Judging from the results of the "three weapons to destroy Buddha", "destroying Buddha" is indeed conducive to developing production and enhancing the country's financial and military strength. A large number of monks and nuns were secularized and included in the civil register, which not only provided sufficient labor force for the society, but also benefited the development of production, and provided an inexhaustible source of tax revenue for the feudal countries, and the source of national conscription was also guaranteed. At the same time, a large number of temple properties were confiscated, which provided a lot of wealth for the country and enhanced the country's financial and military strength. This is why Tuoba Tao ordered the shamans under the age of 50 to be secularized, and Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty "stopped shamans and made them return to the people". After the Zhou Dynasty destroyed Qi, Buddhism was abolished. There are ten words in "Hong Guangming Ji", and Emperor Wu wrote, "Release five people and subtract three million, and all of them will be restored to the army and the people." Tang Wuzong abolished Buddhism, with 265,000 secularized monks and nuns and two tax collectors; Tens of millions of hectares of farmland were expropriated, and there were 150,000 female servants of two tax households. Tang Wuzong also destroyed all the bronze statues, bells and bells of abandoned temples and used them to make coins. All iron statues are cast as agricultural tools, gold and silver? ? Stone statues, etc. , are paid. It can be said that destroying Buddha is ruined. Or did Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty express the benefits of destroying Buddha in one sentence: "Since the abolition, civil servants have a little hope, rents have increased year by year, and soldiers have become increasingly prosperous. Isn't it good for Dongping Qiguo, Xiding Glory and Guoan Folk Music? " Because the Buddha was abolished, monks returned to the secular world, and there were more people renting corvees, and there was a little hope for human service. The number of soldiers was increasing after renting for more years.
"Destroying Buddhism" not only brought benefits to the society and the country, but also caused great losses to the Buddhist cause. Wei Taizu destroyed the Buddha. "The Buddha statue and the Hu Jing statue are completely destroyed and burned, and Samoans know it." Later, although the news leaked, the shaman fled and the Buddhist scriptures were hidden, "the civil palace tower will be destroyed within the reach of music and education." Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty abolished Buddhism and Taoism, saying, "If the scriptures are destroyed, monks and Taoists will be demoted and returned to the people. It is also forbidden to swear, and those who are not in the ceremony will be eliminated. " After the Northern Zhou Dynasty Emperor Wu destroyed Qi, he continued to pursue the policy of destroying Buddhism. Volume 11 of the Three Treasures of Past Dynasties once said: "Destroy and sweep the pagodas that were built in the west and east of Guanshan for hundreds of years by the government and the people of the previous generation. Melt the sacred face and burn the classics. Bazhou Temple paid 4000 yuan to the ministers as the first government. The three parties have reduced the amount by three million, and all of them have been returned to the people, which is also a compilation. " Although Zhou Wufa's difficult period was short, the result was that monks fled everywhere, and the difficulty was indescribable. They either gave their lives for the law, or hid in the dust, or hid in the mountains, or fled to the corner of the sea, or entered the passage. Judging from Tang Wuzong's handling of metal Buddha statues and utensils, the demolition of monasteries and the confiscation of monasteries' property, Buddhism suffered a heavy blow. In a word, the demise of Buddhism is a heavy blow to Buddhism, which is of great significance to weaken the power and influence of Buddhism. Because the temple economy was deprived, monks and nuns were forced to return to secularization, temples were destroyed, scriptures were lost, and Buddha statues were sold, which made Buddhism lose the necessary conditions for prosperity. At that time, Buddhism in China had to decline temporarily.
However, history seems to have played a big joke on Emperor Wu who destroyed the Buddha. After the death of the "three wonders", Buddhism quickly revived. After Emperor Wu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Wen Chengdi revived Buddhism and thought that it was "aimless" to destroy Buddhism with too much force. The measures for its restoration are: "Take charge of all counties, live in crowded places, build Buddhist areas by listening, let their money be used, and do not restrict the meeting." He loves Taoism, wants to be a shaman, regardless of age, comes from a good family, and his sexual behavior is pure, without any suspicion of filth. Famous people in the village will listen to him becoming a monk. "After the Northern Zhou Dynasty Emperor Wu destroyed Buddhism and banned Taoism, Emperor Xuan of Zhou acceded to the throne, and soon' restored Buddha and respected God'. After Emperor Wendi's consorts came to power, "Buddhism and Taoism resumed, and the old Samanas and Taoists were sincere and self-controlled, so they simply ordered them to enter the Tao. "Since then, Buddhism has been officially restored. After Tang Wuzong's death, Xuanzong acceded to the throne, and wrote in the first year of Dazhong (AD 847): "In the year of Huichang, the temple will be saved. Although the teaching of different parties in the cloud does not damage the source of reason, the Chinese have been doing it for a long time and changed it, but it is not grand. Its lingshan scenic spot, the state capital of the world, should be abolished in April of the fifth year of Huichang, and old monks can rebuild it. The company shall not prohibit it. "On the surface, the anti-Buddhist power of the imperial court was a heavy blow, but it was followed by the rapid recovery and greater development of Buddhism. Why? This must be thought-provoking. The author believes that the fundamental reason is the social foundation of Buddhism's prosperity, that is, class oppression has not changed. Because shaman enjoys the privilege of being relieved of official position, the temple is like a paradise without exploitation and oppression, and it certainly has great attraction to the working people at the lower level.
