Those who are familiar with the history of the Qing Dynasty know that Emperor Kangxi once designated Lamaism as the state religion of the Qing Dynasty, that is, today's Tibetan Buddhism.
Tibetan Buddhism is a sect of Buddhism that is one of the three major Buddhist systems in China, along with Han Buddhism and Southern Buddhism. After Buddhism was introduced to Tibet, it spread to the Hexi Corridor with the political power of Tibet and other Qinghai-Tibet regions, and then to Gansu, Mongolia and other places. By the Qing Dynasty, Tibetan Buddhism had gradually developed into a system as we know it.
In the system of Tibetan Buddhism, there are four living Buddhas who enjoy supreme status, they are ** Lama, Panchen Erdeni, Zhanggyalhu Tuktu and Jebtsundamba Hutuketu.
Now let's briefly introduce the history of these four living Buddhas and the importance of Tibetan Buddhism to the rule of the Qing Dynasty.
The Tibetan Buddhist system can be broadly divided into five main schools: Nyingma (Red), Saga (Flower), Kagyu (White), Kadam, and Gelug (Yellow).
The Gelug sect is the most powerful of these groups.
"Gelug" means "good law" in Tibetan, so it shows how much importance the Gelug school attaches to the precepts. The Gelug lamas wear yellow monk's hats, hence the name Yellow Sect. The founder of the Gelug sect was Tsongkhapa, who established the Ganden Monastery in Lhasa in the 7th year of Yongle (1409) of the Ming Dynasty, thus laying the foundation of the Gelug sect.
The Gelug sect's relationship with the Manchurians of the Qing Dynasty dates back to the Mongol Empire.
Temujin, later known as Genghis Khan, was a prominent leader in the northern steppes. Under his leadership, Mongolia was unified and began its quest to conquer the world.
When the Mongols conquered Longxi, they encountered the Tibetans who ruled the Qinghai-Tibet region at that time. However, Tibet had already experienced a hundred years of war, and its strength was not as strong as before, and it could not compete with the powerful Mongols. As a result, the Mongols conquered the Tibetan Plateau and came into contact with Tibetan Buddhism.
Prior to this, the Mongols had only been exposed to Han culture from the Central Plains, in addition to their native primitive religion. However, while the Confucian classics were complex and difficult to understand, Tibetan Buddhism was easy to understand because of its emphasis on the cycle of cause and effect, so it quickly spread among the Mongol courts. The well-known Tibetan Buddhist monk Phags-pa even became the national teacher of Mongolia. With the help of the Mongols, Tibetan Buddhism spread beyond the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the Mongolian steppe and even the eastern Liaodong region.
The state religion of the Qing Dynasty: The Yellow Religion With the collapse of the Mengyuan Empire, the Central Plains region once again returned to the control of the Han Chinese. Although the Mongols had retreated to the steppe, Lamaism as their faith was still preserved.
With the passage of time, another two centuries passed. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, due to the corruption of *** and the oppression of ethnic minorities in the frontiers, an outstanding leader emerged from the Jianzhou Jurchen tribe in the northeast: Aixin Jueluo Nurhachi.
Nurhachi and his son, Huang Taiji, knew that it was difficult for the Jurchens to shake the rule of the Ming Dynasty with the strength of the Jurchens alone. Therefore, they turned to the United Nations tribes in the west to fight against the Ming. The two Jurchen leaders actively sought marriage cooperation with the Eastern Mongolian tribes, the most active of which included the Gelug faithful Korqin and other tribes.
In 1636, Huang Taiji was officially proclaimed emperor and established the Qing Empire. The Mongol tribes became the most important military and political allies of the Manchurians, and were one of the core ruling groups of the Qing Empire. Manchu and Mongolia were integrated, and the political pattern of marriage continued until the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
However, in the eyes of the Qing rulers, the Mongols were not only close comrades-in-arms, but also a potential threat.
From the Shunzhi Dynasty to the Qianlong Dynasty, in addition to the close integration of the Eastern Mongolian tribes with the Manchurians, the Outer Mongolian and Western Mongolian tribes have long been opposed to the Qing Dynasty, among which the Jungar tribe is the most famous representative.
