Da Hui
China has many religions among its people, of which the most influential are Buddhism and Taoism. Taoism is China's native religion, while Buddhism came from abroad. Logically, the native religion should be the best known and have the greatest influence on the people. In fact, however, it is Buddhism that has had the greatest influence on people.
Especially in ancient times, most people followed Buddhism, and only a minority followed Taoism. This minority, however, was a special group. Ancient emperors often followed Taoism rather than Buddhism, while among the common people it was just the opposite: they believed in the Buddha rather than the Tao.
Why did such a strange phenomenon arise? Is there some special explanation behind it?
In the Tang dynasty Taoism was made the “state religion,” and by the Song dynasty imperial devotion to Taoism reached a minor peak. Emperor Huizong of the Song, for example, extolled Taoism endlessly and raised it to a supreme position. Though he was the ruler of the country, he styled himself the “Lord of the Teaching, the Taoist Lord Emperor.”
Not only did he make himself the Taoist Lord Emperor, he was also keen to bestow the titles of Taoist immortals on his ministers. Moreover, he launched great construction projects to build Taoist temples at enormous cost. By the Ming dynasty this fashion had not declined but grown even stronger. The famous Jiajing emperor, for example, was a typical “Taoist emperor.” He was obsessed all day with cultivating the Tao, ignored the affairs of state, and did not even hold court for more than twenty years.
Clearly, in cultivating the Tao he had become “possessed.”
The Jiajing emperor kept many Taoist priests in the palace and followed their every word. Wishing to live forever, he sought methods from them, and these Taoist priests actually gave him a prescription.
Now, “living forever” exists only in myths and cannot be achieved in reality. But the Jiajing emperor, his head turned by cultivating immortality, would try any method at all—for example, drinking the morning dew to prolong life, and so on.
More than that, the Jiajing emperor even took off his yellow imperial robe and put on a Taoist robe. On the advice of Taoist priests, he also sidelined Senior Grand Secretary Yan Song, who had followed him for more than twenty years. He even refused to see his own son for a long time, simply because a Taoist priest had said, “Two dragons must not meet.”
Only the Jiajing emperor could have done such absurd things.
It can be said that Taoism reached its height in the Ming dynasty. Even Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming, followed Taoism. Although he had once been a Buddhist monk, while he was conquering the empire he said that he had gone to the heavenly palace in a dream and seen the Three Pure Ones of Taoism.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he promoted Taoism vigorously. His son Zhu Di also followed Taoism, believing that he had succeeded in his rebellion and gained the throne with the help of the Taoist deity the Perfected Warrior (Zhenwu), Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven.
Before that, Zhu Di had been stationed in the north to guard it, and in Taoism Zhenwu is also the deity who guards the north. So, apart from the Chongzhen emperor, nearly all the emperors of the Ming followed Taoism—loyal devotees of Taoism indeed.
Among the common people, however, households worshipped the bodhisattvas of Buddhism, and very few followed Taoism. Buddhism came to China in the Eastern Han, gradually flourished in the Northern and Southern dynasties, and in the Tang dynasty produced a number of famous masters such as Xuanzang.
But some rulers were dissatisfied with Buddhism and even openly launched campaigns to suppress it. Why was this?
Because with Buddhism flourishing, there were naturally many temples, which occupied land and paid no taxes, naturally affecting the development of the state; hence the “suppression of Buddhism.” In fact, these events also show Buddhism's standing among the people.
By the Ming dynasty, the situation among the common people was roughly this: “Amitabha in every home, Guanyin in every household.” What caused such a contrast—imperial households believing in the Tao, and ordinary households believing in the Buddha? Did differences of class lead to differences of faith?
In fact there are four main reasons for such a huge contrast:
The first is that Buddhism preaches the next life, while Taoism focuses on this life.
Ordinary households lived hard lives and naturally hoped to be reborn into a better family in the next life, so they accumulated merit, did good deeds, and worshipped the bodhisattvas. Taoism, on the other hand, focuses on cultivation in this life: as long as one cultivates sincerely, attaining the Tao and becoming an immortal are within reach, even living forever.
This matched the aims of most emperors; since they could live forever, they naturally followed Taoism. The next life that Buddhism speaks of was not what emperors cared about; they cared only about this life.
The second is that the bodhisattvas of Buddhism save all beings universally and help people through the sufferings of the human world.
Taoism is mainly concerned with how the individual should cultivate, and saving the world is a sign of achievement in the course of cultivation. Ordinary people needed to get through their sufferings; they had no mind for personal cultivation to become immortals.
The third reason is very important: Buddhism advocates celibacy and abstaining from women, while Taoism does not advocate celibacy; on the contrary, it has methods that aid desire and arts of gathering yin to replenish yang.
Most ancient emperors had hundreds or even thousands of consorts. They handled state affairs by day and spent the nights with beautiful women, and sometimes their strength fell short. This is where the Taoist arts of the bedchamber helped, and some elixirs could also help.
For ordinary people, however, who worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, there was no time to think much about such matters. So the Taoist arts of the bedchamber were of little use to ordinary people and did not attract them.
The fourth is the difference in economic circumstances. Taoism emphasizes refining elixirs and nurturing life, which require many raw materials and great expense.
Emperors possessed the whole realm and naturally did not care about such expenses. Ordinary people had difficulty even getting enough food and warm clothing, let alone spending extra money on refining elixirs. So differences in economic base also led to differences in religious belief.
All in all, Buddhism had the greatest influence among the people, while Taoism held its place mostly within the imperial household.