Chapter 23 The Belief and Rebellion of the Secret Sect in the Qing Dynasty
"White Lotus Sect has a small rebellion in 30 years, and a major rebellion in 50 years." "Shandong people are so bold, they will chase after rebellion." The above two sentences were uttered by two farmers, Mr. Chen Baichen in Shandong in the 1950s It was recorded when Tangyi and other counties investigated the events of Song Jingshi's uprising.Two points can be seen from this. On the one hand, the nature of the rebellion of sects such as the White Lotus Sect is very clear. On the other hand, different sects have different manifestations of rebellion in different regions. , Qingshui Sect, Hunyuan Sect, Shouyuan Sect and other sects in Henan, Hubei and other places are particularly prone to "rebellion." The secret sects of the Qing Dynasty launched many rebellions on a larger scale than ever before.
Among them, the rebellions launched by Wang Lunqing Water Sect, Chuanchu Bailian Sect, Lin Qingtianli Sect, and Sichuan Lantern Flower Sect are all famous.What were the factors that prompted the secret sect to embark on the road of rebellion?This has to be looked at in conjunction with the core of the teachings of the secret sect - "Concept of Calamity and Change" and the eight-character mantra of "No birth mother, a vacuum hometown", and its impact on the suffering of the people in this world and the psychology of people's belief in religion.
1. The influence of the Buddhist "kalpa" thought on the teachings of the sect Simply put, "kalpa" is a disaster. It also absorbed religious teachings such as Manichaeism. "Jie" or "Jiebo" is a transliteration of Sanskrit kalpa.Buddhism has different opinions on "Kalpa". Generally, Kalpa is divided into big kalpa, middle kalpa and small kalpa.One major kalpa includes four periods of becoming, standing, decaying, and emptying, that is, each of the "four kalpas" includes twenty middle kalpas, and the middle kalpas include countless small kalpas.These concepts are widely extended in Chinese Buddhist teachings.For example, "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi" says: "Outside of heaven and earth, there are four dimensions up and down, there is more heaven and earth, and there is no end, but all have success and failure. One success and one failure is called a catastrophe."
"Buddha Tongji" refers to the past, present and future three times as the three kalpas.Therefore, kalpa is a concept of time and space in Buddhist scriptures, which means the time and space experienced by the universe and the process of success or failure.In the process of secularization of Buddhism, kalpa generally refers to natural disasters and man-made disasters, such as kalpas and catastrophes: "The big ones are disasters caused by water, fire, and wind, and the small ones are caused by weapons, hunger, and severe epidemics."
Tens of thousands of peasants living under the conditions of scattered small-scale peasant economy have weak self-defense capabilities and are often attacked by natural disasters and man-made disasters. Therefore, it is logical that the idea of catastrophe-disaster has taken root in folk beliefs and sprouted in secret sects It's over.
As long as there is a "kalpa" in the world, there will be a "savior". The savior in Buddhism is Maitreya (maitreya). After the Buddha passed away, he was reborn in the Tushita Heavenly Courtyard. After 4,000 years (equivalent to 5.67 billion years in the human world), he is now reborn in the human world. He became a Buddha under the Longhua tree, spread the Dharma widely, and saved all living beings.There are two main reasons why Maitreya belief is attractive to the lower class people. One is the Tusita Heaven in the Western Paradise, and the other is that Maitreya Buddha was born under the Longhua tree, and the three-line Dharma will save all living beings.The scriptures such as "Longhua Vow", "Maitreya Sanhuiji", "Longhuahuiji" and other scriptures that appeared around the Southern and Northern Dynasties express this idea more clearly. As soon as the idea of "Maitreya's salvation" appeared, it became the ideological weapon of the peasant rebellion.During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, "Maitreya's Salvation of the World" of the secret sect evolved into "Three Buddhas' Salvation of the World", and a complete set of belief system was formed in the sect of the Qing Dynasty.
