關於 大匠之峰樂居 ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

盂蘭節，看鬼故。

早前看完名城與日本歷史，一不做二不休，就來讀城堡的鬼故事《天守物語》。

《天守物語》是金澤出生的文豪泉鏡花1917年的作品，寫作年齡為44歲，背景正值第一次世界大戰如火如荼之時。文豪母親年輕早逝，在孩子的心裏母親的身影經常化身漂亮的少女或者夫人出現在作品。

故事舞台是奈良法隆寺同年成為日本最早的世界文化遺產的兵庫縣姫路城，另外還有沒有出場的福島縣豬苗代湖的龜城。

傳說姫路城天守第五層（我馬上找來了姫路城天守相片數第五層）是人類的禁地，這裏有一個成精的木雕獅子頭還有絕世妖姫—傾國傾城的富姫。陪伴她的除了女中、還有幾位用代表秋天的植物命名的婢女和女童。

富姫的妹妹龜姫寄居在豬苗代城，乘着轎子在高空火速飛來姫路，隨從是陸奧的妖怪朱盤和長舌姥姥。把人類新鮮頭顱放入漂亮的首桶新鮮手提過來的龜姫，送禮前還讓姥姥先把他們看成湯汁一樣的人血清理乾淨。

由於一場玩笑富姫把人類世界城主喜愛的鷹搶走了，誤打誤撞遇到了找尋鷹的姫川圖書之助。魔物與人類一見鍾情。

魔物慨嘆人類世界的荒謬。
人類明知世途險惡依然眷戀人間。

—老掉牙的故事，但百多年前的故事你想怎樣？

被主公誣蔑偷取珍寶的圖書之助為了逃避追殺，又走入了魔界，再次見到富姫。這次她不放走他了。

他們躲在母衣底下避過殺身之禍，總算擊退人類士兵。但掌管魔物與妖姫生命的木雕獅子竟然傷了眼。在伸手不見五指之際，盲眼妖姫與喪家之男相擁痛哭⋯

意外地故事大團圓結局。
獅子的木匠突然出現，技藝精湛的他修補了獅子眼睛，被詛咒的戀人眼睛重見光明。

不過魔物跟人類真的可以結合嗎？
泉鏡花沒有講下去，我也不深究了。

這並不是羅密歐與朱麗葉—儘管魔界和人類屬於兩個世界，卻不是家族恩怨。故事上半部份華麗浪漫，卻又虛幻迷離，直到最後關頭，才驚覺這個血腥的妖怪故事，原來是純愛物語！？

如果對日本傳統器物服飾建築等等有興趣亦有研究，閱讀小說文本已經充滿樂趣：穿著代表武家公主服飾形象的高島田和打掛振袖的龜姫，就算風塵僕僕在泉鏡花筆下中被群蝶擁戴，必定是史無前例的旅美人了。至於早在兩位公主未出現時年青美麗的婢女們在天守使用露水釣花草，更是我窮一生也想不出來的唯美寫作手法。

這個「天空的白鷺」姫路城，不單出現在泉鏡花的作品，在日本電影中亦老是常出現，連浪客劍心最終回都有它旁邊的好古園。剛剛看完的《從名城讀日本史》，也是用姫路城做最後章回。更加不用說早幾年曾經紅極一時的岡田准一主演的大河劇『軍師官兵衛』，曾把姫路城人氣推上高峰，去過幾次平日都人山人海，插針都插唔入好嗎！

最後補回城堡的資料：現存十二天守中有五個是國寶級，餘下七個是重要文化財。這個在泉鏡花筆下住着絕美妖姫的姫路城，就是國寶級城堡。

1990年代初，日本提交四個申請世界文化遺產是當中還有彦根城。但由於規模建築不及姫路城，因著名古屋城在戰亂中天守被摧毁，姫路城終於登上寶座。

總結：未來去姫路城記住去第五層感受妖氣。

【一千個走入戶外的理由：基督教篇】
承認吧！在一個講究務實與物質的社會裡面，大眾或許還可以接受觀光旅遊跟露營，但稍稍帶著點風險的戶外活動就不太OK了。當我們想要出走，「不事生產」的標籤可能就在轉角等著我們~ 😅😅

說起約翰‧繆爾（John Muir）這個百年以前的蘇格蘭裔美國人，如今我們大多只約略記得他是國家公園之父，也是古早年代的環運領袖，但你知道他同時也是一位博物學者兼「山癌」末期患者嗎？ （※ 與其說是山癌不如說是荒野癌就是了 ）

他病重的程度，已經到了不往野外跑就渾身不對勁的地步，餐風露宿、冒險犯難對他而言，才是人生的真諦！要說是誰塑造了美國的環保運動和戶外文化，這位大鬍子有著舉足輕重的地位。我的書中就有提及，繆爾努力提倡的荒野保護理念，其實也在戰後美援時期溶入了臺灣國家公園的核心精神之中。

.

在繆爾29歲的時候，歷經一場幾乎奪走他右眼視力的工安意外，不得不讓他開始思考人生的意義。最後，他決定要忠於自己的夢想，展開一場以探索和植物研究為主題的大冒險。

日後他回憶這段經歷時，就說：「這次的打擊將我趕到了芬芳的原野之上。有時候，神為了教導我們，就會讓我們無比貼近死亡。」

於是他徒步從肯達基州走到了佛羅里達州，大約1,600公里的距離（約徒步環島一圈半）。任性且自信的繆爾沒有任何既定的行程規劃，就只是設定了往南的大方向，然後盡量選擇在野地中行動而已。說走就走，可真是瀟灑！

這一路上留下的事蹟有：遇上持槍強盜時保持鎮定，全身而退（因為他看起來很窮）、假裝自己有槍嚇退兇徒、在荒煙漫草的墓園中露宿、因為身上沒錢餓肚子到眼冒金星 … 說真的，獨自在南北戰爭剛結束沒多久之後的南方徒步旅行超級硬派的啊 ... 先來個RESPECT.

