A Study On The Image Of Emperor Wu Of Liang In Buddhist Literature Of Tang And Song Dynastie

The Wei,Jin,Northern and Southern Dynasties were key periods in the introduction of Buddhism to China.Especially in the Liang Dynasty,the development of Chinese Buddhism accelerated,which was closely related to Xiao Yan(萧衍),the founding emperor of the Liang Dynasty.During the Tang and Song dynasties,Chinese Buddhism had reached its peak of development and gradually penetrated into the civil society.And as the development of Chinese Buddhist Historiography,the writing of Buddhist literature also entered a flourishing phase.When Buddhists wrote their religious history,they made full use of the emperors’esteem for Buddhism.Xiao Yan,as a typical representative of the Buddhist emperors,gained great attention.His Buddhist-related deeds and stories had been continuously processed and created.Firstly,Buddhist literature praised Emperor Wu(of Liang)(梁武帝)for the incident of“giving up Taoism and practicing Buddhism”.Buddhists made up the time of this event,and added many details that were contrary to Emperor Wu(of Liang)’s idea of integrating Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism.Secondly,in writing the history of Emperor Wu(of Liang)’s interactions with eminent monks,the Zen literature changed its position of appreciation for Emperor Wu(of Liang)and gave him a low opinion,promiently in the narratives of Emperor Wu(of Liang)’s dealings with Bodhidharma(菩提达摩)and Fu Dashi(傅大士).Thirdly,the divine narratives of the Buddha statues was used to promote the divinity and sacredness of the Buddha statues through the identity of Emperor Wu(of Liang),thus achieving the purpose of protecting Buddhism.Finally,the Liberation Rite of water and land(水陆法会),which occupied an important place in the history of Buddhist rituals,was also considered to be closely related to Emperor Wu(of Liang).The images of Emperor Wu(of Liang)portrayed in Buddhist literature is the result of continuous construction based on certain historical facts from the standpoint of Buddhism,and the content of which is very different from the records in the official history documents and the writings of those who opposed Buddhism.Not only the images of Emperor Wu(of Liang)in historical sources of different nature show differences,but also differ from one Buddhist text to another,due to the different sectarian affiliations,writing motivations and historical background of the writers.