Datang Library

Chapter 627 Buddhism and Central Plains

Buddhism was introduced from India through the Western Regions at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the Xinmang period and the early Eastern Han Dynasty.

According to records, in the first year of Yuanshou (2 BC) of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, Jing Lu, a doctor's disciple, went to Da Yueshi as an envoy, and his envoy taught the "Buddha Sutra".

In the tenth year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 67), Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty dreamed of a golden man, so he sent people to the Western Regions to welcome two eminent monks, Kasyapa Moten and Zhu Falan, and brought many Buddha statues and Buddhist scriptures. In Luoyang, the capital, the emperor ordered people to build a house for him to live in and translate the "42 Chapters", which is now the White Horse Temple.

Therefore, in the history of Chinese Buddhism, the 42th year of Emperor Yongping of the Han Dynasty is often used as the year when Buddhism was introduced.

Buddhism was introduced to China relatively early, but due to the prosperity of Confucianism at that time, the development of Buddhism was very limited. It was not until after the Five Hushuis that Buddhism began to flourish.

During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Pi and Sun Quan believed in Buddhism, and even established Buddhist temples. This is also the consistent practice of Buddhism, which is to develop the monarch into a Buddhist believer, so there is no need to worry about the development of Buddhism.

During the Western Jin Dynasty, official and folk Buddhist beliefs gradually became common.According to legend, in the Western Jin Dynasty, there were a total of 180 monasteries in the eastern and western capitals (Luoyang and Chang'an), with more than [-] monks and nuns.

There were also many worshipers in the court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Emperor Jin Yuan and Emperor Jin Ming paid homage to Shamen with guests and friends. The temple, a collection of righteousness, was named Baiseng', so Jiankang Buddhism flourished for a while.

After experiencing the period of the Five Chaos, Buddhism flourished, because these foreign rulers who invaded the Central Plains basically believed in Buddhism, and then built Buddhist temples, translated and spread Buddhist scriptures, and so on, which became more common. Buddhism can be said to be With this period embarked on a glorious.

In the early days of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, that is, during the Southern Dynasties, Buddhism was very prosperous.

Later, Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu wrote a poem when he came to Yangzhou, saying, "480 temples in the Southern Dynasty, how many towers are in the mist and rain." From this number, we can see that there are hundreds of temples in Yangzhou, which shows how prosperous Buddhism was in those days.

In the Northern Dynasties in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties, some monarchs began to see the dangers of Buddhism and proposed to destroy Buddhism. The most famous ones were Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Corvée, not paying food tax, but also encouraging the country's young and strong laborers to go to the mountains to believe in Buddhism and become a monk, which greatly endangers the development of the country, so they mobilized murderous intentions and launched an operation to destroy Buddhism.

These two Buddha exterminations, together with Tang Wuzong's extermination of Buddhas in the late Tang Dynasty, were collectively called "Three Wu Exterminations of Buddhas" in history.

Until the two emperors of the former Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, and Yang Guang, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, both believed in Buddhism and adopted policies to support Buddhism. Fortunately, Yangdi Yang Guang directly became the precept disciple of the Buddha and Bodhisattva. Although these may be the means needed by the ruler to rule the people, it can also be seen how much Buddhism was respected at that time.

Until the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan actually believed in Buddhism and gave his eldest son Li Jiancheng the nickname Bishamen. Even so, most of the aristocratic class in the Tang Dynasty were left over from the previous Sui Dynasty, and many people believed in Buddhism.

Now Datang wants to do something with Buddhism because of actual needs, so Li Er, a filial son, has to find his father to persuade him with good words. Fortunately, old Li Yuan is not a devout Buddhist, and even matures when he is old. It is also very disgusting to block Datang's way. He didn't say anything, but he actually supported Bai Fan's move in his heart, so he didn't call Li Jiancheng, the boss of the Li family, in this private discussion, because he was afraid that he would cause trouble.

As for the character of Fu Yi, the Taishiling who Bai Fan pointed out, many people may not have heard of it. The position of Taishiling is actually Sima Qian's position in the past. The volcanic order of astronomy and calendar was also under the jurisdiction of the Taishi Bureau. It was not until the Tang Gaozong period that it was in charge of astronomy and calendar that it was renamed Huntianjian.

And Fu Yi, who is now the Taishi Ling of the Tang Dynasty, is already 76 years old. This person may not be famous in history, but he is very famous in the history of religion, especially in the history of Buddhism. Fu Yi was the famous one in the early Tang Dynasty Anti-Buddha fighter.

Based on the materialist view of nature and Confucian ethics, he resolutely opposed Buddhism.Criticize Buddhism for not respecting the righteousness of the monarch and his subjects, father and son, being disloyal to the monarch and unfilial to the father; wandering around eating and drinking, not engaging in production; Fool, defrauding money and things.

In the seventh year of Wude, he wrote "Please Eliminate Buddhism" to Li Yuan, advocating the prohibition of Buddhism. Although Li Yuan's attention was attracted, there were too many Buddhist believers in the court, and there were very few people who supported Fu Yi, and finally nothing happened.

There was such a capable man in Datang, when the emperor mentioned dealing with Buddhism, the first thing Bai Fan thought of was this old man, because he can be said to be a fighter who has fought against Buddhism all his life. Bickering, Bai Fan believed that even his proud disciple Du Gou was inferior to this old man.

"Hahahaha, okay, I didn't expect Jianzhi to know Fu Yi. It seems that you have thought about Buddhism in the past. Fu Yi is indeed a good helper. He has a better way of dealing with Buddhism than Lao Cheng." Li Yuan clapped his hands and laughed.

Li Er nodded and said: "So, I will transfer Shubao's Zuo Wuwei to you, and Yuanba has also returned, and ask him to help you too. Who are you going to fight in the first battle?

One of them donated the land to Tanzhe Temple in Hebei, and the other donated the land to Shaolin Temple in Songshan. These two temples are relatively famous in Buddhist temples, so they are very difficult to deal with. You have to be careful. "

"It doesn't matter, I don't see any difference between big fish and small fish. If I make a move, I naturally have to deal with the elite enemies. If they are all rookies, there is no challenge at all, so it's so boring.

As for the first battle, there is no need to look far away, let's fight all the way, let's start with the most famous Wulou Temple in Chang'an, the capital city. effect. "

Wulou Temple is a Buddhist temple built by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty on the site of Jingjue Temple in the Northern Wei Dynasty. It is next to Qujiang Pond and has a very high status in Chang'an Buddhist Temple.

In the 22nd year of Zhenguan in history, Li Zhi built a large temple on the original site of Wulou Temple to pray for the kindness of his mother, Empress Changsun, and named it Ci'en Temple, also known as Daci'en Temple.

Until Tang Xuanzang came back from learning Buddhist scriptures, Xuanzang built a big wild goose pagoda in Da Ci'en Temple to house the Buddhist scriptures, statues and relics brought back. Since then, Da Ci'en Temple has become an unshakable holy place for Buddhism.

Of course, this is all the afterwords recorded in the history books. In this life, with Bai Fan as a variable, not only does the Empress Changsun seem to be spared from death, but the development of Buddhism may not be so smooth. A storm is coming.

　Today's Chapter 2, thank you for your support.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)