The Study Of The Activities Of Restraining Buddhism Of Emperor Huizong Of Song

Based on the religious activities and policies during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song,through the collation and summary of historical materials,this paper makes an overall study of the activities of restraining Buddhism,especially the activities of changing Buddhism into Taoism.The first chapter studies the reasons for the activities of restraining Buddhism.From the perspective of Buddhism,it is because the external identity of Buddhism conflicts with Chinese culture;the prevalence of Buddhism will consume social wealth;some monks are evil under the background of the popularization of Buddhism in Song Dynasty.From the perspective of Taoism,the number of monks in Song Dynasty was far more than that of Taoists.In order to fight for living space,Taoism suppressed Buddhism;Taoists had an impact on the activities of restraining Buddhism of Emperor Huizong of Song.From the perspective of Emperor Huizong of Song,he needs to show the cultural orthodoxy and consolidate the state power with the help of Taoism under the background of national opposition;also needs to deify himself with the help of Taoism to stabilize the monarchy status;Emperor Huizong of Song preferred Taoism to Buddhism personally.The second chapter studies the different stages of the the activities of restraining Buddhism of Emperor Huizong of Song.On the basis of previous studies,I divide the the activities of restraining Buddhism of Emperor Huizong of Song into three stages.The first stage is the tendency of restraining Buddhism,from October of the fifth year of Chongning to the fifth year of Zhenghe when Lin Lingsu presented himself before Emperor Huizong of Song.At this stage,Emperor Huizong of Song showed a tendency of restraining Buddhism,but the contradiction was not intense.The second stage is the climax of the activities of restraining Buddhism.From the fifth year of Zhenghe to November of the first of Xuanhe when Lin lingsu was exiled from the captial.This stage can be further divided into four stages: Lin lingsu’s pilgrimage and the gradual warming of the activities of worshiping Taoism;the promulgation of the Buddhist revolution edict marks the climax of the activities of restraining Buddhism;Lin lingsu’s magic was invalid in Xuanhe flood.The imperial court titled Sengqie,which was the turning point of the activities of restraining Buddhism;With the exile of Lin lingsu,the activities of restraining Buddhism gradually ended.The third stage is the ending stage of the activities of restraining Buddhism,from November of the first year of Xuanhe to December of the seventh year of Xuanhe.In this stage,Emperor Huizong of Song’s attitude to Buddhism was restored to the worship attitude,but the worship attitude about Taoism of Emperor Huizong of Song was still unchanged.The third chapter studies the content and implementation of the activities.The specific measures can be divided into the measures to worship Taoism and stop issuing monk license—such as stipulating the priority of Taoist over monks,forbidding Buddhism to slander Taoist literally,and stopping issue monk license,measures to restrict the activities with Buddhist overtones,such as forbidding the body sacrifice,criticizing the use of Buddhist rites in Jingling Palace,forbidding the burial of Buddha,measures of forbidding the literati and the common people to contact with Buddhism such as forbidding literati and the common people to kowtow to the monks,forbidding the literati and the women to enter the monk’s room,prohibiting candidates from using Buddhist script in imperial examination,the measures of changing Buddhism into Taoism and the turning foreign into Chinese,such as changing the title,changing the clothes,changing the etiquette,encouraging the monks to become Taoist,educating the monks with books of Taoism,confiscating the bronze ware and occupying the temple as the Taoist temple.The fourth chapter summarizes people’s response to Emperor Huizong of Song’s suppression of Buddhism.Within the Buddhist community,some monks fought,some accepted or had no choice but to accept,and some monks catered to the court for benefit.The rebellious behavior of Yongdao master is particularly representative.The activities of restraining Buddhism also aroused strong repercussions beyond the monks.Zhao Huan,the crown prince and officials Cai Jing and Xu Han all took measures against the suppression of Buddhism.The Hu Fa Lun written by Zhang Shangying is also believed to be originated from the activities of worshiping Taoism and restraining Buddhism.There are also books of advocating Buddhism such as the San Jiao You Lie Zhuan among the people.Sheng Zhang and Yan Ying were the officials who supported Emperor Huizong of Song’s activities.The fifth chapter studies the influence of the activities of restraining Buddhism.From the perspective of Buddhism,the activities of restraining Buddhism of Emperor Huizong of Song destroyed the environment of practice and robbed the property of temples and monks.But Buddhism has not been destroyed totally.For Taoism,the activities of restraining Buddhism didn’t have much positive effect.What’s worse,it worsened the relationship between religions.For the operation of the government,the activities of restraining Buddhism affected the service rating of officials,interfered with the judiciary and worsened the scholar spirit.Finally,the evaluation and summary of the activities of restraining Buddhism of Emperor Huizong of Song.It is pointed out that the activities of restraining Buddhism of Emperor Huizong of Song have made the slogan of restoring ancient times and worshiping rites.Its basic form is dominated by the government,taking administrative intervention as the main means,taking Taoism as the reference,changing the contents of Buddhism that conflict with Chinese rites and customs,turning foreign into Chinese,and changing Buddhism into Taoism.The ultimate aim is to highlight the cultural orthodoxy of Song Dynasty and to promote personal worship.I also summed up the characteristics and lessons of the activities of restraining Buddhism of Emperor Huizong of Song.