Liu Zhuang, Emperor Hanming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, sent envoys to the Western Regions in the eighth year of Yongping (AD 65), and Buddhism began to spread in China, known as "pagoda" and "floating picture". Chu Wangying, the younger brother of Emperor Han Ming, "recite the whispers of Huang Lao, and the tower is still a shrine"; Emperor Huan once "set up a shrine for the old and the yellow rabbit" in the palace, and sacrificed the Yellow Emperor, Lao Zi and Buddha together. Buddhism, as a popular Taoism in the Eastern Han Dynasty, mostly preached the ideas of "spiritual rise and fall", "abstinence and extravagance" and "benevolence and charity" which were close to China's traditional thoughts. According to the Tales of Sanzang, by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were more than 50 translated classics with 70 volumes. The earliest Buddhist scripture translated was Forty-two Chapters translated by Zhu Moteng in Ming Di. There are many Mahayana classics and Mahayana classics translated in Han Dynasty. Translators are mostly monks from Tianzhu and the Western Regions, among which the most famous are An Shigao, a rest shaman, and Jia Yi, a shaman of Yuezhi. China monk Yan Buddhism tune also participated in the translation. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhism was divided into two schools in China: one was an Shi Gao School and the other was an Zhi School. An Shigao was founded in Emperor Huan. When he first arrived in Luoyang, he studied Hinayana Buddhism and emphasized Zen, and translated many classics, among which the most influential ones were The Classic of Amban Shouyi and The Classic of Yin Zhi. The former is a method of meditation, emphasizing breathing and keeping one's mind, such as breathing and breathing techniques in Huang Lao's Fairy Home. The latter is to explain the names and numbers of Buddhists, just like the study of chapters and sentences in China's classics. This theory holds that life in the universe is based on vitality, which means "five elements" or "five yin". Take a breath, focus on one heart, keep the heart alive, and keep the heart calm, which is called "keeping peace of mind." Those who are good at "keeping ambition" can get the Arhat Road. This branch worships Mahayana Buddhism and talks about Prajna. Together with disciple Zhiliang and disciple Zhiqian, it is called "Three Branches". In the last year of Emperor Huan (before 167), Lingguang and the second year (before 179) translated the Prajna Paramita Sutra (that is, the Sketch Sutra), and Zhi Qian translated the Infinite Great Light Sutra when he avoided the chaos. Under the influence of Laozi and Zhuangzi's thoughts, Zhi Zhi argued that the essence of life is to let God reverse his true colors, and that heart and Tao are in harmony, so that he can become a Buddha. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was an article "The Confusion of Mouzi" (containing "Hongming Collection"), which was the only existing Buddhist work in China at the end of the Han Dynasty.
Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties are important stages in the history of Buddhism in China, which absorbed and digested Indian Buddhism and increasingly conflicted and reconciled with traditional culture.
Buddhism was introduced into China in the Han Dynasty, which was initially regarded as a kind of immortal Taoism and was not popular. Metaphysics prevailed in Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the Prajna theory of Mahayana Kongzong of Buddhism spread rapidly because of its similarity with metaphysics. Since the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the chaos of war and chaos and social unrest have provided a favorable objective environment for the widespread spread of Buddhism. During the Sixteen Kingdoms Period in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Buddhism spread widely to all social strata. The rulers of the northern post-Zhao, pre-Qin, post-Qin and Northern Liang all attached importance to eminent monks and used Buddhism politically. Tucheng Buddha (232 ~ 348), a monk in the western regions, was honored as a "big monk" by the rulers of the post-Zhao Dynasty. In addition to promoting Buddhism, he also participated in military and political secrets. His disciple Dao An (3 12 or 3 14 ~ 385) was welcomed into Chang 'an by Fu Jian, the former ruler of Qin Dynasty, leading thousands of people. He advocated the theory of Prajna Kongzong, organized the translation of Confucian classics, sorted out the records of Confucian classics, and formulated the laws and regulations of monk groups, which laid the foundation for the temple system in the later Han Dynasty. Hui Yuan (334 ~ 4 16), a disciple of Daoan, lived in Lushan for a long time and was the leader of Southern Buddhism. He made great efforts to reconcile the contradictions between Buddhism and Buddhism, Buddhist monks and feudal kingship, advocated the theory of karma and the theory of immortality of God, and also publicized the belief that Amitabha was reincarnated