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Primitive Religions and Flourishing Buddhism in Liao
1) Traditional Khitan beliefs and the tendency of Sinicization
The Khitan people were the principal constituents of Liao state. In Tang and earlier periods, they lived in a clan society. In the late Tang, the Khitan clans drastically transformed into a medieval Imperial state thanks to the exposure to the culture of the Central Plain. Yelüabaoji 耶律阿保机, the founding emperor of Liao, created a Khitan state in the strict sense and borrowed many Han institutions. Consequently, the rising Liao state preserved many primitive indigenous religions; however, the new powers accepted by degrees the patriarchal state religion that prevailed across the Central Plain. A mixed form of religion was discernible in the transforming Khitan society.
(A) The combined cults of Mount Muye, Heaven and Earth
The Mount Muye (literally, “very high”) was the most sacred place, believed to be the place where the Khitan people originated. In the myth regarding the creation of Khitan clan, a man mounting a white horse came to the Mount Muye via the River Tu土 (Laoha老哈) and a woman riding a blue ox arrived at the Mount down the River Huang 潢 (Xilamulun西拉木伦). They met each other and got married. The descendants of the legendary couple later created the earliest eight Khitan clans. One Khitan Khan, whose name was Yaonian Hula 遥辇胡刺, stipulated how the ritual of sacrificing to the sacred Mount be performed. When Yelüdeguang 耶律德光, the founding Emperor of Liao, was enthroned, he slightly Sinicized the ceremony, offering sacrifices to Heaven and Earth at the Mount Muye similar to the “Feng-Shan” ceremony performed by Han Emperors. The founding Emperor also held the Buddhist faith in high esteem. He had the Bodhisattva in White, which was originally worshipped in the Pavilion of Dabei (Great Compassionateness) of Prefecture You 幽, relocated to Mount Muye, where a Liao royal temple was created for the statue. The Bodhisattva was consequently venerated as the deity of the ruling family. According to the “Annals of Rites” in History of Liao, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sacred Muye should be performed in the following way. The altars dedicated to the supreme Heaven and Earth were built at the Mount and both altars looked to the east. In the middle, a tree standing in for the monarch was planted and was faced by dozens of smaller trees symbolizing the ministers in the Imperial court. Another two trees stood face-to-face, representing the gate of realm of deities. The sacrificed animals included reddish brown and white horses, black oxen, and red and white rams. The animals were all male and hung from the “tree of monarch” after being butchered. Putting on ceremonial robes, the mounted Emperor and Empress got down at the site of “tree of monarch” and met his ministers. Then, they offered sacrifices to the Heaven and Earth at the prescribed site and read the prayer. After the principal ceremony was finished, the auxiliary ceremonies would be performed, such as the ministers visiting the trees, circling the dual trees symbolizing the gate of realm of deities, burning incense, and offering fruits and other foods. In these ceremonies, the Emperor and Empress would personally take part many times; shamans and grand shamans would also be principal participants of these ceremonies. The entire sacrificial ceremony was very distinctive, demonstrating the great efforts made to integrate rituals of sacrificing to Heaven, Earth, the sacred Mount and trees, and chanting prayers by male and female shamans. In the case of the founding Emperor, he reverently visited the Hall of Bodhisattva after sacrificing to the deities at the Mount. Such an act of worship added Buddhist elements into the royal ceremony. Zongzhen 宗真, or the Emperor Xing of Liao, had a different procedure of sacrificing to gods. His sacrificial ceremonies were first performed at the Hall of Bodhisattva, at Mount Muye, and by the River Liao, where the god of the river was worshipped. Only when these ceremonies were finished would he hold the sacred ceremony dedicated to Supreme Gods. The ceremonial dresses and regulations changed greatly in the reign of Emperor Xing. In spite of being less magnificent and sophisticated than the grand “Feng-Shan” ceremony held in the Central Plain, the Liao sacrificial practices were in “silently accord with the [Confucian] proprieties in concretizing the Supreme God by planting trees, communicating with the supernatural beings by means of hanging butchered animals, offering sacrifices to the dead and chanting prayer in strict accordance with the established hierarchy, and drinking libations to the deities in expectation of blessings.”1 The sacrificial ceremony at Mount Muye was performed in each reign of Liao. The Emperor even held it many times in a single reign. The History of Liao shows that there were more than 20 sessions of sacrificial ceremonies at the sacred Mount. Such a ceremony was indeed given greater importance in the Khitan regime.
