North Korean Buddhism, Buddhism Zhao Xuegang

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, China constantly underwent wars, chaos and even separatist regimes, but meanwhile it witnessed the freedom of thought, cultural conflicts and integration. It was during this period that Buddhism gained great popularity and therefore made Chinese culture take on a new look. Buddhism culture imposed profound influence on people from all walks of life as well as fields like astronomy, geography, meteorology, calendars, medical science, and concept of life and death. It is worth pointing out the influence on the travel writers and geographers in Northern Qi Dynasty, during which time numerous caves were constructed one after another, for example Mo Gao Caves at Dunhuang, Western Thousand Buddha Caves, Yulin Caves, Wenshu Mount Caves, Mati Temple Caves, Bingling Temple Caves, the Caves of the Ten Thousand Buddha in Yixian County, Yungang Caves, Longmen Caves, Caves in Gongxian County, Tianlong Mount Caves, Hsiang-T’ang-Ssu Caves, Maiji Mount Caves, Qixia Mount Caves, etc. The rulers of Wei played a significant role in the development of Buddhism Pilgrimage of Northern Dynasty. The ancestors of Wei came from the North China. They were separated from the West China and had little contact with the outside world. As a result, they had little knowledge of Buddhism until they began to dominate China. During the reign of Wei, the beliefs of Buddhism were consistent with those of the rulers, including tolerance and serenity in attitudes and life, simpler precepts. These beliefs were also recommended by members of the upper class. After the reign of Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei, both Emperor Xianwen and Emperor Xiaowen were Buddhism believers. In addition, there went wars and chaos in Northern Dynasty now and then; the common people were in desperate need of religion in order to comfort their inner world. In consequence, caves and sculptures were constructed for worship. Buddhism of Northern Dynasty attached great importance to practice and blessing, which contributed to the formation of Buddhism pilgrimage culture of Northern Dynasty.At that time, there were countless eminent monks making a pilgrimage between the west and the east, among which some acted under the order of empress dowagers and emperor, and some did it for their own will. Most of them took on such a long journey in the hope of spreading the spirit and morality of Buddhism. At the same time, those obscure pilgrims from the lower class also joined this journey. From the time of Narendrayas/a to Jnanagupta, the regime changed, and Buddhism of Northern Qi also experienced great vicissitudes in middle and west China. Some experts demonstrated that Buddhism culture of Northern Qi outran that of Northern Zhou. However the prosperity of Buddhism of Northern Qi, to a large extent, should be contributed to the relocation of the capital to Yecheng. Apart form this, eminent monk like Seng Chou and the encouragement of the rulers also made great contribution to the spread of Buddhism to the east.What influence actually does Buddhism Pilgrimage had on the society of Northern Dynasty? Thanks to the Buddhism Pilgrimage culture, there went epoch-making changes including the layout of city architecture in Capital Luoyang, travellers on Silk Road and the diet of different social classes.