Kitabı oku: «Handbook of the History of Religions in China II», sayfa 12
(D) Daoist impacts on lixue, or Learning of Principle
The matured Daoist theories of Internal Alchemy deepened the traditional Chinese learning with regard to the Heaven-man relationship, shedding light on the intrinsic connection between the minor human cosmos and major ecological universe. Not only did Daoist doctrines theoretically inspire the Teaching of Principle in Song dynasties but they also directly influenced the emergence of the Teaching. For example, Zhou Dunyi and Shao Yong, both of whom pioneered the Teaching of Principle, were all closely related to the teaching of Internal Alchemy. According to Xuanpin lu玄品录 (a collected Daoist biographies), which was authored by Zhang Yu, an early Yuan Daoist priest of Mount Mao, Chen Tuan taught Mu Xiu the Book of Changes; Mu Xiu taught Li Zhicai; and Li Zhicai tutored Shao Yong. Meanwhile, Chen Tuan communicated his knowledge about Taiji tu (Diagram of Supreme Ultimate) to Zhong Fang; Zhong Fang passed it on to Mu Xiu; and Mu Xiu taught the Diagram to Zhou Dunyi. In light of much more authoritative Song Yuan xue’an, Wei Boyang obtained the Wuji tu (Diagram of Infinite), which was originally attached to Heshang Gong’s Commentaries on Daode Jing and employed by Wei to compose Cantong qi (Seal of the unity of the Three). The legendary Zhong Liquan also acquired the Diagram and then he taught Lü Dongbing the mysterious drawing. In Mount Hua, Lü instructed Chen Tuan to study the Diagram’s profundity. Additionally, Chen Tuan obtained Xiantian tu (The before-heaven diagram) from a Daoist priest clothed in linen. Chen taught Zhong Fang both diagrams. Then, Zhong passed both on to Mu Xiu and Monk Shouya. Mu Xiu taught Li Zhicai Xiantian tu, who tutored Shao Tiansou. Shao Tianshou was the Master of Yaofu (i.e. Shao Yong). Where Wuji tu was concerned, it was passed on to Zhou Dunyi, who also learnt mysterious verses embracing profundity before the creation of Heaven and earth under the Monk Shouya’s instruction. The alleged impartment among Heshang gong, Wei Boyang, Zhong Liquan and Lü Dongbing is, however, hard to corroborate. We could only be sure that many cases were groundless. In contrast, the impartment since Chen Tuan is convincingly detailed.
It should be pointed out that Zhou Dunyi’s Taiji tu (Diagram of Supreme Ultimate) is exactly the same as Chen Tuan’s Wuji tu (Diagram of Infinite). What Zhou did to Wuji tu in his Taiji tu lay is his reverse interpretation and redesignation of Supreme Ultimate. As mentioned above, the elixir could be made in reverse in light of Daoist Wuji tu; Zhou Dunyi, meanwhile, reversed the reverse making of elixir and suggested instead that man could be created and perfected in obedience to nature in his rephrased Taiji tu. Abandoning the original bottom-up interpretation, Zhou employs the novel top-down approach in (re-)formulating the theory of cosmic genesis and growth. Consequently, in Zhou’s interpretation of Diagram of Ultimate Supreme, he writes:
The ultimate of Non-being and also the Great Ultimate (Tai-chi)! The Great Ultimate through movement generates yang. When its activity reaches its limit, it becomes tranquil. Through tranquility the Great Ultimate generates yin. When tranquility reaches its limit, activity begins again. So movement and tranquility alternate and become the root of each other, giving rise to the distinction of yin and yang, and the two modes are thus established. By the transformation of yang and its union with yin, the Five Agents of Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth arise. When these five material forces (ch’i) are distributed in harmonious order, the four seasons run their course. When the reality of the Ultimate of Non-being and the essence of yin, yang and the Five Agents come into mysterious union, integration ensues. Ch’ien (Heaven) constitutes the male element, and k’un (Earth) constitutes the female element. The interaction of these two material forces engenders and transforms the myriad things. The myriad things produce and reproduce, resulting in an unending transformation. It is man alone who receives (the Five Agents) in their highest excellence, and therefore he is most intelligent.78
Due to Zhou’s interpretative efforts, the Daoist cosmic genesis successfully fuses with the cosmology that is elaborated in Yizhuan易传 (Interpretive treatises devoted to Book of Changes). The most popular traditional Chinese cosmology was thus created. In addition, Zhou Dunyi asserts,
The sage settles these affairs by the principles of the Mean, correctness, humanity, and righteousness (for the way of the sage is none other than these four), regarding tranquility as fundamental. (Having no desire, there will therefore be tranquility.) Thus, he establishes himself as the ultimate standard for man.”79
In view of this, we might conclude that the teaching of predominant tranquility is also from Daoism.
