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There were four anti-Buddhist persecutions in China
The 1st one was in 446 and was driven by Daoists. Daoism was made into the state religion and Buddhism was outlawed and Buddhist monks and clerics were massacred by the army and Buddhist temples, idols and books were destroyed.
The 1st one was in 446 and was driven by Daoists. Daoism was made into the state religion and Buddhism was outlawed and Buddhist monks and clerics were massacred by the army and Buddhist temples, idols and books were destroyed.
The second one was in 567 and was driven by Confucians. An ex-Buddhist cleric complained about Buddhism to the emperor and called for it to be outlawed. The emperor set up a debate between Confucians, Buddhists and Daoists. At the debate, Buddhists and Daoists immediately
started attacking each other severely so the emperor was disgusted and ordered Buddhism and Daoism both to be outlawed, their idols smashed and forced clerics to secularize and seized temple lands. This one did not involve massacres. The emperor promoted Confucianism.
The third Buddhist persecution was in 846 by the Tang emperor Wuzong and was driven by Daoists. The emperor made Daoism the state religion and baned Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Chrsitianity and ordered their temples and churches destroyed, their clerics, monks and
nuns forced to go back to secular life, and to destroy and melt down their idols and confiscate their wealth.
The fourth one was in 955 becasue the emperor needed copper so he had Buddha statues melted down and ordered Buddhist monks and nuns executed if they tried to evade it.
The fourth one was in 955 becasue the emperor needed copper so he had Buddha statues melted down and ordered Buddhist monks and nuns executed if they tried to evade it.
There was also an unsuccesful attempt in 819 by Confucian scholar Han Yu to get the emperor to ban Buddhism. He called the Buddha's fingerbone "filthy" and demanded it be destroyed and called Buddha a barbarian. He criticized Daoism too for it's theology which he was against but
said that Daoism was not barbarian unlike Buddhism.
Although the Ming Hongwu emperor was apparently from a Mahayana Buddhist background, he ordered strict controls over all religions and clerics including Buddhism and had Mount Putuo's Buddhist temples destroyed and evacuated to combat piracy (not for religious reasons).
The early Ming emperors from Hongwu to the mid-Ming outwardly patronized Vajrayana Tibetan lamas for the same reason as the Qing emperors, to control Mongol tribes and some say the Ming and Qing deliberately help promote Vajrayana Buddhism among Mongols for negative affects it
had on Mongol society and culture. The early Ming emperors kept the Vajrayana Lamas in their imperial palace and just like the Qing emperors, they never tried to convert their own people to it, strictly limiting their access to a small group of people including the emperor
(giving credence to the thought that they helped Tibetans spread it to Mongols for negative effect on Mongols like making them weak). Qing emperors kept ordinary Manchus away from Vajrayana Buddhism and had them worship Shamanism as their religion and read Confucian books.
Halfway into the Ming dynasty, the Ming Jiajing emperor was openly Daoist and then he ordered all Buddhist establishments including Vajrayana ones in the imperial palace to be shut down and closed.
Ming princes from cadet branches of the family in the provinces away from the capital tended to convert from Buddhism to orthodox Daoism and patronize orthodox Daoist sects and orders an even marry their daughters off to members of the Zhang clan who controlled the
Heavenly Master sect of Daoism. These Ming princes wrote books on Daoism and religion and attacked and criticized Buddhism.
Ming Prince Zhu Quan was one of those who converted to orthodox Daoism and attacked Buddhism in his works. He hated Buddhism and wrote extensively on Daoist sects and how to carry out orthodox Daoist rituals and worship and attacked Buddhism all over his book 原始秘書.
He called Buddhism a "mourning cult", praising emperors who persecuted Buddhism, attacking emperors who patronized Buddhism and said a monarch who worshipped Buddha would destroy his country. He also wrote a book on Daoism, 天皇至道太清玉册.
Confucians like to attack Daoism by claiming the religion Daoism founded by Zhang Daoling has little to do with the philosophy of Daoism founded by Li Er (Laozi). Religious Daoism claims that Li Er came back as a deity to appoint Zhang Daoling as Heavenly Master and his
descendants in the Zhang clan as his successors and handing them sacred books.
Confucianists deny this happened and the Confucians say that Zhang Daoling got swallowed by a snake. Buddhists also repeat the same thing about the snake.