as a "pure land" (the western paradise) after his death, which had far-reaching influence. At the beginning of the 5th century, Yao Xing, the last king of Qin, welcomed Kumarajiva, a famous monk from Kuqa, Xinjiang, to Chang 'an, presided over the translation of sutras, and systematically translated a large number of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. He trained a whole generation of Buddhist scholars, among whom Seng Zhao, Zhu Daosheng and others made great contributions to Buddhism in China. Buddhism was further developed in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. All the emperors in the Southern Dynasties worshipped Buddhism, especially Liang Wudi Xiao Yan. He vowed to give up the Tao and return to the Buddha, calling himself "the slave of the three treasures (Buddha, Dharma and Monk)". He sacrificed his life for the temple many times and was redeemed by the court with a large sum of money to enrich the temple economy. He personally lectured and wrote, criticized Fan Zhen's immortal theory, and made Buddhism prevail in the south. The emperors of the Northern Dynasties also tried their best to foster Buddhism and were keen on carving statues in caves. With the support of feudal rulers, with the gradual deepening of China monks' understanding of Buddhist classics, there have been schools such as Nirvana, Shicheng, Sanlun, Pixian, Sheshe, Dilun, Shiyong and Lengga. Among them, Zhu Daosheng (355 ~ 434) expounded the theory of the Buddhist nature of Nirvana in the Southern Dynasties, and advocated that if all beings knew the Buddhist nature, "those who destroyed the good" could become Buddhas. He also criticized the idea of gradual enlightenment through accumulated learning and put forward the idea of enlightenment. Zhu Daosheng's theory was strongly advocated by Song Wendi Liu Yilong and Liang Wudi Xiao Yan.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the economic strength of Buddhism was weak. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, monasteries owned a lot of land and Buddhists. Buddhism gradually formed a relatively independent temple economy by renting land, attaching servants to farmers, operating businesses and issuing usury. In the north, at the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were more than 30,000 monasteries and more than 2 million monks and nuns. In the south, there are nearly 3,000 Buddhist temples and 83,000 monks and nuns in the Liang Dynasty. Buddhism has become an important social force and a powerful economic entity.
With the spread of Buddhist thought and the growth of economic power, new contradictions have emerged in social politics, economy and thought. In the seventh year of Taiping Zhenjun in the Northern Wei Dynasty (446) and the third year of Jiande (574), Buddhism was destroyed one after another, which dealt a heavy blow to northern Buddhism. In the south, there is a debate about whether Samoans worship the king, whether in summer, evil is rewarded with evil, and whether God can destroy God. The Buddhist concept of theism has been criticized. However, these conflicts are temporary, and the soil where Buddhism prevails still exists. Later, Buddhist scholars turned to reform and innovation, which made Buddhism achieve greater development in Sui and Tang Dynasties.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the whole country was unified and various Buddhist sects were further integrated. In order to use Buddhism as a weapon of religious thought more effectively, the rulers of Sui and Tang Dynasties actively promoted the unification of Buddhist thought. In order to consolidate its religious power and protect the temple economy, Buddhism also imitated the feudal patriarchal clan system of the secular feudal landlord class and established a hereditary system passed down from generation to generation by monks. Buddhism schools developed for a long time from the Southern and Northern Dynasties, some formed sects, and some were merged and absorbed by other sects.
This school originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it only popularized a certain classical theory. For example, those who are good at talking about achievement theory are achievers, and those who are good at talking about abandonment theory are quitters. The monasteries where they give lectures are not fixed, and they don't pay attention to the inheritance of French descent. Buddhism sects in Sui and Tang Dynasties developed from schools. They have their own religious theory system and religious norm system, and have their own temple property ownership and inheritance rights in the temple economy. Each sect has its own sphere of influence and lineage. A large Buddhist temple is not only the religious propaganda center of this religion, but also the cultural center because it has a large collection of books and materials, including religious and secular classics. There are also many poor scholars who live in the monk temple and are famous for reading books in the temple. Temples also operate usury and are small economic centers.
