Research On Religious Governance In The Yuan Dynasty

The establishment of the Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368)put an end to the situation of more than 400 years of separatist rule since the end of the Tang Dynasty and formed an unprecedented multi-ethnic unified country in Chinese history.The establishment of a unified multi-ethnic country has brought about the exchange of many nationalities,the blending of diverse cultures and the spread of multi religions.In the history of the Yuan Dynasty,there were Mongolian primitive religion Shamanism,Tibetan Buddhism which was highly regarded and was the national religion,Taoism,and Chinese Buddhism.Christianity(then known as Yelikewen Religion)and Islam,which had been introduced into Mongolia,spread to northern China and even all over the country.The exchange and blend of multi religions,the exchange of multiethnic cultures,the collision between Mongolian traditional beliefs and foreign religions,and the interaction between religion and political power all interweaved together,which jointly constructed the grand occasion of the development of religious culture in the Yuan Dynasty.The reality of multi religions coexistence also provided space for religious governance.Religious governance is an important part of national governance and social governance.Religious governance is different from traditional"religious management".Religious management is the behavior of state power to control and restrict the religious organization and its affairs;while religious governance is pluralistic,that is,the state power and religious organization can be the main body of governance and realize the adjustment and optimization process of religious affairs.The famous scholar of Amsterdam University,Veit Bader proposed that religious governance includes internal governance and external governance.The so-called "internal governance" refers to the flexible autonomy of religious organizations;"external governance" means that the state power has a rigid regulation and control of religion.Religious governance must pay attention to the interaction among social,political,economic,national,ethnical,cultural,religious,and legal and regulatory fields.This paper starts with the vertical time of the historical development of the Yuan Dynasty,the complex and changeable interaction between the state,politics,nationality and religion,and the horizontal space of the internal relations of religion,and traces back the background of the religious governance in the Yuan Dynasty,the policy inheritance and the practical basis,and tries to thoroughly and systematically comb the formation and systematization process of the religious governance in the Yuan Dynasty.This paper consists of six parts.It is the premise to define the core concept in writing a thesis.The introduction part consists of the significance of the research topic,literature review,research foci,research method,innovation points and limitations.The literature review includes the research status of governance theory,political and religious relationship,religious policy,religious concept,religious system,and relevant literature related to the religious governance in the Yuan Dynasty.The research foci part mainly explores the connotation of "religious governance" and traces the implementation of multi-layer religious governance from the pattern of multi religious relations in Yuan Dynasty.First,it is necessary to explain the background of the religious governance and the inheritance of policy in the Yuan Dynasty.After the establishment of a unified multi-ethnic country in Yuan Dynasty,the ethnic groups exchanged,exchanged,identified,and developed together,bringing about the national integration.The differences of multi-ethnic in religious belief also bring about the diversity of religion and culture,and thus put forward the need of the times to implement the systematic religious governance system.In the course of history,the relationship between Mongolian rulers and Shamanism,a primary religion,has changed gradually.Shamanism’s Tib Tengger spread the idea of "this world is integral,and Temuujin is the Lord of it",helping Temuujin to ascend to the position of Khan.It is the Shamanism’s providentialism of "divine power of khan" that deified the khan’s power and laid the theoretical foundation for Genghis Khan to establish his regime.However,after Genghis Khan took the throne,he reformed the ancient "Behi system" of Shamanism,and then he awarded the Behi divine power,thus,Shamanism’s divine power began the tradition of being awarded by the Khan.There was a contradiction between the great Mongolian empire and Shamanism’s divine power.When Tib Tengger,violated the interests of the golden family and violated the authority of the state,Genghis Khan decisively executed him and upheld the supreme position of the inviolability of the Khan power.Shamanism,as a primary religion,can no longer be adapted to the governance of a multi-ethnic unified country.Its doctrines and theories cannot deal with other religions,especially the profound theories of Buddhism.This is one of the historical reasons why the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty accepted Tibetan Buddhism and other religions.Mongols,who had the tradition of multi religions,accepted the various nationalities and their religious beliefs in the vast territory with an inclusive attitude.Genghis