身為一個將靈魂獻給荒野的男子，繆爾也碰過不少的質疑者，尤其是嚴以律已、務實至上的新教徒。行經田納西州鄉間的時候，他為了找尋過夜的地點，在小鎮裡面逐戶敲門問能否借宿一晚，結果恰巧在最後一戶碰上了願意接納他的一對夫妻，丈夫是一位虔誠的鐵匠。

.
.
.

晚餐時分，這位鐵匠在禱告之後注視著餐桌另一端的繆爾，開始了以下的對談：

「年輕人，你來這裡幹嘛？」
「找植物。」
「植物？什麼種類的植物？」
「喔，所有種類的植物；花、草、樹、苔癬、蕨類 … 我幾乎對所有會生長的東西都有興趣。」
「好吧，年輕人，你意思是政府並沒有僱用你來做這些事囉？」
「對，我就是自己的雇主。我喜愛所有的植物，我南下是希望能認識越多植物越好。」

（鐵匠內心OS：遊手好閒、不事生產的年輕人！😠😠）

「你看起來是個意志堅強的人。與其在鄉間遊蕩拈花惹草，你肯定可以做些更有意義的事情。現在大環境不好，所有人都必須要認真幹活才行。摘花不管放在什麼時候都不像是一個男人該做的事。」

………

遇上這種氣力萬鈞的務實主義批判，別說是19世紀的繆爾了，就算是喜歡戶外的現代人也難以抵擋吧！（苦笑）但聰明伶俐、熟讀聖經的繆爾可沒有就此敗下陣來，竟然反而利用聖經來了一招以彼之道，還施彼身：

………

「你相信聖經，對吧？」
「當然啦！」
「嗯，你知道所羅門王（聖經故事中有名的賢王）不只意志堅強，而且大家還普遍相信他是有史以來最有智慧的人，但他卻認同研究植物的價值喔！不單是撿起它們而已，還要加以研究；你知道他還寫了一本關於植物的書，不只紀載了黎巴嫩高大的雪松，還有牆縫中生長的小東西。」

「所以囉，你看所羅門王跟你之間的差距比跟我之間的大多了。我向你保證他肯定經常跑去朱迪亞（古巴勒斯坦南部地區）的山區晃蕩，而且如果他是一個北方佬，他必定也會尋訪土地上所有的草木。再說，你難道不記得耶穌曾告訴他的門徒要『想百合花怎麼長起來』，並將他們的美麗和所羅門王的榮耀相提並論？現在，我該聽誰的話，你或是耶穌的？耶穌說：『想百合花怎麼長起來』，你說：『不要想，它不值得任何意志堅強的人去做』。」

鐵匠表示：😦😦😦

於是，啞口無言的鐵匠說他從未以這種方式看待花朵過，並重申繆爾果然是意志堅強的人，承認他拈花惹草一點問題也沒有。

.
.
.

可惡，我也被長輩唸過好幾次不要去爬山，應該多去讀「實際的書」、多去做「實際的事」 #$!@#%@，讀到這邊真是超有共鳴的 … 😂😂

但我們都知道，繆爾同時具有戶外活動愛好者和博物學家兩個身分。他熱愛潛藏於大自然中的神性與真理，所以不像大部分人純是為了休閒娛樂而走入戶外，而這也是19世紀博物學家的共通特性，即非常注重實地踏查和紀錄。

這樣的風氣也影響了明治維新之後的日本，所以我們才會見到日治時期有這麼多勤跑現場的學者出沒於臺灣的山區，如鹿野忠雄、鳥居龍藏、森丑之助、伊能嘉矩、菊池米太郎、川上瀧彌等，其中亦有以斯文豪(Robert Swinhoe)為首的西方學者。有趣的是，雖然看起來都是跑現場，但裡面像伊能嘉矩這種專精於研讀和編纂文獻的學者，就會被認為是沒有真正深入田野採集標本與資料，圈內評價上也會略有差異。

戰後美援時期，來自美國的學者到臺灣調查生態，跟著原住民嚮導上山下海過倒木，另一方面也感嘆當時臺灣的教授都不願意跑現場，未來本土生態研究還有救嗎？這樣的批判，也是來自於繆爾這類博物學者的所塑造的典範。

最後，因為博物學的盛行，最早期的戶外俱樂部（相當於我們的登山社團）也會有注重科學和藝術人文的一面，但這畢竟只是一小撮人的興趣，大多數會員只是喜歡到戶外散心或是征服巔峰啦~

.
.

