Zhang Guolao’s predictions about future generations. Schematic diagram (Image source: public domain)
Zhang Guolaowhose real name is Zhang Guo, and whose nickname is Mr. Tongxuan, he was a scholar in the Tang DynastyTaoist priestlater became a figure in folk mythologythe Eight ImmortalsOne of them is called Zhang Guolao. During the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Guolao often lived in Zhongtiao Mountain, Hengzhou. Zhang Guo claimed that he lived a very long life, around the time of the arrival of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty.Tang Xuanzongperiod. “Tongjian” further records that Zhang Guo claimed to be a servant during the Yao period and was over 3,000 years old by the time of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty..
Tang Taizong and Tang Gaozong summoned Zhang Guolao many times, but he always declined and refused to meet. Wu Zetian also recruited him, and Zhang Guolao “pretended to be dead” in front of the Jealous Girl Temple. Wu Zetian heard about it and thought he was really dead, so she had to give up. But later someone saw him in the mountains of Hengzhou.
Zhang Guolao always rides a white donkey backwards, traveling tens of thousands of miles a day. When resting, fold the donkey and put it away as thin as paper and put it in the towel box; when you want to ride, spray it with water and it becomes a donkey again.
In the twenty-third year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty sent his minister Sheren to Hengzhou to invite Zhang Guolao, but Zhang Guolao died in front of him. He was so frightened that he quickly burned incense and prayed to show the emperor’s sincerity in seeking truth. Only then did Zhang Guolao come back to life. Tongshi and others did not dare to force him, so he rushed back to the capital to inform Xuanzong. Xuanzong sent someone from Zhongshushe with a seal to invite him, and Zhang Guolao followed him to Beijing. Xuanzong placed him in Jixianyuan, drove him into the palace, and showed great respect. During this period, Zhang Guolao performed a miracle, which shocked the palace.
Interesting stories about Tang Xuanzong and Zhang Guolao
“Zhang Guolao Meets the Ming Emperor” by Ren Renfa of the Yuan Dynasty. (Image source: National Palace Museum)
The Qing Dynasty novel “The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties” tells the story of Zhang Guolao, Ye Fashan and Tang Xuanzong. From this we can appreciate the respect and admiration that ancient emperors had for cultivators.
Legend has it that foreign envoys came to the Tang Dynasty from the sea and brought a poisonous weed. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (i.e. Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty) asked Ye Fashan if he knew this herb. Ye Fashan said: “This is called Corydalis, which is the most poisonous to people. If most people eat it, their lives will be at risk. Only Zhang Guolao may not be afraid of this poisonous weed.” Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty put the poisonous weed in wine and summoned Zhang Guolao to the palace. In the inner hall, give a banquet.
Tang Xuanzong asked: “Sir, how much can you drink?” Zhang Guolao said: “I can only drink a few cups. I have a boy who can drink a bucket, but he can’t drink more.” Tang Xuanzong said: “You can call him “Zhang Guolao said : “Please let me call him.” He shouted into the air: “Boy, come and see the driver quickly.” The shouting did not stop, only a boy was seen flying down from the head of the house. He was fourteen or five years old, with a head on his head. With a pointed belly and a big belly, he meets the emperor. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was surprised, so he ordered a big bucket to drink wine and gave it to him to drink. The boy thanked him, took the wine, and drank it all in one breath. Seeing that he was drinking happily, the emperor ordered him to drink another cup. The boy took the cup and drank, but he couldn’t take two or three sips. All he saw was that the wine he drank came out of the boy’s head. Zhang Guolao said with a smile: “Your capacity for wine is limited, how can you drink more?” He took a peach stone from the table and threw it to the boy. The boy fell to the ground and the wine flowed all over the floor. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it was not a boy, but a wine-filled gourd with a pointed head and a big belly, which could only hold a bucket of wine.
Tang Xuanzong laughed when he saw it: “Sir, you are taking this as a game. Your magical powers are very wonderful. You can have another glass of wine.” He ordered the black pansy wine to be poured to him. However, Zhang Guolao did not refuse and drank all the wine in one gulp. Soon, Zhang Guolao was seen sitting at the banquet with his head down and eyes closed, and fell asleep. Within half an hour, Zhang Guolao stretched out, stood up and said with a smile: “This wine is not good wine. If others drink this wine, they will not wake up.” Zhang Guolao took out a small mirror from his sleeve and looked at himself He looked in the mirror and said, “The bad wine has damaged my teeth.” When Tang Xuanzong looked at it, he saw that his teeth were all black. Zhang Guolao took his time and patted his cheeks with both hands, spitting out all the black teeth in his mouth, and immediately regained a mouth of good white teeth. When Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty saw it, he was surprised and praised. Exactly:
Playing with poisonous weeds to test the immortality will only make Mr. sleepless.
