Buddhism and Taoism

  The basic situation of the development of Taoism in the Tang Dynasty

Taoism has become a relatively complete religion under the transformation of Kou Qianzhi, Lu Xiujing, Tao Hongjing and others in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and with the introduction of the “Yixia Lun” by the Southern Qi Taoist Gu Huan, it also marked the struggle between Buddhism and Taoism. Enter white-hot. Therefore, to talk about the development of Taoism in the later historical period, we have to consider Buddhism.

  The rulers of the Sui Dynasty paid more attention to Buddhism, which made many Taoists feel dissatisfied. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Qihui, a Taoist priest from Louguan, and Wang Zhiyuan, the leader of Maoshan sect, both joined Li Yuan and created a lot of prophecies for his army. In addition, the Li clan, as a clan of Longxi, is not an old traditional clan, so it is necessary to find a reasonable initial ancestor in the genealogy to overwhelm the old clan, and the Taoists provided their own leader Lao Tzu, and the two sides hit it off. The descendants of Taoism are self-identified, and naturally it is impossible not to treat Taoism favorably.

  The Tang Dynasty began to advocate Taoism since Li Yuan. He called Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism three times to debate Buddhism and Taoism. When the debate was fruitless, he directly came to the conclusion that “Tao is big and Buddha is small”. Of course, the monks, who saw their status had declined, were naturally unwilling to give in, so they mistakenly found the prince Li Jiancheng. The Taoist Wang Zhiyuan and others chose to support Li Shimin. Therefore, after the Xuanwu Gate change, Li Shimin directly issued an edict to suppress Buddhism. The monks, whose minds were not clear again, actually went to the table to fight again, expressing fierce opposition, which made Li Shimin very unhappy, and said “If you speak to monks and others, the decree will be issued immediately. harsh words. The monks had to give up. Wei Zhishi refused to accept it and was beaten in court.

   When Li Zhi succeeded to the throne, he basically followed the previous policy of “honoring the Tao and suppressing the Buddha”. This situation changed after Wu Zetian gradually participated in the political power. Wu Zetian’s worship of Buddha is well known. And it’s not just a matter of belief. It should be noted that Li Tang took Lao Tzu as the first ancestor, which means that Taoism is the root of Li Tang and Wang Zuo. And if you want to replace and foster opposing forces, the most ideal thing is to attack the other side from the root of belief. Therefore, from the middle and late Gaozong period to the Wu Zhou period, the status of Buddhism soared and reached the point where it could rival Taoism.

At that time, Taishi Ling Fu Yi (a Taoist priest, proficient in astronomy and calendar) wrote to Tang Gaozu Li Yuan twice in the fourth year of Wude and the seventh year of Wude. Starting from Confucian ethics, he believed that Buddhism had many drawbacks, and “doesn’t help the people”, “” It is harmful to the country”, pointing out that Buddhism owns its own monastery property but does not need to pay taxes, and the number of Buddhists increases without the need to serve, which is not conducive to the long-term rule of the country.

   “Old Tang Shu·Fu Yi Biography”: Buddha in the Western Regions, speaking far away, translating Hu Shu into Chinese, and pretending to do so. Therefore, they are unfaithful and unfilial, shaving their hair and bowing to their relatives;

  Fu Yi’s move aroused the approval of many Taoist priests. People such as Li Zhongqing also wrote the book “Ten Differences and Nine Mysteries” to provide public opinion offensive.

  The author’s history of gossip | 2019-12-922:03:10

   1. “The Legend of the Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty” – upgrade from the protagonist to the battle of Buddhism and Taoism

Huang Yi’s “The Legend of Double Dragons in the Tang Dynasty” is a treasure of Chinese martial arts novels. In the novel, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s journey of upgrading and fighting monsters to become top masters and the excellent and tense battlefield description can be described as fascinating. Huang Yi combines the characters of the novel with Sui. The setting of the combination of warlords in the last years of the dynasty and the combination of various forces competing in the Central Plains is even more amazing. In the cultural core of “Datang Shuanglong Biography”, it always revolves around civilians and clansmen, Buddhism and Taoism. In order to avoid too much space, I would like to focus on the Buddhist and Taoist disputes in the book first.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling are the two protagonists in the book. From the beginning of the book, they have forged an indissoluble bond with Taoism by relying on the Taoist secret book “The Secret of Longevity” in the book. Stillness, movement, yin and yang, etc., for example, the “Eight Ways in the Well” of the two of them embodies the spirit of Taoism most prominently, and even the immortal seal created by their opponent, the evil king “Shi Zhixuan”, also reflects the transformation of yin and yang, life and death everywhere. . Cihang Jingzhai, a major martial arts force in the book, is the leader of Buddhism in the book. They strongly supported Li Shimin when the world was in chaos, hoping to stabilize the world as soon as possible and resolve the crisis peacefully. Many decent masters in the book are Driven by Cihang Jingzhai, the influence of Buddhism is evident.

In the book, the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism accompanies the end of the novel. In the end, it seems that Buddhism has won the victory. Then, in real history, how did the forces of Buddhism and Taoism evolve in the early Tang Dynasty (here only refers to the period of Li Yuan and Li Shimin) what about? This is the core theme that this article wants to discuss with you.

