In the 80s of the last century, a "Shaolin Temple" movie became popular all over the country, triggering a domestic martial arts craze. In this craze, many martial arts masters have emerged, and Master Hai Lantern is one of them.
The 77-year-old Hai Deng's two-finger handstand in the documentary has attracted countless martial arts fans, who have come to learn from him. Movies, TV series and ** based on the Sea Lantern Mage have also appeared one after another, making him famous at home and abroad.
Master Hai Deng: A Life Intertwined with Martial Arts and Buddhism As his reputation grew, Master Hai Lantern faced controversy from all sides. Some people are full of admiration for his life's martial arts, while others accuse him of boasting and grandstanding.
So, what kind of person is Master Hai Deng? In 1902, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, Fan Jinghe was born in a dilapidated house in Jiangyou, Sichuan. His father was a tailor who made a living by sewing clothes for the townspeople, but life was difficult due to the lack of business.
When he was four years old, his mother died of illness, leaving only father and son to rely on each other.
Fan Jinghe's father was busy with work and couldn't accompany him often, so he sent him to his uncle's house, which was a profound martial arts attainment. When his uncle saw that he was interested in martial arts, he readily agreed to take him as an apprentice.
Although Fan Jinghe was thin and weak, he was very diligent, pressing his knees with tiles and carrying a bucket on his head every day, and continued to practice martial arts. These trainings laid a solid foundation for him to advance on the path of martial arts.
In 1913, Fan Jinghe was only 12 years old. The world was in turmoil, and the town's bullies were tyrannical and oppressive, often causing trouble in the street shops.
On one occasion, they broke into Fan Jinghe's father's tailor's shop and threatened to collect protection money. However, Fan's father would rather die than give in, and resolutely uncompromised. So, the bullies pushed him to the ground, and a group of ** surrounded him and punched and kicked him.
During this period, I don't know who poisoned him and kicked him in the internal organs, causing him to vomit blood from his mouth. When Fan Jinghe and his uncle arrived, his father's life was hanging by a thread and could not be recovered.
However, the bullies have long since slipped away. Seeing his father being killed by bullies, the hatred in Fan Jinghe's heart was surging like a tide, and he secretly vowed to avenge his father.
Since then, he has worked harder to learn martial arts, hoping to one day take revenge with his own hands.
When Fan Jinghe was young, he was not only proficient in martial arts, but also excelled in literature, and has always been among the best in private schools. After his father's death, he made ends meet by submitting manuscripts and helping teachers correct assignments.
In 1918, 17-year-old Fan Jinghe was admitted to the Sichuan Provincial National Police Supervision School with the first place, and his life was guaranteed. However, he still did not forget his dedication to the revenge of killing his father, and insisted on getting up early to practice martial arts at school every day.
In 1920, Fan Jinghe changed his name to Fan Wuxi, at this time he was alone, and his only wish was that he could be disease-free. In order to retaliate, he looked for famous teachers everywhere, refined his martial arts, and later met Wang Tiquan, an instructor of the 28th Army of the Sichuan Army.
He studied the boxing techniques commonly used in the army from Wang Tiquan for a period of time, and later learned some Taoist martial arts from Zhu Zhihan, the Taoist chief recommended by Wang Tiquan.
Fan Wuxi's martial arts, although it is a side-by-side way, exudes the charm of the rivers and lakes. In 1928, warlords from all over the country fought and the Shaolin Temple was also destroyed. In this context, the two monks of the temple were relieved in Sichuan.
At that time, Fan Wuxian lived in Chengdu Zhaojue Temple, and when he heard the news, he followed everyone to Wuyue Palace Street**. One of the monks was Shi Zhenxu, who performed Shaolin stunts in public, which caused people to be amazed.
Fan Wuxie's eyes lit up, and he secretly thought to himself: "If I can learn Shaolin Kung Fu, the day of avenging my father should not be too far away." In the next few days, Fan Wuxian followed the two eminent monks, determined to learn from the teacher.
In the end, Shi Zhenxu felt his sincerity and said to him: "This is the stunt of this temple, and it will not be taught to the public." If you want to learn Shaolin Kung Fu, you must light a candle and return to Buddhism. ”
Fan Wuxian was alone and had no worries, so he chose to join Buddhism, which was a natural choice. He followed the two eminent monks, learning martial arts while turning his fate, starting from the basic Tongzigong and refining and refining qi, getting up at three o'clock in the morning every day and devoting himself to training.
In Huilong Temple, he learned from the Yunchan monk and the old man Danyan from the internal and external pile gong and Shaolin boxing routines, and received careful guidance from many famous teachers, and his martial arts skills improved day by day.
However, when the group left Sichuan and returned to Songshan, Fan Wuxian wanted to continue learning martial arts at the Shaolin Temple, but was rejected by Master Zhenjun. Master Zhenjun thought that Fan Wuxian had too many negative emotions and hatred, and was afraid that he would go astray, so he did not allow him to continue learning Shaolin Kung Fu.
After spending some time at the Shaolin Temple, Fan Wuxian did not make progress and eventually had to leave. In 1932, Fan Wuzhi was admitted to the Chengdu North Field Officer Education Corps and continued his studies.
During this time, he returned to his hometown and personally punished the bully who killed his father. He watched the once invincible "social cancer" die in his hands, and the hatred in his heart for 20 years finally dissipated.
At the end of October 1937, he went to Zhaojue Monastery in the company of Elder Fotai and asked for ordination. Master Zhiguang saw that he was very knowledgeable and had been freed from the shackles of the world, so he put on a robe for him and named him "Sea Lantern" according to the age of the temple.
Master Hai Deng, both civil and military, has been loved after becoming a monk of Zhaojue Temple, not only the Mandarin teacher and martial arts teacher of the Zhaojue Temple Buddhist College, but also became the host of the Qiqu Mountain Temple in Zitong County and the chairman of the local Buddhist Association.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, in 1945, Master Hai Deng began to travel out of Sichuan, he visited many famous mountains and ancient temples, and exchanged scriptures with the monks in the local temples everywhere, and competed in martial arts.
Because of his special relationship with the Shaolin Temple, Master Hai Deng once again stepped into this sacred temple. However, at this time, the Shaolin Temple suffered heavy losses in the destruction of the war, the incense and popularity of the past no longer existed, the number of monks dropped sharply, some were exiled, some even lost their lives in the artillery fire, and Shaolin Kung Fu was also in danger of being lost.
Seeing this situation, Master Hai Deng immediately decided to stay and teach the monks of Shaolin what he had learned to do kung fu. The presiding officer of the Shaolin Temple at that time was worried about the inheritance of Shaolin Kung Fu, and he was thrilled when he heard about Master Hai Deng's idea.
So, in 1946, Shaolin Temple hired Master Hai Deng as a professor of national arts, let him live in Yunshui Hall, and go to the bamboo forest in the back mountain every day to guide the monks in kung fu.
Master Hai Lantern practices Shaolin Kung Fu every day, and his martial arts have reached the realm of perfection. Under his guidance, the warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple made rapid progress and soon mastered the long-lost martial arts, bringing Shaolin Kung Fu back to life.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, social harmony and stability created favorable conditions for Master Hai Lantern to spread martial arts. He traveled all over the country, participated in martial arts competitions and performances, won warm applause, and was hired as a martial arts coach at the Shanghai Sports Palace.
At the same time, he also insisted on spreading Buddhism, leading them to visit Zhenru Temple in Jiangxi, Shigong Temple in Suzhou and Foguang Temple in Shanxi, and study Buddhist scriptures and discuss Taoism with local monks.
In 1969, at the age of 70, Venerable Hai Deng returned to his hometown of Jiangyou City, where he built a thatched hut at the foot of the mountain in Chonghua Town, intending to spend his old age here, only occasionally receiving invitations to visit the mountain.
The Sea Lantern Mage could have lived out his old age in peace, but an invitation changed everything. In 1979, he was invited by the director of a Hong Kong film company's co-production with Emei Film Studio's documentary "Sichuan Strange Records" to demonstrate his Shaolin stunt, the two-finger Zen.
Although he was 77 years old and his physical condition did not allow him to make such difficult movements, the soft grinding of the film crew and the pampering of the apprentices made him finally agree.
Although this decision kept him in praise and doubt until his death, he persevered and showed his tenacity and determination.
After the broadcast of the documentary, Master Hai Deng's excellent kung fu performance has aroused the popularity of martial arts enthusiasts, who have come to learn. As a propagator of martial arts, he devoted all his efforts to those who came to study, without reservation.
In 1982, the movie "Shaolin Temple" starring Jet Li set off a martial arts boom in China, and many people came to Songshan in the hope of learning martial arts in this temple, and the sales of various martial arts ** and martial arts books on the market also increased significantly.
Against this backdrop, Xiao Dingpei, a writer from Jiangyou City, published a press release vaguely linking Master Hai Deng with Shaolin Temple, and for a time, Master Hai Deng became famous.
Then, some writers used this as material to create a book called "The Biography of Master Hai Deng", and the Beijing Evening News was even more specially divided into pages**This**, which directly and clearly stated that Master Hai Deng was the abbot of Shaolin Temple, which later attracted people's doubts.
In 1984, Master Hai Deng became famous in China for his outstanding performances in films such as "Shaolin Sea Lantern Master" and "Buddhist Career", and was not only elected as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, but also invited to perform at the Spring Festival Gala, and became a popular "Internet celebrity" across the country for a while.
In 1985, Master Hai Deng visited the United States with a film delegation, and his apprentice Fan Yinglian performed well on stage, easily defeating the tall American boxer Victor, who weighed more than himself, and sparked the "Shaolin Whirlwind" craze in the United States.
In 1986, Master Hai Deng was invited to the Shanghai Armed Police Command School to teach students martial arts, and in 1987, the series "Master Hai Deng" filmed by Sichuan TV further increased the popularity of Master Hai Deng in the hearts of the people.
In the face of the questioning of Master Hai Deng, people mainly focus on three questions: First, did he ever serve as the abbot of Shaolin? The answer is no. As early as 1666, when Master Haikuan served as the abbot, he had ordered that "the position of the abbot must be vacant", so after his death, Shaolin Temple has not inherited this position for more than 300 years.
It was not until the 80s that the broadcast of the "Shaolin Temple" movie attracted widespread attention, and my country learned that there was no abbot in the Shaolin Temple, so in December 1986, Master Xingzheng was officially promoted to the abbot.
When the saying that "Master Hai Deng is the abbot of Shaolin Temple" spread, in fact, Shaolin Temple had not yet set up an abbot, and the person in charge at that time was Shi Xingzheng. Shi Xingzheng has been friends with Venerable Hai Deng for many years, and in 1982, he passed by Jiangyou on his way to Chengdu Buddhist College, and the two once met.
After that, Master Hai Lantern led six ** to live in Shaolin Temple. However, after Master Hai Lantern quickly became popular with the name of the Shaolin abbot, Shi Xingzheng was very angry.
Although this rumor originated from ** with fictional elements, the Sea Lantern Mage did not come out to clarify. Because of this, Shi Xing thought that Hai Deng was doing this to make money, and the two broke up unhappily after talking, and then issued an expulsion order to the seven masters and apprentices.
1.Shaolin Temple chose not to pursue the matter after Hai Deng's master and apprentice left, but in 1985, the Propaganda Department of the Dengfeng County Party Committee wrote a letter to **, which had helped Hai Deng's publicity, asking them to issue a correction statement.
However, because a long time has passed, and ** is unwilling to expose their shortcomings, they politely declined the request of the Dengfeng County Party Committee. 2.After Master Hai Lantern became famous, there were many reports about his learning experience, various magazines and **, among them"Rufeng"The name has appeared several times, so it is generally believed that Master Hai Deng studied under Master Ru Feng of Shaolin Temple.
However, when people became suspicious of this matter,"Rufeng"The issue has caused a huge controversy. As we all know, the Dharma names of the monks of Shaolin Temple are arranged according to the characters, for example, the current Shaolin abbot Shi Yongxin is the Yongzi generation, and he had it before"OK"、"Duc"、"Vegetarian"、"Chastity"and so on"Rufeng"This name is obviously not the Dharma name of the Shaolin monks.
It is rumored that Master Ru Feng did not exist, but was only made up by Master Hai Deng. But actually,"Rufeng"It is the alias of Master Zhenxu, just like the ancient literati often had aliases. At that time, the temple of Master Zhenxu was destroyed, and the Shaolin monk ** was lost.
In order to revitalize Shaolin, he temporarily changed his name to another name. While"Thou"The word is one of the end of Shaolin's 70 generations, and it entrusts his wish for the revival of Shaolin.
After accepting Hai Lantern as an apprentice, Master Zhenxu said: "Accept you as an apprentice, pass on your heart seal, ask the teacher, and call me 'Shaolin Rufeng'." It can be seen that although Master Hai Deng is not a monk of Shaolin Temple, his martial arts skills do originate from Shaolin.
Whether or not the Sea Lantern Mage is really superior in martial arts has always been a topic of controversy. In 1979, he became famous for his two-finger Zen performance in "Sichuan Strange Records".
However, it was later discovered that the documentary was shot from a faulty angle, and a closer look revealed that the legs of the lantern were supported by thin wires when they were upside down. This has led to questions that his martial arts stunt may be just a **.
At that time, some so-called "martial arts masters" stood up to speak out, which made the opposition more intense. Years after the death of Master Hai Deng, similar doubts still exist.
Later, his apprentice reveals the truth. It turned out that the film crew had hoped to record Hai Deng's Shaolin stunts, but because Hai Deng was 77 years old and his body could not make such difficult movements, they refused the invitation.
Overall, whether the Sea Lantern Mage's martial arts are superior or not, there may not be a clear answer to this question. Whether his martial arts stunt is ** or not, perhaps only he himself and those who really know him know.
However, no matter what, Master Hai Deng's love for martial arts and dedication to life are worthy of our respect.
Despite the safety issues and filming challenges, the director was convinced that this was a great opportunity to spread the word about Chinese martial arts. With the support of many apprentices, Master Hai Lantern finally agreed to participate in the shooting.
To ensure his safety and filming schedule, the film crew used ropes to assist him in completing the performance. However, no one expected that this decision would become his most criticized point years later.
He has been a martial artist since he was a child, and has participated in many martial arts competitions and won many honors, and has also taught kung fu in the army and police academies. With his outstanding martial arts, he won the favor of the authorities.
These are undoubtedly a testament to his technical prowess.
The '80s were a time of great excitement, and a small hot spot could spark everyone's enthusiasm. The popularity of the Sea Lantern Mage is the best proof of that era.
However, the public and ** have created a character that only appears in martial arts, and once there is a flaw, it will attract overwhelming criticism, isn't this a sadness?