Yang Jing smiled and said, "Hello, Taoist priest. I am a traveler. I came here to visit this Taoist temple today. I would like to offer some incense to you and ask for your blessing."

When the Taoist heard this, he smiled slightly, made a "please" gesture with one hand, and then picked up the broom to continue cleaning the courtyard.

Yang Jing did not take it as an offense. The Taoist priests in this Taoist temple were obviously all true disciples of the Three Pure Ones, not those fake Taoist priests who were seeking fame and reputation in some scenic spots. When they saw a benefactor coming to their temple, they wanted to keep all the money in the benefactor's pocket.

True disciples of the Three Pure Ones emphasize tranquility and inaction, transcending nature, and never attaching importance to material possessions. Therefore, when a benefactor comes to their door, these true disciples of the Three Pure Ones will not mind whether the benefactor gives them money or not.

Yang Jing walked in and found that this Taoist temple was really huge. Even Song Laohei's home might be larger than this Taoist temple.

The architectural style of the Taoist temple is somewhat similar to the Siheyuan in Yanjing. After entering the gate, there is a small courtyard, about 30 square meters. Opposite it, facing north and south, is a small main building. There is a plaque above the gate with "Sanqing Hall" written on it. No, this Daimei Temple enshrines the three Taoist ancestors Yuanshi Zun, Daode Zun and Lingbao Zun.

There are three side rooms on each side of the Sanqing Hall, which must be where the Taoists in the temple live as well as where the kitchen and warehouse are located.

Although the Taoist temple is not big, it is full of greenery. All the houses are surrounded by big trees, and in the center of the courtyard there is a ginkgo tree that is hundreds of years old, with deep roots and lush leaves.

The Taoist temple is filled with a peaceful natural atmosphere, which is in line with the Taoist concept of "Tao follows nature". When people are inside, they will involuntarily feel a sense of being away from this world.

Yang Jing nodded slightly and walked towards the Sanqing Hall. There was an incense table at the entrance of the Sanqing Hall, a merit box on the left, and a young Taoist priest on the right. When he saw Yang Jing coming, he bowed with both hands and chanted: "Meritorious and Infinite Merit!"

Yang Jing also bowed, then put down his backpack, took out ten "Four Great Men" hundred-yuan bills from his pocket and put them into the merit box. He then respectfully arranged his clothes, washed his hands in the basin beside him, and said to the young Taoist priest, "Master, I want to burn incense."

You can't just burn incense casually. According to Taoist rules, you must dress neatly and wash your hands before burning incense. Yang Jing did the right thing.

The young Taoist priest did not seem to have expected that the young lay Buddhist would take out so much money for incense at once. After being stunned for a moment, he smiled and nodded to Yang Jing, then took out three large incense sticks that were more than one meter long and thicker than a thumb from the box behind him.

However, the Taoist priest did not hand over the incense. Yang Jing knew that there was another procedure to do before burning incense, which was to light the candles.

According to Taoist rules, candles should be lit before incense is burned, which means "the silver lamp shines brightly, reflecting the sky, shining brightly and emitting silver rainbows, the host of the fast comes to light a devout offering, gathering blessings and welcoming blessings, gathering blessings and welcoming blessings."

Although Yang Jing is not a Taoist disciple, the holy ring is an undoubted treasure of Taoism. As the host of the holy ring, Yang Jing naturally has to study more about some Taoist rules.

Originally, Yang Jing didn't believe in Buddhism or Taoism, but after receiving the holy ring, he had unconsciously regarded himself as a Taoist disciple. So when he burned incense to the Three Pure Ones today, he naturally and strictly followed the Taoist rules.

After the candles were lit, Yang Jing took the three incense sticks, burned them, and began to burn incense.

These three incense sticks also have a story behind them. They are called the "Three Treasure Incense". After the incense is burning, you must use your left hand to burn incense, because in the Chinese Taoist tradition, the left hand is generally called the auspicious hand and the right hand is the evil hand; and in the Chinese folk tradition, the left is also greater.

Yang Jing held the incense in his left hand and first inserted a stick of incense in the middle of the incense burner, which meant "Daobao incense"; then inserted it on the left side, which refers to the left side of the statue of the founder, that is, Yang Jing's right hand side, which meant "Jingbao incense"; and inserted it on the right side for the third time, which meant "Shibao incense". This is the origin of the three treasures of incense.

The three incense sticks are required to be about one inch apart, representing the heart, and they must be horizontal and vertical, not skewed.

Yang Jing did all this very well, and the young Taoist priest next to him nodded slightly after seeing it.

After offering incense, the next step is to "burn paper money".

These are the three things you need to do before paying homage to the statue of the ancestor: light candles, burn incense, and burn money.

After doing all this, Yang Jing walked respectfully to the left door of the main hall, stepped into the hall with his left foot first, then walked to the three statues of the Three Pure Ones, performed the ritual of three kowtows and nine bows according to the rules, and then respectfully stepped out from the right door of the main hall with his right foot first.

Yang Jing used to only believe in kneeling down to worship his parents, but after getting the holy ring, facing the statues of the Three Pure Ones, Yang Jing performed the standard ritual of three kowtows and nine bows very devoutly.

After completing this set of procedures, the young Taoist priest's attitude towards Yang Jing became better, and he seemed very satisfied that Yang Jing could complete this set of procedures so completely.

Yang Jing didn't want to communicate with the young Taoist priest. After bowing in the hall, he found that the floor of the hall was definitely old. The floor of the hall was paved with bluestone slabs. Although many of the slabs were added later, many of them were definitely old objects.

In the main hall, guarding the statues of the Three Pure Ones, Yang Jing did not use the holy ring to show respect. But after leaving the main hall, Yang Jing prepared to carefully search for other old things in this Taoist temple, even if they were just remains.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!