Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The video of the cranes appearing at the Baoyang Temple Dharma Conference had been shared numerous times. Some people also popularized the fact that this was a Taoist temple in Qiyang City, called Baoyang Temple. Not long ago, it became famous because of the fox it rescued.
At first, most people paid attention to it because of the beautiful pictures and the magical plot. Later, more and more people became aware of the incident. Some people who were familiar with Taoist culture cited classics and told an example of a famous Taoist priest in ancient times attracting a crane, proving that this was a miracle of contemporary Taoism.
Some people really wanted to believe it after seeing the popular science.
But naturally, someone came forward at this time and said that it was just a coincidence. This red-crowned crane was not afraid of people. It was artificially raised, maybe it was a hype, although he didn’t know how the red-crowned crane was trained.
Many people believe this and said that this Taoist temple must have specially chosen two of the most handsome people to appear in the photo, making it so attractive.
“Nonsense, the average appearance of people in this Taoist temple is high.” Someone also dug out previous photos, including Zhang Daoting.
The locals in Qiyang had more information and had also brought some information from local forums. “Locals said that Baoyang Temple is quite effective. There are two most famous examples. One is the mosquito repellent charm they sell. There are many local people who have it. It can guarantee that there will be no mosquitoes in the house for a season, but now it is sold out and it is difficult to get it. Now it is the season when there are many mosquitoes. I don’t know if I can buy it. Also, the main god in the temple, the king spirit officer, is very good. Someone was disrespectful at their door before, and he had to go to burn incense and apologize.”
Netizens couldn’t help but be confused. They just thought the crane and the fox were funny, so they praised them a lot. If you feel like a fairy, you want to play like this. How come you are so smart?
Also, what is a mosquito repellent charm? They had heard of amulets but house amulets that could repel mosquitoes. This sounded a bit like a lie. But it didn’t seem to be a secret locally, and many people had verified it.
Many people were interested in asking if they could buy it online. If it was not expensive, they really wanted to verify it for themselves. Only practice could reveal the truth. What was the use of just arguing.
There were those who supported it and those who opposed it. The opponents seem to think that things like cranes, foxes, mosquito repellents, etc. were just a way to fool people and make money.
At this time, the latest local news also came to light: the “Cranes” arrived at Baoyang Temple, and the person in charge immediately contacted the local zoo to return the escaped red-crowned cranes.
That was the follow-up to the crane incident. The article also wrote how the red-crowned cranes escaped, the person in charge expressed his gratitude to the Taoist temple, and so on.
——Everyone can see that they are vying with each other on the Internet. It seems that the Taoist temple itself has no intention of publicizing that it has attracted the crane.
At this time, someone found out that the master in red should be a graduate student majoring in religion at the Department of Philosophy of Queshan University. No wonder he contacted the zoo immediately.
Everyone had their own opinions on whether the talisman was effective or not, but in the end, the trend of reviews was quite consistent with that of the fox last time, that was, Baoyang Temple must be a good place with beautiful mountains and clear waters!
Otherwise, even if it was a coincidence that the red-crowned cranes escaped, why did they go to Baoyang Temple instead of staying elsewhere?
No one refuted this point, because just watching the Yang Yang concept in the video did give people a sense of being out of the world.
Looking at the lively netizens, regardless of whether the talismans worked or whether cranes and foxes understood human nature, they thought this place was interesting. After checking the location, if it was not too far from them, they would go there on the weekend!
This incident could be said to be the first step for Baoyang Temple to become famous throughout China, and it had indeed attracted believers and tourists from other places.
Because they already had leisure tea drinking activities in the temple, this unintentional preparation made many tourist guides later mention that you must drink tea when you go to Baoyang Temple even if you can’t smell the incense. This further expanded the audience scope.
As for finding out that Baoyang Temple was not in the mountains after arriving locally, that was another story.
….
Xie Lingya discovered that Baoyang Temple’s official account had suddenly gained a lot of followers, and its IPs were distributed all over the country. It was probably due to the attention of Xianhe Search.
Many people also sent messages asking if Baoyang Temple could open an online store. They wanted to buy a mosquito repellent charm to learn more.
“Do these people want to use my talisman for research? There is not even enough to supply Taoist temples.”
Now they rarely sold mosquito repellent charms, because the most popular ones were amulets and the like, and the time in a day was limited. Of course, Xie Lingya mainly drew the amulets.
However, with so many people calling for it and gaining a lot of followers, Xie Lingya drew 20 mosquito repellent charms and held an event on WeChat to draw them out and give them away to give back to his fans.
Just leave a message to participate in the draw.
Now the number of fans had increased again, and the clicks on previous articles had also increased – those who could pay attention were more or less interested in this, and quite a few of them liked to read their popular science or daily photos.
It was now early summer, and mosquitoes had begun to appear. Last year, Xie Lingya relied on the mosquito repellent charm to make Baoyang Temple famous in Qiyang, and he was not afraid of spreading it to other places.
Of course, during this period, Xie Lingya still had to complete the rituals for Ning Wanlai first.
It was a pity that the Jiang Zhen Xiang he ordered last time was wasted after it was burned, so he had to make it over again. The raw materials were not cheap.
This time, there were more people watching, as they knew this ritual had attracted the cranes last time. Fortunately, the quality of the audience was relatively high, and there were old believers who reminded them that the scene must still be very solemn.
Using the incense as a guide, sacrifices were offered, and ghosts were saved to accumulate merit.
After such a ritual, although Ning Wanlai was still asked to go to the underworld, he told his parents when he came back that the strongmen had become more relaxed and their attitude towards him was much better than before.
