The paper sounds like Buddhist apologetics for the most part, but this bit was interesting, and comes up often in this forum as we trace Zen Masters forward in China from Wumen's time:
The Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties saw the significant decline of Chinese Buddhism. Zhu Yuanzhang (reigned 1368-1398), the First Emperor of the Ming dynasty, was fully aware of the role that the religion might play in a rebellion, for he himself had joined the peasant rebellion organization called “The Red Kerchief Bandits.” The family members of the chief of The Red Kerchief Bandits were members of White Lotus Society. Accordingly, when Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he placed strict regulations on Buddhism, and ordered monks to live and meditate in temples in high mountains. He also ordered monks to either live in mountains or travel around, but not to cities or villages where ordinary people dwell. “Two monks might keep their hermitage in the same high mountain for meditation, but no more than three or four.” “The abbots or wandering monks who make friends with officials are to be severely punished.” On the surface, the First Emperor appeared to protect the Buddhist religion, but in fact, he was restricting its development. Thus Chinese Buddhism rapidly declined as a result of the emperor’s policy of separating monks from lay Buddhists. This situation worsened in the end of the Qing dynasty. Monks were either meditating in the mountains or depending on the donations of the lay people. Isolated as they were, the only social function was to perform funeral services. Consequently, Buddhism was criticized for its insignificant contribution to the welfare of society
Submitted July 13, 2020 at 07:12PM by ewk https://ift.tt/3j0gpC7
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