Chapter 24 Chapter 6 Taoism in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

In the early Ming Dynasty, strict control policies were adopted for both Buddhism and Taoism.Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, ordered many times to rectify religions across the country, prohibiting monks and Taoists from holding religious rituals at random, and asked each prefecture, state, and county to keep only one large Buddhist temple and one large Taoist temple, and all monks , Taoist priests together centralized management.It is strictly forbidden for them to "miscellaneously stay outside and mix with the people" (Volume 184 of "Records of Taizu"), that is, these monks, Taoists and ordinary people are not allowed to live together.It is also stipulated that the Daoist temples left in various places should organize the Taoist priests who live together into classes, and each class should be in charge of an older Taoist priest.Except for the Taoist priests in charge, the rest are not allowed to visit or deal with government departments casually.There is a limit on the number of monks and priests.There are 40 people at the prefectural level, 30 people at the state level, and 20 people at the county level.Quanzhen Taoist priests who like to practice in deep mountains and old forests are limited to one or two people, and no more than three people are allowed.Ordinary people, men under the age of 40 and women under the age of 50, are not allowed to become monks.In the twenty-eighth year of Ming Taizu Hongwu (1395 A.D.), he ordered monks and Taoist priests from all over the country to take vocational examinations in the capital. Those who failed to pass the exam would not be issued a certificate of identity, which is an identity certificate recognized by the government.Through this method, a large number of monks and Taoist priests were disqualified.

It is said that the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang adopted these policies and measures was mainly because he was afraid that religion would be mixed with peasant uprisings, which would be detrimental to his rule.Zhu Yuanzhang himself took advantage of religion when he participated in the peasant uprising and became the emperor of a country from ordinary people.After he came to power, he was careful everywhere.In addition, he feels that governing the country still depends on Confucianism.Confucianism teaches the ethics of loyalty and filial piety, which is beneficial for him to be emperor. However, Zhu Yuanzhang still admired Taoism, especially Zhengdao’s set of fasting ritual activities of praying for blessings and exorcising evil spirits. He believed that it could “benefit human relations and strengthen customs”, that is, it could deify the Ming Dynasty.Regarding Quanzhen Taoism, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that it was just "self-cultivation and self-cultivation", which could not meet his needs for consolidating feudal rule.Zhu Yuanzhang let Zhang Normal, the 42nd generation celestial master of Longhu Mountain, take charge of Taoism throughout the country, and did not pay much attention to Quanzhen Taoism.In the seventh year of Hongwu (1374 A.D.), Zhu Yuanzhang personally formulated the rituals of Taoist fasting and offering rituals, and promulgated them for nationwide implementation.Sometimes he himself fasted and prayed.

These practices in the early Ming Dynasty had a certain influence on the entire Ming Dynasty.Later emperors of the Ming Dynasty liked to engage in sacrificial ceremonies, such as national festivals, birthdays and death dates of emperors and empresses, dates of death, droughts and floods, and Taoist priests were required to perform ceremonies for major and minor matters. Ming Chengzu Zhu Di (reigned 1402-1424 AD) claimed to be the reincarnation of Zhenwu God.Zhenwu God is the "Xuantian Zhenwu Emperor" worshiped by Taoism. It is said that Wudang Mountain in Hubei is the residence of this god.Therefore, during the reign of Ming Chengzu, a large number of manpower and material resources were used to overhaul the Taoist temple of Wudang Mountain.

Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty was also Emperor Jiajing (reigned 1521-1566 A.D.). His belief in Taoism was the most prominent among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. He can be said to be the second Song Huizong.After he became emperor, no matter what happened, he had to ask God to bless him.Sometimes holding it once is not effective enough, so hold it two or three times.If it is found to be effective, a grand sacrificial offering will be held to thank God for his blessing.He himself wore Taoist robes and Taoist hats, and even taught concubines and court ladies to wear them like this, and chanted scriptures and mantras together, creating a miasma.He has been the emperor for decades, and the rituals of fasting and offering sacrifices continue all year round.In addition, he believed in elixir, and some Taoist priests, such as Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen, all came to offer him secret recipes in order to win his favor.

Many emperors of the Ming Dynasty lost their lives after taking pills. The emperor's unrestrained worship of Taoism made the politics of the Ming Dynasty darker and more absurd.The so-called "Qingci prime minister" in history came out in the Jiajing period.Qing Ci was originally a poem dedicated to the gods by Taoist priests when they performed fasting rituals, without any actual content of governing the country and the people.Because Emperor Jiajing was obsessed with ritual rituals, writing Qing Ci became the daily work of officials in the Ministry of Rites. Whether the Qing Ci was well written or not became the criterion for promotion.At that time, many people became prime ministers because they could write Qing Ci.Yan Song, a treacherous minister, started his career by relying on Qing Ci.He colluded with Taoist priest Tao Zhongwen and fought for power with Xia Yan, another "Prime Minister of Qingci".The emperor sent someone to spy on the two of them at home at night, but Xia Yan didn't know about it, and fell asleep on the bed; Yan Song had already been tipped off, so he sat under the lamp and pretended to revise the manuscript of Qing Ci.Relying on these means, Yan Song squeezed out his political opponents step by step, and climbed to a high position with less than one person and more than 10,000 people.In the Jiajing Dynasty, there was also a prime minister named Yan Na, who was always worried about not being able to write Qingci well, so he worked hard and became sick, and he couldn't be cured.These important ministers are not worried about government affairs all day long, how can the country be better!

Some sober-minded ministers felt that this could not go on, so they wrote to Jiajing to give their opinions. As a result, they either lost their official positions or lost their heads.Hai Rui, a well-known upright official at the time, first bought a coffin, bid farewell to his family, and with the determination to die, wrote a letter to the emperor against worshiping Taoism.The emperor was very furious when he saw this kind of memorial, and ordered people to arrest him quickly and stop him from running away.The eunuch next to him said that this man was an idiot. He knew he would die when he wrote the letter, and he had already bought a coffin, so he would not run away.Jiajing was taken aback, then picked up the memorial and read it.In the end, Hai Rui was still locked up.If Jiajing hadn't died soon, I don't know if Hai Rui would be able to get out of death row alive.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian (reigned from 1627 to 1644 AD) also asked Taoist priests to set up a Taoist temple, hoping that the gods would bless the Ming Dynasty from generation to generation.The Taoist pretended to be a ghost, and finally told him that God had sent the "North Pole Blessing Saint and True Monarch" to clean up the demons, and the Ming Empire would have a long-lasting fortune.Chongzhen was very happy and believed it.Unexpectedly, the peasant uprising army invaded Beijing soon, and he had only one way to hang himself.

Like other emperors in history, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty worshiped the Tao. The first purpose was to pray for the blessing of the dynasty, and the second was to keep themselves immortal. The content was also the same as in the past.