Investigation And Research On Buddhist Inscriptions In Wuwei Area During Ming And Qing Dynasties

The Buddhist culture in Wuwei has a long history and many Buddhist cultural relics remain.Since the Wei,Jin,Sui and Tang dynasties,Buddhist activities and temple construction have continued in this region,thus leaving behind a rich and numerous Buddhist stone inscriptions,which have become important witnesses to the development and spread of Buddhist culture in the region.Among them,Buddhist inscriptions of the Ming and Qing dynasties are the most numerous and typical.Based on the field survey,this paper collates and studies the Buddhist inscriptions in Wuwei during the Ming and Qing dynasties,in order to further highlight the content and value of Buddhist inscriptions in Wuwei during the Ming and Qing dynasties.Through fieldwork and collation,the author collected and collated a total of 39 Buddhist inscriptions in the Wuwei area during the Ming and Qing dynasties.The distribution is characterized by an uneven distribution in time and space.The 35 inscriptions with documented content can be divided into four categories,namely,deeds,merits,travelogues,and others.These inscriptions are indispensable materials for studying the history of Buddhism in the Ming and Qing dynasties,providing reliable historical information on the rise and fall of Buddhist temples,Buddhist policies,monks’ activities,and changes in official positions in the period.It reflects both the secularization of popular Buddhist beliefs and the utilitarianization of Buddhist beliefs among officials and local elites,as well as the government’s desire to use Buddhism to persuade and educate the people in order to deepen the control of state power over grassroots society.There are eight Chinese-Tibetan joint monuments in the process of investigation and research,which are the products of the development of Tibetan Buddhism and symbols of the exchange and integration of the Chinese and Tibetan peoples.A survey of the 18 surviving Ming and Qing Buddhist monuments in Wuwei found that the monuments were seriously damaged,poorly managed,and inadequately protected.It is suggested that the existing Ming and Qing Buddhist inscriptions in Wuwei should be protected and valued from three aspects,namely,strengthening the protection of inscription documents,strengthening the management of inscription relics,and applying new technologies,in order to achieve the purpose of perpetuating the golden stone.