  2. A great discussion on Buddhism and Taoism in the Tang Dynasty

   However, in the early Tang Dynasty, when determining the specific development strategy of Buddhism and Taoism, the government and the opposition went through a lot of discussion. Before describing the strategy, it is necessary to introduce this crucial Buddhist and Taoist debate.

   (1) The attack of Taoist forces

At that time, Taishi Ling Fu Yi (a Taoist priest, proficient in astronomy and calendar) wrote to Tang Gaozu Li Yuan twice in the fourth year of Wude and the seventh year of Wude. Starting from Confucian ethics, he believed that Buddhism had many drawbacks, and “doesn’t help the people”, “” It is harmful to the country”, pointing out that Buddhism owns its own monastery property but does not need to pay taxes, and the number of Buddhists increases without the need to serve, which is not conducive to the long-term rule of the country.

   “Old Tang Shu·Fu Yi Biography”: Buddha in the Western Regions, speaking far away, translating Hu Shu into Chinese, and pretending to do so. Therefore, they are unfaithful and unfilial, shaving their hair and bowing to their relatives;

  Fu Yi’s move aroused the approval of many Taoist priests. People such as Li Zhongqing also wrote the book “Ten Differences and Nine Mysteries” to provide public opinion offensive.

   (2) Counterattack of Buddhist forces

   However, in the face of Taoism’s public opinion offensive, some Buddhists also stood up. Fa Lin, the eminent monk at that time, was known as the “guardian of the Dharma”. Facing the accusations of Fu Yi and others, his response was quite complete. He learned the lessons of the ineffective refutation by directly citing Buddhist classics, and directly wrote the book “Breaking Evils”. Argument”.

In “Destruction of Evils”, Farin discussed that Buddhism and Confucianism not only have something in common, but even more than that. The standard of human beings, and Buddhists even take the five constants as the preconditions for human beings. He believes that Buddhists only formally give up family affection, monarchs and ministers, etc., but in order to find the “Great Shun” for all living beings to escape from the sea of ​​suffering:

   “Destruction of Evils”: Although the body is obedient to relatives, it is filial piety in the heart, and it is polite and obedient to the master and the heart is gracious. Ze was resented by his relatives, so he became a great shun, and his blessings were secluded.

   Not only that, he also wrote the book “Debates” to refute “Ten Differences and Nine Mysteries”, which can be described as an inch of land.

   To Taoism, in fact, the early Tang Dynasty had a completely different attitude from that of the Sui Dynasty. Although the interval between the two dynasties was very short, Li Yuan and Li Shimin were officials in the Sui Dynasty, but they were completely different from Emperor Wen of Sui’s enthusiasm for Buddhism. They chose to respect Taoism and support the development of Taoism. When Li Yuan was in power, he recognized Lao Tzu Li Dan as the ancestor of the Li Tang Dynasty.

  In the eighth year of Wude, Li Yuan issued an edict that determined the basic religious strategy of Taoism first and Buddhism later:

  The old school of Confucianism, the ancestors of this land, Buddhism, and the rise of Buddhism, it is advisable to obey the courtesy. Order the old first, the second Confucius, and the last Shizong.

   After the reign of Li Shimin, in the eleventh year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin once again promulgated the “Order of Taoism in front of monks” out of the need to support the development of Taoism, reaffirming the preeminence of Taoism:

  …As for the title, the Taoist priest’s female crown can be before the monks and nuns.

   Of course, compared with Li Yuanxiang, Li Shimin’s support for Taoism is more obvious. For example, he once built Taoist ancestral temples in Bozhou, Yanzhou and other places, and specially arranged funds and personnel.

   It can be said that Taoism ushered in a period of vigorous development at this time.

   In fact, from the perspective of social reality, Buddhism has developed to a peak at that time, and the phrase “four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties” shows the rapid development of Buddhism. If the Sui Dynasty was the honeymoon period of Buddhism, then the early Tang Dynasty, especially during the reign of Li Yuan, was not so friendly to Buddhism.

After Li Yuan ascended to the honor of Ninety-five, not only did he directly set the position of Buddhism in the form of an imperial edict as mentioned above, but also issued an edict “Sha Tai Buddhism” in March of the ninth year of Wude, although the edict affirmed Buddhism However, it exposes more of the drawbacks of Buddhism. For example, the edict pointed out that Buddhism has such drawbacks as “a lazy person who avoids corvée and acts arrogantly.” Moreover, due to the great influence of Buddhism at that time, although Taoism was also included in Shatai, it objectively played a role in supporting Taoism. According to the edict of “Shati Buddhism and Taoism”, only three temples and a thousand monks were kept in the capital, and the rest of the temples were given to princes, and the monks were released back to their hometowns. It can be said that if this move was followed, the development of Buddhism would be severely suppressed.

However, things took a turn for the better at this time. Due to the Xuanwu Gate Incident that broke out on June 3 of that year, Li Yuan was forced to abdicate. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, in order to stabilize the situation as soon as possible and win over the original forces of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, he chose to give amnesty to the world. Buddhism has returned to its original form.