The Sui and Tang Dynasties were formally established and developed in succession. Tiantai Sect was first established between Chen and Sui Dynasties, and its founder was Zhiyi (53 1 ~ 597). It was named after the establishment of a base in Tiantai Mountain, Zhejiang Province, and spread in Zhejiang and Hubei today. Fawei Zhengzong was founded by Xuanzang and his disciple Kui Ji (63 1 ~ 682) in the period of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong. Popular in Chang 'an and Luoyang, it takes its teachings as the name of the sect. Then came Hua Yanzong, who received strong support from Wu Zetian. Du Shun (597 ~ 640) is known as the ancestor of Huayan, and the actual founder is Fazang (643 ~ 7 12), taking the classics he elaborated as the sectarian name, which is popular in Chang 'an and Wutai Mountain in Shanxi today. Zen was founded during the reign of Wuze, and Huineng was the actual founder. Taking its unique cultivation method and way of thinking as the name of the sect, it began to be popular in Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei, and spread to all parts of the country in the late Tang and Five Dynasties. There is also the Legalist Sect, which abides by Buddhist precepts and emphasizes that believers should have certain rituals when they are ordained, but there is no theoretical explanation. Because this school is familiar with the bar mitzvah ceremony, it later monopolized the bar mitzvah privilege, and some people think it is also a Sect. The founder of Pure Land Sect can be traced back to Tanluan (476 ~ 542) in the Southern Dynasties, with Daochuo (562 ~ 645) and Shandao (6 13 ~ 68 1). Tantric Buddhism was founded in the middle Tang Dynasty, with Xumituo Buddha (637 ~ 735), Jingangzhi (669 ~ 74 1) and Bukong (705 ~ 774) as its representatives. It is popular in the upper ruling group of the central government in the Tang Dynasty and in Tibet and Yunnan today. There was also the once-popular "third-order religion", which was later banned by the government.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, land annexation became more and more serious, with numerous taxes and exorbitant taxes, and people went into exile one after another to avoid conscription. Many monasteries occupy a lot of land and labor, depriving the government of population and financial income. In the fifth year of Tang Wuzong Li Yan Huichang (845), the government ordered the demolition of more than 4,600 large temples and 40,000 small and medium-sized temples, confiscated tens of millions of hectares of fertile land (this figure is too large, and "hectares" is suspected of being mistaken for "mu") and temple handmaiden/kloc-0.50 million people, and more than 260,000 monks and nuns were secularized, which is called "Huichang abolishing Buddha" in history. Because the imperial edict is no longer applicable to the long-term separatist areas in Hebei, the Buddhist forces in these areas have not been dealt a heavy blow.
In 875, the Huang Chao Uprising broke out.
Under the attack of peasant rebels, the temple could not manage the land, and the temple economy was in a slump. Those Buddhist sects that spread complex scholasticism have lost their material conditions, and only Zen has been more widely spread.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, in order to make up for the long-standing theoretical differences among Buddhist sects, strengthen the theoretical defense force and deal with materialism, all sects established the system of judging religions.
The philosophy of Buddhist sects in Sui and Tang Dynasties continued to explore and develop the nature of Buddhism put forward by the Southern and Northern Dynasties. From the standpoint of idealism, various Buddhist sects closely link human psychological activities, spiritual cultivation (mainly religious cultivation), human nature with human mind, nature, emotion and world outlook, forming a religious world outlook system of Buddhist sects' philosophy. Buddhist philosophy in Sui and Tang Dynasties put forward some important philosophical categories and made religious explanations. Later, idealists in the Song and Ming Dynasties basically inherited this religious theological tradition. Other materialist philosophers have also reformed their ideological materials in their struggle with Buddhist idealism, thus enriching the philosophical content of materialism. The philosophy of Buddhist sects in Sui and Tang Dynasties had a direct influence on the later Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties.
Buddhism sects with great influence and a long history in Sui and Tang Dynasties closely cooperated with the class struggle at that time, adapted to the economic and political needs at that time, and maintained the feudal ruling order at that time. Buddhist classics in Sui and Tang Dynasties are regarded as the creation of China Buddhism, not the annotation of Indian Buddhist classics. Only those who strictly follow the teachings of India know only the sects of Buddhism. Some views of various sects are not found in Indian Buddhism. Even if it is justified in Indian Buddhist classics, it only takes the part that meets the social and economic needs of China at that time. Giving full play to the theme is the characteristic of various sects of Buddhism in Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Buddhism in Sui and Tang Dynasties, except for sects, all sects came into being to meet the economic base and political needs of China at that time. All sects have vigorously demonstrated the possibility of becoming a Buddha and given positive answers. This is the reflection of the ideology of the landlord class in Buddhist thought under the new historical conditions of the Tang Dynasty after the gentry landlord class lost power. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, under the historical conditions of the gentry and landlords' dictatorship, poor peasant landlords could not occupy an important position in politics. Zhu Daosheng's slogan "Anyone who has no confidence and has broken his roots will become a Buddha" has not been universally recognized by the society. The Tang court cracked down on the remnants of gentry and fostered ordinary poor landlords. Accordingly, the epiphany theory of Buddhism and the theory that everyone can become a Buddha have gradually gained universal recognition.