Apart from sacrificial ceremonies held at the Mount Muye, the ceremonies in the Mounts of Wugu, Wu, Hei, Qiu, Cui, Yong’an, Chi and Yin were performed in honor of Heaven. The sacrifices included deep blue oxen, white horses, rams in black and white, geese, black hares, wine, and dried meats, among which the deep blue oxen and white horses were the most popular and most prestigious. This is because riding was an honorable tradition for the Khitan ancestors. The ceremony of sacrificing to Heaven and Earth would not only be held in festivals. It could also be performed on numerous occasions such as ceremonies asking for productive hunting, successful battles, the emergence of something auspicious, praying for Heaven’s blessing, and so on. Such a ceremony was not fixed but flexible. Sacrificing to great rivers was another significant ceremony. The one that was dedicated to the River Huntong 混同 was held most often.
Originally there was the cult of celestial gods among some ethnic groups in China. However, the idea of celestial gods in the early Liao regime was influenced by the orthodox thinking of Han people. Unlike the archaic Khitan thinking, which was lively and simple, the new intellectual reformulation of a celestial god laid stress on the Liao Emperor’s “manifest destiny.” The founding Emperor said, “The lord who receives the Heaven-mandated destiny shall show reverence towards Heaven and gods.”2 He also said:
Heaven descends to the earth and brings happiness to the people. A sagacious lord or enlightened king appears only once in every ten thousand years. I, fortunately, am given the mandate of heaven, by which I lead the entire population. Each expedition is carried out in accordance with Heaven’s will. Therefore, the appropriate tactics lie in man himself and the expected result can be acquired magically.3
The purpose of the founding Emperor’s creation of the authority of Heaven was to have the monarchic power justified by the divine (Heavenly) right and legitimize his personal rule over the state. Now that the Emperor’s governance was assisted by Heaven, nobody would be allowed to act against the ruler himself. In this regard, the Khitan Imperial edict was very similar to that of the traditional Han emperors.
The ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sun, and the “sese” ceremony, were related to the cult of Heaven and Earth. In the ceremony of sacrificing to the sun, the Emperor built a terrace where he, accompanied by ministers, worshipped the sun according to strict proprieties. The “sese” ceremony was, however, sorcery praying for rain. A Heaven Pavilion with 100 pillars would first be built. On the day of ceremony, the Emperor would sacrifice to the ancestors and then twice shoot the standing branches of willow. Then, the princes and leading ministers shot the willow once. People who hit the target in the symbolic archery would put on the recorder’s cap and clothes; those who missed the target leave their caps and clothes to the recorder and offer libations to the recorder. The “pawned” caps and clothes would be finally return to the original owners. The next day, the targeted willow would be planted in the southeast of the Heaven Pavilion. The shamans would sacrifice to deities with wine and grains, and royal siblings performed ceremonial archery after the Emperor and Empress finished offering sacrifices to the God of the East. The Emperor would then grant a reward to all participants. If there was rain, the reward would be much more handsome.
(B) Sacrificial ceremonies dedicated to ancestors and funerals
Ancestor worship was very common for almost all ethnic groups in China. The practice of Liao nobles was “intermediate.” To put it another way, it was less complicated or inflexible in comparison with those customs that prevailed in the Central Plain. Yet it was more sophisticated and formal than the indigenous ceremonies, thanks to the existence of rituals of addressing and showing reverence towards the ancestral temples, sacrificing to the tombs, and burying the deceased. All of these were products of the nobles’ partial acceptance of traditional proprieties of the Han Chinese. The grand ancestral temple was created by the founding Emperor. Whenever there were significant events such as receiving the “jade slips” (legitimizing the throne) and leading an expedition by the Emperor himself, a grand ceremony would be held in the ancestral temple. If the Emperor visited the many capital cities, he performed sacrificial ceremonies in the related temple, where he would pay respect to the deceased Emperors, burn incense, and chant eulogies. In every season the newly-produced grain would be displayed in the temples. On the first day of the first month of winter, a magnificent ceremony presided over by the Emperor would be held in the Imperial mausoleum.
When an Emperor died, the heir needed to wail sincerely, sacrifice to the late Emperor, and himself carry the coffin to the mausoleum. In the funeral, the grand shaman performed rituals of exorcizing the evil and praying for blessings; sacrificial offerings such as clothes, bows, arrows, saddles, bridles, paintings, horses, camels, and effigies of guards were burned. In addition, rams were sacrificially butchered. These sacrificial acts were all traditional practices of the Khitan people. Originally, mourning dress was in the indigenous Khitan style. Emperor Tianzuo consulted Yelügu, who was the leader of the Imperial Academy, about proprieties regarding mourning dress. Then, the royal family adopted the slightly Sinicized mourning dress that had the edges properly cut.
