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  After a person is born, he receives a death certificate, so Ge Hong, the Baopuzi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, said in his book that life is like a sheep being led to the market for slaughter, and every step it takes brings it closer to death.

  This is life, birth, aging, illness and death. Where there is birth, there is death, which is also the root of all suffering. To escape suffering and break free from life and death, one must cultivate the Tao, elevate human nature, transform and become a person who has attained the Tao. A person who has attained the Tao is called a "True Person". The True Person has no birth or death, he is an eternal existence that is one with the Tao.

  Some people think that this life is not good, no problem, I still have the next life, right? I can start all over again. This is the Buddhist concept of "reincarnation", and Taoism also has its own reincarnation concept. In more folk sayings: after death, one will be reborn, the soul will return from the underworld to the world, re-experiencing the journey of life, which is also called reincarnation.

  It is well known that the Buddhist system is relatively stable, and the abbot of each temple can move from one temple to another, which is called "cloud travel". What about our Taoist? You may rarely hear that a certain Taoist master, he was the head of Maoshan and then became the head of Longhushan. This is because there are many sects in Taoism, and each system has its own differences.

  In China, our native religion Taoism is more focused on personal self-cultivation because they are more willing to see themselves as transcendent beings, above the worldly masses. This is something that Buddhism emphasizes. To a certain extent, this has led to a lack of widespread participation in Taoism, and it has even been slowly marginalized, only preserved in part through some folk traditions. This has caused Taoism to decline day by day.

  How to view life and death? Cha Wenbin always thought that life and death are just natural laws. In his world, his master Ma Suifeng would not tell him these empty truths, but only occasionally taught him with a sudden surge of interest. Now thinking about it, it seems even more unreasonable.

  What's wrong?

  Firstly, Ma Suifeng is a master of the palm teaching, but he appears to be like a fire-dwelling Taoist, drinking and strolling every day, with no restraint on himself. He doesn't even have any strict rules for Cha Wenbin, running around east and west, not looking like someone who values self-cultivation. But is it really so? At least Cha Wenbin thinks that his master is not so unbearable, a school that has been passed down for thousands of years must have its own reasons for survival, relying on the appearance of a Jianghu technician, let alone thousands of years, even if this life is barely enough to make a living.

  Secondly, what the man asked was what he could learn from his master. Cha Wenbin answered that it was just some common knowledge of mouth incantations, drawing talismans and reciting spells, and the Eight Trigrams were just for show. If Ma Suifeng really taught him something, it would be occasionally showing off his skills in front of him, which were mostly some simple magic tricks performed by a folk Taoist priest at a funeral. These things are not particularly profound, and even some well-known Jianghu Taoist priests can perform a few tricks. Most of the time, he would ask Cha Wenbin to meditate and think deeply, and then push him to spend the night on a deserted mountain to test his courage. After careful consideration, it can be seen that Ma Suifeng did not teach him much substantial things.

  Thirdly, isn't Wen Bin's current skill what his master taught him? The answer is: He relied on self-study!

  Ma Suifeng had several trunks, inside which were many ancient books, most of which were yellowed thread-bound hand-copied editions. Ma Lao wanted to read these books and the old man did not stop him. Most of them were Taoist classics, and some were summaries by the leaders of the Tianzheng sect throughout the ages, combined with their own experiences. These classics were later all burned to ashes in that Cultural Revolution. What Cha Wenbin could learn was how much he read, unfortunately, he only read less than a tenth of it.

  Fourthly, Ma Su always kept the past of Tian Zheng Dao and his own past from Cha Wenbin, seemingly intentionally avoiding the history of the Tian Zheng lineage. This is very unusual for a sect that has existed for thousands of years. Old Man Ma would take young Cha Wenbin to various funeral events, on the surface to make some money by eating and drinking, but Cha Wenbin always felt that his master was not that kind of person, at least from the way he did fortune-telling, no matter how much money you gave him!

  Fifthly, during the years of traveling, Ma Su brought Cha Wenbin to many places. Many so-called high-ranking people in the Jianghu treated this old man with respect and courtesy, including some masters who sat in large temples in famous mountains and rivers. So Ma Su should have been a person with some influence in the past, but on the way, he didn't talk about Taoism with others. He brought this apprentice either to hurry along the road or to show off his skills in the countryside, seemingly intentionally leading this apprentice onto the path of an ordinary folk Taoist.

  "Master?" Cha Wenbin had his first doubt in his heart when he was offering incense today...

  In the mid-1980s, the profession of Taoist priests still had a relatively broad market in rural areas. At that time, the rural population was larger than it is now, and medical conditions were far from developed. The high incidence of illness and death, lack of information, and low cultural level all contributed to the relatively good development of Taoism during this period. In some places with better conditions, a fashion emerged where people would renovate old tombs, but it's unclear where this custom originated.

  In the past, elderly people had many children, and it was common to have three or four brothers and sisters. Large families with seven or eight members were not uncommon either. Before the 1980s, after liberation, funeral culture in rural China was mostly simple, partly because everyone was poor, and also because society opposed feudal superstition at that time. After the Gang of Four collapsed, reform and opening-up began, and the economy slowly started to recover. Ordinary people naturally wanted to return to some of their previous traditions.