看到這裡還不去支持一下臺灣本土 找樹的人-Taiwan champion trees 團隊，能結合興趣跟學術真是件很酷的事情呀！！

想多認識繆爾這個傢伙，可以去看2020年出版的《我的山間初夏：國家公園之父約翰‧繆爾的啟蒙手記》，我講的故事則是來自《墨西哥灣千里徒步行》，但相關的繁中譯本不多，大家自己找找看吧！

若是要以更宏觀的方式瞭解繆爾在歷史脈絡之中的角色，則可參考一下拙作《#登一座人文的山》~ 但裡面不會講太多這種有趣故事就是了 😆

「地獄空」攝影集即將在八月中元節前出版，由知名設計師與攝影家黃子欽設計，內附在下二位高徒精美繪製符咒、心經版畫書籤、愣嚴咒牌、尊勝咒語...等，感恩十方大德助印，希望疫情退散，平安喜樂，後記如下：

野放台灣五十餘年，貪狼獨坐，三方四正殺破狼格局，少年多舛，白手起家，隨展覽雲遊四海，如閒雲野鶴常持各類底片機流連廢墟、山川、宮廟忘返，遂設幻影堂自詡堂主，一日三省「凡所有相皆是虛妄」，常宅於暗房沖片放大通宵、鍾情黑白世界之單純，彩色照片俗世繽紛花俏做作甜美甚至比現實更現實故少拍也。知天命之年有餘，了悟人生一瞬、眨眼即逝，雖非仙人，亦無道骨，初聞離垢地生清淨心，但離華嚴「不動地」尚遠，待修持也。
2017年盛暑拍畢《巨神連線》，心律不整差點心肌梗塞向閻羅王報到，意識死神隨伺在側，人生苦短，如何了生脫死、盡斷煩惱、無所罣礙、遠離顛倒……總不得解，蒙釋迦摩尼佛開示飆淚三晝夜，聞佛法數載始知自我渺如塵埃，甚感慚愧。閒暇乃參訪名寺古剎，禮敬焚香佛陀菩薩羅漢諸神天仙王爺媽娘，台灣宮廟千奇百怪、宗派錯綜複雜（佛教、道教、一貫道、天主教、基督教、齋教、回教＆大同教、儒教鑾堂、天帝教＆天德教、慈惠堂＆勝安宮、軒轅教、道院、理教、萬國道德會、會靈山……）、神棍橫行（依人不依法、偶像崇拜、斂財、邪淫），因歷史變遷、社會動盪、政治鬥爭、意識形態等因素導致佛道混雜，但地獄造景稀少，後專注拍攝各殿閻王、判官、陰司、獄卒、七爺、八爺乃至一切罪人，各寺造景巧妙、耐人尋味，意境乖張溢於言表，造型扭曲非常人所能塑也，然匠心獨運、自成一格，專研西方藝術數十載方知真誠樸拙最美，絲毫不輸喬托（Giotto di Bondone，1267～1337）乃至米開朗基羅（Michelangelo Di lodovico Buonarroti Simoni 1475 ~ 1564）矣。

創立於1986年的石門金剛宮風景優美可眺望北濱，雖主祀四面佛，儒釋道眾神尊也不含糊，可過七星橋解厄、繞行五百黝黑羅漢敲鑼印心、跪拜亞洲最大臥佛涅槃像，安太歲自不在話下，甲子太歲爺雙眼長出手掌印象甚深，1994年經閻羅王指示廟公建造一條肚內設極樂世界及陰曹地府之神龍，行走暗黑通道觸動感應機關，只見面容猙獰受刑者呼天搶地喊冤、身邊盡是血肉糢糊殘肢敗屍腦漿塗地，十殿閻羅各司其職、威儀攝人。新北市林口區青嶺湖北文紫祥宮包公廟則以壁面彩塑地獄浮雕獨步全台，粉嫩色彩搭配卡漫風格，尤為造型簡直恐怖到可愛透頂，該廟主祀森羅殿閻羅天子包拯（包青天），陽世冤屈者可至此參拜祭解，求破懸案者眾，逢中元普渡皆以紙紮船渡亡魂至彼岸，全台唯一閻羅天子巨像籌備中，四周環繞墓地，適合修不淨觀也。台灣首尊彰化八卦山大佛旁南天宮（1971）地府則是首座電動地府，規模精小但驚嚇度破表，略顯破敗但五光十色仍蠻凶悍，出自已故台南大道長金登富之作，而電動神明起始可追溯至1960年代北港朝天宮。倒是嘉義水上鄉白人牙膏觀光工廠「戴相府」、「將軍府」設置十殿地府出乎意料之外，乾淨亮麗、ㄧ殿ㄧ間、簡單樸實。由高雄蓮潭龍虎塔龍口入內可見全臺唯一交趾陶地獄牆面，尊尊栩栩如生，續入龍身乃進聞聲救苦白衣觀音大士三十三化身浮雕隧道，造型設色甚為古錐。高雄大岡山超峰寺入口處「西方三聖蓮池海會」（阿彌陀佛、觀世音菩薩、大勢至菩薩巨像）旁設靜態十殿閻羅（1970年代初），雖略為陳舊然韻味猶存，續往上行可抵「證菩提道－釋迦如來應化事迹」雕塑園區，一攬世尊畢生精華。如來年邁時，琉璃國王為報長期被釋迦族輕蔑之傲慢心，世尊雖三次單獨伽跌坐 阻擋大軍進攻之路，但因緣果報無法逆轉，昔日婢女所生王子瞋恨無以復加，還是滅了祖國。自持神通第一目犍連不忍無辜百姓慘遭屠殺，遂以缽盛救度五百族人，最終卻化為血水，佛言神通廣大仍不敵千百劫業力，因緣果報屢試不爽。其母死後墜入餓鬼道飢餓難耐，目犍連遂展神通救渡，但所食尚未入口皆化為赤火，佛陀囑咐農曆七月十五日僧眾解安居自恣日，於盆中設甘露美食供養十方僧眾，因此超度亡母。後世「盂蘭盆法會」乃至「水懺法會」、「瑜珈焰口法會 」皆為消業障、斷塵垢之超渡儀軌，既渡亡魂也自懺悔。