Daoism was merely an insignificant player in the shadows of a dominant Buddhism in the time of Liao dynasty. Due to the extreme inadequacy of primary sources, we cannot draw a clear picture of Daoism in the Khitan regime. Merely in the light of some broken records, we know that a few Liao nobles were probably interested in the Daoist faith. Within the state of Liao there were Daoist temples and special places receiving non-Liao Daoist priests. Daoist priests could freely move between Liao, Tang and Song dynasties. Nevertheless, seemingly the Daoists of Liao failed to create a powerful Daoist sect; nor did they organize any large religious events related to Daoism. According to writing at the time, the third son of the Emperor Jing “was fond of Daoism when he was still a boy and felt happy whenever he saw a Daoist priest. … He built Daoist academy, where he received Daoists from abroad, recited Daoist scriptures, performed Daoist ceremonies, and offered vegetarian foods to Daoist gods.”4 Emperor Sheng “knew very well both Daoism and Buddhism and had obtained an insight into the essences of the two religions.” He even himself visited the Daoist Temple of Tongtian (Interconnecting Heaven) in the first year of Taiping (1021). Emperor Xing was also a fan of Daoism, demonstrated in his appointment of Wang Gang and other Daoist priests as senior officials and his order that required his concubines dress like Daoist nuns in the banquet. Some records said Liu Haichan 刘海蟾, a renowned Daoist priest, was from Liao. Liu was taught the magic formula of making elixir when he met Lü Dongbing吕洞宾. In the early Northern Song dynasty Liu commuted between Mount Zhongnan and Mount Taihua and, together with Zhang Wumeng and Zhong Fang, paid a formal visit to Chen Tuan 陈抟. These Daoist priests became good friends. It was also said that Zhang Boduan, the founding patriarch of the Southern Way of Golden Elixir, was one of the disciples of Liu Haichan. In fact, Liu was an active Daoist figure roaming around within Song. He never led activities in Liao. The history of Daoism in Liao was too hard to be reconstructed on the grounds that the related historical records are too scare.
Like the regimes in the Central Plain, Liao revered and sacrificed to Confucius, who was regarded as a god by the Khitan rulers. The regime of Liao treated Confucianism as a religion.
2) The prevalence of Buddhism and its characteristics
(A) The Khitan rulers and Buddhism
Originally the Khitan people believed in primitive Shamanism. The Buddhist faith was totally foreign to them. When the Tang Empire began to collapse, Yelüabaoji, who created the powerful Liao state, annexed by degrees various Khitan tribes and geographically extended his regime. In the process of founding his Empire, the great Khitan ruler emphasized the recruitment of talented Han people and the absorption of the advanced Han culture. As a consequence, he was brought to and convinced by Buddhism. In the second year of Tianfu of Tang (902 A.D.), the founding Emperor built the Temple of Kaijiao (Establishing Teaching) in the Longhua Prefecture, which was located in present-day Banner of Wengniute 翁牛特 in Inner Mongolia. Sixteen years later, or the third year of Shence of Liao (918 A.D.), the Liao Emperor issued an edict, which required the temples dedicated to Confucius, Buddhism and Daoism be built.5 In the sixth year of Shence (921 A.D.), the Khitan army conquered the Bohai 渤海tribe of Jurchen people. The Bohai tribe as a whole were followers of the Buddhist faith. The Liao ruler relocated 50 Buddhist monks, represented by Chongwen, to the Western Mansion (or the later Shangjing Huangfu, present-day Lindong of Inner Mongolia) of the capital city of Liao. The Emperor specially built the Temple of Tianxiong (Heavenly Prowess) for them. The supreme leaders of Khitan people and other nobles visited frequently the Temple, where they also held large religious activities such as grand prayers, posthumous rewards, donation of foods for monks, and so on. Later Yelüdeguang, or Emperor Tai, attacked and annexed the 16 prefectures in the vast regions of Yan and Yun (present-day northern parts of Hebei and Shanxi). The Yan-Yun region was renowned for its flourishing Buddhism. Consequently, the Khitan people were increasingly exposed to the Buddhist faith
Since the reign of the founding Emperor, the rulers of Khitan state were all Buddhist followers. They supported and protected Buddhism by means of various policies. In the reigns of Yelülongxu (982–1030), or Emperor Sheng, Yelüzongzhen (1031–1054), or Emperor Xing, and Yelühongji (1053–1100), or Emperor Dao, Buddhism received the unmatchable attention from Khitan rulers. The three Emperors kept building Buddhist temples, donating a great number of lands and farmers to monasteries, and even employing the Imperial treasuries to support the work of inscribing Buddhist sutras in the Temple of Yunju (Cloud Residence) in Fangshan of present-day Beijing. In the case of Emperor Dao, he was not only a great supporter of Buddhism but also an excellent Buddhist scholar. The Emperor had a very good mastery of Sanskrit and thoroughly researched the Avatamsaka Sutra. It was said:
Whenever the Emperor talked about the secular politics, he would end it with the profundity of Buddhist teaching. Whenever he lectured on the essence [of Buddhist teaching], the listeners would be enlightened and something extraordinary be grasped. Whenever he explored the completeness and perfection [of the Buddhist teaching] and worked out eulogies, something auspicious would be granted by the supranatural beings.6
Apart from lecturing on the Buddhist canon, composing numerous annotations on the Avatamsaka Sutra was also one of the more significant contributions that Emperor Dao made to Buddhist studies. These Emperors set an example by adoring Buddhism. Consequently, his subjects followed almost blindly. So many senior officials and nobles attempted to make themselves virtuous by donating handsomely to the monasteries. For example, the Princess of Grandness and Primacy, who was one of the younger daughters of Emperor Sheng, donated her private residence in the South Imperial City (present-day Beijing) and rebuilt it as the Grand Temple of Vast Heaven, to which she also gave 100 qing (approximately 10,000 mu) of farmland and 100 households of farmers. Madam Xiao, a celebrity from the Lanling Prefecture, contributed 3,000 qing (approx. 300,000 mu) of farmland, 10,000 dan of grains, 50 oxen, and 40 horses as a gift to the Temple of Jing’an (Tranquility and Stability), which was located in the Middle Imperial City (present-day Daming City of Inner Mongolia). The monastic economy in Liao underwent unchecked growth due to the unimaginable donations from powerful ministers and men of wealth. The monasteries occupied a huge number of lands and farmers. Many peasants paid half of the taxes that should be given to the state to various Buddhist temples. As a result, a special system, in which the farmers had to be taxpayers of both the monasteries and the state, was created.
The complete records regarding the bureaucracy applying to the monastic administration cannot be found in The History of Liao. According to the few available records, Liao established a Central Buddhist Registry in the five Imperial cities. In Yanjing (present-day Beijing), there were the Left and Right Buddhist Registries. In the agency that was specially created for monks, there were officials such as Buddhist Registrar, Rectifier and Judger, all of whom were registered monks. In the Imperial Registry’s local branches in prefectures, there were (regional) Rectifier, Chief Reciter and Chief Karmadana. The Chief Karmadana was not an official but a leader of the Buddhist community. At that time Buddhism was very popular among ordinary residents in Liao. Therefore, the professional monks and lay Buddhists formed the huge “community comprising of one thousand members” and recommended a renowned Buddhist layman to be the Chief Karmadana in charge of the community affairs. The monastic bureaucracy, however, was less strict than that of Song dynasties. “If a person wanted to become a monk, he did not need to pay the registration fee at all.”7 To put it another way, the state did not impose any limitation on monastic recruitment. Consequently, the numbers of monks and nuns were ever increasing in Liao and the state’s finances were seriously disturbed. The unchecked growth of Buddhism was one of factors that brought about the decline of the powerful Khitan regime. After the reigns of Emperors Sheng, Xing and Dao, the national politics of Liao state became extremely decadent. Buddhism played a very negative role in the collapse of Liao, though we cannot say that “it was Buddhism that paralyzed the Liao Empire.”
When the Liao state was annihilated by the rising Jurchen regime, Yelüdashi 耶律大石, or the eighth-generation grandson of Liao’s founding Emperor, led the Khitan people to go to the Western Region, where he founded the Western Liao state that covered present-day Xinjiang and other parts of Central Asia. The Khitan expatriates brought Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoist to these remote areas. According to disciples of Qiu Chuji 丘处机, a very famous Daoist priest in Song, when the leader of Uighur people held a grand welcome banquet, “there would be seated Buddhist monks, Daoist priests, and Confucians scholars.”8 Among the indigenous residents in the regions under Western Liao’s control, Islam had already prevailed. The ruling hierarchy had a very tolerant attitude to other religions, in spite of being pious followers of Buddhism. As a result, Islam, Buddhism and Nestorianism coexisted peacefully in this remote Khitan state.
