A Study Of The Relationship Between Buddhism And Politics In The Eastern Jin And Southern Dynasties

From the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Southern Dynasties,Buddhism developed rapidly,and its influence gradually expanded and became one of the mainstream thoughts in the society.Buddhism,which was regarded as "the foreign religion" before the Eastern Jin Dynasty,was more and more appreciated by the rulers in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties with its growing strength,and was able to ascend the political stage.The biggest change in Buddhism during the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties was the shift from "scholar-bureaucrat Buddhism" to "imperial Buddhism".The transition from "scholar bureaucrat Buddhism" to "imperial Buddhism" was an inevitable choice made by Buddhism during the late Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasty under the background of the revival of imperial power.The emergence of "scholar bureaucrat Buddhism" is the result of Buddhism's initiative in the aim of spreading,so the growth of "imperial Buddhism" is the second change of Buddhism's development during the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties.In the Eastern Jin Dynasty,the hereditary gentry was the core of power,but in the Southern Dynasty,the imperial power became the core of power again.In fact,the essence of the "scholar bureaucrat Buddhism" and the "imperial power Buddhism" was the same.Both of them were close to the core of power in order to expand the influence of Buddhism.However,with the transfer of the core of power,the subject which the Buddhism depended on also had changed.Although the "imperial Buddhism" had brought Buddhism to the peak in the Southern Dynasties,the supreme imperial power also took away its independence in the period of "scholar bureaucrat Buddhism",and made the Buddhism more and more subordinate to imperial power in the Southern Dynasties.The body of this paper is composed of fifth parts: The first chapter is "The Political Relationship between The Eastern Jin Dynasty Regime and Buddhism",which discusses the background and development process of the "scholar bureaucrat Buddhism" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty,as well as the setbacks encountered in the development of Buddhism in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.The second chapter is "The Preliminary Establishment of Liu Song Regime and Imperial Buddhism",which reveals that Buddhism in this period actively moved closer to the imperial power under the great changes of the times,and helped Liu Song in the process of founding and governing the country.The third chapter is "The Development and Stagnation of Imperial Buddhism in Xiao Qi Period",which discusses the relationship between the stagnant development of Buddhism in Xiao Qi period and the political turbulence in this period.The fourth chapter is "The Prosperity of imperial Buddhismin The Period of Xiao Liang".It discusses the political purpose of emperor Liang Wu's ruling the country by Buddhism through the new interpretation of the traditional historical materials.The fifth chapter is "The Residual sound of Imperial Buddhism in The Period of Nan Chen".It discusses that Nan Chen inherited the previous generation's policy of worshiping Buddhism under the circumstances of internal and external troubles,so that could consolidated its rule.