Chapter 14 Section 2 Tang Dynasty and Taoism

Among the dynasties that revered Taoism in history, the Tang Dynasty had a special relationship with Taoism. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty, surnamed Li, claimed to be a descendant of Laozi, so Taoism was also the religion of their ancestors, the religion of the Li family and the Li family's religion. The emperor surnamed Li did this mainly for the purpose of political use.During the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Taoism made great efforts to fabricate prophecies and create public opinion.During the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, some Taoist priests saw that he was licentious and brutal, and knew that he would not grow up.In history, Taoism often made prophecies that the old gentleman would be transformed or that the descendants of the old gentleman would come out to save the world.Louguan Daoist Qihui was particularly looking forward to the emergence of a dynasty that would improve the status of Taoism and be conducive to the development of Taoism.Taoism's statement about the destiny given by heaven and the change of dynasties had a wide range of social influence at that time, and many people believed it.At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the leaders of the uprising army, Li Mi and Li Gui, all declared that they would be emperors because of their surname Li, and many ordinary people followed them.Emperor Sui Yang was also suspicious, and he was worried about the minister surnamed Li, and some people lost their heads because of this.Some people even suggested that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty simply kill all the people surnamed Li in the whole country.Of course Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty did not dare to do this.

When Li Yuan raised his army, many Taoist priests saw that he was powerful, so they bet on him.Qihui took out Louguan Dao's food and supplies to support him, and sent more than 80 Taoist priests to meet Li Yuan on the way.He told Li Yuan that he had changed his name to Qi Ping Ding, because Li Yuan was the "True King" and would definitely be able to pacify the world.At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Wang Yuanzhi, a famous Taoist priest of the Maoshan sect, claimed that he had obeyed the will of the old lord and secretly passed on the order of the amulet before Li Yuan raised his troops, saying that Li Yuan should inherit the destiny and change the dynasty.Later, Li Yuan granted him the post of Chaosan doctor, and bestowed on him a golden crown and purple silk Xiapei.Li Chunfeng, another Taoist priest, was said to be able to predict good and bad luck. He claimed that the Taishang Laojun of Zhongnan Mountain had appeared, and told him that Li Yuan should be appointed by heaven to be emperor.

There are many similar examples.Now it seems that some of them may have been fabricated by Taoist priests on their own initiative, and some of them may have been inspired by Li Yuan and his son.Using these Taoist prophecies, the actions of Li Yuan and his sons to seize the world were covered with a layer of sacred cloak. On the other hand, Emperor Li's recognition of Lao Tzu as his ancestor was also to elevate Li's social status.At that time, family background was very important, and the Li clan was not a famous family.Therefore, it is necessary to use the belief in Lao Tzu to improve one's family status.

After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Taoism was actively supported.After Tang Gaozu came to the throne, he ordered a major repair of the building, and went to worship in person, saying: This is the place where my ancestors descended from the world. Now that I am the emperor, can I not build it?The name of the temple was also changed to Zongshenglou.Qihui also became the doctor of Zijin Guanglu.In the fourth year of Wude (AD 621), Emperor Gaozu rectified the two religions of Buddhism and Taoism, and ordered to keep an equal number of Buddhist temples and Taoist temples in the capital and all states in the country.Because the number of Buddhist temples greatly exceeded that of Taoist temples at that time, this order actually did not suffer much from Taoism.In the eighth year of Wude (AD 625), Emperor Gaozu stipulated that in the important ceremonial activities of the court, Taoism ranked first, Confucianism second, and Buddhism last.

Tang Taizong (reigned 626-649 A.D.) was a shrewd and capable emperor. After he came to the throne, he reiterated the stipulations of his ancestors to respect Taoism, and on the other hand, he tried to win over Buddhism, saying that he did this only out of respect for his ancestors. This is not to despise Buddhism.Taizong also built the Taiping Temple in Maoshan for Wang Yuanzhi, and the Taishang Laojun Temple in Bozhou, which is said to be Laozi's hometown. From the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Sui Dynasty, the development of Buddhism greatly surpassed that of Taoism.The Tang Dynasty felt that the power of Buddhism was too great for the country. Therefore, the policy of advocating Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty also had the intention of curbing Buddhism through Taoism.At that time, some monks were reprimanded or even arrested and exiled for disobeying the Taoist regulations.

Tang Gaozong (reigned 649-683 A.D.) favored Taoist priests Pan Shizheng, Liu Daohe and Ye Fashan, and supported Taoist priests in burning alchemy.In the first year of Qianfeng (AD 666), Emperor Gaozong went to Laojun Temple in Haozhou to offer sacrifices to Lao Tzu, and presented Lao Tzu with the title of "Emperor Taishang Xuanyuan". ancestors.In the first year of Shangyuan (674 A.D.), it was stipulated that all princes and officials should study it, and made it one of the subjects for the selection of officials, and then stipulated that it should be included in the national imperial examination.In the first year of Hongdao (683 A.D.), all states in the country were ordered to build Taoist temples, three in Shangzhou, two in Zhongzhou, and one in Xiazhou, all of which were provided by the state.Emperor Gaozong also sent his daughter to be a female Taoist priest and built the Taiping Temple for her.Later, Ruizong also followed him, sending his two daughters into Taoism and building Taoist temples for them.

