My Thoughts on “Monk Jigong Carries the Bride Away”

(Minghui.org) “Monk Jigong Carries the Bride Away” is a well-known Chinese folktale that has been passed down through the generations.

As the story goes, a festive wedding was taking place in a small mountain village near Hangzhou during the Southern Song Dynasty. Monk Jigong from Lingyin Temple happened to pass by. Through his celestial eye, he saw an alarming sight: A mountain peak hurtling through the air and about to crash-land on the village, threatening the lives of everyone there.

Rushing to the wedding site, Jigong warned the villagers to evacuate. However, his ragged clothes and eccentric demeanor made them dismiss him as a troublemaker. They accused him of disrupting the wedding, and several strong men beat him to the ground.

There was no time to explain, so Jigong grabbed the bride, carried her on his back, and ran as fast as he could out of the village. Enraged, the crowd grabbed sticks and pursued him, shouting at and threatening him.

Jigong ran until he reached an open area outside the village, with the angry crowd still close behind. Just then, a deafening crash echoed across the valley. The mountain peak plummeted from the sky, crushing the entire village beneath it. The stunned villagers stood frozen, realizing that Jigong had saved their lives.

On the surface, Jigong’s act of “snatching the bride” seemed outrageous, even absurd. However, what he did became a beautiful and enduring story. His actions also provoke deep questions: Should Jigong have acted this way? Was he right to do so?

The answers are not straightforward.

Yes, Jigong did so because his intention was to save lives, and he had the supernatural ability to succeed. But the same act would be impossible for an ordinary person. Imagine if someone else, lacking Jigong's abilities, had tried the same thing. Beaten black and blue, would they have been able to outrun the angry crowd and rescue anyone?

Conversely, what if Jigong had the intention to save people but lacked the ability to act? In that case, he would have been condemned by society for being a morally degenerate monk or perished along with the villagers under the falling mountain.

For the story to have a happy ending, Jigong had to succeed. For anyone aspiring to follow Jigong’s example and use extraordinary means to save lives, they must first reach a high level of cultivation, possess boundless compassion for all beings, demonstrate profound wisdom, and have the capability to carry out their actions effectively. Without these qualities, no matter how noble their intentions, the results could be disastrous.