According to Wang Bingheng, Wang Xingjian and others from the Qing tea sect in the 21st year of Jiaqing, in the world, there are three Buddhas in the past, present, and future who control the sky. Taoists and Taoist nuns are three-leaf golden lotuses, representing the sky.The present one is Sakyamuni Buddha, who is in charge of Yuanchen at four o'clock in the afternoon, and saves monks and nuns. It is a five-leaf golden lotus, which is the blue sky.The future one is Maitreya Buddha, in charge of the four hours of Yuan Shen, You and Xu Hai. Maitreya Buddha will still be reincarnated into his family (Luanzhou Shifokou Wang's family). Anyone who converts to him and eats fast can avoid the calamity of swords, soldiers, water and fire, avoid reincarnation, and not enter the four lives and six realms.This is the idea of "three Buddhas responding to the catastrophe to save the world" (also known as the "Three Yangs" catastrophe, namely Qingyang, Hongyang, and Baiyang) that stimulated the rebellion of the sect in the Qing Dynasty. American scholar Susan Naquin once described the teachings of the sect and Rebellion Relationship: "Many of the 'rebellions' in North China during the Qing Dynasty were instigated by the White Lotus Sect. As an ideological system and organizational system, the White Lotus Sect is the basis of these connections: the pious thought of looking forward to a millennium prosperity has been handed down in oral and written forms, and the sect's synagogues and master-student relationship networks have developed to different groups in different periods. location development."
2. The influence of Manichaeism's theory of "two sects and three divisions" In the process of the Buddhist Maitreya belief evolving into the "catastrophe" of the sect, it was also influenced by other religious thoughts. Here we will focus on the "two sects and three divisions" of Manichaeism Talk about the role played in it.
Manichaeism is Manichaeism, also known as "Mingjiao" and "Mingzunjiao". In the 3rd century AD, it was founded by Mani (Mani) on the basis of Zoroastrianism, absorbing Christianity, Buddhism and other ideas. into China, and was allowed to disseminate publicly twice.Tang Wuzong's extermination of Buddhism affected Manichaeism, and Manichaeism turned into a secret religion and an organizational tool for peasant uprisings.Mother Yi of the Five Dynasties first used Manichaeism to launch uprisings. Most of the participants in the Fangla Uprising in the Northern Song Dynasty and the peasant uprisings in Zhejiang and Jiangxi in the Southern Song Dynasty were Manichaeists.
After the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Manichaeism gradually merged into other folk sects.
The fundamental doctrine of Manichaeism is called "two sects and three divisions". The "two sects" are light and darkness; the "three stages" are the beginning, middle, and end, that is, past, present, and future.The religion believes that there were two kingdoms of light and darkness in the beginning.In the Middle Ages, darkness invaded the Kingdom of Light. In order to get rid of the darkness of the world, Da Mingshen (also known as Da Ming Zun) led the envoys to fight against the master of the Kingdom of Darkness—the evil god and his subordinates.During the struggle, the Great Ming God created the "Original Man" through his messenger, the good mother, but the original man was defeated by the fierce god and thrown into hell.In order to save the original people, Daming God sent the prophet Mani. Under the inspiration of Mani, the future came, and the light finally defeated the darkness.The influence of Manichaeism on the teachings of secret sects in Ming and Qing Dynasties is mainly manifested in the following aspects: 1.The opposition between light and darkness, the light will eventually defeat the darkness, is actually calling on the masses of the lower classes surrounded by darkness to rise up and resist.
2.The combination of the theory of Sanji and the theory of Maitreya Buddha's "Three Meetings of Longhua" in Buddhism produced the "Three Yangs" catastrophic change thought of the secret sect.
3.The prophecy of "the birth of Maitreya and the birth of the King of Ming" in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the prophecy of "Eighteen Sons" in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the belief in the birthless old mother undoubtedly reveal the shadow of the Great Ming God and the Good Mother.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the idea of "robbing change" of the secret sect was formally formed, which had a profound and huge impact on the secret sects and their rebellions in the Qing Dynasty. The "Longhua Jing" says: "The sun, moon and stars of the dragon flower in the sky, the water, fire and wind of the dragon flower in the underground, and the energy and spirit of the dragon flower in the human body. The three talents cooperate with heaven, earth and people."
He also said: "The first meeting in Longhua is to light the lamp, the second meeting in Longhua is Sakyamuni, the third meeting in Longhua Maitreya, and the third meeting in Longhua is to meet again."
What are Ran Deng, Sakyamuni, and Maitreya like, and what are their natures?It is said: "The son of the Lantern Buddha has the face of an animal and the human heart; the son of Sakyamuni Buddha has the face of a beast and the heart of an animal; the son of Maitreya Buddha has the face of the Buddha and the heart of a Buddha."
The time and names of the three Buddhas in charge of the world are different. It is said: "The red sun law man is now taught by Sakyamuni. In the past, Qingyang is now Hongyang, and in the future there will be Baiyang. Therefore, the Lantern Palm Qingyang religion is added. , Maitreya holds the theory of Baiyang Sect."