台南麻豆代天府規模宏大、造型豔麗，不但可遊十八層地獄尚可逛天堂（1979年興建，1983年開放)，燈光絢爛、聲響駭人，獨自漫步宛如觀落陰、地獄走一回。先過「心頭山」、入「清心池」、進「陰陽界」、抵「交簿廳」、達「鬼門關」、遊「補經所」、探「枉死城」、行「奈何橋」，至ㄧ殿泰廣王照「孽鏡台」現造惡原形，睹抱柱、火床等小地獄。二殿楚江王開「陰查簿 」判案定奪，觀糞尿泥、餓鬼、舞池、寒冰、膿血、鞭韃、舌犁、劍葉、戟腹拋接、砧截……等小地獄。三殿宋帝王刑罰為倒吊、銅鐵刮臉、挖眼、搗樁、倒烤、吸血、穿肋、抽筋、蛆蛀等小地獄……兼遊「四生（胎、卵、濕、化）回魂府」。四殿五官王掌管腰斬、拔舌、沸湯、刺嘴、剝皮、箭樹、車崩、射眼……等十六小地獄。隨五殿森羅王豋「望鄉臺」回眸親人最終眼後觀擊膝、誅心、刀山、飛刀火石……小地獄。六殿卞城王別稱「大叫喚大地獄」，轄火牛、虎啖、噬腎、鉗嘴含鍼、釘喉、磨摧、砍頭……等小地獄。七殿泰山王為「熱惱大地獄」，窺烙手指、抽腸、頂石蹲身、油釜滾烹、割舌穿腮……等十六小地獄。八殿都市王掌管「大熱惱大地獄」兼火狗、鐵汁、鐵蛇、鋸劈斷肢、釘板、灸脊、鐵丸、磅秤……等小地獄。九殿平等王直轄十八層「阿鼻大地獄」，直透地心、內中陰森、不見五指、滿溢地漿，皆為極犯，另轄紫赤毒蛇鑽孔、夾頂、鐵鴉、針雨、蜂蠍……等小地獄。至十殿輪轉王上「觀生臺」、「轉劫所八司」（查驗司 、稽善司 、考過司 、恩怨司 、壽命司 、支配司、掌劫司 、授生司）後至「孟婆亭」飲「醧忘湯」忘盡前塵往事，依前世功德過金、銀、玉、石、木、竹六種橋樑至「轉輪臺（紫河車）」入六道輪迴轉生投胎。據《十八泥犁經》記載，人過世後七七四十九天為「中陰生」，經閻羅王審判善惡業力判定去留或懲罰百千萬劫，犯五逆重罪則墮入「無間地獄（阿鼻地獄）」永劫不復。地藏王乃幽冥教主，統轄十殿閻羅，逢三曹普渡便在各殿設「講道所」超度尚存善根之鬼魂。

人類居於五趣（阿修羅、人、傍生、餓鬼、地獄）雜居地五濁惡世之堪忍世界，犯十惡業（殺生、偷盜、邪淫、妄語、兩舌、惡口、綺語、貪慾、嗔恚、愚痴）者必墮三趣惡道。如何出「三界」（欲界、色界、無色界）二十八天？凡人無此意識，別說能破「十二因緣」（無明、行、識、名色、六入、觸、受、愛、取、有、生、老死）還滅門，更別想斷除「四聖諦」（苦、集、滅、道）集地八十一品見惑與八十八使思惑（五利使-身見、邊見、邪見、見取見、戒禁取見、五鈍使-貪、瞋、癡、慢、疑），了悟「五蘊」（色、受、想、行、識）本空、「十二入」（眼、耳、鼻、舌、意、色、聲、香、味、觸、法）空、「十八界」空，破俱生我執與分別我執、法執甚至空執，生十一處「善心所」（信、精進、慚、愧、無貪、無瞋、無痴、輕安、不放逸、行捨、不害），降二十六處「惡心所」（貪、瞋、癡、慢、疑、惡見、忿、恨、覆、惱、嫉、慳、誑、諂、害、憍、無慚、無愧、掉舉、惛沉、不信、懈怠、放逸、失念、散亂、不正知），須知善根斷盡則陷永劫輪迴、無垠轉世之苦。

地獄可能空滅嗎？若地獄空乏人間多鬼怪，地獄淨空世間何嘗非淨土？若能證空性何處現地獄？

地獄曠古來便廣泛流傳各部族間，老死生滅為自然運行之基礎、宇宙意識之核心，然今文明昌盛如咱城邦並非慾望消弭之所，惡性所及實無可根除，礙於憲法國家法律社會軍隊企業公司學校家庭團體之層層束縛不亞於十八層，乃遁於壓抑、束己情懷，暗埋心底、日久貪嗔痴慢疑怨噌會疊穢。而六塵未熄，心多妄念，妖魔鬼怪魑魅魍魎孤魂閃靈出沒於荒郊乃至人間，會靈於曠野密林以增性靈乃出世高人修煉之舉，我等凡人擅闖宛如迪士尼般之人造地獄，三魂七魄尚不足以出竅，驚邪恐怖淒厲猙獰倒滿足了自以為是的慚愧，豈不謬哉？

病毒肆虐年半有餘，全球確診者逼近一億八千萬，枉死者近四百萬，堪比戰爭規模，望眾生發慈悲心、令往生者安息、善待其他物種、平等有情眾生。地獄本空，唯妄念生起一切羨慕嫉妒恨而地獄現前。盡以此書作為世界新冷戰獨裁者、超限戰者、暗網駭客、陰險狡猾冷嘲熱諷落井下石者之良知備忘錄矣。

