Yushi receives a lot of private messages in the background almost every day, and the relatively simple questions are usually replied to on the spot. Of course, there are also some readers who will ask more professional questions, which will basically be published separately. At the request of readers, the content of this issue is mainly to talk about the system of monks and Taoist officials in the Qing Dynasty.
Like the local administrative system at all levels, monks and Taoist officials also adopted a top-down management method, and the highest institution was the Ministry of Rites of the Jingshi, and the prefectures, prefectures, and counties under it also set up corresponding officials.
The Ministry of Rites Ancestral Sacrifice Qing Officials Division (referred to as the Ancestral Priest), in charge of auspicious rites and fierce ceremonies. The auspicious rite is the sacrifice, and the fierce ceremony is the funeral ceremony of the emperor and queen.
The subordinate institutions of the priest include the Sacrifice Section, the Shixian Section, the Monk and Taoist Section, and the Fire House, which are in charge of the affairs of the Division. Since it mainly focuses on the content of the Sangha and Taoism, it focuses on the relevant duties of the Sangha and Taoism Department.
The status of the Sangha and Taoism in the Ministry of Rites is not high, and there are few affairs in ordinary times. The Department of Monks and Taoism is divided into the Department of Monks and the Department of Taoism, which is in charge of managing Buddhist and Taoist affairs.
According to the ** official system of the Qing Dynasty, all departments that belong to the "division" have the highest chief Lang Zhong and the deputy chief Lang Wailang. However, the Sangha Division and the Daolu Division are only empty names, and their administrative ranks are the same as those of the principal.
The supreme chief of the Sanglu Division calledLeft and right for the good world, one person each has a positive sixth grade, and the deputy chief isLeft and right acting, each of the grades of one person from the sixth grade;The Department of Daolu was establishedLeft and right are one, one person each has a positive sixth grade, and the deputy chief isLeft and right, each of the grades of one person from the sixth grade;
The number of official positions in the Sanglu Division and the Daolu Division is small, and there are still Sanglu DivisionsLeft and right lectures, left and right enlightenment；There is a division of DaoluLeft and right to the spirit, left and right to righteousnessThere are no other officers.
According to the records of the "Great Qing Huidian", all the monks and Taoists in all provinces of the country are selected and promoted, and the monks and Taoists are handled by the Monks and Taoists and submitted to the Ministry of Officials for registration. In addition, there are eight monk palaces and six Taoist palaces in the east, west, north and south cities of Jingshi, which are managed by the monks and Taoists who send lectures, jueyi, and zhiling and righteousness respectively.
The provincial-level units, including the governor's yamen, the governor's yamen, and the political envoys' yamen, do not have monks and Taoist officials. This is because the general administrative affairs of the provincial capitals are the responsibility of the prefecture-level units, such as the Zhejiang provincial capital is managed by the Hangzhou government, the Guangdong provincial city is managed by the Guangzhou government, and so on.
There are many institutions under the prefecture-level units, such as the Experience Division, the Zhaomo Office, the Prison Division, the Propaganda Division, the Tax Division, the Fucang, the Tea Quotation and Approval Institute, the Post Station, Medicine, Yin and Yang Studies, etc.
Sangha affairs are not an administrative priority, so they are at the bottom of the list. The institution that manages the monks at the provincial level is called"Sangha Division"., the management of the Taoist priest's call"Dokijiji".
The Sangha Compendium Division was established"Totsuna".One person, rank from the ninth grade, deputy capital gang one, rank is not into the stream;The Provincial Discipline Division was established"Toki".One person, rank from the ninth grade, deputy capital Ji one, rank is not in the stream.
Obviously, the official configuration of the Sangha Gang Division and the Dao Discipline Division is very shabby, with only two officials. However, don't look at their low rank, the threshold for appointment is not low at all.
According to the regulations, the original identities of Du Gang and Du Ji are monks and Taoist priests, and they must be people who are proficient in the scriptures and abide by the rules and precepts. There is no separate yamen for the Sangha Department and the Taoist Discipline Division, and the officials are generally the abbots and Taoist chiefs in the most prestigious temples and Taoist temples in the local area.
Regardless of whether it is Zhili Prefecture or Sanzhou, the setting of monks and officials is the same. The institution that manages the monks is called the "Sanshoji", and the institution that manages the Taoist priests is called the "Daoshoji", and the rank is one level lower than the prefecture.
Compared with the prefecture, the state has fewer monk and Taoist affairs, so there is only one official in the monk department, called "monk zheng";Daozheng Division is also a one, called "Daozheng", and its grades are all unentered.
The level of the county's monks and Taoist institutions is the lowest, and the management of monks is called "Sangha Division", and the management of Taoist priests is called "Taoist Division", and its officials are also one each, that is, one person each of the "Sangha Association" and "Taoist Society", and the grade has not entered the stream.
In case of vacancies, the local government should report to the Ministry of Rites, and select monks and Taoist priests who meet the requirements of the post from among them, and at the same time notify the Ministry of Officials and register.
The monks and officials of Fuzhou County mainly manage the monks and Buddhist affairs in their jurisdiction, and in many literary and film works, we often see people going to the temple to become monks and nuns once they are frustrated and desperate.
In fact, this is not in line with history, in the Qing Dynasty, it was not common to shave a monk, if the people want to marry as a monk or a nun, they must be recognized by the imperial court, that is, the Ministry of Rites issued a degree. Details such as place of origin, name, and teacher will be indicated on the degree, and with this ID card, you can be considered an official monk or nun.
If an ordinary person does not obtain the ordination and shaves his ordination privately, according to the law of the Qing Dynasty, he will be required to have 80 rods, and if the parents do not report it or take the initiative to shave their children, their sin is also 80 rods.
Why does there be a certain threshold for people to become monks?This is because once a monk or Taoist priest becomes a monk, he is exempt from taxes and forced labor. If this is not controlled, leaving the country at every turn will inevitably have a negative impact on the country's finances. In the feudal era, agriculture was the foundation, and advocating agricultural production was the right way.
Finally, I need to talk about Zhengyi Zhenren, the full name of Zhengyi Zhenren is "Longhu Mountain Zhengyi Zhenren", which is in charge of Longhu Mountain Taoism and Taoist affairs.
Zhengyi Zhenren was officially canonized by the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and enjoyed the hereditary system. In the Ming Dynasty, a real person was a second grade, and the Qing Dynasty was reduced to a third grade. Its rank is much higher than that of the monks and Taoist officials of the Ministry of Rites, and the Taoist affairs of Longhu Mountain are operated independently, not subject to the constraints of the Jiangxi magistrates, and are only responsible to the Ministry of Rites. List of high-quality authors