Chapter 18 Section 3 The origin of Sinicized Buddhist monks’ costumes and the main points of their reform

The first three points to note are: The first point is that in the hundreds of years after Sakyamuni Buddha's Nirvana, primitive Buddhism was divided into many divisions (generally speaking, twenty divisions) in terms of doctrine, and five divisions in terms of precepts.Different ministries have slightly different understandings and regulations on the color of the three garments, which lead to different colors of cassocks.However, the "Kasaya" color is common among the five series.The different colors of the clothing of these tribes have spread as early as the early days when Buddhism was introduced into China.In the second volume of An Shigao's translation of "Three Thousand Prestige of the Great Bhikkhu" in the Later Han Dynasty, and in the lost translation of the "Shariputra Questioning Sutra" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it is mentioned that the colors of the five robes are different.At the same time, various Buddhist scriptures also introduced the meaning of "cassock" belonging to the color of "russet".Therefore, in the early days when Buddhism was introduced into China, monks still wore red clothes as their sect's legal uniform.Mouzi at the end of the Han Dynasty said in "Theory of Confusion": "Today, the recluse is covered with red cloth, eats once a day, closes the six emotions, and dies from the world." This is what he said.Of course, the different interpretations of the color of vestments by various ministries also set a precedent for the adoption and interpretation of the color of monk uniforms in Sinicized Buddhism.

Let me talk about the second point that belongs to the scope of flexible maneuvering. The South Asian subcontinent has a vast area, and the climate varies greatly from place to place.Some monks don't quite abide by the rule that they are only allowed to hold the "three robes and one bowl".Therefore, the Buddhist precepts gradually adopt a loose interpretation of the clothing that should be kept by the two groups.Combining the explanations of the second volume of "Four-Part Rhythm, Deletion, Complexity, Supplement, and Action", Volume 5 of "Sapo Dovini Viposha", and Volume 3 of "Four-Part Rhythm Containing Notes and Precepts", it is generally possible to According to the amount of clothes the monks hold, two sects of "making" and "listening" are distinguished.The second congregation who make the gate are the "top grade" who can best abide by the rules and precepts. They only accept and hold three clothes and "six things" (three clothes plus a bowl, a seat, and a water bag).The monks who listen to the door are divided into two categories.One category is "middle grade", they can have "one hundred and one things".Baiyiwu means that in addition to the three garments and one bowl, you can also keep some daily necessities and other non-three garments, but you can only keep one piece of each. "Hundred" is a fixed number instead of an indefinite number, which means "many". Volume 20 of the "Five Parts Law" and Volume 14 of "The Law of Good Views Vipasa" and other classics list many types of 100 things that are authorized to be held, so I won't go into details here.The extra clothes that exceed three clothes, one bowl and one hundred and one things are called "long things".Another type of "lower class" monks can be held, including "all treasures".However, in order to keep the long things, you must first "speak clean".Saying Jing is also called "Jingshi", which is the free translation of Sanskrit Vikalpana.The method is: when a monk receives a gift from someone else, he must first give it back to the other party or another person (it can be another monk), and explain the purpose of the donation to him, and then the other party will give it back to the monk.This is an expedient measure taken to get rid of monks' greed for property, and it is to show that monks live with less desire and contentment as the general principle of life.From the perspective of giving, it is translated as "Jing Shi"; from the perspective of speaking about giving and meaning, it is translated as "Shuo Jing".

The above two points are very inspiring to the Chinese who are good at flexibility.This brings us to the third point, which is: Chinese people like and are good at doing "outside for China" and digesting and assimilating them into Chinese. In terms of clothing and accessories, this practice is magnified.We must pay attention to the fact that in the early spread of Sinicized Buddhism, all monks came from the Western Regions, the South, and sea routes, and the sources of the scriptures that were handed down were inconsistent, and there were all kinds of sayings.The Chinese learn from their own circumstances, and what they learn is neither a donkey nor a horse.For example, it is just like the western restaurant opened by the old Beijing Chinese chef described in Lao She's novel "Zhao Ziyue". Fellow Meng; the wine he drank dared to be Erguotou, and he could punch.

Later, especially in the Tang Dynasty, the giants such as Xuanzang and Yijing who traveled westward to seek the Dharma came back from the South Asian subcontinent. After they talked about it, everyone gradually understood two things.The first point is that the Buddhist robes of Chinese monks are completely wrong compared with those there. "When you go to the West, everyone laughs together." The second article is that the legal clothes there and the clothes worn by ordinary people are quite simple: "The clothes worn by Western lay couples, officials, and nobles are only white. Fold a pair. Poor and humble people only have one piece of cloth. Those who become monks only have three clothes and six things. The elders who are happy and full can use thirteen things.” It is not necessarily more civilized than China.Smart Chinese people understand: first, they didn’t learn from images in the past;Although Ru Yijing and others clamored loudly, saying that it should be done as in the place where the Buddha was originally from, they couldn't change the current situation in the country.With the development of the times, the decline of Buddhism in the South Asian subcontinent has made it even harder for those who copy foreign laws to return.The old imperial calendar of the foreign school can't be seen, after all, it's still done according to the Chinese people's own method.Moreover, it has also been promoted to Northeast Asia, Japan, North Korea, and parts of Southeast Asia.

All in all, from the perspective of historical development, there are roughly the following fundamental points in the reform or change of legal clothing in Sinicized Buddhism: (1) The three robes plus the five robes are basically worn as a single overlay.As mentioned earlier, the three garments of the ancient South Asian subcontinent can be worn one by one, which is roughly equivalent to the modern people wearing a shirt and a suit and then a coat.However, according to the customs and climate of the Han region, it is impossible to wrap those cloth pieces around the body to keep out the cold.Besides, the Chinese have a somewhat mysterious sense of foreign religions, and regard monks' dharma robes as having a touch of Buddhism.In addition, the hierarchy and class components of clothing in ancient Chinese feudal society were very strong.Therefore, the foreign Sanyi is treated equally with the Sangzhizhi, making it a kind of iconic outer covering.In fact, the status of clothing other than coats has been improved.If Shakyamuni Buddha saw it, it would be like comparing modern people to tuxedos, suits, and shirts, and they can wear any of them to attend formal parliamentary activities.However, the Chinese don't wear the three clothes together.Weird!

(2) The underwear worn inside and the casual clothes worn in daily work and life are roughly designed according to the clothing of the Han nationality.They constitute the main pattern of the common clothes of Sinicized Buddhist monks, and they have progressed and changed with the development of the times. (3) The colors of dharma clothes and ordinary clothes are also different and changeable.Senior political leadership often exerts influence on this.