The immortal body is still there, and the teeth have been replaced with new ones.
Since then, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty believed in the magic of immortals even more.
Zhang Guolao’s thousand-year prophecy sees eight words in the world
In the “Eight Immortals’ Enlightenment Biography” written by Taoist Wugu in the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Guolao wrote a prophecy about future generations, which is full of warning and thought-provoking.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Guolao went to visit Zhang Tianshi one day. He happened to hear Zhang Tianshi talking with Wang and Huang, two spiritual officials in the air, saying that in the future, ghosts will be overwhelming in the world, and people will imitate ghosts.
Zhang Guo first smiled at Erlingguan and said, “I heard a wonderful theory in the air just now. What Ergong said about ghosts is so powerful that people will imitate ghosts. This sounds scary. In fact, this day will eventually happen in the future, but it will only be a thousand years later.”
Generally speaking, there are two paths of good and evil, which are divided into yin and yang. At the beginning of chaos, everyone is a fool. A fool has no chance to deceive, and a good person has no chance to deceive. In future generations, deceit and deceit will become stronger and stronger day by day, and as a result, the world’s moral standards and human hearts will also become weaker and weaker day by day. When it reaches the extreme thinness, that is when the yang energy disappears and the yin energy becomes strong. What Er Gong said about the overwhelming power of ghosts is just at the right time.
Ghosts are extremely yin, and what makes humans different from ghosts is a little bit of yang energy. When humans have no yang energy, how are they different from ghosts? It’s not that ghosts can subjugate people, nor do ghosts ask people to become ghosts. But at that time, ghosts will still be ghosts, and humans will be of the same kind as ghosts.
Therefore, things in the world are all despicable, dirty, insidious and cunning. When he is an official, he does not care about the public affairs and only knows how to bribe. Bribery can be done publicly, and Baoju does not have to be in the dark night, which is the case when ghosts snatch rice. Among ordinary people, filial piety can be abolished and immorality can be promoted. Just seek benefits to yourself, regardless of integrity and etiquette. It’s like being careless about ghosts and causing mischief at will, without caring about people’s embarrassment. These ghostly hearts, ghostly plans, and ghostly wisdom will surely be passed on to the living one by one in the future. As a result, humans and ghosts are indistinguishable, and the vast universe has truly become a world of ghosts, but this is all a matter of the future.
Looking with a poor Taoist’s perspective, we will always get this scene about fifteen hundred years ago. It’s too early to talk about it now. ”
After hearing this, the Heavenly Master smiled and said: “My old friend came from afar to visit me, but it turned out that he came just to complain.”
One sentence made Zhang Guo laugh. He added: “If you listen to these words today, you will say that I am exaggerating. But this is by no means a joke. It is true that this day will definitely happen in the future. The way of heaven and earth is nothing more than the two words of yin and yang. When yang is strong, yin will be weak. , when yin is strong, yang will also subside. In the past, people said that the world has been growing for a long time, and this is the truth.
In essence, it was first a knife and a gun, life and death, and melee fighting in all directions. It was often called a chaos, but it was not really a chaos. Because of this kind of chaos, what is messed up is just one word. Even though things are chaotic, people are still human, and the era when everyone’s heart will die and people turn into ghosts will be truly chaotic. As the saying goes, “When people’s hearts are deceived, the way of heaven changes.” These eight characters are just a footnote to the chaotic words.
This kind of true chaos can be compared with the rule of the Hun people in the era of chaos, that is, the Hun people are in the era of all yang, and the ghost world is the era of all yin. In this way, it gradually transformed from yang to yin, and tens of millions of years passed in between. It reached the extreme of chaos, and the final result was a complete chaos. But this confusion is absolutely the opposite of the ancient confusion.
One is the turbidity of the Yang pole, which is chaotic and humid, bustling with people, without distinction between self and self, and has an indescribable kind of infinite fun. The first is the confusion of the cathode, which is chaotic, topsy-turvy, confused, indistinguishable, and has an unbelievable kind of miasma. At this point, people’s hearts can be said to be extremely chaotic.