Living in the future world of "Baiyang" is like a fairy in the sky.
3. The idea of "no birth mother, a vacuum hometown" and "three Buddhas responding to catastrophe" came into being during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Its influence on the sect of the Qing Dynasty was mainly to draw a blueprint for the sect members to lead from reality to the other side of dreams. Maitreya Buddha is the savior who came out of the catastrophe, but in the Qing Dynasty, he had to accept the assignment of the highest god, the old mother without life.
Extracted from the teachings of Luojiao and widely accepted by the secret sects of the Qing Dynasty, the image of the inanimate mother is kind and kind to all living beings. She is not only the creator of the world, but also the savior of the world.According to legends in the church, Wu Sheng's old mother was reincarnated in the state-owned government of Qingyuan County during the Kangxi period. After becoming a monk, she gave birth to a son, who was abandoned by her husband and killed by lightning.It can be seen that this is the image of an ordinary peasant mother.The reason why she wanted to reincarnate to save sentient beings was because all the people in the world were originally children of a lifeless mother.Wusheng old mother lives in Taihuang Tiandu Dougong, that is, "vacuum hometown". In summer, autumn and winter, she finally created the "ancestors of human roots" Fuxi and Nuwa. The "Longhua Jing" describes it like this, "Since the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, there has been no heaven and earth, no sun and moon, and no people." Conceive a holy fetus, with infinite changes; give birth to a yin, give birth to a yang, a baby girl; named Fuxi, the real body of Nuwa" "Li Fuxi, Zhang Nuwa, the ancestors of human roots; there are Jin Gong, and Huang Po , match marriage" "Hunyuan, and gave birth again, 9.6 billion; imperial fetuses, imperial daughters, countless lucky stars" these imperial fetuses and daughters live a carefree life in the vacuum hometown under the knees of their mothers, because of "the universe Calm down, the world is empty, and there is no human habitation in the world." The lifeless mother then sent all her children to the lower realm.
However, as soon as the children came to the mortal world, they were fascinated by the world of mortals. Wine and wealth, birth, old age, sickness and death, natural disasters and man-made disasters entangled them like the shadow of the devil: In the past, my Buddha was in the Lingshan Mountain. , Since the Lingshan meeting was separated, a great calamity came, lost to the end, not wanting to go home, only greedy for wine, sex and wealth, loving children, fighting for fame and fortune, and causing boundless obstacles.Only greedy for the virtual scenery in the world, regardless of future life.A hundred years of life is over, and the four births and six realms have been reincarnated, suffering from all kinds of troubles, and there is no end of birth, so you can't transcend the ordinary and become holy.All kinds of catastrophes came from this, or the land was barren for thousands of miles, or the floods were surging, or the plague was everywhere, so that the vegetation withered, the grains were not harvested, and the animals ran rampant.During the sword robbery, people killed each other, blood flowed into rivers, and bones were everywhere.There are a lot of "realistic" depictions of these tragic scenes in the "Ancient Buddha's Innocence and Textual Research on the Longhua Treasure Sutra", the eighteenth item of the unknowledgeable beings, the twenty-second item of the earth, water, fire and wind, and other scriptures.How can a lifeless mother bear the heart of her children to suffer such disasters?So he showed great mercy and sent all the Buddhas to the world to save all living beings and return to their hometown of vacuum.As it says in "The Tale of the Five Immortals":
An Amitabha recited clearly, and the mother Lingshan burst into tears.
Seeing the turmoil of the world of mortals, dozens of Buddhas were sent down.
All the Buddhas came down to the world to preach, and Purdue the original people to go home.
First click on the one-character Guanlu, and then pass on the word-free nine-section work.
It is said in "Selling, Releasing, and Collecting Yuan Xingjue Baojuan": There is no biological mother, and when I think of the baby in my hometown, I cry.
Pass the letter and send the letter back home, don't just care about greed in the sea of suffering.
Returning to the Pure Land, driving to Lingshan, mother and son reunited and sitting on a golden lotus...
The lifeless old mother sits in the sun, driving a big Dharma boat,
But the sons and daughters who lost their homes in Dudu will return to their roots long ago.
The way of salvation is: "The old mother of Wusheng ordered Taishang Laojun to build a big Dharma boat, 3,600 big golden boats, 12,000 medium golden boats, and 84,000 small Dharma boats in front of Wuying Mountain. One thousand and one hundred and eight thousand small solitary boats, and five thousand and hundreds of Buddhas, Buddhas and mothers, real people, nine. Save sentient beings."
