dutiful apprentice, however he rejects all of his fathers request for him to visit home.

When his father's 60th birthday approaches, he is once again asked to visit home. With his master away on business, Shan Cai decides to visit his father on since it is a special occasion. On his way down a mountain path to visit his father he hears a voice crying out for help. Upon investigation, it turns out to be the voice of a snake trapped in a bottle for the last eighteen years. The snake begs Shan Cai to release her upon which she turn into her true form, that of a monster and threatens to eat him. When Shan Cai protests at the snake's behavior, it makes the argument that than ēn (恩, a kind act) is repaid by a feud and that is the way of the world. However the snake agrees to submit the argument to three judges.

The first judge the argument is presented to is the incarnation of he Golden Water Buffalo (from the story of The Wolf of Zhongshan) who agrees with the snake given it's pas experience with humans. The second judge they encounter was the Taoist priest Zhuangzi who also agreed with the snake citing an experience he had when he resurrected a skeleton who then immediately took Zhuangzi to court and accused him of stealing his money. The last judge they met was a young girl. The girl told the snake that it could eat her as well if the snake could how her how it was able to fit into the bottle which Shan Cai had released it from. As soon as the snake wormed itself back into the bottle, it was trapped. The girl then reveals herself to be Guan Yin. When snake begs for mercy, Guan Yin tells it that inorder to be saved it must engage itself in religious execises in the Grotto of the Sounds of the Flood (present day Fayu Temple) on Mount Putuo. At this time Guan Yin also gains a new disciple in the Filial Parrot.

Three years later, as Guan Yin returns to Putuoushan, she appears to Shan Cai in the middle of the ocean riding. Shan Cai then joins her in walking across the ocean and becomes her acolyte. With the confirmation of his faith, his parents are reborn in heaven. After the snake submitted itself to seven years of austerity, it cleanses itself of it's poison and produces a pearl. It then transforms into Long Nu and joins Shan Cai and becomes an acolyte of Guna Yin as well.

External References

 * Putuoshan
 * Chinese Customs - Guan Yin
 * Chinese Customs - Jade One and Golden Child
 * Antiques - Guan Yin

Category:Buddhism in China Category:Mahayana

善財童子 善財童子

The Wolf of Zhongshan
The Wolf of Zhongshan is a popular Chinese fairy tale deals with the ingratitude of a creature after being saved. The first print of the story is found in the Ming Dynasty Ocean Stories of Past and Present published in 1544.

Synopsis
The story is set during the late Spring and Autumn Period. King Jian of Zhou was leading a hunting party through Zhongshan when he happen to come across a wolf. King Jian takes aim with his bow and arrow but misses and hits a stone instead. The wolf desperately flees through the forest with the hunting party in pursuit. As the wolf makes it way through the forest he stumbles upon a traveling Mohist scholar Mr. Dongguo. The wolf appeals to the scholar's belief of "universal love" and implores for his help. Mr. Dongguo takes pity on the creature and hides it in one of his books bags strapped to his donkey.

When the hunters approach him, Mr .Dongguo denies any knowledge of the wolf's whereabouts. After the hunters had left Mr. Dongguo lets the wolf out of his bag, got on his donkey and was about to take his leave only to be stopped by the wolf. The wolf now asked the scholar to save his life again, this time from starvation. Mr. Dongguo offered the wolf some pastries, but the wolf smile and said "I don't eat those, I dine solely on meat". Puzzled, Mr. Dongguo inquires if the wolf intended to eat his donkey and the wolf replies "No, no, donkey meat is no good". The donkey, upon hearing this, bolts from the scene as fast as its four legs to carry it leaving Mr. Dongguo behind with the wolf. To Mr. Dongguo's surprise, the hungry wolf pounced on him and announced it intention to eat him. When Mr. Dongguo protests at the wolf's ingratitude, the wolf presents the argument: since the scholar saved his life once why not do it again? Now that it was starving, only by serving as the wolf's food will the scholar have fulfilled the act of saving his life. Besides, the wolf complained that it nearly suffocated while it was crammed in the scholar's bag and the scholar now owed him. Dongguo and the wolf debated and finally decided to present their case to the judgment of three elders.

The first elder they present their argument to is an old withering apricot tree. The tree relates its own experience to the two on how when it was young, children used to pick its fruits from its branches and the tree would tell them to eat their fill. Now it was about to be chopped down to provide firewood. The tree sides with the wolf. The wolf is very pleased.

The second elder they present their argument to was an elderly water buffalo. The buffalo tells its story of how it served its masters for many years dutifully providing him with milk and plowing his fields. Now his master wants to butcher it so he can eat his meat. The buffalo too sides with the wolf. The wolf grins and feels even more justified in his request to eat the scholar. Mr. Dongguo reminds the wolf that they have one more elder to seek out.

The last elder they present their argument to is an elderly farmer. The farmer was skeptical and didn't believe that the wolf could fit into the bag. To illustrate its point, the wolf crawled back into the bag and right away the old farmer tied up the bag and started to beat the wolf with his hoe. The farmer bashes the wolf to an inch of his life then unties the bag and drags his dying wolf out of the bag.

Seeing the pitiful wolf the scholar thinks that the old farmer was too cruel but just then a weeping woman comes running towards them. She pointed to the wolf and told Mr. Dongguo and the farmer how it dragged off her little boy. Mr Dongguo now no longer pitied the wolf. He picked up the hoe and and strikes the final blow to the wolf's head.

Author
The authorship of this text is a matter of dispute. The text originally appeared in the Hǎishuō Gǔjīn as an anonymous text with no author listed but it has generally been attributed to Ma Zhongxi (1446-1512). In classical Chinese literature, this tale is quite unusual in the fact that it is a fully developed animal fable. In most prose fables or poems where animals are imbued with human characteristics (Huli jing), they are usually first transformed into human form before they are allowed to speak.

The term Mr. Dongguo (Dōngguō Xiānshēng) has now become a Chinese idiom for a naive person who gets into trouble through being softhearted to evil people.

Variations
Another variation of this tale can be found in the Precious Scroll of Shan Cai and Long Nu.