Chapter 25 Chapter 4 The Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties

In the one and a half centuries of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, Indian monks came to China less, but it cannot be said that there were no such monks.In the early Northern Song Dynasty, according to the records of "Buddha Tongji", from the fifth year of Taizu Kaibao (AD 972) to the fifth year of Renzong Huangyou (AD 1053) for more than 80 years, another group of Indian monks came to China to translate preached. During this period, the movement of Chinese Han monks to go to the west to learn Buddhist scriptures also appeared.According to volume four and three of "Buddha Tongji", in the fourth year of Qiande (966 AD), Song Taizu once issued an edict to recruit people who went to the west to seek the law, and 157 people responded to the edict.So the government organized these people to go to India.This is the first and last time in history that this huge law-seeking group initiated by the emperor and organized by the government appeared.However, the record of "Tianzhu Kingdom" in "Song History · Foreign Biography Six" is different from this: "In the third year of Qiande, Cangzhou monks and Taoists returned from the Western Regions... The customs, mountains, rivers and roads that Taizu summoned and asked, can be remembered one by one. In four years, one hundred and fifty-seven people including Seng Xingqin came to Que Shangyan, wishing to go to the Western Regions to ask for Buddhist scriptures, and promise them.” Here, it is said that Daoyuan went to the Western Heaven to learn Buddhist scriptures and returned successfully, which once again inspired the monks. People's enthusiasm for seeking the Dharma gave rise to the spontaneous actions of the monks, and the trip was only possible with the emperor's permission.Fan Chengda's "Wu Chuanlu" wrote: "Jiye Sanzang's surname is Wang, a Yaozhou native, attached to Tokyo Tianshouyuan. In the second year of Qiande, three hundred monks were ordered to enter Tianzhu to ask for relics and Beidoye books. Ye Yu Sending in." The year and number of people are different from those recorded in the first two books, but the words "zhao" and "sending" prove that the records in "Buddha Tongji" are reliable.

"Wu Chuanlu" records Jiye's itinerary in the Western Regions, so that future generations can know the activity route of some people in that huge monk group.Jiye returned to China in the ninth year of Kaibao (AD 976), and some people came back later.But no matter what, this large-scale pursuit of the law in the Song Dynasty was basically a success.There is another situation worth noting in the Dharma-seeking movement in the Song Dynasty, that is, there were people who went to the west twice or even three times, such as Fa Yu recorded in Volume 43 of "Buddha Tong Ji" and Huai Wen recorded in Volume 45.This shows that the transportation at that time was relatively convenient.However, since Muslims had entered India in the 11th century, Indian Buddhism was on the verge of extinction. Therefore, in the era of Song Renzong (1023-1063 A.D.), Chinese Han monks went to India to learn Buddhist scriptures.

It must be explained here that although the movement of monks in China to seek the Dharma stopped, the activities of seeking the Dharma continued in the Tibetan area of ​​China.It must also be explained that although the movement to seek the Fa in China ended, the cultural exchanges between China and India have not been interrupted, and the maritime traffic and trade between China and India are still going on. Since the Song Dynasty, as Buddhism in China is still developing, some ideas of Buddhism have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.In the field of thought, it is the absorption and integration of Buddhist thoughts during the rise and evolution of the Neo Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties.It is manifested in the folk, that is, people's beliefs and customs, festivals, weddings and funerals, etc. are deeply imprinted by Buddhism.In terms of literature, it is the combination of Buddhist ethics and morality in Song Dynasty Zhiguai and legend novels, Yuan and Ming dramas, Song and Yuan story books, and Ming Dynasty vernacular novels, as well as the nostalgia and romance of the Dharma-seeking Movement.In terms of art, it is the continuation of the excavation of the original cave temples, and the continued retention of a large number of Buddhist themes in the paintings.Buddhism is no longer Indian Buddhism, but Chinese Buddhism. Chinese Buddhist culture has become an inseparable part of Chinese culture.These, traced back to their roots, are all the results of cultural exchanges between China and India.