Study On The Monk Official System In The Northern Wei Dynasty

After the end of separatism among sixteen kingdoms in Eastern Jin Dynasty,the Northern Wei Dynasty developed in opposition to the regime in the Southern Dynasty as an ethnic minority dynasty which unified Northern Central Plains.Deeply rooted in the water and soil of the two dynasties,Buddhism evolved to be a non-negligible social power important to the ruling class.Although then major political context was still in strife and chaos,such turbulent social atmosphere bred vitality.Accordingly,the Northern Wei Dynasty ushered in the golden age of Buddhism throughout the Chinese history and witnessed the boom of Buddhist monks and nuns.At this moment,out of the needs of management for Buddhism,rulers intensified the monitoring for Buddhist groups and the system of monk officials also rose in response to the circumstances.Taking the general Buddhism management situation in the Northern Wei Dynasty as the entry point,the thesis firstly analyzes from the dimension of the rapid growth of Buddhist groups,increasingly growing Buddhism economy,and exertion of Buddhism social maintenance functions in turmoil to expound that the establishment of the system of monk officials is influenced by integrated factors including politics,economy,culture and Buddhism religion.Subsequently,by setting forth the necessity of establishment of the system of monk officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty and its intimate correlation with cultural background under traditional system,development vein of the system of monk officials in previous dynasties,aggravation of management difficulty for monks and laymen,and rulers' management thoughts,the thesis proves that Buddhist monks and nuns become the principal medium by which Buddhism affects the society and system of monk officials is exactly the product created by feudal rulers to reinforce religion management.Secondly,the thesis specifically explores the evolution of management agencies and personnel settings and the variation of supporting policies for system of monk officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty.While inheriting the management mode in previous dynasties,the Northern Wei Dynasty also appropriately adjusts the organization structure of system of monk officials so that the management agencies contain more characteristics features of the times.The system of monk officials was primarily founded in early Wei Dynasty when the monk officials were directly appointed by the emperor.Afterwards,along with the expansion of Buddhist groups and the increase of Buddhist services,the feudal dynasty reformed local management agencies and constructed a set of unified system of monk officials from central to local governments.Based on the analysis for the historical materials concerning the change of name of monk official agencies,addition of officials and official appointment and selection,the thesis describes the giant power owned by monk officials in the turbulent social environment,teases the cases of monk officials' handling of religion-secularity conflicts in the worldly society and fully represents the social utility of system of monk officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty.Thirdly,the thesis compares the similarities and difference of system of monk officials among the Northern Wei Dynasty,former dynasties and the Southern Dynasty from the perspective of system structure,including the development and evolution of organization system,the operation of monk affairs,the transition of system of monk officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty from simplicity to systematicness,and the beginning of the unified system of monk officials from central to local governments.Next,starting from the relation between Buddhism and political power,it introduces how the system of monk officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty simply holds responsibility for the emperor and how monk officials use their power under the severe worldly situations.Throughout the comparative analysis of above-stated features,the thesis demonstrates a set of top-down hierarchical Buddhism secularity management system in the Northern Wei Dynasty.Finally,on the basis of the full understanding about system of monk officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty,the thesis talks about the influence of system of monk officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty.Buddhism rapidly develops in the Northern Wei Dynasty.In addition to the function of reinforcing religious management,the system of monk officials also serves for the unity of politics,religious stability and development.As a bridge which connects the Buddhist world and secular world,system of monk officials not only accelerates the localization process of Buddhism,propels the surge of believers and the construction of Buddhist architectures,but also plays a positive role in social activities.As a benchmark of the reformation of system of monk officials in Late Northern Wei Dynasty and Sui Dynasty,it is followed by the rulers in later generations.