Another theory is that at the end of the third period, Wusheng Mother descended on a cloud city with a radius of 800 li, and anyone who joined the religion and had a contract could enter the cloud city.Otherwise, they can only die from the disaster of weapons, water and fire, and fall into the eighteenth hell.
In the sects of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the variety of sects, the saviors and patriarchs enshrined are various and varied.For example, the "Longhua Sutra" at the end of the Ming Dynasty pointed out the famous sects and their leaders at that time: "Hongyang sect, Piao Gaozu; Longtian Sect, Mi Bodhisattva; Nanwu Sect, Grand Master Sun; Nanyang Sect, Nanyang Mother; Wuming Sect, Wuming Ancestor; Jinshan Sect, Compassionate Ancestor; Sudden Enlightenment Sect, Dundao Ancestor; Golden Chan Sect, Golden Chan Ancestor; Returning to the Source Teaching, returning to the ancestor; Mahayana teaching, the stone Buddha; Yuandun teaching, the Bodhisattva ancestor; receiving the source teaching, receiving the ancestor."
In addition to these true Buddhas and righteous gods, there are hundreds of miscellaneous gods with different names and colors, as well as Tudi Gong, Tuipo, Zhu Bajie, Tu Xingsun, Hengha Erjiang, etc., who are all saviors who "protect life and body".No matter how powerful these Buddhas, patriarchs, and gods are, they will gradually return to the loving mother who is both the creator and the savior in the end. , Maitreya Buddha and other bodhisattvas sent by the inanimate mother to come to the world, save all living beings, and return to the paradise where the old mother lives-the vacuum hometown. "There is no birth mother, a vacuum hometown" is called the "eight-character" mantra by people in the sect. In our opinion, it is not only a high-level summary of the sect's thoughts and beliefs in the Qing Dynasty, but also a banner of the sect's rebellion in the Qing Dynasty.
4. The "Anti-Qing and Restoring the Ming" Thoughts of the Qing Dynasty Jiaomen Compared with the previous dynasties, there were two major improvements in the teachings of the Qing Dynasty Jiaomen.
In the study of the history of secret society in the Qing Dynasty, the thought of "anti-Qing and restoring Ming" mainly focused on the secret party.Indeed, due to the obvious relationship between the Hongmen and the "anti-Qing and Fuming" ideology, the relatively concentrated relevant materials, and the close relationship between Hongmen and the Revolution of 1911, people seem to only focus on the "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming" ideology in the Hongmen.On the contrary, the related materials in Jiaomen are relatively scattered, and the Jiaomen rebellion is full of strong superstition, and people often ignore the idea of "anti-Qing and restoring Ming Dynasty".In fact, the connotation of "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming" in the sect of the Qing Dynasty is very rich.Let's add a discussion below.
(1) The formation and characteristics of the "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming" thought of the sects of the Qing Dynasty.The ideology and beliefs of the secret sect in the Qing Dynasty were rooted in the soil of the traditional agricultural society and reflected the wishes of the majority of small farmers.The secret sect's struggle against the rule of the Qing Dynasty has never stopped since the early Qing Dynasty.Although their struggle is mainly guided by the concept of "catastrophe", "anti-Qing and restoring Ming" is also an important part of it.The origin of the thought of "anti-Qing and restoring Ming" in the sect of the Qing Dynasty was obviously influenced by the traditional Confucianism's "discrimination between Yan Hua and Barbarians"—that is, the emphasis on the so-called "Chinese orthodoxy"—but the leader carried out reforms and mixed in He put forward thoughts such as Maitreya belief and concept of catastrophe, and advocated that the leader of this sect should be enthroned and proclaim the emperor, such as Qing Cha sect's "The Qing Dynasty (has been) ended, and the four main texts Buddha fell into the king's gate".This is the Liuya of the original belief of the sect, but it is not enough to be regarded as the sprout of nationalism.
The idea of "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming" in the teachings of the Qing Dynasty has two main characteristics. One is to inherit the historical practice of "using the previous generation to oppose the present" as a call, and the other is to borrow folk cultural factors, especially prophecy, as a propaganda tool.