Khan adheres to the religious idea of "equality of all religions and freedom of beliefs",adopts inclusive religious policy,and writes it into Yih Zasag(also known as the "Genghis Khan code"),and formulates relevant laws and regulations to exempt religious people from all taxes and duties.The successors of Genghis Khan firmly inherited his idea and policy of "religious equality,religious freedom and inclusiveness",which laid the ideological foundation for the religious governance of the Yuan Dynasty.The interaction between the regime and various religions was properly handled in the great Mongolian empire period,which accumulated practical experience for the religious governance of the Yuan Dynasty.The historical events of Genghis Khan summoning Qiu Chu Ji to inquire about the way of healthy life and the principle of governing the country opened the interaction between Mongolian rulers and leaders from other religion besides Shamanism.Huuden,the son of Ogedei Khan,his Liangzhou alliance with Sakya Pandita,and his viewpoint on the parallel relationship between secular laws and religious laws and regulations,which was put forward by him to Sakya Banzhida in this way-"I,shield and sustain with secular laws;you,with religious laws"-laid the foundation for the close relationship between the regime of Yuan Dynasty and Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism,and also laid the foundation for Kublai Khan to implement the system of "parallel politics and religion".Besides,Goyog Khan’s reply to the letter of the Western Catholic Pope maintained the authority and status of the great Mongolia Empire.Mongo Khan organized three Buddhist doctrines to give full play to the main function of religious organizations and carried out coordination and governance between religions.The system and measures of religious governance are the precious heritage left by the Yuan Dynasty for later generations.The emperor teacher system created by Kublai era is not only the need of maintaining political rule,but also a highly effective way of religious governance to play the main role of Buddhist leaders.The emperor teacher is not only the religious leader in charge of Buddhist affairs in the whole country,but also the supreme leader of military and political affairs in Tibet.The combination of religious theocracy and secular power has become a symbol of the implementation of the "integration of politics and religion"system in Tibet.At the same time,the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty realized the importance and urgency of religious governance and incorporated religious governance into the national governance system.In the central government organs,they set up a special religious management organization,the Executive Yuan,to manage the National Buddhist affairs;JiXian Academy to manage the national Taoist affairs;ChongFu Division to manage the National Christian affairs;Hadi Division to manage the National Islamic Affairs.The establishment of several religious management institutions is not only a practical need for the governance of multi religions,but also a guarantee for the prosperity and development of multi religions in the Yuan Dynasty.The " Arvan Buy ant Nomiin Tsgaan Tuuh "(abbreviated as Tsgaan Tuuh or Bai Shi)is the historical document basis for the systematization of religious governance in Yuan Dynasty.This chapter elaborates based on this document.Scholars believe that Tsagaan Tuuh is a programmatic document for Kublai Khan to implement "the parallel system of politics and religion".This paper starts with the dispute over the edition,nature,and the date of the book,compares it with the contents of "Zhang Suo Zhi Lun " and other works of Phagspa,and proves that the writing of Tsagaan Tuuh began in the age of Kublai Khan according to the records in" the Origin of Mongolian".In it,the theological and political theory of"India,Tibet and Mongolia share the same origin" is regarded as the ideological source of the "parallel system of politics and religion",and its theoretical structure and basic concepts are also elaborated.It is clearly pointed out that "the law of religion is inextricable,and the law of imperial power is indestructible" is the purpose of implementing the "parallel system of politics and religion".The religious power system and the political power system set up their own complete distinct management institutions and personnel Position;Khan,religious people,secular civilians all have distinct hierarchy and responsibilities;finally,the reward and punishment regulations are clearly specified.Tsagaan Tuuh is an important support for the systematization of religious governance in the Yuan Dynasty.The conclusion of the paper summarizes and discusses the multi-level path of the state power governance and religious organization governance of the Yuan Dynasty,and the successful experience of consolidating national unity through religious governance and promoting cultural exchanges through religious contacts and points out the historical lessons brought about by the excessive worship of Buddhism.Because of its special background,profound theoretical origin and unique practical basis,the religious governance of the Yuan Dynasty formed a set of systems and measures and played its due historical role.Its religious governance experience and lessons have become an important part of the treasure house of traditional Chinese culture.