The main intellectual contribution of Shao Yong lies in his profound elaborations of image and number in the context of xiantian (the state before the existence of heaven). Shao’s theoretical framework is based on Xiantian tu. His image-number study is mainly used to shed light on the reinforcement and counteraction among the 64 hexagrams of I-Ching and consequent seasonal changes, as well as to explain the evolution of a myriad of things including Heaven and earth by means of displaying changes taking place in Supreme Ultimate and yin-yang forces. The Shao-styled dichotomy applying to xiantian and houtian (the state after the existence of heaven) deepened the philosophical category characterized by the distinction between metaphysical and concrete things, thereby was conducive to the creation of Teaching of Principle.
Su Shi, a great poet and essayist, also had a good command of the teaching of Internal Alchemy. He writes, “If Five Elements were skillfully reversed, Dragon (i.e. Water) would arise from Fire; if Five Elements did not act in sequence, Tiger (i.e. Fire) would be produced from Water.”80 The quotations show that Su Shi knew well the doctrines of Internal Alchemy. Zhu Xi, the towering figure of Song Confucianism, very much admired the teaching of Internal Alchemy. He even wrote a hermeneutic book for Cantong qi, to which Zhu Xi held that it was so profound that every time when I [Zhu Xi] attempted to study it I would be lost in its profundity and find no place to get a start, let alone commenting on it hastily. The reason why gurus of Learning of Principle were all great practitioners of cultivation in tranquility should be ascribed to their exposure to the teaching of Internal Alchemy. The Chinese usually called the Learning of Principle the “Dao-styled learning” on the grounds that it borrowed ideological elements from Daoist thinking and Daoist religious ideas and consequently immersed itself in metaphysical exploration.
4) Manichaeism, Islam, Judaism and Zoroastrianism
(A) Manichaeism
In the anti-Buddhist movement, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism and Nestorianism were also banned. As a consequence, the Chinese Manichaean groups lost contact with the original Church in Central Asia. Later, Buddhism thrived and prospered again, but Nestorianism disappeared in the Central Plains. Manichaeism became popular in the lower echelons of society. In the period of Five Dynasties, a rebellion broke out led by Mu Yi, who was a Manichaean devotee, but was suppressed by the Liang regime. In Song, Manichaeism was resuscitated in several regions such as Fujian and Zhejiang. According to “Regions” of Minshu闽书 (The Fujian gazetteer) He Qiaoyuan 何乔远 writes,
Buddhism was banned in the Huichang reign. Likewise, Mingjiao (Teaching of the Light, i.e. Manichaeism) was strictly forbidden by the authorities. A Manichaean priest, whose name was Hulu, came to Futang [County] and began disseminating the teaching in Sanshan [of Fuzhou]. The priest spent the rest of his life in the Fangquan Prefecture [i.e. Quanzhou]. He was buried at the foot of the mount in the northern part of Fangquan. In the Zhidao reign [of Emperor Tai of Northern Song], Li Tingyu, a literatus from Huai’an [of Fuzhou], purchased a Manichaean statue in the market of Imperial city at the price of 50,000 cash. Therefore, the Manichaean statue prevailed in the region of Fujian.
In addition, the author of Fozu tongji quotes Yijian zhi夷坚志 (Record of the listener) and says,
The [Manichaean] vegetarian practice and cult of demons [derogatory name applying to Manichaean god] was prevalent in Sanshan. Among the devotees, the leading figure put on the purple hat and loose robe and women members on the black hat and white robe. They called themselves the Teaching of the Light. … The scriptures of the Teaching were Two Principles and Three Times. The “two principles” referred to the Light and the Dark and the “three times” to the past, present and future.
The Monk Zongjian, who was also quoted by the author of Fozu tongji, said, “So far Manichaeism was still popular in Sanshan; teachings of White Lotus and White Cloud, meanwhile, could be seen everywhere.”
