A Study On Buddhist Belief In Chinese Pharmacists

Pharmacist Buddhist sutras is one of the most important deities in Chinese Buddhist deity system, The belief of Pharmacist Buddhist is an important part of the Buddhist belief system, which had a long history in China and made a great influence in the Buddhist culture.Firstly, this paper defines the definition of the Pharmacist Buddhist faith, and expounds the main contents of the Pharmacist Buddhist belief. Then this article researches the relationship between the Pharmacist Buddhist, doctors and Sakyamuni(a king of doctors’ property)from the scriptures in the Early Buddhism. Also this article analyses the relevance among the formation of Pharmacist Buddhist’s faith and the enormous effect of medical skill in the spreading of Buddhism. Therefore, Pharmacist Buddhist came from the period of original Buddhism, or we could know that the Pharmacist Buddhist is a variant of the concept of Sakyamuni."The Sutra of the Master of Healing" was translated in the Eastern Jin dynasty, which marked the formation of Pharmacist Buddhist’s belief and prevailed in the period of Southern and Northern Dynasties, then had translated for many times in The Sui and Tang Dynasties. The version of The Sutra of the Master of Healings Translation and dissemination, and the annotation of "The Sutra of the Master of Healing" are relevant to the Pharmacist Buddhist belief, which had a certain meaning and connotation.As a branch of Buddhist faith, the Pharmacist Buddhist’s beliefs have relations with other Buddhist denominations. This paper discusses the relationship between the Pharmacist Buddhist’s belief and the pure land thought. Compare with the thought of pharmacist pure land, Akshobhya Pure land, Maitreya Pure land, and Amitabha Pure land, this paper tried to analyze the basic characteristics of The Pharmacist Buddhist belief.Secondly, with a strong religious color, the belief of Pharmacist Buddhism is belonging to the one of classics in pure land thought. Based on the background of the development of Esoteric Buddhism, this paper researches the formation,development and characteristics of pharmacists, and argues about the Tantric rituals in the Pharmacist Buddhist belief, which could get religious connotation and intension.Finally, the thesis focuses on the concrete forms of the Pharmacist Buddhist belief. By working with the changes of "The Sutra of the Master of Healing" and Buddhist statues from the period of north and South Dynasty to song and Xixia Dynasty, We find out the Pharmacist Buddhist belief has many characterizes, which are secularization, utilitarian and social. From the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the song and Xixia Dynasties,"The Sutra of the Master of Healing" had appeared and continued for thousands of years, which demonstrates the prosperous of the Pharmacist Buddhist belief. In the Ming Dynasty, the formation of pharmacist Hall marks the fully mature of the Pharmacist Buddhist faith and has fixed places for religious activities, which is a sign of commercialized in religions.