Of course, the sects of the Ming Dynasty and before it would not have the idea of "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming", but "using the previous generation to oppose the present" has always been the method used by the rebels in the present world.As early as the Wang Mang new dynasty between the Han and Han Dynasties, the Green Forest Army established Liu Xuan as the emperor, and the Red Eyebrow Army established Liu Penzi as the emperor.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols entered the Central Plains, and the peasant uprisings in the Yuan Dynasty mostly fought under the banner of the Song Dynasty, that is, "reopening the heaven of the Song Dynasty". The most famous ones were Han Shantong and Han Lin'er.After Han Shantong was captured, "his son Lin'er fled, and gathered a crowd of 100,000 with Liu Futong. The momentum was huge, Lin'er was respected as the young emperor, and he was called Xiaoming King. According to Haozhou, the country was named Song."
Peasant uprisings in the Ming Dynasty mostly borrowed the names of restoring the Han and Song. Evil books, and since the descendants of the Song Dynasty, they are born with strange appearances, and they have long harbored unruly thoughts, which will lead to great trouble."
Even Li Zicheng took advantage of this idea.After conquering Taiyuan, he claimed that his ancestor was the evil son of Emperor Jianwen.
In the Qing Dynasty, "foreign races" ruled China again, and the idea of "using the previous generation to oppose the present" - "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming" was widespread in all regions.Due to the influence of the idea of "catastrophe" in their teachings, the secret sects are always full of hatred for the current ruling class.The Qing Dynasty was established by the Manchus, and the secret sect used national feelings to appeal to the people in order to achieve their own goals.It should be said that in the secret sect, "recovering Ming Dynasty" is the tool, and "reversing the Qing Dynasty" is the goal—in addition to "recovering the Ming Dynasty", there are also names such as restoring the Han Dynasty, restoring the Tang Dynasty, and restoring the Song Dynasty.In addition, "anti-Qing" is often mixed with the beliefs of "catastrophe" and "no birth mother, a vacuum hometown".
(2) Renewal of teachings - one of the manifestations of the thought of "anti-Qing and restoring Ming Dynasty" in Qing Dynasty sects.In the Qing Dynasty, many religious sects injected "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming" and changing the world into the scriptures and teachings.
According to the decree issued on December 16th in the 20th year of Jiaqing: Luanzhou Shifokou Wang was surnamed, and his ancestor Wang Sen advocated the establishment of the White Lotus Sect since the Ming Dynasty, and claimed to be the leader of Wenxiang. After many cases were solved, his descendants still persisted in evil, and changed their name to Qingshui Sect... In fact, they are the chief evildoers of various cults, and all of them published the "General Book of the Three Religions Yingjie Overview"...the inverse words in the book are endless. One and all, such as "the end of the Qing Dynasty", "the Buddha of the four main texts fell to the king's gate", "the barbarians are exhausted, who ascended the throne", "the sun and the moon come back to belong to the Ming Dynasty", "the cow and eight yuan come to be Saturn", etc. It's really worth reading... It must be handled according to the Great Rebellion. The "Three Religions Yingjie General View" was banned and destroyed, and it is no longer preserved. We can only get a glimpse from the above-mentioned historical materials.In addition to this book, the relevant thoughts are also reflected in other religious scriptures.For example, in the case of Bagua religion in Zou County, Shandong Province in the thirty-seventh year of Qianlong, the government found a book of "Five Women's Evangelism", a "Nameless Evil Book" and ordinary Taoist books in the home of the criminal Kong Xingji. "Evil Book" contains sentences such as "Walking Xiao Muyi with a golden sword to fight", "The thief star and eight bulls burn the swallow with fire" and "The imperial court leaves the swallow, and a feast is arranged in Jiankang City", "all of them are extremely rebellious" Shandong According to Guotai, the procuratorate, in the memorial, "Walking Xiao Muyi with a golden knife to fight" and "Eight Bulls Burning Youyan" must be people with the four surnames of Zhao, Yang, Liu, and Zhu who have conspired against them.But he can't be sure, and thinks that "it seems that the surnames of the former Song, Sui, Han, and Ming have been mixed up into a document in an attempt to confuse the public."In fact, Liu, Yang, Zhao, and Zhu did refer to the Han, Sui, Song, and Ming dynasties, and their purpose was not only to "confuse the public" but also to erect the banner of rebellion.On the other hand, the character Liu in "Maojindao" not only refers to the Liu surname in the Han Dynasty, but also alludes to the Liu Zuochen family who founded the Eight Diagrams Sect.