The rapid revival of Buddhism lies in the support of the rulers. As a spiritual force, Buddhism often helps the supreme ruler to consolidate his position. Lenin once said: "In order to maintain their own rule, all oppressed classes need to have two social functions: one is the executioner's function and the other is the priest's function. The executioner suppressed the resistance and riots of the oppressed, and the priest comforted the oppressed ... "The reason why the king fostered Buddhism was to use Buddhism, and they saw the" priest function "that the monk class could not be underestimated. The emperor used violence to "prohibit people from doing evil" to stop people from committing crimes; Monks help them "be kind to others" and make people consciously give up violence and have hope for the afterlife. This is the purpose of the feudal ruling class to use religion. Therefore, the belief in Buddhism in the upper class can be arty, and the belief in Buddhism in the poor civilians can gain immediate benefits. At the same time, Buddhist teachings can comfort their spirit. Why don't people believe in Buddhism?
In addition, the missionary work of Confucianism and Taoism is far less attractive than that of Buddhism, which may also be a reason for the rapid development of Buddhism. Confucianism makes the poor behave themselves and has no hope for the afterlife. Although Buddhism is a foreign religion, the theoretical depth of its teachings far exceeds that of Taoism in China, so it can gain the belief of the upper class. On the other hand, Buddhism can untie the spiritual shackles caused by Confucianism, free the poor civilians spiritually, and be full of good hopes for the afterlife. Some contents of the doctrine are quite acceptable to the masses. For example, karma, reincarnation theory, can make the suffering people have hope for the afterlife. As long as you believe in Buddhism, all crimes, even capital crimes, can be forgiven. In these respects, Taoism is dwarfed. For another example, people are bound to die. Buddhism has never said that as long as you believe in Buddhism, you can not die. They just said that there is a good place to go if you believe in Buddhism. Anyway, there is no evidence to prove whether there is death. Taoism, on the other hand, publicly threatened to make immortals live forever, soar during the day and enjoy themselves in the fairy mountains in the sky or at sea forever. Of course, this miracle can't be realized, and the propaganda can't help but go bankrupt. This determines that Taoism is inferior to Buddhism in winning over the masses.
Therefore, from the development history of Buddhism, it is invalid to attack and suppress any religion by destroying the body of believers. What is important is how to change believers' beliefs. The crux of the problem is that the "Three Musts" can't deeply analyze the origin of Buddhism, and attribute the origin of Buddhism to Buddhism itself, without realizing the important factor that the working people converted to Buddhism because of the heavy burden of labor brought about by feudal autocratic rule. However, we should also see that the feudal rulers did not fundamentally deny Buddhism, but only controlled its development with a tough face. Once the development of Buddhism slowed down and was brought back under the effective control of feudal rule, as one of the spiritual tools of feudal rule, it helped the king to ban the law again, benefiting benevolence, wisdom and goodness. In this regard, Mr. Lv Simian once said: "Beavers waste Buddha with ulterior motives; Wu Zhou especially wanted to eliminate the disadvantages of religion, not to civilize it. Tang Wuzong, the world says it abolished the Buddha, but this is only limited. Restriction will eliminate its disadvantages. Is it reasonable to know that religion is indispensable and want to get rid of its evils? Wu Zongzhi's abolition of Buddhism will soon be restored. However, after this correction, the evils of religion have gradually been eliminated, and less material resources have been spent, and those harmful to people's hearts have intensified. " Therefore, when the "Three Musts" destroyed Buddhism, Buddhism was once suppressed, but it did not disappear. After the death of the "Three Musts", Buddhism still developed generally.