A Basic Reaserch On Jiangnan's Temple Land Of Qing Dynasty

As the public properties of the Buddhist temples, the temple land of Qing Dynasty is the main source of the monks' subsistence and the important guarantee for the temples'maintenance. Well developed economically and culturally as Jiangnan region is, the land is indispensable to the temples though the temples there have various ways of running, such as the charity, the Buddhist ceremony, the printing of the Buddhist Sutras, the house property. With the special land for its support, the temple can join various kinds of good causes, for example, the defense of the bridge, the repair of the sluice gate, the free tea for the passenger, the running of the lifeboat, and the keeping of the public burial ground. The economic pattern of Nanjing Porcelain Tower Temple in Qing Dynasty is different from that in Ming Dynasty, the proportion of the printing of the Buddhist Sutras and the renting of the house property in gross income increases noticeably, correspondingly, the proportion of the renting of the land decreases too much, but the land is still the economic base and mainstay of the Porcelain Tower Temple.The big temples of Jiangnan region in Ming Dynasty owns large estates because of the awards from the emperor, these estates'distributions are centered in some area. The management of the temple land is strict, and the transaction of the temple land is forbidden in law. The temple land of Qing Dynasty, in comparison with that of Ming Dynasty, has significant different characteristics. Firstly, the land is mainly derived from the private donation rather than being bestowed by the emperor, or the allocation of the government. Secondly, the land dimension has shrunk, and the land distribution has decentralized. Thirdly, the land tenancy system becomes more popular. The temple deals with the tenant directly, with little intervention from the government. Fourthly, the restriction of the temple land's transaction is loosened. The monk hocks or sells the land without explicit permission, or the descendants of the donor withdraw and sell off the land are both common phenomenon. Among the four characteristics, the source of the temple land is the most important, for it determines the size, the distribution and the transaction.In the early Ming Dynasty, the tax policy of the temple land is different between the part of emperor's largess and other part, the former is exempt from all taxes, and the latter is only exempt from extra taxes. In the mid and late Ming Dynasty, the taxation of the temple land is increasing from time to time, till it's close to the taxation of the common land. In Qing Dynasty, the tax policy of the temple land is single and stable, the house site of temple is tax-free, the monk cannot afford the corvee, and the temple enjoys the preference in the taxation procedure. Everything else is alike between the temple land and the common land. In the lists about taxes and corvee of some counties in Zhejiang province, the amount of tax of the monk land and the temple land are much more than the common land. But these monk or temple land belong to the commoner rather than the monk, the taxes lists only follow the old names in fact.In the early Qing Dynasty, whether mortgages or sells of the temple land by the monk or the domination or withdrawing of the temple land by the donor are both under supervision of the other part. And the government would watch over them. Thus, the temple land is under effective protection. In the late Qing Dynasty, many temples in the south of Yangtze River are ravaged by the Heavenly Kingdom War. Most of the temple land losing landlord is occupied by the local bullies. Soon afterwards, the Christian Church from the Europe also grabs the temple land. And there is plenty of controversial land change hands. In the end of 19th century, the temple faces the biggest challenge—the Movement of Establishing schools by temples' property. In this movement, both the government officials and the local gentlemen begin to deprive and occupy the temple land for the funds of establishing schools or businesses. Some of them even uses the land for his own private emolument or his own use. The central government worries about happening of some unforeseen events, so it adjusts the policy afterwards, and corrects the too much breadth behaviors of the officials and the local gentlemen. But the monks are deeply stirred by the movement; they begin to build their own group-the China Buddhist Federation and find a new way. In the first years of the Republic, the Buddhist Federation advocates a complete divorce of government and religion, and the freedom of management their own property. But the government disavows this viewpoint, and insists on his right to control and punish the temples. The ownership of the temple land is uncertain, which is the root of the temple land's running off. How to define the ownership of the temple's property, at the same time, protect both the monk's interest and the donor's is still an unknown question.