姚瑞中寫於2021年端午節

Postscript

I have been living recklessly in Taiwan for more than fifty years. According to Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology), Tan Lang is the sole star in my house of Self. This star, which represents xxx, forms an equilateral triangle with that star Qi Sha and Po Jun on the square chart and constitutes a Sha Po Lang pattern. The pattern indicates a kind of turbulence and change, a life of wandering with ups and downs and it tells a lot about my life. After my ill-fated youth, I started from scratch and traveled around the world with exhibitions that I participated. Like a flaneur, I wandered around ruins, nature, and temples with every type of film camera obliviously. Thus, I founded the Hall of Illusion and claimed to be the master of the hall. Several times a day, I pondered a quote from the Diamond Sutra, “Everything with form is unreal.” In addition, I usually stayed in the darkroom developing film and enlarging those negatives overnight. However, I treasured the simplicity of the black and white world. The earthly, gaudy, garish, phony and pleasing qualities within colored photos make the images even more realistic than the real world. It is not my cup of tea, so I seldom took colored photos. In Confucian thought, the age of fifty marks the stage knowing the mandate of Heaven. I am now at my fifties and realize how ephemeral human life is. However, I am not an immortal, nor having sagelike characteristics. I just learned that the stage of stainless (the second bhūmi) and develop a pure mind that is free from doubt and defilement. However, I’m still far from the immovable state and need to practice.

In the summer of 2017, after filming the work Incarnation, I experienced a severe heart rhythm problem which almost triggered myocardial infarction and could have killed me. Consequently, I realized that death was waiting for me and the life is too short to figure out how I can liberate myself from the cycle of Birth and Death. I couldn’t comprehend how to be free from all afflictions and worries and how to avoid delusive ideas. I wept for three days and nights after being enlightened by Shakyamuni Buddha. Up to the moment, I felt ashamed that I failed to realize that the self is as insignificant as dust after these years learning and practicing Buddhism. Since then, I have visited famous temples and monasteries in my spare time, worshiping Buddha, Bodhisattvas, arhats, and all the deities and immortals. Taiwan’s temples are myriad with a enormous number of sects, including Buddhism, Taoism, Yiguandao, Catholicism, Christianity, Chinese religions of fasting, Islam& Baháʼí Faith, Confucianism, Tiandiism& Tian-De Teachings, Xiwangmu cult, Yellow Emperor Sect, Precosmic Salvationism, Liism, World Wide Ethical Society, séance cult, etc. Some people even claim that they can mediate communication between the deities or spirits of the dead with human beings, having their believer rely on themselves instead of the orthodox dharma or dogma and pay excessive respect and admiration for the mediums or objects, accumulating wealth through such an unfair means or even harassing their believer sexually. Due to Taiwan’s historical changes, social turbulence, political struggles, and ideological issues, Buddhism and Taoism are somehow mixed. However, there are few emphases on the concept of the hell. As I took photographs of Yama of each court, judges, wardens of the underworld, jailers, General Fan and Hsieh (the ghost escorts) and all sinners, I found few temples cleverly created hellish scenes that are intriguing, exaggerating, and extraordinary. However, the creations are unparalleled unique. I have been studying Western arts for decades and then I came to realize that simplicity makes the most beautiful works of art. These hellish scenes can even compete with works of Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337) and Michelangelo Di lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564).

