Harry Potter Morning Light

Chapter 2111 Flower Controversy ([-])

According to Japanese legend, there is a kind of monster called Kokohino. In the story, the protagonist wakes up at night during the Obon festival, and the yard becomes a dream world he has never seen before. This kind of old lantern will give people An illusion of going back to ancient times, so it's no surprise that it turns into a monster in the night when no one is around.

There is also a kind of monster called Qingxing Lantern, which is made of blue paper, and people will play a game of "hundred ghosts" around it. Each participant has to tell a ghost story, about 100. About two stories later, there will be a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl in white clothes. This girl was also a player before, but died for unknown reasons, and then became a monster named "Qing Xing Deng".

In fact, in India, the birthplace of Buddhism, the Obon Festival is no longer so popular. At least Nick did not encounter related celebrations when he traveled in India.

It is very important for people in the southeast coastal areas to pay homage to Mazu. The celebrations have already begun a few days before Mazu's birthday, and the already prosperous Guangzhou has been decorated with more flowers and lights.Some spectators sat crowded on the roof, lying next to each other in front of the window, or even directly on the wall. The second floor of each house is usually a women’s boudoir, and the girls rushed to the window, holding hands. Shaking the fan inside, showing his outstanding demeanor

Through the headgear, it can be seen which one is older and married and which one is the girl who is waiting to be married.Married women generally wear a phoenix headdress. The phoenix is ​​a mythical bird in Chinese legend. The headdress in the shape of a phoenix makes the bird's head face down, even down to the forehead, and its wings spread out to the temples.The unmarried women let their temple hair hang down against their faces. Although this strand of black hair made them a little shy, they were not embarrassed by their behavior.

As for the men, they were submerged in the crowd, without any distinctive features. From a distance, it seemed that everyone was stacked on top of each other, with their bald heads next to each other. They blocked the aisle with a slight movement, so the yamen servants Just use the short whip to drive them back to their original positions.

What puzzled Nick was why there were two ragged men at the back of the extravagant Buddhist procession, each carrying a shoulder pole with a square box at each end of the pole with many small parasols inside.Is this a symbol, or are they all commodities?
There are monuments in European squares, and gate-shaped memorial buildings are often erected in Chinese public places, which are called "pailou". , in recognition of his merit or character.

The archway is made of wood or stone, and has three or five doors. The number of doors is mainly determined by the location where it is built.

There is a wooden archway near Guangzhou Customs. The bright vermilion and sky blue paint makes it look quite elegant, and various decorations are hung in various shops, which are very beautifully decorated.

This commercial street is where the Thirteen Banks and foreign guilds are located. The locals call it the "Bund". It was built along the north bank of the Pearl River, running east-west. The siltation along the coast intensified, and the river beach developed, gradually forming land and turning it into a big market.

Nick bought a sterling silver plate with beautiful patterns on it. It is a silversmith style made by the Moors. Nick plans to go to the place where lacquerware was sold just now to buy a beautiful box, so that it can be used as a present for the admiral. A gift for him to protect himself for the rest of his journey.

But near the archway, he met Harrock of the East India Company. Harrock invited Nick to a nearby club. The tower, except that the boats on the river are Chinese style, looks like it has come to Istanbul.

"What are you thinking about?" Hallock asked Nick. It seemed that he hadn't given up on asking Nick to map the coastal areas.

The price offered by Harrock is very attractive. If other European friends encounter such an opportunity, they may do so.

But just as Nick is hesitating, he's involved in a rather bizarre and even dangerous attack that has him lost in thought.

"For us, we don't have to take the Qing government's moral values ​​seriously." Hallock said after handing Nick a glass of whiskey "and don't be intimidated by their stupid bans. In order to ensure trade balance, we need to put some good With a harbour, even an island, in our hands, our prospects for trade are fully protected and our momentum of growth unstoppable."

Harrock's statement seems to be full of reason and appeal, but in fact it is a sophistry to glorify trade policy. What kind of moral interest is strong enough to resist commercial interest in this era?
No trade has expanded so rapidly in recent centuries except the opium trade, and India has monopolized it.

The Qing government was already extremely concerned about the growing opium epidemic, and banned its importation and stopped imposing duties, even though it was originally imported as a drug.

Smuggling activities are becoming more and more rampant when formal trade channels are blocked. The governments of the two countries should work together and make great efforts to destroy this trading system. However, more and more capital is invested in this system. Countermeasures will inevitably affect the interests of people who make huge profits from it.

Nick couldn't agree with Harrock's statement of "not taking other people's moral values ​​seriously", and although unfortunately, the journey for the drawing was interesting, he refused Harrock's request.

Bonaparte snorted.

"What?" she asked angrily.

"Nothing." He said with a deliberate smile.

Georgiana glared at him.

Now there are two lumps of very red rouge on her face, he put on too much, not only did it not have the effect of modifying, but it looked like he was drunk.

She didn't wipe it off because it was ugly, anyway, if someone laughed at her, the laugher would never know why Bonaparte was angry, because it wasn't her who was "untechnical".

She began to read Nick Polo's travel notes again.

Unsolved mysteries often need to be tried by judges with unique eyesight. There is an official Bao Zheng who is loved by the common people. He is a figure in the Song Dynasty. The first story about him is called "Bao Daizhi's Wisdom Survey Chalk Circle". A woman confronted Bo in court for competing for a child.When Bao Zheng reviewed the case, he ordered someone to draw a column with lime on the steps of the court, and put the child in it, declaring that whoever pulled the child out first would be the birth mother.After two rounds of pulling, the child's biological mother was defeated, and the other woman ignored the child and dragged the child fiercely. From this, the wise Bao Zheng saw who the real mother was and made a fair judgment. .

