12 Chapter 11: Divination by Yarrow Milfoil and Geomancy are Sciences!
Translator: 549690339
The man holding the camera, having been glared at, was obviously a little unconvinced. As he was about to say something, he saw the pleading look in the girl’s eyes and immediately fell silent.
Everyone entered the Taoist temple.
The middle-aged man responsible for installing broadband began to get busy after entering the temple, using various tools for measurements and the like.
Meanwhile.
The two people from Qingping TV Station were curiously looking around at the various facilities inside the Taoist temple.
Nowadays in Yan Country, there are Buddhist temples everywhere. Hence, for the people of Yan Country, Taoist temples are undoubtedly very mysterious.
Upon entering the Taoist temple, the girl turned to the man accompanying her and said, “Brother Zhao, you can turn on the camera now. Let’s start from here.”
The camera was turned on.
“Good day to our viewers. I’m Yang Ying, a reporter from Qingping TV Station.”
The girl smoothly recited her opening line, followed by an introduction, “Today, we are here at Qingping Temple in the Qingping Mountain Range. Qingping Temple was built in…”
She looked directly into the camera, and went over the construction times of Qingping Temple, as well as the general development history of Taoism.
It’s worth mentioning that.
In this process, she also gave a detailed introduction to several large halls in the Taoist temple. It seemed that she had done a lot of homework on Taoism before the interview.
Daoist priest Xuanqing saw all this and couldn’t help but give an imperceptible nod of approval.
….
Time moved forward to the afternoon.
Due to outsiders in the Taoist temple, Xuanqing didn’t stay in the game for long, only sparing some time to deal with his game character’s food needs.
After practicing for such a long period of time, the character in the Journey to the West World could go hungry for a few days and still not starve to death.
In the afternoon, as per usual, he needed to recite “Lingbao Salvation Miracle Sutra,” “Yuan Shi Says Ascending to Heaven and Attaining Tao,” and “The Supreme Yellow Emperor’s Book of the Sacred Treasure” in front of the Three Pure Ancestors Statue.
Inside the main hall.
Xuanqing sat cross-legged on a cushion, his eyes tightly closed. He held a wooden fish in his hand, and his lips moved constantly, reciting the daily rituals.
“Good men, good women, rely on fasting and other religious practices. That is the bridge for all actions to move towards the path of truth….”
The mysterious scripture, coupled with the crisp and melodious sound of the wooden fish, seemed to wash away the troubles of the mundane world, inducing a sense of quiet calm in people.
At the entrance of the main hall.
The camera recorded all this.
Standing outside the main hall with a microphone, Yang Ying had intended to interview Xuanqing, but after hearing the mesmerizing sounds, she stopped involuntarily.
She simply stood there, quietly absorbed in the recitation of the mystifying scripture.
This lasted until the recitation ended.
Only then did Yang Ying seem to awaken from a dream.
Seeing Yang Ying and the man holding the camera outside the hall, Xuanqing stood up, put the wooden fish aside, and gently greeted them, “Have you finished recording?”
Given that both of them quietly listened to the completion of the Taoist scriptures, and the girl had done her homework before interviewing, Xuanqing’s attitude toward them had definitely changed for the better.
“Daoist priest Xuanqing, we have mostly finished recording. We would now like to conduct an audio interview with you. Is that convenient for you?”
It seemed as if stars were twinkling in Yang Ying’s eyes, her face full of anticipation as she asked.
An audio interview?
To tell the truth.
Xuanqing did not like to be in the public eye, but if it was just an audio interview, that wouldn’t be a problem.
“Go ahead,” Xuanqing gave a slight nod.
Yang Ying made a note of a burst of energy, and then asked, “May I ask priest Xuanqing, why did you hit the wooden fish when you were reciting the scripture? Isn’t this something that is done in Buddhism?”
“The origin of the wooden fish has always been controversial, but according to the Taoist records, it was first used during the Six Dynasties.”
There was a slight pause from Xuanqing, then he continued, “In ‘Yiyuan’ Volume 2, it is said that you can take paulownia wood from Sichuan, carve it into the shape of a fish, and when you hit it, it sounds like a fish. This proves it.”
“Moreover, this is only the earliest document that has been passed down. It does not represent the first time the wooden fish appeared. Perhaps the actual time is even earlier.”
“Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer Taoist temples, and more and more Buddhist temples. People only see monks hitting wooden fish, and gradually they think that this is exclusively a Buddhist tool. In fact, that’s a misperception.”
…
With Xuanqing’s explanation,
Yang Ying’s eyes grew brighter and she couldn’t help thinking that this trip had been well worth it.
It’s really different coming from a professional Taoist college, they know so much.
“Thank you, Daoist priest Xuanqing for clearing my doubts. Are there other things like the wooden fish that people have misunderstood?” Yang Ying continued to ask.
Xuanqing slightly nodded, “There are many such misunderstandings, for example, the term ‘abbot’ was originally a Taoist title, and after being adopted by Buddhism…”
“Take the term ‘temple’ for example, in fact, it has two separate meanings. ‘Si’ refers to Buddhism, while ‘miao’ refers to Taoism, such as the Earth God Temple, General Temple, Dragon King Temple, and so on.”
…
Accompanied by Xuanqing’s explanation,
Whether it was Yang Ying or the man holding the camera, they both felt like they had been enlightened.
They didn’t realize that all these familiar terms were originally from Taoism. After Yan Country converted to Buddhism, these terms were quoted and were even mistaken as exclusively Buddhist.”
“I would like to ask, Daoist priest Xuanqing, in Taoism, there is the practice of refining external alchemy and divination through geomancy, the latter of which sometimes seems contrary to scientific principles. What’s the truth behind these practices?”
Upon hearing these words,
Xuanqing was slightly startled.
Having already cultivated mana, he naturally felt that geomancy could not be more real, but after the founding of the nation, only cultural heritage was allowed, not superstition or any talk of animals becoming spirits.
Therefore,
“You can regard geomancy and divination as Taoist research into psychology and natural laws. It is a technique that aligns with modern science.”
“The most direct examples are celestial disasters. In the Gengzi Year, when there is heavy rain, it will lead to a plague, and after the plague, there will be a drought.”
…
Listening to Daoist priest Xuanqing’s informative talk,
Yang Ying nodded as if she understood, but also as if she didn’t.
“That… Priest, can I make a presumptuous request?” Yang Ying said hesitantly.
“What request?”
Xuanqing frowned slightly, asking seriously.
Since she thought it was presumptuous, why would she ask if she could?
However,
Considering this young girl’s decent appearance and polite manners, it would be alright to ask first. As long as it wasn’t anything too outrageous, fulfilling her request wouldn’t be a problem.
“My family has been pressuring me to get married. Can the priest divine a gua for me to see when I will meet the one I like?” Yang Ying bit her lip and said somewhat shyly.
Upon hearing these words,
The man holding the camera immediately perked his ears up. Apparently, he had some special ideas about this newly graduated girl.
“I can try, but I can’t guarantee whether the result will be accurate or not!” Xuanqing nodded slightly, agreeing to the girl’s request.
Perfect.
He could also try to see if anything different would happen when he uses mana while divining with milfoil. If he would really be able to predict something.
“If you want to calculate your marriage fate, I will need to know your birth date and time according to the eight characters. Please tell me, Miss Yang Ying!”
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