A Study On The Poems Of The Lotus Society In The Three Dynasties Of The Early Song Dynasty

For the definition of Lotus Club Poetry,it can be described in both the broad and the narrow sense.Broadly speaking,poetries which include things about setting up lotus clubs can be called lotus club poetry.But narrowly speaking,lotus club poetries are those which introduce the elegant and refined environment of the lotus club,speak high of the head of the club,express the willing of joining the club and show their evidence of personal cultivation.This paper focuses on the lotus club in the broad sense.The four poetries of Nian Fo San Mei by Wang Qiaozhi from the East Jin Dynasty may be the earliest lotus club poetry existing.As the faith of pure land became popular later,the activities of organizing lotus clubs became more ubiquitous.Therefore,there emerged more lotus club poetries with these activities as their contents.The total number of lotus club poetries during the first three emperors of the Song Dynasty is over 150 and the number of the lotus clubs mentioned is over 30.At the beginning of the Song Dynasty,more lotus clubs exist in the south than in the north and some lotus clubs can be seen as poetry clubs.The monks in the clubs are always talented in writing poetries and some of them even got appreciated by the ruler.What's more,the factions of these monks are various,ranging from Chan,Tian Tai to Hua Yan.There are some large and influential lotus clubs in the early Song Dynasty,which include the Hangzhou Zhaoqing Temple West Lake Lotus Club,the Mingzhou Yangqing Buddhism Reading Club and the Simingbaoyun Lotus Club.Poetries describing the Xingchang Lotus Club existing now are over 100.As a unique form of Buddhism poetry,the lotus club poetry has its own characteristics.These characteristics can be seen from the following three perspectives: firstly,they always use the stories of the Lushan Lotus Club first mentioned by Master Hui Yuan in the East Jin Dynasty.Secondly,there are many contrasts in the poetries.And lastly,the contents of the poetries always express the free and relaxed mood of the poets.