Study Of Literati’s Buddhist Association In The Late Ming Dynasty

In the late Ming Dynasty,the trend of Literati’s Association prevailed.In the late Ming Dynasty,the emperor was idle in government,employed people poorly,and separated the portals.The literati were many sinecures,and their opinions had no way,and their promotion had no door.The change of the world style and the scholar style made their thoughts and behavior change.The reform of the jungles by the eminent monks in the late Ming Dynasty promoted the revival of Buddhism and provided a good environment for the development of Literati’s Buddhist Association.The literati of the late Ming Dynasty represented by Yuan Zongdao,Yuan Hongdao and Yuan Zhongdao,namely the Three Yuan Brothers.They studied Buddhism and Taoism under the influence of regional Buddhism and Taoism culture,relatives and friends who believed in Buddhism and Taoism,and their own circumstances.Three Yuan Brothers communicated with relatives and monks,made an appointment to travel and form a Buddhist association with the capital where they were an official,and the public security of his hometown as the activity center.The members visited and talked together,chanted poems and worships in Zen,forming the "Poetry and Law Association",represented by Nanping Association,Putao Association and Qinglian Association.In the later period,the activities of Literati’s Buddhist Association became more and more inclined to meditating and worshiping Buddhist classics,and to develop towards the pure "Dharma Association",with the Huayan Association and the Jinsu Association as the typical examples.With Three Yuan Brothers as the representative,the literati sought spiritual freedom,freed from vulgarity and avoided the world.However,as Confucian scholars,they could not forget the worldly life,their worries about aging and death and their own mission,which led to the contradictory state of literati’s thought and behavior.Under the background of the late Ming Dynasty,both monks and Buddhist literati kept in line with the era through communication and travel and Buddhist Association,and influenced and changed each other,thus influencing the society of the late Ming Dynasty.Monks wandered in the public gate and interfered in government affairs.Because their political views were different from other powerful forces,they were forced to get involved in party disputes with literati who studied Buddhism and suffered political ostracism or persecution.Influenced by the characteristics of literati,monks and literati chanted poems and prose together,rectified Buddhist scriptures.The literati represented by Three Yuan Brothers formed Buddhist Association,studied and discussed Buddhism,excerpted,printed and compiled Buddhist scriptures to promote the popularization of Buddhist knowledge and the protection of Buddhist classics.Through the Buddhist Association,the literati changed their behavior to release the animals and do good deeds,to alleviate their own sins,to spread good thinking and good deeds to the people,and to improve social atmosphere.Although the literati such as Three Yuan Brothers temporarily avoided the world,they did not really stay alone.During the Buddhist Association,they analyzed and criticized current affairs,and worried about the world and the sufferings of the common people.