Chapter 28 Section 5 The Decline of Taoism
From a historical perspective, Taoism began to decline from the middle and late Yuan Dynasty.Although the two blows of burning Taoist scriptures were mainly aimed at Quanzhen Taoism in the north, it did not bring the whole Taoism into a slump, but it has seriously damaged its vitality.Quanzhen Taoism talks about purifying one's mind and few desires, and nourishing one's nature and life. Using this method to persuade and guide ordinary people makes people feel more elegant and elegant, theoretical, and suitable for the tastes of the scholar-bureaucrat class.In the middle and late Yuan Dynasty, because of the failure of the debate with Buddhism and the attack of burning scriptures, its social status and influence gradually declined.
Zhengyi has always been favored by the rulers in history, Quanzhen is unlucky, but Longhushan Celestial Master can still get the emperor's favor.But in the society's impression, it seems that Zhengtian masters only practice ritual talismans and invite gods to catch ghosts.The Yuan Dynasty Zaju "Zhang Tianshi Breaks the Wind, Flowers, Snow and Moon", tells the story of the love between the sweet-scented osmanthus fairy and the talented Chen Shiying in the middle of the moon. Because they couldn't get together for a while, Chen Shiying fell in love with each other. His uncle asked Zhang Daoxuan, the 37th generation celestial master of Longhu Mountain, for help. Zhang Tianshi used a spell to seal the sword With all the housekeeping skills, he finally invited the generals to capture the sweet-scented osmanthus fairy.The practice of witchcraft and praying for blessings takes advantage of people's superstitious psychology, and it has a special market in the lower class of society, so it can't reach the higher class.How can Taoism last long if it barely supports the situation by relying on righteousness alone!
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Taoism went from bad to worse.Although due to the special preferences of individual emperors or the emergence of individual outstanding Taoist leaders, Taoism had a glorious time like a flashback, but the good times did not last long.
Taoism gradually declined at the end of China's feudal society, firstly manifested in the fact that Taoism at this time had no new development at all in terms of teachings and doctrines.During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were also some Taoist works on the integration of immortals and Buddhas, on the practice of alchemy, and commented on the theoretical works of the predecessors, etc., but most of them repeated the ideas of the predecessors, and there was nothing new.Secondly, religious practice is also old-fashioned and there is no innovation.Thirdly, the fact that there are very few famous Taoist figures is like a morning star, which can be said to be one of the signs of the decline of Taoism.
The general perception of Daoism in society at this time also reflected its decline. "History of Ming Dynasty Fang Ji Biography" records: "Since Zhang's normal life, he has no other supernatural powers. He only relies on talismans, prays for rain and drives away ghosts. There are small experiences from time to time. Gu has been passed down from generation to generation. After a long time, he will not pass away." Some people say that even if these spells are effective occasionally, they are just the aftermath of the talisman and sword seal passed down by the celestial master's mansion, not the supernatural powers of the descendants of the celestial master.Even more bluntly, he directly denounced Taoist spells as "evil and out-of-the-ordinary", "not the purpose of Lao Tzu's tranquility", and "only to benefit the confusion of the people's hearts, but to cause harm to the world".All these views show that the belief in Taoism in Ming and Qing society is indeed far worse than before.
The Qing emperor's attitude towards Taoism made its situation even worse.Only a few days after his accession to the throne, Emperor Qianlong asked the Taoist priests who made alchemy for Yongzheng to pack up the bedding, and said that it was unbelievable that Yongzheng knew the so-called furnace fire cultivation in Taoism.The reason why I invited a few Taoist priests to make alchemy in the spare place of Xiyuan is to see how capable they are and what results they can produce.These few people are all rascals in the market, and raising them is similar to raising a few opera singers, just as a pastime (see "Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty" Volume 1).During the reign of Qianlong, a minister said that "Taoism is lowly, and it is not appropriate to abuse the court", so Longhushan Zhengyi, who had lost the title of "Heavenly Master", was disqualified from going to Beijing to meet the emperor. The official rank of the official rank was once again dropped from the third rank to the fifth rank.
Liang Shaoren's "Two Kinds of Autumn Rain Essays" records that during Emperor Gaozong (Qianlong) of the Qing Dynasty, an official wrote a letter requesting to rectify Buddhism and Taoism. Gaozong said that it would be very easy to rectify them, even if they were all banned, all monks and Taoists would return to vulgarity , it is nothing more than a paper order, who in the world dares to disobey!But today's monks and Taoists are not as domineering as they used to be, and they must rely on the promotion of Confucianism to control them.Because they have declined.In addition, keeping them can also accommodate refugees. After all, I don't have so many public lands to support these millions of idlers.Gaozong also wrote a poem:
It means that the decline of Buddhism and Taoism is irreversible. Although they are absurd, there is no need to worry about them.Keeping it is still a kind of embellishment, and there are more materials for writing poems and paintings.
Although both Buddhism and Taoism were in decline during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, most people believed that Buddhism was superior to Taoism.Looking through the novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many of them ridicule Taoist priests and expose the absurdity of Taoist magic and cultivation.For example, in "Sambo Western Records", it is written that Jin Bifeng, the national teacher who was reincarnated from the burning lamp Buddha, fought with Zhang Tianshi, and the Tianshi always lost to him.One of the monks in the middle is like a real god and Buddha, living in peace, advancing and retreating together.But among them, Jia Jing is superstitiously convinced of Dan, and Ma Daopo doesn't do good things, which is not a good image.
The reasons for the decline of Taoism are of course multifaceted and complex.During the Jiajing period, the Taoist priests who surrounded the emperor were full of smog, and they became liars and rascals in the minds of scholar-bureaucrats; the corruption and degeneration of the Tianshi masters in Longhushan made its social reputation plummet; On the one hand, the "inner bag" has been exhausted, and it cannot attract the public.These are all important reasons for its decline, but I am afraid it cannot be said to be the root cause.
Zhang Dai, a famous writer and historian at the end of the Ming Dynasty, wrote about what he saw and heard when he visited the Confucian Temple: "In the temple, all the titles of the Ming Dynasty are not used, so you can always see its greatness. The Confucian family said: "There are only three families in the world: my family And Jiangxi Zhang, Fengyang Zhu is nothing more than Jiangxi Zhang, Taoist morale; Fengyang Zhu, outbursts others, small family spirit.'" This "Confucian family" is arrogant and superficial, let alone it; it is "three families in the world" The statement is a bit interesting.The Confucian family in Qufu represents Confucianism, and the Zhang family in Jiangxi represents Taoism. They are the representatives of Chinese feudal culture.With the decline of Chinese feudal society, the entire feudal culture, including Buddhism, is on the decline.Confucianism is like this, and Taoism is no exception.The three schools of Confucianism and Taoism have the same root as the emperor's and the old's. One is damaged and the other is withered. This is really the inevitable result of the development of the times.
As a religious culture, the life course of Taoism's ups and downs has lasted nearly 2,000 years.In history, it has often been able to adjust itself in time, seize the opportunities of the times, and achieve new development.But this time, why is it irretrievably declining?This is a question related to the historical destiny of the Chinese nation since it entered modern times, and it leaves people with deep thinking.
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