The Yuan Dynasty was one of the most extensive dynasties in Chinese history and played an important role in the history of Buddhism. Taking advantage of the expansion of the Mongol cavalry, Buddhism was able to greatly expand its sphere of influence during this period. In particular, Kublai Khan pioneered the imperial system, making the emperor an important role in directing the religious affairs of the world, especially the emperor from Tibetan Buddhism, who had great power.
Before the Yuan Dynasty, there was no title of emperor in all dynasties, and only occasionally mentioned in Western Xia Buddhist literature, but the duties were unknown. With the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial system also came to an end.
The first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty was Kublai Khan's imperial master Phagspa, who was well-known in Tibetan Buddhism. Phags-pa (1235-1280) was the leader of the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism, whose name means "holy child" in Tibetan, and because he read through the Buddhist scriptures at the age of seven, the Tibetans were amazed and called him "Phags-pa".
In November 1251, Saban, the leader of the Sakya sect, passed away at the Liangzhou Transfiguration Temple, and the 16-year-old Phags-pa became the new head of the Sakya sect.
In the summer of 1253, Kublai Khan, who was in charge of the affairs of the Han land in Monan, was assigned by his brother Meng Ke Khan to gather heavy troops at Liupan Mountain and prepare to attack Dali in the south. At the age of 18, Phags-pa met Kublai Khan for the first time as the head of the sect, who admired him and asked Phags-pa to teach the Great Empowerment of Hivajra (one of the important rituals of Tibetan Buddhism) and worship him as his guru. From then on, Phags-pa began to follow Kublai Khan.
Since Buddhism was introduced to the Central Plains during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoism, China's native religion, was born rapidly. In order to combat this culture from other lands, Taoism compiled the "Lao Tzu Hua Hu Jing" according to the legend of "Lao Tzu Hua Hu" that has been circulated since the Eastern Han Dynasty. The text tells that Lao Tzu traveled west to Tianzhu, where he incarnated as a Buddha and educated the Hu people, thus giving rise to Buddhism. Taoism uses this to preach the Tao as a teacher and the Buddha as an apprentice.
Buddhism has launched a counterattack against this Taoist statement. In 1258, Kublai Khan convened Buddhist and Taoist masters to hold an unprecedented debate on Buddhism and Taoism in Kaiping Province. As the chief representative of Buddhism, Phag-pa had a heated debate with the Taoist priests, and finally forced the Taoist priests to admit defeat, and the presiding judge declared that "the Taoist is defeated!"Not only did he judge Lao Tzu Hua Hu Jing as an apocrypha, but he also forced 17 Taoist priests to cut their hair and become monks, and some Taoist temples were converted into Buddhist temples, and a large number of apocryphal scriptures were burned. Since the Song Dynasty, the dominant position of Taoism in society has diminished significantly.
Kublai Khan was impressed by his profound knowledge of Buddhism and quick thinking. In 1260, Kublai Khan returned to Yanjing (present-day Beijing) after defeating Ali Buge, and officially proclaimed himself emperor and established the Yuan dynasty. At the same time, the 25-year-old Phags-pa was named the "Emperor Master" and granted a jade seal to manage Buddhist affairs in Mongolia and Tibet, thus gaining the status of a national Buddhist leader.
In 1264, Kublai Khan established the National Religious Administration, the General Yuan, and the 29-year-old Phags-pa was in charge of the affairs of the General System as an imperial teacher. In the subsequent Yuan Dynasty, eleven emperors were appointed, all of whom came from the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Before the Yuan Dynasty, there were several schools of Tibetan Buddhism, such as the Sakya, Kagyu, Kadam, Nyingma, Gelug, etc. These factions attack each other and do not have a recognized Buddhist leader. However, with the support of the Central Plains Dynasty, the Sakya sect became theocratic rulers in the region between the 13th and 14th centuries.
The emperor appointed by the Yuan Dynasty was not only the highest religious leader in the country, but also the military and political leader of the region, in charge of all affairs. It can be seen that the imperial system has gone beyond the scope of religion and has become an effective political means of governance in the Central Plains.
The imperial system has become a bridge between the Chinese and the distant, promoted the exchange and integration of Mongolian, Tibetan and Han cultures, and helped to form the common cultural psychology of the Chinese nation.
The emperors of the Yuan Dynasty all revered Buddhism, and their activities mainly included the construction of Buddhist temples, the printing of Buddhist scriptures, and the construction of merits. It is often given to the temple in a surprising amount of land. According to incomplete statistics, starting from Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, in less than 100 years, the Yuan Dynasty gave the temple more than 32 million mu of land.
It is worth mentioning that although the Yuan Dynasty established Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion, it did not exclude the Sinicized Buddhism of the Central Plains, and in the Yuan Dynasty, Sinicized Buddhism was fully developed.
In contrast, Taoism flourished during the Sui and Tang dynasties and the Song and Song dynasties, but it was in decline during the Yuan dynasty and could no longer compete with Buddhism.
The establishment of the imperial system in the Yuan Dynasty and the influence of Buddhism in China have left a profound trace in Chinese history. This history shows how religious and political power intertwined at a given time, and how they shaped every aspect of society at the time.
First of all, the establishment of the imperial system in the Yuan Dynasty marked the establishment of religious power in politics. As the spiritual pillar of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor was not only a religious leader, but also a political and military leader, overseeing the affairs of the Mongolian and Tibetan regions. This system of religious and political power has allowed Buddhism to play a key role not only in religious beliefs, but also in political decision-making. This embedding of religious power in the political system brought a unique model of governance to the social structure of the time.
Secondly, the prosperity and spread of Buddhism in the Yuan Dynasty is also an important highlight of this history. Due to the support of the imperial system and the admiration of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, Buddhism has developed on a large scale in China, not only in the Central Plains, but also in the ** region. During this period, the influence of Buddhism on society was multifaceted, involving religion, culture, art and other fields, and the development and spread of Buddhism had a profound impact on the formation and development of Chinese society.
However, this history also presents confrontations and debates between religions. The debate between Buddhism and Taoism caused great repercussions in the society at that time, and as a representative of Buddhism, Phags-pa not only won the debate, but also forced the seventeen masters of Taoism to cut their hair and become monks. This wrestling between religions reflects the complexity of religious beliefs and the game of power between religions at the time.
Finally, the establishment of the imperial teacher system promoted the exchange and integration of Mongolian, Tibetan and Han cultures, and helped to form the common cultural psychology of the Chinese nation. This convergence of religious and political systems not only affected the social structure of the time, but also had a profound impact on Chinese history, laying the foundation for the pluralism and inclusiveness of Chinese culture today.
To sum up, the influence of the Yuan Dynasty emperor system and Buddhism in China shows the complex relationship between religion and politics at that time, and also reflects the interweaving and changes of religious belief and political power in Chinese society over the course of history. This history deserves our in-depth consideration to understand its significance to the inheritance and evolution of Chinese culture.
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