Not doing the right thing~~ At least it's original
Riding on the secular monk incident (no longer called 'lewd monks,' by the way, who isn't lewd?), let's briefly sort out Han Buddhism.
The Origin of Buddhism: In the 7th century BC, Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was born in a small Indian kingdom, over a hundred years earlier than Confucius. At that time, Hinduism dominated the South Asian subcontinent. Hinduism demanded patience and endurance, suggesting that commoners could become higher caste individuals in their next life. Siddhartha questioned what being of a higher caste would do for the next life, and the life thereafter. One should escape the cycle of reincarnation; attaining Nirvana was the ultimate bliss. Thus, he founded Buddhism, adding a new requirement: not only to endure but also to practice.
Buddhism's Development: The status of Hinduism was hard to shake until India produced its first unified empire, the Maurya Dynasty. The leader, Ashoka, brutally unified all of India and began to support the weaker Buddhism as a way to brainwash the people, allowing Buddhism to spread widely for the first time. Therefore, the development of religion must be linked with political power from the start, as they mutually utilize each other. This explains why authoritarian governments are so wary of religion. Later, India fractured again, with Hinduism and Buddhism being exploited by various rulers. However, Ashoka aimed to promote Buddhism worldwide, launching campaigns in two directions: Southern and Northern transmission of Buddhism. The Southern transmission reached Southeast Asia, becoming what is now known as Theravada Buddhism; the Northern transmission reached Central Asia, marking the beginning of Mahayana Buddhism.
Buddhism's Entry into China: The Central Asian Buddhists encountered the defeated Yuezhi people, who had fled westward from the Xiongnu. These weaklings first destroyed the Greco-Bactrian kingdom left by Alexander's eastward conquests, and then discovered that Buddhism could be effectively utilized. Thus, they established the Kushan Empire, advancing westward and southward, essentially unifying India. This was the second unified empire in Indian history, initially also with Buddhism as the state religion. At this time, Buddhism had started to combine with the organizational forms of Christianity. During this period in China, during the Eastern Han dynasty, an Eastern Han diplomatic mission brought back the first Buddhist scripture (the Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters) from the Kushan Empire, which is associated with Wei Xiaobao, and then constructed the White Horse Temple in Luoyang to store the scriptures. Buddhism first entered China.
Buddhism's Flourishing: The Han Dynasty was dominated by Confucianism, with the ruling class venerating Confucian teachings. Some rebellious individuals and the populace engaged in Daoism, while the subsequent Jin Dynasties produced a peculiar fascination with metaphysics. There was little space for Buddhism to survive. It wasn't until the arrival of the Five Barbarians that the northern tribes, unable to accept the indigenous Confucianism and Daoism, lifted Buddhism, which was also foreign. The former Qin ruler Fu Jian sent an army of 100,000 to attack a small country in Central Asia just to capture a high monk, Kumarajiva. This was Buddhism's first bloom on Chinese soil, and the fame of Shaolin Temple began at that time when Master Bodhidharma crossed the river on a reed to meditate at Shaolin Temple.
Later, it went a bit too far, for example, the Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty kidnapped himself to a Buddhist temple and had his ministers use state treasury funds to ransom him, doing this four times, directly breaking the economic lifeline of the Liang Dynasty. Subsequently, the Sui Dynasty, which unified the Southern and Northern Dynasties, directly established Buddhism as the state religion.
The Low Point of Buddhism: In the later Tang and Song dynasties, the 'Three Wu and One Zong' incidents led to the suppression of Buddhism by four emperors who opposed it because Buddhism occupied too many social resources. Monks and nuns did not work or pay taxes, enjoying offerings while living comfortably and even engaging in usury, leading Han Buddhism into a low point. After this, Buddhism obediently complied, and Mahayana Buddhism was completely co-opted as a tool for state harmony. Most Han Buddhist monks became akin to a profession. As the era of decline arrived, Tibetan Buddhism began to transform into a more sought-after goal for those yearning for practice after the Republic of China.
Finally, let's talk about Shaolin Temple: I feel that the abbot's temple collapse is not a problem. For centuries, Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Zen, has been closely tied to the regime. Starting from the 13 monk soldiers of Tang's Li Shimin, the regime's martial monks became a strong IP, reportedly 'practicing martial arts by imperial decree,' which is no different from Stephen Chow's 'begging by imperial decree.' Since they chose to engage with the world, it’s not a problem for monks to turn into secular monks. Why should we force Shaolin monks to practice? The abbot's temple collapse is more likely a result of political struggles resulting in the failure of state-owned enterprise leaders.