The Ning family all felt that there was great hope, and Ning Wanlai’s mentality had improved a lot. He wanted to continue like this and continue to manage a few more times, then he should be able to resign.
….
After Xie Lingya’s lottery was completed, twenty mosquito repellent charms were given away. Most of the people who received it also posted their feedback online, and without exception, they were very helpful.
So the topic that didn’t come to a conclusion last time was discussed again. After all, twenty people were still a minority, and there was no way to prove that they were not shills.
Besides, among these twenty people, there were still people who were wondering what the principle was and whether some potion was sprinkled on top.
This was almost the same scene as when the Mosquito Repellent Talisman first became popular in Qiyang, so Xie Lingya didn’t care even more. The believers couldn’t be forced anyway, and he was busy with other things.
Because of the popularity brought by these online discussions, more Taoist priests came to Baoyang Temple to apply for jobs. There were even more people, and some wanted to become a monk here for a short period of time.
It was easy to apply, but Baoyang Temple had indeed been short of people for a long time. Especially now that the number of pilgrims had increased sharply, recruiting people was an urgent matter.
Xie Lingya decided to recruit five more permanent Taoist priests at one go–permanent residents, at least, would not be able to live in the temple at night for more than half a year.
Because they couldn’t live in it, there were no rooms, and the expanded complex was still under construction. It would be like a school dormitory, with ten or eight people sleeping in bunk beds in a room. That would be enough, but the bathrooms would not be enough, and the quality of life would be too poor.
So, Xie Lingya planned to rent a house nearby for a period of time, and then the new Taoist priest would temporarily stay in the rented house, and then move back when his own building was completed.
As for short-term monks, Xie Lingya himself was confused. He only knew that in some countries that mainly believe in Buddhism, men would become monks for a period of time. But how could they come here to want to become a monk?
It was Liu Bohe who told him that many temples and Taoist temples now had such a business. On weekends and holidays, they recruited short-term monk disciples. They were usually urbanites who wanted to experience the pure life of a monk. They could do it for a time as short as two or three days, and as long as three months and half a year, which might grow to two or three years.
These people who became monks for a short period of time must also observe the precepts, clean the house, chant sutras, etc. Of course, they had to pay a fee for living and classes. Rather than saying that it was a short-term ordination, it was more appropriate to call it an experience class.
“Hahaha, are they giving me money to work?” Xie Lingya said happily, “I think so, but even if we can afford it, people will feel cheated when they come to our place. During the day, they listen to the shouts of the two-yuan store and listen to the music of square dancing at night, my place is noisier than the place where they work, and it is not clean!”
Liu Bohe: “…Yes!”
When he mentioned this, he was easily distracted by the accompaniment of the dancing in the square outside.
….
For Taoist priests who come to Baoyang Temple to apply for jobs, it was customary to take a written test first and then an interview. During the interview, several permanent Taoist priests in the temple were present. Xie Lingya was also there, and even gave them questions, “Please discuss it based on your own reality. What is your understanding of ‘precepts and strict conduct’? “
Some people who did well in the written examination were not able to do well in the interview.
When Xie Lingya saw something good, he wanted to feel the bones and feel the pulse. He hadn’t forgotten that his uncle didn’t have any direct disciples.
While Xiao Dian went out a little to pour and replenish tea for everyone. After reading the test questions, he felt that being a Taoist priest was not that simple anymore. He couldn’t do it even if he didn’t have any knowledge.
When he went out to fill the water, he saw Shi Changxuan who had just gotten off work. He said hello and said smoothly: “Master Shi, the exams are not over yet. Teacher Xie said that we will eat later.”
“Okay.” Shi Changxuan put down the book and asked, “Have you decided on someone yet?”
Xiao Dian said, “It seems there is no one particularly suitable yet. Teacher Xie is touching someone.”
Shi Changxuan paused in his movements.
Xiao Dian: “?”
Xie Lingya was looking at human bones when the door was pushed open. Shi Changxuan stood at the door and strode in without stopping. His clothes were windy and he was very imposing.
“Huh? What are you doing?” Xie Lingya still put his hand on the person’s chest and looked at Shi Changxuan innocently, “Are you hungry?”
The other Taoist priests also wiped their sweat secretly. Taoist priest Shi’s posture, if not for his expressionless face, would have been really… Kind of like trying to eat people.
Shi Changxuan looked at Xie Lingya’s movements with a somewhat complicated mood. He knew that he wanted to recruit a permanent Taoist priest, but he almost forgot that Xie Lingya was still looking for his uncle’s successor.
The Phytolacca God was very anxious: “Why are you still standing there!”
Shi Changxuan turned away his face and said: “…I will teach you the method of identifying people without looking at the bones.”
Xie Lingya learned this method from “Baoyang Notes”, but it was relatively superficial and you had to use your hands on it to touch it. What Shi Changxuan meant was that he had a way to do it without touching it, just looking at it.
“No need, it’s very convenient for me to do this.” Xie Lingya didn’t know why he suddenly rushed in to teach him.
The Taoist priest who was touched also laughed cheerfully, and said jokingly: “Yes, finish touching it quickly, do I have to wait until I have to spend the night here?”
Shi Changxuan: “It’s only for a while anyway.”
Xie Lingya: “…”
Everyone: “…”
Shi Changxuan held Xie Lingya’s wrist and pulled him out.
The remaining Taoist priest said confusedly: “What will happen in a while?”
The others drank tea silently. Alas, if you can come in, you will naturally know.
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