Jingang Temple Shimen District, founded in 1986, overlooks the beautiful North shore. Although the temple is mainly dedicated to Phra Phrom (the Thai representation of Mahabrahma), spirits of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism can also be founded in the temple. The worshipper can go cross the Seven Star bridge to relieve bad luck, walk along the five hundred arhat statues and knock on the gong to affirm one’s Buddha nature. Furthermore, the worshipper can also prostrate themself before Asia’s largest statue of Buddha in Nirvana (the Reclining Buddha statue) and pacify the Taoist Tai Sui deity of the year. I was impressed by the Jia-Zi Tai Sui General that a pair of palms grow out of his eyes. In 1994, the biō-kong (the person taking charge of the temporal affairs of a temple) received a divine inspiration from Yama (the King of Hell) that he had to build a sacred hall in the shape of a divine dragon, with the interior designed according to the World of Ultimate Bliss and the Underworld. When the visitor walks in the dark hallway, they will see the tortured people (dioramas, of course) scrunching their faces and crying bitterly and loudly in excessive grief as the visitor triggers the mechanism. One will even find them in the midst of flesh, body liquid and blood, mutilated limbs, and rotten corpses. While each of the ten Yamas are focusing on their own duties, showing their sacred dignity that collect visitors’ attention. The Baogong Temple in Linkou District, New Taipei City exclusively features colorful depiction of hellish scenes in relief in Taiwan. With its pastel shades and cartoon-like style, the relief is both grotesque and adorable at the same time. This temple is dedicated to Bao Zhen (also known as Justice Bao) representing the incarnation of Yama. Living people who have been treated unjustly can come worshipping Bao Gong and receive exorcism. Therefore, many people come here for seeking to solve unsolved cases. In Zhongyuan Festival (the ghost festival), the temple will burn the Zhizha (paper craft) boat to ferry the ghosts to the other shore, which is the shore of enlightenment. The only giant statue of Yama in Taiwan is still in the making. The temple is surrounded by a cemetery, suitable for meditating on the loathsomeness and impurity. Nantian Temple (1971), located next to the Eight Trigram Mountains Buddha in Changhua, features the first animatronic underworld. Despite the small size, the animatronic underworld is intensely shocking. Though it’s slightly worn, the colorful dioramas are still brutally ferocious. The creator was the late venerable Dao Zhang (Taoist priest) Jing Deng-fu while the origin of animatronic deities can be traced back to the 1960s Beigang Chaotian Temple. On the contrary, the Whiteman Toothpaste Tourism Factory in Shuishang Township, Chiayi, features ten Yamas with individual booth. The place is unexpectedly clean and polished yet keeps a simple and modest tone. Then, the Dragon Pagoda of the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Lake in Zuoying, Kaohsiung, holds the only relief of hellish scenes made of Kochin ceramic. All the figures are vivid and life-like. If one goes further into the pagoda, they will see a relief tunnel of the thirty-three incarnations of the white-robed form of Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) on a white lotus, with a lovely and interesting design. Another Hall of Yama is built in the 1970s next to the entrance of Dagangshan Chaofeng Temple, located in the Alian District of Kaohsiung. Visitors will also see three statues of the Three Holy Ones of the Western Pureland (Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta) which assemble at a lotus pond. Although the hellish scene looks somewhat antiquated, you may still find its previous charm. If one goes further, they will reach the sculptural garden of “Attaining the Bodhi Way: the Incarnation of Sakyamuni Buddha,” where the visitor can see the essence of Bhagavato’s (meaning the Blessed one, one of the common epithets for Buddha) life. When Tathāgata (another epithet for Buddha) was old, the king of Kosala wanted to avenge the arrogance of the tribe of Shakyas who had long despised him, regarding him as a son of a maiden. Although Buddha has sat in lotus position alone three times to stop the army from attacking his tribe. However, one can never reverse the cause and following karma. The prince born of a maiden was so furious that he eventually destroyed his homeland. Maudgalyāyana (one of the Buddha’s closest disciples), who is said to have had supernatural abilities that surpassed the other disciples, could not bear to see the slaughter of innocent people. Thus, he saved five hundred people of his tribe with a pātra (an eating utensil of Buddhist monks). Unfortunately, everything he did was in vain, those who were saved eventually turned into a puddle of blood. The Buddha said that the supernatural abilities cannot surpass the power of karma. The cause and effect work all the time. When Maudgalyāyana’s mother fell into the path of hungry ghost, he used his supernatural abilities to save his mother from hunger. However, all the food turned into fire before being fed to his mother. Later, the Buddha commanded the monks to put nectar and dishes in a basin on the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar for the monks from all directions to free his mother from reincarnation. In later times, the Ullambana Dharma Service, the Compassionate Samadhi Water Repentance, and the Yoga Collection for Feeding the Searing Mouths Dharma Service are rituals to eliminate karmic hindrance and to cease to worldly delusions. Through such practices, one can free the dead as well as confess their repentance.

Madou Daitian Temple is a magnificent and colorful temple in Tainan. Not only can the worshippers visit the eighteen levels of Hell but also the Heaven (it was built in 1979 and inaugurated in 1983) here. The lighting and sound effects are stunning and frightening. When walking alone in the space, one may feel like taking a Guan Luo Yin trip (a Taoist necromancy which leads people’s spirits to hell and communicate with the dead ones) to visit the underworld prison. Before arriving the first court of the underworld, the visitor will walk through the Mountain of Heart Summit, the Pure Heart Pond, the Frontier between the Living and the Dead Realms, the Soul Registry Hall, the Portico of Demons, the Center for Complementary Teaching of Canonical Books, the Citadel of Premature Death, and the Bridge of Vanity. When one arrives at the first court, they will see King Chin-guang, who is in charge of the court, using the Mirror of Retribution to show the earthly form of evil creatures and also witness the sub-hell of Pillar-Holding and Fire Bed, etc. At the second court, King Chu-jiang collates the register of sins the souls of the dead have committed to impose the punishments. Here, you will see the sub-hell of Excrement and Urine, Hungry Ghost, Burning Dance Floor, Ice, Pus and Blood, Whipping, Tongue-Raking, Sword Blade, Stomach-Piercing, Chopping, etc. Next, the dead at the third court, ruled by King Song-di, will receive the punishments including inversion tortures, face-skinning with steel and copper knife, eye-wrenching, pounding, blood-sucking, rib-piercing, roasting, tendon-taking, being eaten by maggots. The visitor can pay a visit to the Palace of Soul-Resuscitation for the Four Forms of Creatures (birth from an egg, birth from a womb, birth from moisture, and birth by transformation). King Wu-guan is in charge of the fourth court. There are sixteen sub-hells at the fourth court including Waist Chop, Tongue Removal, Boiling Pond, Mouth-stabbing, Skin-peeling, Sword Tree, Burning Wheels and Cart, Eye-shooting, etc. Next, at the fifth court, sinful souls are allowed to ascend the Tower of Hometown-Viewing to take a final look of their family. The visitor will witness sub-hells of Knee-striking, Heart-slicing, Blade Mountain, Flying Swords and Burning Stones, etc. The King of Bian City takes charge of the sixth court, which is also known as the “Great Hell of Screaming,” with sub-hells including Fire Cattle, Tiger-Biting, Kidney-Eating, Mouth-Poking, Throat-Nailing, Iron Mill, Decapitation, etc. The King of Tai-shan is in charge of the seventh court, the “Great Hell of Heat and Fire.” The sixteen sub-hells at this court include Finger-Searing, Bowel-Hauling, Stone-Bearing, Boiling Oil, Tongue-Removal and Cheek-Piercing, etc. Next, the King Du-shi is in charge of the eighth court, the “Great Hell of Intense Fire and Heat,” and the sub-hells including Fire Dogs, Molten Iron, Iron Snakes, Dismemberment, Steel Spikes, Burning-Marrow, Iron Ball, Scale, etc. The ninth court is ruled by the King Ping-deng. It is known as the biggest court, Avici Hell (the Hell of Incessant Suffering), which if the lowest level of the hell realm and the interior is gloomily and terrifyingly dark. Those who committed the most serious evil deed will be sent to the Avici Hell. Sub-hells such as Poisonous Snake, Brain-Removal, Crow-Gnawing, Raining Needles, Wasps and Scorpions are included at this court. After arriving the tenth court, ruled by the Great King of the Reincarnation Palace, one can visit the “Observatory of Life on earth” and the “eight bureaus of the Reincarnation Palace” (including the Bureau of Judicial Control, the Bureau of Good-Actions, the Bureau of Bad-Actions, the Bureau of Debts, Gratitude, and Vengeance, the Bureau of Longevity and Destiny, the Bureau of Familial Ties, the Bureau of the Reincarnated, and the Bureau of Birth). The sinful one will be sent to the Pavilion of Mengpo and made to drink the Soup of Forgetfulness to forget all past affairs. According to the sinful one’s merits of previous life, they will go across one of the six bridges (gold, silver, jade, stone, wood, bamboo) to the “Reincarnation-Wheel (Wheel on the Crimson River).” Finally, one is able to reborn in the six realms. According to the Aṣṭadaśa nāraka sutra ( the Eighteen Hells Sutra), after one passes away, they will enter an intermediate and transitional state between death and rebirth, known as antarābhava in Sanskrit, for forty-nine days. The being will be evaluated by Yama, who will decide if one should get reborn or get punished at the hell. Those who committed the Five Grave Offenses (killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an Arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, and creating a schism within the community of Buddhist monks and nun who practice for attaining enlightenment.) will be sent to the Avici Hell and stay there eternally. Kṣitigarbha is the Lord of the Nether World, ruling the ten court of Hell. The lord will set up the “Hall of Teaching” at each court to salvage those sinful ones who still obtain few merits at the offering rituals.