The so-called chaos lies in people’s hearts, not in human affairs. It is called fundamental chaos, not the details, which can be compared to the small chaos in one place and one moment. Only in the ancient times of the Hun people can we say that one can rule and one can be in chaos. From now on, heaven and earth will become one. It also needs to go through some development work and then enter the era of the Hun people, which is the beginning of re-ruling. The way of heaven is like this, nothing can be done. Although there are great sages with great wisdom, such as the Jade Emperor, Yuanshi Laojun, the Queen Mother, the Buddha of the West and Dongfang Shuo, they cannot undo the changes. ”
Zhang Tianshi, Lingguan and others were all surprised when they heard this.
Zhang Guolao rides a donkey upside down (see Chinese composite picture)
China a Thousand Years Later “People’s hearts are deceived, and the law of heaven is reversed”
Today, more than a thousand years after the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Guolao’s prediction has indeed come true. Thousand years after the Tang Dynasty, doesn’t it happen to be today?
“When you are an official, you don’t care about the public affairs, and you only know how to bribe. Bribery can be done fairly, but you don’t have to pay for it.” Officials at all levels of the CCP are almost all corrupt, and no official is ruthlessly corrupt. Bribery can be given openly, and money and treasures can be given away, real estate and beauty can be given away, and titles and official positions can be given away. Buying and selling officials has become an unspoken rule in the officialdom, and the price is clearly marked. Buying an official is an investment, selling an official is a return, and the money invested in buying an official is recovered multiple times through selling an official. CCP officials are simply engaging in a competition of corruption and bribery, and records are constantly being set: stolen money is measured in tons and cubic meters, moldy hair grows in the basement, and there are endless explosive news about the investigation of stolen money that killed two money counting machines.
In Chinese society under the rule of the CCP, incidents of elder abandonment and elder abuse emerge one after another. Granny Zhang in her 80s in Shapingba, Sichuan, had her feet locked with iron chains by her daughter-in-law; 76-year-old Yu Aiying in Dongying, Shandong was abused by her son and daughter-in-law, and her left breast was burned with a soldering iron; Mainland media on November 27, 2015 According to news, an old man in Xialu, Hubei was found dead at home. The old man had been dead for many years. When he was found, there was only a pile of bones left…
“Laws can be promoted. They only seek to benefit themselves and do not care about integrity and etiquette.” Under the CCP’s evil governance, China not only promotes lewdness, but party officials at all levels also engage in lewdness. Senior CCP officials have been exposed for at least 95 %Bao mistress. The CCP’s promiscuous trend is blowing hard, blowing the whole of China into an era of promiscuity.
Thousands of years ago, Zhang Guolao believed that the chaotic wars were not real chaos, because after the wars, the world would return to peace. The moral chaos of the human heart is the real chaos, so that “the human heart is deceived, and the law of heaven is reversed”, which means that the chaos is extremely extreme. Judging from China’s dynasty changes, this is indeed the case. So is the world. After the war, a new round of recuperation began, and peace returned to the world. World War II caused great chaos in the world and devastated all living beings. After the war, many countries in the world, including the Axis powers Germany and Japan, quickly recovered and achieved social progress and economic development.
In sharp contrast, under the rule of the CCP, China’s society has been completely corrupted, the world’s people are in chaos, it is difficult to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil are reversed, and it has entered the apocalyptic and chaotic era in which “people’s hearts are deceived and heaven’s laws are reversed.”
Bribery can be done openly, filial piety can be abolished, and immorality can be promoted, only to benefit oneself, regardless of integrity and etiquette; it is difficult to distinguish between beauty and ugliness, right and wrong, and reverse good and evil. This is a true portrayal of today’s society, even worse than what Zhang Guolao had foreseen.
Zhang Guolao’s discussion of the word “chaos” is amazing: It turns out that the wars and chaos in the past were not really chaos, because after the war, the world will return to peace. The moral chaos of people’s hearts is the real chaos. Only now that all people’s hearts are dead, people have turned into ghosts, people’s hearts have been bullied, and the way of heaven has changed, is the real chaos.
Zhang Guolao, as a Taoist who has attained Taoism, rode his donkey upside down because he found that the world was declining and that it was getting further and further away from the “Tao”. Therefore, “riding a donkey backwards” is used to warn the world. This is the real reason why Zhang Guolao “rided the donkey backwards”.
Editor in charge: Wen Li
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