Confucianists deny this happened and the Confucians say that Zhang Daoling got swallowed by a snake. Buddhists also repeat the same thing about the snake.
Daoists used to attack Buddhists by claiming when Laozi went west, he became the Buddha in order to claim that Buddhism is an inferior school founded by Li Er to teach "barbarians".
Confucianism promotes martial skills like archery and family clan structure while Vajrayana Buddhism results in many men becoming celibate Lamas which is one of the reasons why Ming and Qing emperors didn't want any of their people touching it except themselves personally.
Ming Prince Zhu Quan also said that the popular idea of the "Three Teachings" (that Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism are all part of Chinese culture in harmony) was a Buddhist conspiracy to align itself with Confucianism and Daoism. He attacked and condemned the concept of the
Three Teachings and viewed Buddhism as barbarian saying it did not belong with the other two in Chinese culture.
Btw Daoists themselves study Confucian texts and proclaim themselves to be Confucians, it's the actual orthodox Confucians who attack Daoism and view it with disdain. Pretty much no one can criticize Confucianism, Buddhists and Daoists did not attack or criticize Confucius
because his school is ingrained in Chinese culture while orthodox Confucians can freely insult, attack and criticize the other two.
Notice how neither Buddhists or Daoists insulted or attack Confucianism in the religions debates, neither made any remarks insulting Confucius or called him names or said he got eaten by a snake while Confucians say Buddha was a barbarian and Zhang Daoling got eaten by a
snake (they don't attack Laozi (Li Er) though)
By the way the first two persecutions against Buddhism were ordered by Xianbei emperors. The first one was by a Xianbei emperor who was converted to Daoism by Kou Qianzhi, a Han who was Heavenly master of the northern Heavenly Master sect of Daoism
(unlike the southern based one of the Zhang family) the second was done by the Xianbei emperor after he received the message by a Han ex-Buddhist cleric who wrote to him on why Buddhism should be banned so he ended up banning both Buddhism and Daoism because of the debate..
It affected northern china, particularly the Guanzhong area
three and four persecutions were done by Han dynasty (Tang emperors were Han on their paternal side which determined their ethnicity)
In the Qing dynasty, there was also tension between Manchu and Daur shamanists against Buddhism.
In the Qing dynasty, there was also tension between Manchu and Daur shamanists against Buddhism.
Manchu language stories like Tale of the Nisan Shamanness composed by the Daur presented Tibetan Vajrayana Lamaism as evil and an opponent of the traditional shamanistic religion. Daur were part of the Manchu banners.
Among Manchus, only the Qing imperial family kept Buddha and Guanyin in their shamanic altar at the palaces of Beijing and Mukden as "guests". Ordinary Manchus did not have Buddha or the Bodhisattvas in their shamanic altars.
The tale of the shamaness shows the tension between ordinary members of the Manchu banners, whether Daur or Manchu who practiced shamanism, against the Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist Lamas at the imperial court (who needed to patronize them to deal with Mongols).
The ordinary rank and file Manchu and Daur shamanists did not view Vajrayana positively
The rank and rile Manchus are probably the non-Han ethnicity that was most resistant to Buddhism in their time unlike Mongols who converted en masse to Vajrayana.
The rank and rile Manchus are probably the non-Han ethnicity that was most resistant to Buddhism in their time unlike Mongols who converted en masse to Vajrayana.
Only the Qing imperial family dealt with Buddhist deities at their shamanic rituals, but ordinary Manchus kept away from Buddhism and instead worshipped Guandi in their shamanic rituals. Guandi was a Han general from the Three Kingdoms period who was deified
and became a god of war and also worshippedi n Daoism. Manchus adopted worship of him from Han military garrisons of Liaodong during the Ming.
The Qing emphasized martial culture and war for rank and file ordinary Manchu bannermen, hence their adoption of the Han war god Guandi, while keeping them away from the Buddha. And translating Confucian classics into Manchu
(Confucianism promotes archery as one of the six arts and archery was also revered by Manchus)
so there is the myth being spread around by many people that ordinary Manchus were partial to other religions, that Manchus were nomads when they were not.
so there is the myth being spread around by many people that ordinary Manchus were partial to other religions, that Manchus were nomads when they were not.
Daur shamanists in the Manchu banners viewed the Tibetan Vajrayana Lamas as exercising an evil and negative influence at the imperial court.