Human beings live the Sahā world (sahāloka in Sanskrit, meaning “endurance of suffering,” a concept of mundane world in Mahāyāna Buddhism) where they share with other reincarnations (including beings of the hells, of the preta, and of malevolent nature spirits) with five turbidities (the Kalpa turbidity, the view turbidity, the affliction turbidity, the living beings turbidity, and the life turbidity). Those who commit the ten evil deeds (killing, stealing, adultery, lying, using immoral language, slandering, equivocating, coveting, anger, and false views) must fall into the three evil paths (animals, preta, and hell). However, how can one escape from the three realms/ twenty-eight heavens (including the six heavens of the desire realm, the eighteen heavens of the form realm, and the four heavens of the formless realm)? Worldly people who don’t have such an awareness cannot leave the cycle of the twelve nidanas (meaning causes or motivations), let alone eliminate the eighty-one afflictions (that have been produced due to misunderstanding regarding reality) and the eighty-eight illusions (including five afflictions of advanced practitioners, also known as five views: view of self, extreme view, evil view, view of attachment to views, and view of morality; and five unintelligent temptations: desire, anger, stupidity, arrogance, and doubt) of thought within the three realms and four Arya satyas (noble truths, including suffering, arising, ending, and path). They cannot realize that the essence of the five skandhas (referring to aggregates of clinging, including the matter of form, sensation, recognition, mental formation, and consciousness) , the twelve ayatana (meaning sense base, including six internal bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind and six external bases: visible objects, sound, odor, taste, touch, and mental objects), and the eighteen dhātavah (meaning compositional elements of human existence, including six consciousness, six faculties, and their objects) are the emptiness and the void. Furthermore, they cannot dispel the two reasons for clinging to the idea of the self and the attachment to elemental constructs and even believe in the two (false) tenets that that karma and nirvana are not real and that the ego and phenomena are real. As a consequence, they fail to develop the eleven wholesome mental factors (faith, energy, conscience, being ashamed, non-attachment, non-aggression, non-delusion, calmness, equanimity, conscientiousness, and non-injuriousness) and cease the sixteen unwholesome mental factors (desire, greed, anger, delusion, arrogance, doubt, wrong view, wrath, enmity, hypocrisy, vexation, jealousy, parsimony, deceit, flattery, harming, ambitiousness, stupidity, lacking of faith, idleness, being unrestrained, forgetting, distraction, non-discernment, ). One must bear in mind that once all our virtuous roots are discontinued, they will be trapped in the never-ending reincarnation and the suffering of infinite continuity.
Is it possible that the hell will be empty one day? If the beings in hell will become extinct while evil spirits inhabit the mundane world, the world could be considered as a pure land. If we could witness the nature of the void, then hell will exist no more.
Since ancient times, the concept of hell has been widely spread among all tribes. Aging, death, beginning, and end are the basis of nature and the core of cosmic consciousness. However, the prosperous civilization as our island is not a place where desire can be eliminated. It’s impossible to eradicate evil nature. Since fetters brought by the constitution, the state, the law, society, the military, corporations, schools, families, and groups are not less than the eighteen levels of hell, the mortals repress themselves, bury their feelings. Day after day, greed, anger, stupidity, arrogance, doubt, and resentment are stacking. However, since the six dust (visible objects, sound, odor, taste, touch, and mental objects) has not yet been extinguished, people in the mundane world are still full of delusions. The demons, devils, evil spirits, and the wondering dead exist in the wilderness, while only advanced practitioners with transcendent would attempt to make contact with the dead in the wasteland and forest. Worldly people like us trespass in Disneyland-like man-made hell. It is absurd and ridiculous that the hellish scenes cannot stop us from perpetrating evil deeds, but the horrific and cruel scenes yet satisfy our self-righteous shame.