The main tenets of Manichaeism were purity, brightness, power and wisdom. Inasmuch as the Manichaeans ardently worshipped the light and were fervently against the dark, the Song Chinese called it mingjiao, or Teaching of the Light. The religion was particularly popular in Fujian. At that time Manichaeism was denounced by the ruling hierarchies as “heterodoxy.” For example, in his Laoxuean biji老学庵笔记 (Jottings in Life-Long Learning Hut), Lu You, a renowned poet, writes, “In Fujian there were people who practiced the heterodoxy that was designated as the Teaching of the Light.” In recent years, archaeologists found some remains of black pottery bowls, on which there were Chinese words “Mingjiao hui” (the Church of Mingjiao). The archaeological evidence corroborates what historical records describe. Ruling elites in Song disparagingly called Manichaeans the people who devoted themselves to vegetarianism and the cult of demons. In Chinese, the phrase “chicai shimo” (being vegetarian and adoring demons) was almost exclusively applied to Manichaeans. It was, however, originally used to designate Buddhists and gradually became a popular term. Ruling elites applied the term to Manichaeism on the grounds that the religion required that the faithful abstain themselves from eating meat and the pronunciation of first word of “Mo-ni” (the Chinese name of the founder of Manichaeism) was the same as that of “mo” (demon in Chinese). Sometimes the disparaging term was also applied to other popular religions.
Popular religion had quite a long history in China. For example, the Way of Five Pecks of Rice and the Way of Great Peace were in the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Teaching of Great Vehicle in the Northern Wei dynasty were all popular religions. The Teaching of the Light in Song dynasties was also in the genre of popular religion, in that it was infused with some elements of foreign religion. In addition, at that time, the White Lotus Sect, the Sect of White Cloud and Jingang chan (Diamond Dhyana), all of which originated from Buddhism, were both popular regions and secret societies. Echoing the Teaching of the Light, such Buddhism-inspired sects attracted a growing number of ordinary people and emerged one after another heralding the coming surge of popular religion. In his Tiaodui zhuang (To reply item by item), Lu You displayed the elites’ concern about the growing power of popular religions such as the Teaching of the Light. He writes,
Since time immemorial, driven by cold and hunger resulting from floods, droughts and famines, rebels gathered together and began attacking and looting. Such rebellious groups could, however, be easily pacified so long as their cases were properly handled. Therefore, the Imperial Court was actually free from any real threat in face of them. Nevertheless, it was very hard to foretell what would actually take place in the cases that evil people deceived and confused the innocent people, organized secret societies, and waited for an opportune moment to act. … In the region south of River Huai, such type of secret organization was called Ergui zi (gathered people wearing garb with double overlaid collars); in Zhejiang, the Teaching of Mouni [i.e. Mani, the founding patriarch of Manichaeism]; in lower reaches of Yangtze River, Siguo (Four Fruits); in Jiangxi, the Diamond Dhyana; and in Fujian, the Teaching of the Light or Jiedi zhai (Teaching of Gate and Abstinence). A great variety of names could be applied to such heterodox groups, among which the Teaching of the Light was the most rampant. There were even literati, scholar-officials and soldiers who practiced the teaching of the Light. The title of the Teaching’s god was the Messenger of Light, which also had names such as Flesh, Bone and Blood Buddhas. The faithful wore black hats and white robes and gathered secretly and regularly. They even printed and circulated false scriptures and evil portraits. … Inasmuch as the Teaching of the Light regarded the ceremony of offering sacrifices to ancestral spirits as an act of summoning ghosts, its followers stopped performing the familial sacrificial activities. Absurdly, the devotees of the Teaching took urine as holy water, with which they were baptized. … They gathered together ever more frequently and grew ever more firmly attached to each other. Whenever they stirred up trouble, it would be chilling. Zhang Jiao in Han dynasty, Sun Enin Jin dynasty and Fang La in recent years, were precisely such type of bewildering guys.81
In light of Lu You’s words, it was evident that the Teaching of the Light in Song was so powerful that it had already played a leading role among varying popular religions and coalesced by degrees with peasant revolts. Fang La 方腊was the embodiment of this trend.
Fang La was born in She Prefecture and later he moved to Qingxi (present-day Chun’an of Zhejiang) of Mu Prefecture. Fang was the Manichaean leader of Qingxi. When corrupt officials forcibly collected “Huashi gang” (extraordinarily beautiful flowers and stones) in exchange of Emperor Hui’s favor, the lives of local residents in Qingxi was seriously disturbed. In the tenth month of the second year of Xuanhe (1120), Fang La launched a rebellion against Song. He called himself the Lord of Holiness and created his own reign—“Jianyuan.” In addition, Fang established an armed force and a bureaucracy. His troops were divided into six branches, designated by the color of their headcloth, for example, red. In a very short time, Fang’s novel administration attracted tens of thousands of people to join the rebellion. The rebels captured cities and executed corrupt officials. Finally, they occupied six prefectures and 52 counties and controlled a population of almost one million. The rebellion greatly shook southeast China. The following year, Tong Guan, a powerful eunuch, led the Song army and suppressed the rebellion. Fang La was captured and executed.
