What was Sino-Tibetan Buddhism like in the Yuan dynasty capital?

What was Sino-Tibetan Buddhism like in the Yuan dynasty capital? Experts and scholars tell you

On December 3, a symposium on the study of Sino-Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty was held at the Shichahai Academy in Beijing. Buddhism in the Yuan Dynasty refers to the period of more than a hundred years (1260-1368) between the accession of Emperor Yuan Shizu and the end of Emperor Shun's reign, when the Mongols established the Yuan Dynasty throughout China. The Yuan dynasty adopted a policy of cultural and religious pluralism and openness, which led to new developments in Buddhism. The imperial court set up the "Imperial Master" to head the "Palace of Propaganda", responsible for national Buddhism and Tibetan military and political affairs; at the same time, it appointed Han monks to manage Buddhist affairs and participate in the construction of the political system and culture and education. Sino-Japanese and Sino-Korean Buddhist cultural exchanges were further developed. Beijing was the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, called Metropolis, which was not only the political, economic and cultural center, but also the center of Buddhist culture in East Asia, where many famous Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist monks and priests were active. The famous figures of Buddhism in the Yuan Dynasty, such as Ba Si Ba, Choling Ba, Wan Song Xing Xiu, Hai Yun Yin Jian, Xue Ting Fu Yu, Yelu Chu Cai, Liu Bingzhong, etc., or for the court of honor, or living in the government's important position, for the exchange and development of Sino-Tibetan Buddhism at that time, played an important role in promoting the exchange and development of Buddhist culture. The spread and exchange of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing made a significant contribution to national unity, national integration and cultural prosperity.

In view of the current weak research on Sino-Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty, and in order to promote the innovation and development of Buddhist scholarship, and to discuss in depth the dissemination, exchanges, and characteristics of Sino-Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty, as well as the representative figures and their deeds, writings, and contributions, the Institute of Buddhist Culture in Beijing, the Beijing Yonghe Palace, the Institute of Ethics and Religion at Tsinghua University, and the Annual Journal of Buddhist Studies have jointly organized this symposium. , aiming to contribute to the further promotion of the construction and prosperity of the capital's culture.

Nearly one hundred people attended the seminar, including relevant leaders and guests from the State Administration of Religious Affairs, the Chinese Institute of Religion, the Buddhist Association of China, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Religion, the Beijing Municipal Buddhist Association, and domestic and foreign experts and scholars of the history of Buddhism, the history of the Yuan Dynasty, and the study of Tibetan studies, as well as great masters and teachers. The opening ceremony of the symposium was presided over by Venerable Sheng Kai, vice president of the Institute of Ethics and Religion at Tsinghua University, deputy director of the Institute of Buddhist Culture in China, and executive deputy director of the Institute of Buddhist Culture in Beijing. Grand Lama Hu Xuefeng, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China, President of the Beijing Municipal Buddhist Association, Director of the Beijing Institute of Buddhist Culture, and Presiding Master of the Yonghe Palace, Mr. Cao Zhongjian, Vice President of the Chinese Society of Religion, and former Secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Religion Chen Yanbao, and Prof. Yang Zengwen, Honorary Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, made enthusiastic speeches at the opening ceremony.

Over 700 years of spaced-out dialog

The symposium is divided into four themes, with each seminar consisting of a combination of expert presentations and commentary questions and answers.

In the first discussion on the theme of "Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Figures in the Yuan Dynasty", Mr. Chen Gaohua, a member of the Central Museum of Culture and History and a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, discussed "Emperor Renzong of the Yuan Dynasty and Buddhism" and suggested that specialists and scholars should pay attention to the Yuan Dynasty's decrees and documents, and search for important Buddhist policy measures at that time in historical materials. Policy Measures. Mr. Yang Zengwen, member of the Honorary Department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and researcher of the Institute of World Religions, elaborated on the study of "Yelu Chucai and Buddhism". Mr. Ga Zanga, researcher of the Institute of World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, gave an overview of "One or Two Things in the Life of the Yuan Dynasty Imperial Teacher Bashi Ba". Uligi Bayar, a professor at the School of Minority Languages and Literature, Central University for Nationalities, gave his reflections on A Peek into the Yuan Court's Interaction with Tibetan Buddhist Monks. Shigenori Fukushima, a researcher at the Institute of True Fatherhood Studies at Japan's Otani University, gave his views on "On the Policy of Yuan Shizuizu Kublai's Respect for Religion and Suppression of Zen".

In the second discussion on the theme of "Overview of Sino-Tibetan Buddhism in the Yuan Dynasty", Bamban Dorje, director of the Institute of Tibetan Studies at the Central University for Nationalities (CUNA), made a keynote speech on "A Brief Discussion of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Culture". Sun Wuhu, vice dean of the School of Philosophy and Religion of Central University for Nationalities, put forward his own views on "A Brief Examination of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Exchanges in Yuan Dadu". Mr. Jiamu Yang, researcher of the Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, spoke on the topic of "A Brief Examination of Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Exchange in Yuan Dynasty Beijing". Kai Chao provided an overview of Reflections on Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhism in Yuan Dynasty Beijing. Zhao Liming, professor of the Department of Chinese at Tsinghua University and director of the Southwest Endangered Culture Research Center at Tsinghua University, shared the results of her fieldwork with her students in rescuing and investigating endangered languages in the article "The Influence of Buddhism in Sichuan and Yunnan from Sichuan Mongol", which aroused the high interest and enthusiasm of the experts and scholars in the audience.

