The rise, evolution and decline of the White Lotus Sect, a religious organization that has left a strong mark in Chinese history, are closely linked to China's social, political and cultural aspects. It is not only a religious belief, but also a social phenomenon and a witness of history. This article will give a detailed introduction to the origin, development, organization and operation of the White Lotus Sect.
The origins of the White Lotus religion are very closely related to Buddhism. In the Pure Land sect of Buddhism, in addition to the believers who believe in Amitabha Buddha, there are also many believers who believe in Maitreya Buddha, and the latter branch is called Maitreya. Maitreya Buddha is the future Buddha, Maitreya belief that after the Buddha Nirvana, the world fell into darkness, sin from birth, to the present life of Maitreya Buddha, the world is bright again, everyone is equal, there is no difference, and it becomes the Elysium.
The predecessor of the White Lotus Sect was a Buddhist group founded by Shamen Mao Ziyuan, a believer in Amitabha Buddha in Suzhou in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, and was known as the "White Lotus Sect" or "White Lotus Cuisine". The so-called "dish" means that people who believe in Amitabha Buddha must strictly prohibit meat and alcohol.
Legend has it that Mao Ziyuan enlightened the Tao one day during "meditation", and after that, he broke with the Pure Land sect, which he had practiced for more than 20 years, founded a new sect, called himself "White Lotus Teacher", and became the leader of the heretical sect. The White Lotus Sect he founded did not require believers to become monks, believers could marry wives and have children, and their clothes were no different from those of the common people. Most of the people who participated in the White Lotus Sect were small people in the countryside, but its rapid development attracted the attention of the official, and it was soon banned by the official on the grounds of "eating vegetables", and Mao Ziyuan was also exiled, but the White Lotus Church was still secretly circulated among the people.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and the White Lotus Church took advantage of the *** at that time to vigorously develop, and absorbed the belief of Maitreya, with the call of "the world is in turmoil, Maitreya was born", and organized the people to carry out an anti-Yuan struggle. In addition, at this time, the White Lotus Sect also absorbed the beliefs of Manichaeism, and won a large number of believers with the call of "the birth of the Ming King" to save the world from fire and water.
Han Shantong was the leader of the White Lotus uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, as early as his grandfather's time, his family was a follower of the White Lotus Society, believing in the birth of Maitreya, and his son Han Lin'er was known as the "Little Ming King", which was derived from the Manichaean concept of "the birth of the Ming King". It can be seen that the emergence and development of the White Lotus Sect is closely related to the belief in Maitreya and Manichaeism.
The White Lotus uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty had a wide impact, and Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, was under Guo Zixing in the early days of the anti-Yuan uprising, and Guo Zixing was nominally subordinate to Han Lin'er, the king of Xiaoming. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang's power grew and he severed his relationship with the White Lotus Sect, but some scholars still pointed out that the new dynasty established by Zhu Yuanzhang took "Ming" as the national name, which can also show that the founding of the Ming Dynasty had a deep relationship with the White Lotus Sect.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the "religious" meaning of the White Lotus Sect became smaller and smaller, and the meaning of "rebellion" became greater and greater. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the rulers continued to ban the White Lotus Sect, so the rulers of the Ming and Qing dynasties became the targets of the White Lotus Sect after the Yuan Dynasty. Regardless of whether the White Lotus Sect calls for "Maitreya came to the world" or "King Ming was born", the troubled times of the White Lotus uprising can be said to have existed from generation to generation.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the White Lotus Sect developed and developed, giving rise to many sect branches. In general, the teachings of the various sects of the White Lotus Sect are mostly to persuade people to do good, and to teach fitness and recuperation kung fu, to teach qigong luck, or to combine it with boxing and stick martial arts.
The organization of the White Lotus Sect is respected by the sect leader, who is inherited by fathers, sons, and brothers, as well as by masters and apprentices. The way of proselytizing is mostly one-preach.
10. Ten preach, usually the market is a good occasion for the mission.
The congregation has great respect for the leader, not only for daily prayers, but also for money. The head of the sect uses chanting mantras to heal the sick and save people, eliminate disasters and difficulties, and make believers surrender. The ** of the White Lotus Sect only appeared in the late Ming Dynasty, and under the influence of other sects, the White Lotus Sect began to edit the scriptures, and the content was mostly to use some folk popular stories, and even opera dramas to promote the absorbed Buddhism and Taoist theories.
Among them, the eight-character formula of "vacuum hometown, no biological parents" is the central idea of the White Lotus Sect: the vacuum hometown, that is, the other world affirmed by the sect, is the place where all people come from, that is, where they return; The godless of parents, i.e., the denomination's belief that the gods are the parents of all people, gradually replaced the "childless parents" with the term "childless mother". This eight-character mantra uses the other world to deny the real world, and uses the Elysian World and Maitreya to save the world to attract the poor and poor people to take refuge.
It should be noted that in the future development of the White Lotus Sect, many sub-schools adopted new names, such as the Blue Lotus Sect, the Wenxiang Sect, the Qingcha Sect, the Tianli Sect, the Bagua Sect, and so on. These branches have many names, all because they want to avoid the imperial court's purge of the White Lotus Sect, but they all agree with the teachings of the Eight Characters True Recipe and Maitreya's incarnation.
On the 20th day of the second month of the eighth year of Jiaqing (1803), a shocking "assassination case" occurred in Beijing, and a cook named Chen De of the Internal Affairs Office plotted to assassinate the Jiaqing Emperor in Shenwumen. After the matter was revealed, Chen De refused to confess, so he only regarded the assassination case as a personal grudge and an accidental incident at that time.
It wasn't until a few years later that Lin Qing, the head of the Tianli Sect, failed to raise an incident in the capital, and learned that Chen De was a Tianli sect follower. Although there is no direct evidence that the assassination of Chen De was directly related to the Tianli Sect, as a common man who had the courage to assassinate the most authoritative emperor, his rebellious character should be related to the teachings of the secret sect.
The story of the White Lotus Sect is full of twists and turns and legends, which is not only a microcosm of an era, but also an important chapter in the history of Chinese civilization. Studying the White Lotus not only helps us understand religion and society in Chinese history, but also allows us to think deeply about the power of human faith and culture. From a religious organization to a synonym for "rebellion" in the eyes of the government, the story of the White Lotus Sect is worth digging deep and savoring. List of high-quality authors