Manichaeism reciprocally interacted with the Chinese society. On the one hand, it attempted to change Chinese customs by means of religious doctrine and rites; on the other hand, Manichaeism painstakingly adapted itself to Buddhist and Daoist cultures and Chinese folk customs by formulating new precepts and organizing new activities. According to Zongjian, who was quoted in Fozu tongji, “it was easier for Manichaeans to accumulate wealth because they abstained from eating meat, as well as doing good works because they were not allowed to harm living beings.” In his Jilei bian鸡肋编 (Collected chicken-rib-like writings), Zhuang Jiyu writes,
There was quite a strict law that all residents were not allowed to be vegetarian or worship the demon. If a person violated the law, he and his family members, who actually did not know what the person did, would be sent to exile and half of the family’s wealth given to the whistleblower. By law, the family fortune left behind would be confiscated by the government. Even so, the number of Manichaeans was constantly growing in recent years. Originating in Fujian, [the heterodoxy] had extended to Wenzhou and continuously grew in the eastern and western Zhejiang. It was said that the Church required that the faithful give up drinking, eating meat, sacrificing to ancestral spirits and [non-Manichaean] gods, and planning banquets. When a Manichaean died, s/he would be buried naked. … As soon as a poor resident joined the Church, other devotees would donate money to the person. In this way, the recipient would finally live a stable life. Whenever a fellow member of the Church came, s/he would be well entertained, even if the host and visitor did not know each other. The Church members shared all their own possessions, so that there was the so-called “shared quilt.” In doing so, a growing number of residents were lured into [the Church]. … [According to the Church’s precepts,] the Sun and Moon were the only objects of worship and venerated as the true Buddhas (Gods) … In the early dissemination [of Manichaeism], the convert would swear very solemnly and determinedly. Because Zhang Jiao was revered as the founding patriarch, the members dare not to speak out “Jiao” (the patriarch’s given name) even if they were threatened to be executed brutally.
In view of this record, we know that the Manichaean Church in Song had the custom of helping poor fellow members and entertaining Manichaeans, even if they were strangers. Due to such beneficial practices, the church interested poor residents very much. Where the Manichaean practice was concerned, the abstinence from eating meat and killing living beings was similar to what Buddhist precepts required; the abandonment of sacrificing to ancestral spirits and preference for being buried naked were very different from the Chinese customs; the cult of Zhang Jiao was very close to Daoist rites. The Manichaean requirements of giving up banquets, being vegetarian, helping others and acting with discretion were actually examples of good traditional customs. In the countryside the Church created meeting places, in which the devotees gathered together and studied scriptures in the night. At dawn the next day, the meeting would immediately end. Overall, Manichaeism enjoyed great popularity among peasants.
In the final years of Northern Song, Manichaeism was sizeable and influential. In the third year of Xuanhe, Shangshu Sheng, or Department of State Affairs, reported that “the practice of abstaining from eating meat and worshipping demons prevails throughout Jiangsu and Zhejiang” and merely in Wenzhou there were as many as more than thirty Manichaean churches. The Song government strictly forbade the religion and even violently cracked down the rebellion led by Fang La, a Manichaean leader in Zhejiang. Despite this, the Teaching of the Light was still active in South China. In the fourth year of Shaoxing of Emperor Gao, Wang Juzheng, a senior Minister, prepared a memorandum to the Emperor. He writes,
It is evident that the practice of being vegetarian and worshipping demons are prevalent in prefectures and counties of eastern and western Zhejiang. Before the Fang La Rebellion, the ban put on the Teaching was neither very strict, nor was the religion that rampant. But after the Rebellion, although the ban was increasingly strict, the Teaching grew unexpectedly wild.
The reason why the Teaching of the Light prevailed in spite of intensifying restrictions might lie in the fact that the religion gave expression to the spirit of mutual help and frugality that was deeply rooted in the lower echelons of society. The local authorities’ coercive measures, meanwhile, contributed to the rapid growth of Manichaeism. As a result, contrary to the government’s expectation, the stricter the prohibition against the Teaching was, the more popular it became. In Southern Song dynasty, five rebellions that were led by Manichaeans broke out.