There is also a popular short story "Picture of Pleasure", which also tells a similar case-solving story. After death, an old man intends to leave the inheritance to the concubine, but he does not want the eldest son to hate the concubine, so he hides the will. In one painting, which was later deciphered by a discerning judge, the mysterious painting contained the will of the deceased old man, according to which the brothers divided the estate equally.

Like the practice in Europe, this story was adapted into a short play, and there were many applause from the audience.

If it wasn't for that note, Nick wouldn't believe that Guangzhou would soon be in chaos.

Maybe, he is like the protagonist in the story of the ancient cage fire, the yard turned into a dream world after waking up, and he accidentally walked into the yard from the house.

The Buddha also has a story about a dancer named Amoba Liyuan. She is not only young and beautiful, but also has excellent dancing skills, but she does not perform for people at will. No matter how much money she has, she will not perform for them. At the age of 16, she experienced a heart-wrenching love affair.She fell in love with the then young Prince Bimbasara, and she bore him a son, Xu Bojia.But no one in the palace was willing to accept Ambali and her son, threatening that Xu Bojia was just an abandoned baby picked up by the prince from a big bucket by the roadside.Because of these false accusations, Amobali's self-esteem was greatly damaged.Because the people in the palace became jealous of her, she endured the humiliation.In the end, she found that her freedom was the only thing worth maintaining. She never lived in the palace and vowed never to give up her freedom again.

The Buddha said to her gently: "The birth and death of beauty is just like other phenomena. It is the same as fame and fortune. Only the peace, joy and freedom derived from meditation are true happiness. Amobali , it is very important that you cherish every moment you have left in your life and not allow yourself to be lost in mindless or meaningless entertainment."

The Buddha told Amabali how she could rearrange her daily life—practicing breathing, sitting still, working mindfully and observing the five precepts.She was very happy to receive these precious admonitions from the Buddha.Before leaving, she said, "I have a mango grove outside the city, which is cool and peaceful. I hope you and your monks will consider visiting there. It will be a great honor for me and my son. Lord Buddha, please Please consider my invitation."

Buddha accepted with a smile.

After she left, a monk asked the Buddha, "Master, how should a monk deal with beauty? Does beauty, especially the beauty of women, hinder one's practice?"

The Buddha smiled and replied, "Beauty and ugliness are just concepts created in our minds. They are inseparable from the five aggregates. In the eyes of an artist, a cloud, a leaf, a flower, a ray of light, or a golden afternoon All have different beauty, the golden bamboo next to us is also beautiful, but maybe there is no beauty that can move a man more easily than the beauty of a woman. When a liberated person looks at beauty, he will also see the unbeautiful part at the same time , this person understands all impermanence and emptiness, including all beauty and ugliness, so he will not be confused by beauty, nor will he resist ugliness. The only beauty that will not fade away and produce distress is compassion and liberation. The peace and joy of beauty are not affected by external factors and environments, so practice diligently, and then you will also realize true beauty.”

When the rainy season was over, the Buddha suggested that the monk who asked the question leave. At this time, he had become a monk. He knew that people in the capital were surprised to see him now, but at the same time he felt a little regretful to leave this bamboo forest.

Nick writes in the book that if a painter's job is to find a cloud, a leaf, a flower, a ray of light, or a golden afternoon, the beauty created by the creator, then what the Buddhist seeks is the beauty that is free from all these , does this have something to do with what Mencius said that people tend to be good, but because of external influences, they turn to evil?

Georgiana felt that if Qing Xingdeng was a beautiful girl, even if she was a monster, would people still be afraid of her?
The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who walks deep prajna paramita for a long time, sees the five aggregates in emptiness and saves all suffering.

Sariputra, form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form, form is emptiness, emptiness is form, and the same is true of perception, thought, action, and consciousness.

Sarira is the empty phase of all dharmas, neither born nor destroyed, neither dirty nor clean, neither increasing nor decreasing.

That is why there is no color in the air, no thoughts, no eyes and ears, no color, no scent, no vision, no unconscious.There is no ignorance, nor the end of ignorance, nor even old age and death, nor the end of old age and death.There is no suffering to destroy the way, no wisdom and no gain.

With nothing to gain, Bodhisattva, according to Prajna Paramita, has no hindrance in the heart, no hindrance, no terror, far away from reversing dreams, and finally Nirvana.

All the Buddhas of the three times, by virtue of Prajna Paramita, attained Anuttarasamyaksabodhi.

Therefore, we know that Prajna Paramita is the great divine mantra, the great bright mantra, the unsurpassed mantra, and the unparalleled mantra. It can remove all suffering, and it is true and not false.

So sayPrajna ParamitaThat is to say, cursing: uncovering and uncovering, Boluo reveals, Boluo reveals, Bodhisattva.

The young monk asked the old monk, "Master, after you recited the mantra, why are these tigers down the mountain still so cute?"

The old monk patted the young monk's bald head, "I still think it's cute? What kind of mountain do you go down if you don't clean your six senses? Go up the mountain and continue to practice."

After all, the old monk dragged the young monk by his back collar and led him back to the bamboo forest.

(End of this chapter)