What we should pay attention to is that compared with the Huidang, the "anti-Qing and Fuming" ideology in Jiaomen's teachings more strongly expresses the ambition of the leader and his family to become emperor (such as the Wang surname of Qingchamen, and the Liu surname of Baguajiao)—although The party's "anti-qing and restoration of the Ming Dynasty" generally use the banner of "restoration of the Ming Dynasty" to disrupt social order and launch rebellion.
(3) Religious name and actions——the second manifestation of the thought of "anti-Qing and restoring Ming" in Qing Dynasty sects.A lot of data show that some sects in the Qing Dynasty directly used "Niu Ba" as their sect name, and many sects clearly played the banner of "Da Ming" during the uprising.
Among the more than 100 religions recorded in archives in the Qing Dynasty, the names of several religions are related to the content of "anti-Qing and Fuming", such as "Niu Bajiao", "Taiyang Jingjiao", "Tomorrow Teaching" and so on.
"Niuba" directly takes the meaning of "Zhu Ming", and "Taiyang Jingjiao" takes the "Taiyang Jing" which remembers the old Ming Dynasty as the scriptures. I don't know if "Tomorrow Sect" is related to "Fuming", but it was renamed from Bagua Sect, and the "anti-Qing" move is obvious.The following is an introduction to the "Niu Bajiao".
"Niu Bajiao" is a branch of Wenxiangjiao and Qingchamenjiao. It was mainly popular in Henan and Hubei during the Jiadao period.In the twenty-fourth year of Jiaqing, the Niu Ba Sect was cracked down in Dengzhou, Henan. The head of the teaching, Wang Ke, confessed: "Since the great-uncle Wang Sichao (Wang Huaiyu) and the great-uncle Wang Faseng practiced the White Lotus Sect, it was also called the Niu Ba Sect. ...The Zhibailian Sect, also known as the Niu Ba Sect, originally entrusted the descendants of the Ming Dynasty to coax people, and they were often called Zhu and Liu."
The teachings of this religion belong to the content of the Qing Cha sect, and it was renamed Niu Bajiao. On the one hand, it was "pretending to deceive people by the descendants of the Ming Dynasty" and on the other hand, it was waiting for an opportunity to start a riot.
Sure enough, during the Daoguang period, the Niu Bajiao in Henan and Hubei began to take action one after another.
In addition, it was also very common for sects in the Qing Dynasty to use the banners of "Da Ming", "Niu Ba" and "rejuvenate the Han and destroy the Hu" in uprisings and uprisings.For example, in the Lin Qing and Li Wencheng uprising in the 18th year of Jiaqing, among the teams that invaded the Forbidden City, there were banners such as "Da Ming Shun", "Feng Tian Opens the Way", and "Shun Tian Protects the People".During the Song Jingshi uprising during the Xianfeng period, there were slogans such as "rejuvenate the Han and destroy the Hu" and "sweep the clear and make the Ming clear".There are many similar examples, and the purpose is very clear-to incite national sentiment, call on the people to join the resistance team, and break with the Qing Dynasty.
(4) Conspiracy to expand the influence of "Ming descendants"——the third manifestation of the thought of "anti-Qing and restoring Ming" in the sects of the Qing Dynasty.In the sect activities of the Qing Dynasty, the descendants of the Ming Dynasty were deceived, and the belief of "Niuba" was combined with the belief of Maitreya to attract disciples, expand their power, make prophecies, and set up the banner of "rebellion". way.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the "Third Prince Zhu" was a flag for the Ming adherents to resist the Qing Dynasty's entry into the Central Plains.Later, in the secret sect, there were many examples of tricking "Third Prince Zhu", "Zhu Hongzhu" and "Zhu Hongtao" to lead the congregation to rebel. Instances of rebellion are also common.In fact, outside of the sect and the party, ordinary peasants revolt also have this kind of situation.It is still unclear who is the instigator of this practice.What I want to point out is that before the Jiaqing Dynasty, the descendants of the Ming Dynasty were used as an excuse for the rebellion. Before the Jiaqing Dynasty, the sect was more common than the party. The prophecy of "Li Huahua is going to be the emperor" in the Mahayana teaching plan is true.Here, a brief analysis of a major case involving the descendants of Zhu Ming in the last years of Qianlong's reign was briefly analyzed.