How to better manage the ferocious Mongols, and even limit their range of activities, is the main problem for the Qing to solve the hidden dangers of Mongolia. As *** said: "Unite all the forces that can be united, reduce enemies, increase friends." This strategy was also adopted by the Qing **, using religion as a means.
After the three conquests of Kaldan, Emperor Kangxi formulated the policy of "revitalizing the Yellow Religion to pacify the Mongols" in order to thank the Mongols for their contributions in the process of pacifying Galdan and to enhance the status of Lamaism among the Mongols.
The Lama is an important leader of the Gelug sect in **, alongside Panchen Erdeni.
The word "*" is derived from the Mongolian word meaning "sea", while the word "Panchen" comes from Sanskrit and means "scholar". During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, the **region** lama had been reincarnated as the fifth **Lobsang Gyatso. At that time, the Gelug sect was not the largest sect, but the Kagyu sect of the White Sect. The Karma dynasty, as adherents of the White Religion, has been suppressing the Gelug tradition.
In 1642, the 4th Panchen Lama and the 5th Lama united with the Gelugpa Mongol tribal leader and Shuogu Shi Khan to successfully overthrow the Kagyu Karma Dynasty, thus establishing the dominance of the Yellow Sect in **. As early as 1635, Gushi Khan surrendered to the Qing Dynasty after ascending the throne with Huang Taiji to the Great Khan, making ** a dependency of the Qing Dynasty.
In the same year of the regime change, the 5th sent an envoy through Mongolia to Shenyang (Shengjing) to meet Huang Taiji. This move allowed the Qing Dynasty to recognize the dominance of the Gelug sect.
In 1652, the Fifth Lama Lobsang Gyatso set off for Beijing to meet the Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty. **The lama and his entourage of more than 3,000 people went through hardships and dangers until the end of the year before arriving in Beijing. Emperor Shunzhi personally went to Nanyuan in the southern suburbs to greet ** and received him with the highest standard.
The Fifth Lama lived in Xihuang Monastery in Beijing for more than two months before returning home. Emperor Shunzhi sent important officials such as the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Court to Mongolia to see him off. The most important achievement of this visit to Beijing is that Emperor Shunzhi canonized him as "the great goodness of the West Heaven and the Buddha leading the world to expound the teachings of the ordinary Wachi Lama** Lama", and gave him a golden book and a golden seal, and wrote Manchu, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese four languages.
This is the first ** lama among the four living Buddhas.
And the canonization of Panchen Erdeni is slightly later than that of ** Lama.
In 1696, after three expeditions to Galdan, the Qing finally pacified the Khalkha Mongol tribes. In order to strengthen his rule over Mongolia, the Kangxi Emperor raised the status of Tibetan Buddhism in the Mongolian region. At the end of the Kangxi Dynasty, after Kaldan Khan's nephew Alabutan became the Great Khan of the Khalkha Mongols, he once again led his troops to invade the Qinghai-Tibet region. In order to consolidate his rule over the Mongols, the Kangxi Emperor decided to once again canonize the head of the Yellow Sect.
In 1713, Emperor Kangxi sent an envoy to the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Lhasa and officially canonized the Fifth Panchen Lama as "Panchen Erdeni". This is the second Panchen Living Buddha to be canonized as the leader of the Yellow Sect.
Since then, a situation has been formally formed in which the two leaders of the Panchen Lama are jointly administered. ** The Lama was responsible for administering the Former Tibetan region (including Lhasa, Nagqu, Ali, Nyingchi, etc.), while the Panchen Lama was responsible for administering the Later Tibetan region (from the west of Gangbala to Nepal, with Shigatse as the center).
In 1716, the Dzungars invaded** and occupied Lhasa. Qing **assisted**, and successfully recaptured ** four years later**. Since then, the Qing Dynasty began to set up garrisons in **. In 1727, Emperor Yongzheng sent the cabinet scholar monk and the deputy capital commander Mala to be stationed in Lhasa, and governed together with **, Panchen and **local**. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty officially established the Yamen of the Minister in Tibet.
Unlike the Panchen Lama as the traditional living Buddha of the Gelug sect, the Living Buddha Zhangjia and Jebtsundamba are the two religious leaders specially set up by the Qing Dynasty in Mongolia.