The pandemic has been boiling over for more than a year and a half. The number of infected patients worldwide is nearly a hundred and eighty million, and the death toll has risen to four million, which is equivalent to a war crisis. I hope that we can all be compassionate, give peace to the dead, treat all sentient beings well and equally. The hell is innately empty; however, deluded and misleading thoughts would give rise to all jealousy and hatred and then manifest the hell before us. This book merely serves as a memorandum of conscience for dictators of the world’s new cold war, supporters of unrestrained warfare, dark web hackers, and those who are cunning and contemptuous and maltreat others when knowing they have problems.

June 2021,

Yao Jui-chung

先娛鬼神後娛人，中國古代傳統的木偶戲，始於喪葬俑人，以奠亡人。《通典》有云：「以偶人以戲，善歌舞，本喪家之樂也。」而偶戲於漢朝以後，才開始普及成為民間娛樂之一。時至今日，木偶戲歷年發展，經歷過高峰時期，也迎來當下的低谷。

黃暉師傅，入行操演偶戲四十多年，與一般人印象中「師傅」的形象不同，沒有凌厲的眼神或磅礴壓人的氣勢，一見黃暉師傅，基本上是想不出「慈祥」二字以外的形容詞。黃師傅指，當初因興趣入行，一做便是四十年，時至今日已成為香港偶戲界的代表人物，門生亦廣，卻沒有把自己以宗師自居，反而，他更像一位希望把畢生所學傳承給學生的老師。

黃師傅指：「碰到這些木偶就有如碰了白粉，明知它們不能賺大錢，自己卻喜歡着，沒有辦法」。追夢或許是年輕人的專利，但黃暉師傅告訴我們：堅持夢想才能修成正果。


主流的木偶戲包括有提線木偶（即「扯線公仔），掌中木偶及皮影戲。所謂提線木偶，即指一隻木偶以線操作，提線者不直接觸碰木偶，只以十六條基本線操作木偶的喜怒哀樂，抑揚頓挫。十六條基本線中，亦有四條「死線」，「死線」乃掌控木偶之基本平衡，分為「頭釘線」兩條，「胸前線」一條及「後背線」一條。眼見黃暉師傅於千絲萬縷之間操作木偶高跳低爬，拳頭手指每個動作無一不栩栩如生，不得不嘆服其心思之細密以及與傀儡之間的「默契」。

黃師傅亦向我們演示了掌中木偶及皮影戲的運作，以此展現出掌中木偶靈活生動的動作及以燈光糅合中國傳統雕刻藝術之美的皮影木偶戲。黃師傅指出，他希望將來亦有人可繼承他的木偶工藝，不欲令這作為「非物質文化遺產」的傳統淪為舊頁，但慨嘆時至今日要讓年輕一輩付出半生去鑽研一種技藝基本上是天方夜譚。當提及何不把技藝傳授給女兒，黃暉師傅神情中亦流露出半分難過與歉意。原來師傅在女兒少時已把她送回湖南藝校學習偶戲，雖然女兒學成有功，但無奈回到香港難以銜接本地專上學校，師傅亦坦言自覺誤了女兒一生。


堅持傳統，從來不易。在香港，更似是痴人說夢。黃暉師傅年幼時追隨夢想，戮力習藝，最終得成一代師匠，本應為不少年輕晚輩學習之對象，但亦正如其本人所言，時移世易，也許是時代拒絕了他，是時代拒絕了偶戲。但黃暉師傅亦無因此輕言放棄，若時代不與我同行，便由我等追隨時代。黃暉師傅的徒弟們，積極嘗試以新科技融合傳統偶戲，正如他們2017年應邀與演藝學院共同研發以現代投影結合木偶皮影等，取得了意料之外的成就，常於各地學校及不同機構演出並吸引了年輕一輩的興趣，黃師傅亦坦言：「唔變都唔得」。

傳統技藝能得以傳承，亦有賴新血入行學習，黃暉師傅認為做師傅，就不應「留一手」。黃師傅指，只要有人肯學，他便願意免費教，亦期望將來能把木偶傳承給弟子。克己所能，供子之學，為人老師、前輩、父親，也許黃師傅所甘願做的，就是背後默默扶持的，四十年前的追夢者。唐明皇《詠吟傀儡》中：「 刻木牽絲作老翁，雞皮鶴髮與真同； 須臾弄罷寂無事，還似人生一夢中。」彷彿亦與之相應。

黃暉木偶皮影有限公司
石硤尾白田街30號賽馬會創意藝術中心L302
6333 6213(黃小姐 Janet) / 9217 1635(黃暉 先生)

採訪：麥文軒
攝影：梁詠俊
剪接：李文俊

===================================
立即Subscribe我哋YouTube頻道：http://bit.ly/2Mc1aZA (飲食男女)

新店食評，名家食譜，一App睇晒！
立即免費下載飲食男女App： http://onelink.to/etwapp

《飲食男女》Facebook：http://www.facebook.com/eatandtravel

飲食男女網站：http://etw.hk

Follow我哋Instagram，睇更多靚片靚相：http://bit.ly/2J4wWlC (@eat_travel_weekly)