Chapter 7 Section 6 Ruorong holds the Buddha Bathing Festival

In the late Later Han Dynasty, there was a Danyang native named Ze Ze Rong who became a legendary figure in the history of Chinese Buddhism.According to the records of "Three Kingdoms · Wu Shu · Liu Yao Biography": At first, Ruo Rong may have been a local gentry with a certain appeal and many followers.Later, he gathered hundreds of people and came to Xuzhou and defected to Xuzhou Mu Taoqian.Tao Qian really reused him and let him take charge of the water and land transportation between Guangling (Yangzhou) and Danyang.With great power in his hands, he was domineering, indulged in life, and sometimes even committed suicide without authorization, and used his power to embezzle wantonly and accumulate money.However, such a person even converted to Buddhism.About all the people under him also converted to Buddhism with him.When he had money, he built Buddhist pagodas and temples and carved bronze Buddha statues.The bronze Buddha statues he carved were "painted with gold and clothed with brocade"; the pagodas and temples he built had "nine layers of copper plates hanging down, and the towers below, and the pavilions can accommodate more than 3,000 people."After the pagoda and temple were built, more than 3,000 people sang and read Buddhist scriptures together, and the scene was very impressive.Not only that, this Ruo Rong also tried his best to promote Buddhism. Buddhist believers in his jurisdiction and neighboring counties came to learn the scriptures, and he exempted those who came to listen to the scriptures and learn the Dharma.Because of such benefits, many people came to listen to the scriptures and study the Dharma. More than 5,000 families from far and near have converted to Buddhism.Every time it comes to the Buddha Bathing Festival, the scene is even bigger.He ordered people to prepare a large amount of wine and rice (when Buddhism was first introduced to China, it did not abstain from alcohol and meat), and filled the road with feasts that stretched tens of miles, and nearly ten thousand people came to eat and watch.In that era, being able to hold such a large-scale event was indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people, and the cost of its funds must have been very considerable.

From this record in the history books, we can at least conclude the following: First, in the later Han Dynasty, the north and south of the Huaihe River was a major center for the spread of Buddhism in China; , which shows that the introduction of Buddhism from India to China was relatively smooth at the beginning.Second, Ruo Rong built a pagoda temple and carved Buddha statues. This is the earliest pagoda temple building and Buddha statue sculpture in China recorded in official history, and it is also the earliest record that Indian Buddhist architecture and sculpture art began to influence China.Thirdly, the Buddha Bathing Festival of Indian Buddhism has also spread to China. Since then, a new item has been added to Chinese folk activities.

Judging from the above, cultural exchanges between China and India had already begun before the Qin Dynasty, and in the Han Dynasty, this exchange was further expanded.During the Western Han Dynasty, the cultural exchanges between China and India focused on the exchange of material civilization and the exploration of communication channels; during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the cultural exchange between China and India was characterized by the exchange of spiritual civilization at the same time as the exchange of material civilization, and the exchange of spiritual civilization The main event is the introduction of Buddhism to the Central Plains of China.