The appearance of the Living Buddha can be traced back to the 33rd year of the Kangxi Reign (1693), when the 23-year-old Agawang Lobsang Choradan received full ordination under the throne of the Fifth ** Lama, and was summoned by the Kangxi Emperor to serve as the abbot of Fayuan Temple in Beijing. In the 40th year of the Kangxi reign (1700), the first Zhangjia moved to the Huizong Temple in Duolun, Inner Mongolia, and gradually became the religious leader of the region.
In the forty-fifth year of the Kangxi reign (1705), the great teacher of Pushan and Guangci was given the empowerment. In the fifty-first year of Kangxi (1712), Emperor Kangxi officially canonized him as Zhangjiahu Tuketu, and ordered him to manage the affairs of the Gelugpa in the east of ** in the following year.
Since then, the third living Buddha of Lamaism has been born.
Jebtsundamba, also known as "Wendurgegen" or "Paktogegen", was the supreme religious leader of the Gelug sect established by the Qing Dynasty in Outer Mongolia.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Khalkha Mongols sent people to ** to learn Buddhism. At the invitation of the Mongol kings, the high monk Taranatha went to Kulen in Outer Mongolia to spread the Dharma, and was revered as "Jebu Tsundampa". After Taranatha's death, Lobsang Dambe Gyaltsen was believed to be the reincarnation of his spirit child, inheriting the title of Jebtsundampa.
In the sixth year of Shunzhi (1649), Lobsang Danbei Gyaltsen went to ** to study. At the request of the Gelug leaders such as the Fifth Emperor, he officially converted to the Gelug sect. Two years later, the lama officially recognized him as the first Jebtsundampa, thus becoming a member of the Living Buddha system.
The canonization of Jebu Zundamba by the Qing ** took place during the Kangxi period.
In 1688, the Dzungar tribes attacked the Khalkha Mongol tribes. Jebtsundamba led the Mongol tribes to refuse the surrender of Dzungaria and returned to the Qing Dynasty**. Therefore, in the thirtieth year of Kangxi (1691), Emperor Kangxi officially canonized him as "Jebu Zundanba Hutuketu Grand Lama" and became the leader of the Yellow Sect in Outer Mongolia recognized by the Qing Dynasty.
The importance that the Qing attached to Tibetan Buddhism during their reign was not accidental, but was motivated by a deliberate political strategy. Although Tibetan Buddhism is closely linked to the origin and spread of Buddhism, the reason why the Qing Dynasty actively promoted this religion was actually to maintain the stability and consolidation of its rule.
The Qing rulers were adept at dealing with all sides, especially in their relations with the Mongols, a potential threat to the north. Through the shrewd use of Tibetan Buddhism, the Qing Dynasty was able to achieve balance and containment over all ethnic groups. The foundation of the Qing dynasty's rule was based on the Manchurian iron cavalry outside the Guanguan and the nomadic cavalry of the Mongol tribes. These armed forces provided solid support for the Qing Dynasty's southward domination of the Han regions of the Central Plains. Once the Central Plains was conquered, its abundant resources and financial resources became a material guarantee for ruling the Mongol region.
The Mongols have been a fierce and warlike people since ancient times, and with their fighting power and nomadic lifestyle, they have the ability to obtain resources on their own. Buying the Mongols through marriage and money alone was obviously not enough to secure control over them. In this context, the Qing adopted the religious power from the Tibetan Plateau to suppress the internal turmoil of the Mongol power.
The challenges of managing nomads stem mainly from their loose organizational structures and the tradition of clans acting independently. In ancient times, communication and transportation were not as developed as they are today, and communication between tribes was extremely difficult. Once there is a change, it will take months or even years to mobilize enough forces to pacify it. Therefore, how to effectively control these scattered nomads has always been an extremely important issue.
Due to the harsh climatic conditions in the north, the land is not suitable for agriculture and cannot rely on arable land for subsistence as in the south. In order to solve this problem, the Qing ** built several temples in the Mongolian region, forming an effective means of controlling the nomads. Hundreds of temples and hundreds of living Buddhas were built on this land, and these temples became cities that anchored the herdsmen of this religion to this land. The influence of religion transformed the originally fierce warriors into pious obedient people, providing a solid foundation for Qing rule in the Mongol region. List of high-quality authors