  Earthen mounds, that was the most common in those years, conical, two or three square meters is considered large, slightly better ones have a layer of stones built around them. This kind of mound has very poor resistance to natural erosion, after a few years the head of the mound will sink down a bit, not to mention any anti-theft or waterproof functions.

  Elsewhere I'm not clear, in our place it is said that there was a family with the surname Kong who had a dream, the Kong family had five children, three sons and two daughters were already married, the eldest was over 60 years old, the ancestor of the Kong family died in the 1960s, and was buried together with his wife on a small hill behind their house. The northwest of Zhejiang is rich in yellow earth, and there's no difference from ordinary graves, with thick grass growing, the two graves are less than a meter apart, without tombstones or epitaphs, it's the simplest kind.

  Kong's family, the father and son duo, have made a small fortune in recent years by working on engineering projects outside. Now that they're back in the village, they want to show off a bit. They've already built their own house, but now they're proposing to renovate old Kong's ancestral tomb to bring glory to the family name. Old Kong has some money in his pocket now, but his siblings are still struggling to make ends meet. So, he goes around persuading them that each household should contribute a bit of effort to repair the ancestral tomb. After consulting with local craftsmen, they estimated it would cost around 5,000 yuan. He suggested that each family contribute 1,000 yuan, and if there's any surplus, the five siblings can split it evenly; if there's not enough, he'll cover the difference himself.

  This proposal seems reasonable, but his younger brothers and sisters really can't afford it. As they went around the village, everyone was watching with bated breath, which made old Kong so angry that he almost choked to death.

  Kong Lao Da had been out and about for a few years, getting to know some influential people. After being away for a few days, he returned very mysteriously. Not long after that, he gathered the family members again for another meeting. This time, no one opposed the idea of fixing the grave anymore. The brothers even gritted their teeth and went out to borrow money to make up the amount needed. And so, Kong Lao Da brought back another "expert" from outside, saying they would choose a date to start work soon.

  At that time, the northwest of Zhejiang was poor, but as long as something was said, all the neighbors would come to help. The Kong family wanted to build a new tomb, and the price they quoted was 5,000 yuan, which was an astronomical figure at the time. For example, my uncle's house that year built a five-room, one-and-a-half-story building with a courtyard for only 3,000 yuan. Spending 5,000 yuan on a tomb caused a stir in the small mountain village. Of course, Kong Lao Da was a clever person, and under the pretext of thanking the villagers for their help over the years, he said he wanted to host a banquet, but actually planned to collect money. Other people's houses were built for the living to collect shares, but this guy was different, even building a tomb would cost money. But people said that his layout was grand, and the 5,000 yuan spent on the tomb was more luxurious than the houses where people lived!

  The Lao Xia family also naturally received the invitation, nominally to help out, but actually just to drink. If you don't go, others will scold you for being stingy, if you do go, Lao Liu feels embarrassed, this is simply being slaughtered alive! For the sake of face, Lao Liu stuffed a big red envelope into his pocket and called up Comrade Xia Qiushi and his mother together, since it's a meal bought with money, then the whole family will go to eat, and they can bring back as much as they can eat!

  This old fellow's new house is really stylish, the courtyard alone is over three zhang high. Walking in and taking a look, it's impressive: there are artificial hills, fish ponds, small pavilions, and the walls of the two-story building are all decorated with mosaics! The roof is covered with large red glazed tiles, and in the courtyard, a four-speaker stereo is blasting Teresa Teng's sultry voice. Old Kong is beaming with pride, accompanied by several poor brothers, standing in the courtyard to greet guests, his face smiling as if he's getting married today!

  This banquet is going to take two days, the first day is called "helping wine", and the second day is the real wine. What does it mean? On the first day, men will be arranged to work, responsible for purchasing materials for the banquet, helping with the construction of the tomb, while women are in charge of washing vegetables and cooking. The second day is when the tomb relocation ceremony will take place, that's when the real banquet will happen. Xia Lao Liu reluctantly handed over the 10 yuan in his pocket to the accountant, thinking to himself: "I'll get it all back even if I have to sell my teeth", after paying the money, the task of helping was assigned:

  Xia Laoliu was in charge of going to the grave mountain and cement, while Comrade Xia Qiushi was relatively light and responsible for serving dishes, making tea and doing odd jobs with a group of young men of similar age.

  In the morning, Comrade Xia Qiushi received a task to deliver tea and snacks to the workers on the mountain.

  About two kilometers behind Kong Lao Da's house, there is a small bamboo forest with bitter bamboo. This kind of bamboo likes shade and moisture. The graves of the two old men of the Kong family are just below that bamboo forest. These materials were transported here very early, and today is actually some finishing work, mainly installing beams and backfilling. People on the construction site are busy, this place is not far from the old tomb, it is said that it was chosen by the "high person" invited by Kong Lao Da, the shape of this new tomb is quite unique, half above ground and half underground, it is said to be a miniature version of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's system.

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