Liu Song, a native of Luyi County, Henan Province, was implicated in the Fan Mingde Hunyuan Teaching Case in the 40th year of Qianlong and was sent to Longde County, Gansu Province.Liu Zhixie, Liu Song's apprentice, visited Liu Song in the 53rd year of Qianlong's reign, to restore the old teaching.Liu Zhixie was afraid that he would not be able to mobilize the crowd, so he discussed with Liu Song again, "If you want to find someone named Niu Ba, make it into Zhu characters, and pretend to be a direct descendant of the Ming Dynasty, he will be very expensive in the future. He also pointed out that Liu Song's son Liu Si'er is the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha, Baofu Niu Ba. Those who join his teaching can avoid all disasters of water, fire, swords and soldiers, and promote Liu Song as the old leader in an attempt to seduce the people, collect money and send it to Liu Song for collection, make up the total, and then use it for distribution ".In the next few years, Liu Zhixie took in Song Zhiqing as his apprentice, and Song also took in Qi Lin, Wu Gongmei, etc., and the team of disciples developed rapidly.Later in the Song Dynasty, Zhiqing refused to share the collected money with Liu Song and Liu Zhixie because of his many disciples. Mao'er, nicknamed "the future will definitely be rich", and all the people in Liu Zhixie's teaching will be hooked away.From this Song Liu contended for teaching, and Song Zhiqing said that Liu Si'er was not like Maitreya Buddha, and Li San was the real Maitreya Buddha who was blind. Now he covered his face with yellow sand, and when the luck came, his eyes would open.Unconvinced, Liu Zhixie found eleven-year-old Shuangxier, the son of Wang Tingzhang, a member of the Yang family in Taihe County, Anhui, as the "Niuba".Song Zhiqing, Qi Lin and other 19 people were executed.
"If the cooperation is far away, if you can't get it, go down to the provinces."
The followers of Hunyuan Sect and Sanyang Sect in Hubei and Henan were arrested one after another. Liu Zhixie, Yao Zhifu, Wang Cong'er (Qi Lin's concubine) and others were scheduled to make a big move on Chenyuechenrichen in the first year of Jiaqing (the first year of Jiaqing).Zhang Zhengmo and Nie Jieren in Yidu raised the incident first, followed by Wang Cong'er and Fan Renjie in Xiangyang.A religious uprising that lasted for eight or nine years was set off.
In short, the "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming" thought of the secret sects of the Qing Dynasty is very rich in content. If further research is carried out, it will be of great help to us in understanding the history of the entire Qing Dynasty.Mr. Chen Dengyuan once commented: "Niu Ba's eyes are obviously borrowed from Zhu characters, and his goal is covered with the sound of a bonfire and a fox, implying the meaning of restoration of enlightenment. People with lofty ideals, blood and tears can be seen... Readers of history can only see that there are no signs in the literature. , failed to detail the current situation of the day, called it a bandit, named it a bandit, but failed to point out that it was the forerunner of Hong Wang, the Zou Dao of Xinhai."
Furthermore, due to the strong witchcraft, religion, and superstition of the sects of the Qing Dynasty, people often ignore the meaning of "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming".
The "anti-Qing and Fuming" thought of the secret sects of the Qing Dynasty, on the surface, seems to have a strong Han-centrism and the mysterious color of religious prophecy, but in fact, like the "no birth mother, a vacuum hometown" in its teachings, it belongs to a a weapon of thought.For the leaders of the rebellion, the purpose of the rebellion was not to "hang the red robe to the sky" (delayed execution) or to "restore the great cause" for the descendants of the previous emperors, but to overthrow the current rulers and create a piece of their own country.
5. Suffering in the present world and becoming a believer - if the rebellious ladder sect beliefs only stop at describing the "future" world, it is no different from the "heaven" described by ordinary orthodox religions.For personal purposes (generally collecting money, and launching rebellion under certain conditions), the leader of the sect actively called on people to "join the religion to avoid disaster"—to avoid the catastrophe at the turn of Hongyang and Baiyang.This call is exactly in line with the psychology of farmers under natural economic conditions.The purpose of peasants' religious belief is to satisfy their religious beliefs, to escape suffering, and to enter the other world. For this reason, they can cut down on food and clothing, tighten their belts, and pay the "basic money" to the leader. On the ladder of insurgency organized by the guerrilla or by the government.
The leader of the church used the psychology of farmers to pray for blessings and eliminate disasters, and to protect their lives and bodies to attract them to believe in religion.In order to achieve their goals, the leaders did not hesitate to fabricate words and sentences to sensationalize people's hearts.In the case of Hunyuan religion in Nanhe County, Zhili Province in the 18th year of Qianlong, when Wang Wenchen persuaded people to join the religion, he said: "In the future, Zhengding Mansion will be flooded and Gaocheng County will be submerged. If you join his religion, you will avoid disaster."
