Bao has a rough life. He lost his father at the age of three and his mother at the age of thirteen, and lived a hard life with his brother. When the bag was a little bigger, I had the idea of abandoning the customs and becoming a monk. His brother failed to keep him, so he had to become a monk. Bao believes in Buddhism and yellow religion and wears a yellow robe. After learning from a teacher, he studied Buddhist scriptures assiduously and took the initiative to undertake heavy physical labor to hone his mind. Seeing that he had spiritual roots, the monks accompanied him to the Songzhu Temple in Beijing for advanced training. Bao's learning spirit in Songzhu Temple, as always, won the conviction of monks. In a lawsuit of monks and nuns, Bao handled it properly, which showed his unique wisdom, won the lawsuit and established his reputation from then on. After hard training, he became the "Zasadak Lama" (presiding monk) of Songzhu Temple. Later, it coincided with Emperor Guangxu's selection of body double monks in famous temples in Beijing. Bao was honored to be chosen as a substitute monk because of his handsome appearance, Buddhist spirit and thoughtful manners, and his birthday was born with the emperor. During royal celebrations and festivals, Bao led monks to the temple of the Forbidden City to hold chanting activities.
Bao Wenting is honored as "Bao Lama". Lama is Tibetan, which means master or guru. Besides enjoying economic privileges, he also has a certain political and social status. Bao Wenting, as the emperor's substitute monk, not only enjoys a fixed "Lama's money and food", but also enjoys a high "special favor", and his status is no less than that of Mongolian princes. During his acting as a monk, Bao widely United the Mongolian religious believers and had contacts with some Mongolian nobles, becoming one of the representatives from all walks of life in Beijing.
Bao has a rich economy and a comfortable life. In addition to the supply guarantee of the imperial court, Bao was often treated with "special courtesy" by princes, ministers and concubines. Every time he comes back from the sacrificial activities, Bao Lama will get many rewards. However, it is commendable that Bao, who was born in poverty, donated his accumulated personal wealth to help his hometown set up schools and education for the benefit of his hometown.
1898, in order to save the country and the people, Emperor Guangxu supported the "Reform and Reform" movement and established new schools all over the country. Bao Wenting resonates deeply. As the acting monk of the emperor, he took the initiative to respond to this new move and was determined to do something within his power for his hometown. Bao's hometown was under the jurisdiction of Jehol at that time, which was remote, backward in economy and underdeveloped in culture and education. Bao sent the 4200 taels of silver he had saved for many years to his hometown, Sanjiaochengzi Village, and entrusted his nephew Bao Shengchun as the principal and Bao Rulun as the deputy manager. He built more than ten school buildings, hired several teachers and started two classes of primary schools. Later, the scale of running a school expanded. Bao also arranged the rest of the school funds, that is, let Bao's sons and nephews buy all their fields to store food and set up a "grain depot" by themselves. When the people are short of food, the rule of "borrowing 1000 stones in spring and returning 10 liters in autumn" is implemented, and the poverty-stricken people do not accept profit.
Later, Bao learned that students who graduated from primary school can only be regarded as having completed the "enlightenment education", and they can't pursue further studies in the surrounding areas, and the knowledge they have learned is easily abandoned. Bao felt this and donated 1200 to set up local higher primary schools, continue to hire teachers and purchase teaching AIDS and teaching materials. Students who graduated from primary school can go directly to high school to study, and there is no need to take the exam again. Best of all, this primary school is free of tuition for all students, regardless of wealth. Therefore, it was applauded by the surrounding people, and more than 200 students were enrolled in a short time, which greatly improved the cultural level of nearby villagers.
The second-class primary school founded by Bao was not self-sufficient until the "September 18th Incident" because Bao's sons and nephews were well run. During the Japanese and Puppet Period, the Puppet Government took over the school, which changed it from a private school to a government-run school.
Bao's act of running a school is well known. Not only the people in my hometown are grateful, but also the gentlemen living in Beijing donate money. For example, at that time, a man named Suihua, Heilongjiang, was deeply moved when he heard that Bao had founded Yi Xue. He had received Bao's help before, and now he volunteered to donate 120 silver to support Bao to run a school in his hometown.
In the thirty-second year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1906), Emperor Guangxu personally awarded Bao the title of "Mo Ergen Ji", that is, "the wise exorcist" in Chinese, and awarded Bao a memorial archway in his hometown. Empress Dowager Cixi also learned about his school-running deeds and wrote a banner of "benevolence and charity" for Bao, which was later engraved on the archway. Regrettably, the Baogongde archway built that year was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The inscription of Empress Dowager Cixi was split in two, and the stone pillars, flagpoles and other components of the archway were pushed to the ground. At present, the remains of these archways are still preserved locally and belong to county-level cultural relics protection units.
On the back of the precious inscription banner of Empress Dowager Cixi, more than 320 words of Bao's life introduction and school-running deeds are engraved. The author of the memorial is Cui Guoguang. When the memorial archway was built, he was the general director (director of education) of Jinxi County. At that time, the Western Shanxi had just established a governing office, and Cui Guoguang wrote a memorial for this archway. Cui Guoguang later served as the county magistrate of Taian County. In addition to taking notes, Cui Guoguang also wrote two couplets for the archway with reverence, which were engraved on the stone flagpole and the archway doorpost respectively. Among them, the couplet on the stone flagpole is: integrity, integrity, loyalty and shame. However, the couplets on the pillars of the stone archway have some vernacular artistic conception: throw away culture and things, devote yourself to learning and cultivate good children in your hometown. Strive for the glory of inner and outer Mongolia, engage in an empty net to protect the empire, and break the old mystery of the monk world.
It can be said that Cui Guoguang's words highly summarized Bao Wenting's achievements in his life. After many twists and turns, this archway was finally completed in 19 1 1 year. After the memorial archway was erected, Bao was no longer the monk of the emperor.
It turned out that 1908, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi died on the same day, Bao lost his acquaintance and his status as a monk was also lifted. After that, Bao still presided over Songzhu Temple. With the aggravation of domestic and foreign troubles in the country, he was depressed and old, and later died in Songzhu Temple.
Due to the loss of historical materials, it is difficult for us to verify the exact date of birth and death of Bao today, which is a shortcoming in local chronicles. It is said that after Bao's death, the coffin was transported from Beijing to his hometown for burial. At that time, the two places were nearly a thousand miles apart, and the Beijing-Fengjing Railway was already open to traffic. Why did you transport Lama Bao's coffin back to his hometown? It turns out that all lamas in Buddhism regard Bao as a "Buddha who has made a positive result" and think that he goes with the emperor and belongs to "driving with him". Therefore, they are willing to contribute their own strength and piously transport the master's coffin back to their hometown and hold a grand burial ceremony. On the way to Bao Ling's coffin, local officials often put it there to worship whenever he passes by. In fact, Bao's personality prestige accumulated over the years is the most important factor to gain compassion and honor after his death.