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in Anhsi where he and his supporters fought on as a resistance movement against the occupying Mongol forces. His followers and later, devotees, supported the forces which eventually overthrew the Mongols and drove them out of China, bringing the Ming to power. Ch'ing-shui is now being remembered and, so it is said by some, having been deified by a Ming emperor, was a loyal anti-foreign hero.
Among the several radically differing stories of Ch'ing-shui Tsu-shih's origins, one maintains that he, Ch'en Chao-ying, was born as late as AD 1084 in Honan province, distinguishing himself in battle in the imperial army of the Southern Sung during an expedition into south China. He settled in the area of Ch'ing-shui in Fukien province and, as a determined opponent of the Mongol invaders who had usurped the throne having conquered China, he travelled around Fukien and Chekiang disguised as a Buddhist monk, plotting against the occupying forces. Although he had little success himself, he finally settled in Anhsi where he exhorted the local Chinese to resist Mongol rule and restore a Chinese emperor. After his death he was deified and revered as a patriot, with the first emperor of the Ming bestowing a posthumous title on him, as the Lord Protector of the Country (Hu-kuo Kung). In Taiwan tales are told about his loyalist Chinese activities against the invading Manchus in the mid-17th century, a confusion by those who had heard of his exploits against the invading Mongols, and confused it with the invading Manchus some five hundred or more years later.
The second major story describes him as a very ugly Tang dynasty monk named Ch'en Ying, or Ch'en P'u-tsu, born in Anhsi in Chuanchou prefecture where he entered a monastery as a child and spent his life travelling about helping the sick and the poor as well as doing valuable social work such as constructing bridges and repairing roads. He died at an early age, underfed and cold. His body did not decay, it simply turned black and a cult grew around his preserved body [there is no evidence that such a preserved body ever existed though the practice of preserving the bodies of certain dead monks, called Fleshy Bodies was not uncommon]. Variations of this story assert that he entered the Ta-yun Monastery to become a monk before moving to the Kao Tai Mountain where he built a hut and spent his time meditating. He later studied for three years with a hermit on Ta Chin Mountain and learnt from him a new meaning of Buddhism. He returned to his home area to care for the sick and needy and once when there was a dreadful drought
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118
in Anhsi where he and his supporters fought on as a resistance movement against the occupying Mongol forces. His followers and later, devotees, supported the forces which eventually overthrew the Mongols and drove them out of China, bringing the Ming to power. Ch'ing-shui is now being remembered and, so it is said by some, having been deified by a Ming emperor, was a loyal anti-foreign hero.
Among the several radically differing stories of Ch'ing-shui Tsu-shih's origins, one maintains that he, Ch'en Chao-ying, was born as late as AD 1084 in Honan province, distinguishing himself in battle in the imperial army of the Southern Sung during an expedition in to south China. He settled in the area of Chi'ing-shut in Fukien province and, as a determined opponent of the Mongol invaders who had usurped the throne having conquered China, he travelled around Fukien and Chekrang disguised as a Buddhist monk, plotting against the occupying forces. Although he had little success himself, he finally settled in Anhsi where he exhorted the local Chinese to resist Mongol rule and restore a Chinese emperor. After his death he was deified and revered as a patriot, with the first emperor of the Ming bestowing a posthumous title on him, as the Lord Protector of the Country (Hu-kuo Kung. In Taiwan tales are told about his loyalist Chinese activities against the invading Manchus in the mid-17th century, a confusion by those who had heard of his exploits against the invading Mongols, and confused it with the invading Manchus some five hundred or more years who later.
The second major story describes him as a very ugly Tang dynasty monk named Ch'en Ying, or Ch'en P'u-tsu, born in Anhsi in Chuanchou prefecture where he entered a monastery as a child and spent his life travelling about helping the sick and the poor as well as doing valuable social work such as constructing bridges and repairing roads. He died at an early age, underfed and cold. His body did not decay, it simply turned black and a cult grew around his preserved body [there is no evidence that such a preserved body ever existed though the practice of preserving the bodies of certain dead monks, called Fleshy Bodies was not uncommon]. Variations of this story assert that he entered the Ta-yun Monastery to become a monk before moving to the Kao Tai Mountain where he built a hut and spent his time meditating. He later studied for three years with a hermit on Ta Chin Mountain and learnt from him a new meaning of Buddhism. He returned to his home area to care for the sick and needy and once when there was a dreadful drought
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