Taoism in the Tang Dynasty reached its peak in the period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.Tang Xuanzong took the throne from 712 A.D. to 756 A.D. due to the Anshi Rebellion and retired to the harem, and ruled for 44 years.Not long after he became emperor, he made great efforts to govern and created the so-called "Kaiyuan prosperous age" in the history of Tang Dynasty.At first, he adopted the policy of advocating Taoism and suppressing Buddhism, just like Gaozu, Taizong and others, mainly for political purposes.It turns out that during Wu Zetian's reign, Buddhism was carried before Taoism.Wu Zetian originally believed in Taoism, and she suggested many Taoist measures during Gaozong's time.After Gaozong's death, she specialized in government affairs and wanted to replace Li as emperor.After more than 60 years of worship in the early Tang Dynasty, Taoist Laozi is not only the ancestor of Li Tang's clan, but also the guardian deity of the Tang Empire.Someone once pretended to be an old gentleman, descended from the world to appear, and warned Wu Zetian not to proclaim himself emperor.So she decided to use the influence of Buddhism to weaken the influence of Taoist Lao Tzu as the idol of Li Tang's clan.Wu Zetian instructed monks to preach that Empress Wu was the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha and should replace Li Tang as emperor.After becoming emperor, she carried out the policy of advocating Buddhism and suppressing Taoism, and canceled Laozi's title of "Emperor Xuanyuan", and still called Laojun.He also ordered the cancellation of the imperial examination.After the restoration of Zhongzong and Ruizong, the status of Taoism was restored, but it only reached an equal status with Buddhism.

Xuanzong has always been worried about the fact that Buddhist forces supported Wu Zetian's proclaiming the emperor's dictatorship. He wanted to uphold Taoism and suppress Buddhism.In the second year of Kaiyuan (714 A.D.), he ordered the rectification of Buddhism in the whole country, and more than 20,000 monks and nuns returned to the vulgar.Soon, he invited Sima Chengzhen, a Taoist priest of the Maoshan School, to accept the dharma in person, and built Tongbai Temple in Tiantai Mountain for Sima Chengzhen, and a balcony temple in Wangwu Mountain for Sima Chengzhen. temple. Since the late Kaiyuan period, Tang Xuanzong's activities of advocating Taoism have been wave after wave. At this time, it is completely out of personal belief.

In the twenty-first year of Kaiyuan (733 A.D.), Xuanzong ordered that every household in the country must have a copy, and put it above all kinds of classics.Xuanzong also annotated the book himself.Four years later, it was stipulated that Taoist priests belonged to Zongzheng Temple, which was an institution exclusively in charge of royal affairs, which was tantamount to treating Taoist priests as royal people.Four years later, in 741 A.D., the Emperor Xuanyuan Temple was built in the eastern and western capitals and in all states of the country, and soon renamed the Taishang Xuanyuan Emperor Palace.Since the Tang Dynasty, the places where Taoists lived and practiced Taoism have been collectively called temples.Generally, the larger Taoist temples are called palaces.

Xuanzong himself worshiped Lao Tzu every night, and asked people to draw a portrait of Lao Tzu and distribute it to Taoist temples across the country.He kept adding titles to Lao Tzu.In the second year of Tianbao (743 A.D.), Laozi was posthumously named "Emperor Xuanyuan, the Great Sage Ancestor". Go up to Emperor Xuanyuan of Jinque".Lao Tzu's title became more and more prominent. Under Xuanzong's impetus, Taoism developed rapidly across the country and entered its heyday. During the mid-Tang Dynasty, Xianzong (Li Chun, reigned 805-820 AD), Mu Zong (Li Heng, reigned 820-824 AD), and Jingzong (Li Zhan, reigned 824-826 AD) all believed in Taoism. But at that time, the Tang Empire had already begun to decline, and the scale and influence of Taoism were not as good as before.

In the late Tang Dynasty, Wu Zong (Li Yan, reigned from 840 to 846 AD) believed in the Taoist saying that immortality is immortal, and he favored Taoist priest Zhao Guizhen, worshiped him as his teacher, and learned the art of immortality.Later, Deng Yuanqi, a Taoist priest from Luofu Mountain, was invited to the palace to build Wangxian Tower, Wangxian Terrace and Lingfu Yingshengyuan for him.At that time, many Taoist priests and alchemists came to the palace. Wu Zong valued Dao and despised Buddha.In the fourth year of Huichang (844 A.D.), he decided to attack Buddhism, ordered the destruction of Buddhas, the demolition of monasteries, the confiscation of monastery property, and the return of monks and nuns to vulgarity.This is the famous "Huichang Dharma Difficulty" in the history of Buddhism.Wu Zong wanted to achieve the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the army by destroying Buddhism, but he was obsessed with Taoism, and soon died of poisoning from taking the elixir made by Taoist priests. In the late Tang Dynasty, a peasant uprising led by Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao broke out.Emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty panicked, hoping for the protection of the holy ancestor Lao Tzu, fabricated many myths about the appearance of the old man, and carried out activities of worshiping Taoism.But it didn't make the Tang Empire last long.More than 10 years after Emperor Xizong, Tang Dynasty perished. According to the "Records of Advocating Taoism in Past Dynasties" written by Du Guangting, a Taoist priest in the late Tang Dynasty, since the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, more than 15,000 Taoist priests have been educated, and more than 1,900 Taoist temples have been built, not including the temples donated by princes and nobles.These all reflect the grand occasion of worshiping Taoism in the Tang Dynasty.