In the third session, "Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Rituals in the Yuan Dynasty," Shen Weirong, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University, talked about "Rescuing History from "Great Joy" and "Sorting Out the Soul". Saving History from "Great Joy" and "Sorting"," a discussion of the importance of the study of Buddhist "philology". An Haiyan, an associate professor at the Institute of Qing History, Renmin University of China, made an examination of "Qing <court yoga>, Western Xia's "dao guo qi lun", and the Yuan dynasty's "xing sorting method". Compared with the first two studies focusing on court Buddhist rituals, Prof. Chen Nan of the School of History and Culture of the Central University for Nationalities made a speech on "Miscellaneous Examination of the Buddhist Rituals of the Great White Umbrella Cover of the Yuan Dynasty", which examined the development of Buddhist rituals in the folklore. Yin Bangzhi, a researcher at the editorial office of the Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities, expressed his views from the perspective of "Great Perfection and Zen".

In the fourth session of the symposium, titled "Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Art in the Yuan Dynasty", Prof. Suoluoning, professor of the Institute of Western History and Language, School of National Studies, Renmin University of China, presented an overview of "Xixia <Sui Yuanji> and the problem of the transmission of Chinese Buddhism in Xixia". For his part, Xie Jisheng, director of the Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Art Research Center at Zhejiang University and a researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, presented A Re-Examination of the Source of the Cliff Carvings of the Multi-Body Six Character Truths Seen in Beijing. Liu Xiao, vice president of the Chinese Yuan History Research Association and researcher at the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, gave an overview of Li Chengxiu<Binwanglu>s Yanjing Jianfu Temple--And Mu'an Shiyiying and Ne'an Daoqian. Liu Jun, deputy director of the Beijing Yonghegong Management Office, made a statement on "Liu Yuan's Contribution to the Development and Prosperity of the Art of Buddhist Statuary in the Yuan Dynasty".

"The window contains a thousand autumn snows on the West Ridge, and the door is moored to a ten-thousand-mile boat on the Back Sea." More than 700 years ago, Shichahai flourished because of the Yuan Dynasty's canal transportation, and thereafter there were four times of prosperity.700 years later, various scholars have been arguing, from various perspectives on the development of Sino-Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty and the characteristics of the development of their own scrutiny and reflection, in the 700-year interval of the time and space of the historical dialogues......

Original and final, to see the prosperity of the decline, the forward march

"To this day, we need to carry out in-depth research on the spread of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty, exchanges and mutual influence, as well as play an important role in the study, and to fully excavate this valuable historical wealth, and to apply it to the cause of socialism and the unity of all nationalities at the present time. " The president of the Beijing Municipal Buddhist Association, the abbot of the Yonghe Palace, Grand Lama Hu Xuefeng, said that the convening of this symposium will not only expand the field of academic research on Buddhism in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty, but will also play a positive role in promoting the comprehensive study of the entire Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism.

"I hope that the participating guests can fully present their latest discoveries to further enrich the research results of Yuan Dynasty Buddhism, and can take this as an opportunity to promote mutual reference and learning through the exchange and interaction between Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism, so as to infuse new vitality into the doctrines and studies of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism, and open up new horizons, so as to bring the development of Buddhism in China to a new level. " President Hu Xuefeng said.

Vice President of Beijing Buddhist Association, Executive Vice President of Beijing Buddhist Cultural Research Institute, Abbot of Guanghua Temple, Monk Yixue said, "Beijing, as the national capital during the Yuan Dynasty, was not only the political and cultural center at that time, but also the center of Buddhism, and many Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian and Mongolian monks were active in the Yuan capital at that time, and their activities not only contributed to the development of Buddhism, but also to the national unification, national integration and the development of Buddhism. Their activities not only played a role in promoting the development of Buddhism, but also made a significant contribution to national unity, national integration and cultural prosperity. To this day, the study of Sino-Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty still appears to be very important, and through the sorting out and study of history, it can provide us with a certain reflection and reference significance for our future development."

"We should adhere to the tenet of 'examining the end of the original, seeing the prosperity and observing the decline,' and grasping the future in familiar or unfamiliar landscapes." As Monk Yixue said, the study of history bears the mission of "investigating the interstices between heaven and mankind, and understanding the changes of the past and the present". Emphasizing history, researching history, and learning from history can bring mankind the wisdom to understand yesterday, grasp today, and create tomorrow. This symposium is undoubtedly a forward-looking and solid step on the road of excavating the historical treasures of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty!