Liangqing (良卿法师) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title | Abbot |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1896 |
| Died | 12 July 1967(1967-07-12) (aged 70–71) |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Occupation | Monk |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| Cause of death | Burns fromself-immolation |
Liangqing (良卿法师) was a ChineseBuddhist monk andabbot ofFamen Temple (Chinese:法门寺;pinyin:Fǎmén Sì).
At the beginning of the ChineseCultural Revolution in 1966, a campaign was introduced to destroy theFour Olds. As Buddhist sites and temples were widely targeted during this campaign, Liangqing's Famen Temple was a major target for destruction. Hundreds ofRed Guards were sent to destroy the Famen Temple.[1] Due to this imposing threat, Liangqing, the temple's Abbot, chose an act ofself-immolation to protect the temple and contents from destruction.[2] Although the contents of the temple were all smashed by the Red Guard, Liangqing'sself-sacrifice was successful as the twoTrue Relics of the Buddha (Śarīra), were saved from destruction.
Liangqing was born in 1896 (in the 12th year of the reign ofGuangxu Emperor of theQing dynasty) inYangshi,Hunan province. His birth name was Qi Jinrui. His family was poor. He did not receive a full education, as he had to work at the same time to earn a living and support his family.
At the age of 20 he was ordained as a monk atLingshan Temple. He held several positions at the Temple before being elected abbot. During his tenure, he worked to restore the temple and attract new monks. After a few years, there were more than fifty. He was then elected Principal Abbot.
In 1950, he went toMount Wutai to make a spiritual retreat alone for 3 years. On his return, in 1953, he was appointed abbot ofFamen Temple. Under his leadership, the Temple became increasingly prosperous.[3]
In May 1966, theCultural Revolution broke out. TheRed Guards ransacked the temple for the first time. On July 17, 1967, many Red Guards returned with shovels and picks to dig under the temple's stupa, as it was rumored that aKuomintang transmitter was hidden there. They began to dig. Liangqing tried to stop them, but they beat him and ordered him to move away. Shortly after, he returned wearing his five-colored Buddhist robe, a symbol worn by the Temple's abbot, shouting:
Before you find the underground where the Buddha's relic is kept, you must first burn my body!
Then he doused himself with gasoline, and set himself on fire in front of them.[a] Frightened, they fled.[3][4]
He was 71 years old at the time of his self-immolation. His ashes were collected by his disciple Zhang Zhenghua and sent to a Temple inXianyang for safekeeping. They were later transferred to the Tianchi Temple,Mianchi County onZhongnan Mountains. Unfortunately, in August 1981, after several months of heavy rain, the pagoda was destroyed by a landslide, taking with it the ashes of the monk from the Famen Temple.[3][4]
In April 1987, an archaeological team from Shaanxi province went to the Famen temple to uncover the underground passage. After methodical excavations, they found Buddha's relics. A museum was created. On 12 July 1997, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Liangqing's self-immolation, a tower built in his honour was inaugurated within the Famen Temple.[3]
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