In the same case, Feng Jinjing, the leader of the teaching, told people that his mana was very powerful. If you fight with soldiers and horses, you will be Zhongjing."Judging from the whole case, the purpose of the two coaches is only to collect money.
In the 22nd year of Qianlong's Henan Shouyuan religious case, there is a song "The Song of Unrivaled Desolation" that is widely circulated among believers.The five grains are not harvested, and all kinds of diseases fall from the sky.A good time, a good time, a missed year is a waste of time.Xiu Yiinch landed on dry land.Look for it early, look for it early, and see if troubles arise in the south.The Guishui in the north is moving, the Saturn in the center is making noise, and the chaos is happening. The three disasters of water and fire all come, teach men and women to run away quickly, and die without knowing it.During the Qianlong period, the Hunyuan Sect and the Shouyuan Sect spread throughout the Central Plains, and some leaders were often ready to move after they gained a certain amount of power.Before the Sichuan-Shaanxi White Lotus Sect Uprising in the first year of Jiaqing, there were four mantras circulated in the Hunyuan Sect and other sects: "Day and night, a black wind blows up, killing countless people, piles of bones, and blood flows into the sea."
This kind of doomsday panic spread widely among believers in provinces such as Hubei and Henan, and eventually led to the Sichuan-Shaanxi White Lotus Rebellion that spread to five provinces and lasted for nine years.
Some leaders even combined collecting money with rebellion.In the third year of Daoguang, the Jingtian Society in Yucheng County, Henan Province raised its flag and started an incident. Lu, the leader of the first meeting, lied as usual that Lian Fangcheng, the leader of the other meeting, "can know the number of catastrophes. Soon the sky and the earth will be dark for seven days and seven nights, and everyone will be suffocated. The land and food No one takes care of them. Those who join the association and contribute money will not only avoid disaster, but also can plunder land and distribute food afterwards."
It can be said that all major sects in the Qing Dynasty all started with collecting money and ended with treason.
The beautiful scenery of the vacuum hometown and the call of the lifeless mother brought hope to the lower class people living in pain and confusion.During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the secret sects gradually perfected this set of belief systems—one with the highest worship of the old mother, with Maitreya Buddha and Longhua Sanhui as the core of belief, emphasizing the avoidance of catastrophe by entering the religion, and emphasizing the practice of alchemy , the establishment of organizations according to the Jiugong Bagua, and the ideological system of realizing peace and prosperity through the leadership of "Eighteen Sons", "Mao Jin Dao", "Mu Yi" and "Zao Xiao" began to be established.Although this set of ideology borrows the teachings of other religions, it is mainly designed according to the psychology and wishes of the lower class people.The most important thing is that this system of ideology encourages those who have always been falsely accused by the feudal ruling class as foolish men and women, but are actually the elites in the lower class (that is, the leaders) to break through the ideas set by the imperial court and religions such as Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. He dared to call Buddha the ancestor, founded sects, and called and organized the people in the names of "Eighteen Sons" and "Great King Zhuxiang", and finally turned the doctrine of "Maitreya Buddha is the Lord of the World" into action, which brought Has a strong spirit of involvement in the world and rebellious color.
When the rebellion broke out, the leaders of the secret sect even linked the spirit of courage to resist and sacrifice with "returning to the hometown to see nothing alive". This situation was particularly obvious in the secret sect of the Qing Dynasty.I would like to quote a passage from Huang Yulu: The cult says that if you are convicted of living, you will be exempt from hell, but you will not be able to go to heaven. ... All those who practice education regard the death penalty as a happy place, and there is no way to prohibit punishment.I don't know that if you are a capital crime, you can go to heaven, which is really unprecedented in the old evil scriptures, and it is added by the recent evil sects... The more poisonous the intention, the deeper the harm.He also said in "Debate on Evil": "The evil religion dares to say this, especially the evil scriptures in modern times. It deceives people in life and deceives people after death. It is extremely deceitful."
His words express the ruler's fear of "cults" and their rebellious ideas.
It is conceivable why the rebellion with the secret sects of the Qing Dynasty occurred repeatedly and continued?The reason is that there is a strong belief in the minds of the majority of believers.This kind of belief is hidden in the life of the vast number of farmers who work at sunrise and rest at sunset, submerged in the homework of burning incense and offering offerings, and chanting Buddha's prayers. When special people and specific times appear, they will gather into a surge rebel forces.
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