Why can't monks in China drink and eat meat?

Buddhism has a far-reaching influence all over the world, especially in Asia. But at present, only monks and nuns of Han Buddhism in China are forbidden to eat meat, and Buddhist monks in other areas do not have this taboo. For example, Japanese monks can eat wine and meat, Southern Buddhism monks can also eat meat, and Tibetan Buddhism can't help eating meat.

Then why are only monks not allowed to eat meat in China? This is related to an emperor more than 500 years ago. He is Xiao Yan, the ancestor of Nanliang, known as "Emperor Bodhisattva".

After the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty, China was divided between the north and the south, and the north was plunged into chaos in five lakes and sixteen countries, and was later unified by the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the south, changes have taken place in the Eastern Jin, Liu Song and Chao Dynasties. The Eastern Jin Dynasty was usurped by the powerful minister Liu Yu, and Liu Song was usurped by the powerful minister Xiao Daocheng. On the other hand, Xiao Yan took advantage of the national unrest in Xiao Qi to launch a rebellion, thus successfully ascended the throne.

Therefore, after Xiao Yan acceded to the throne, he faced the situation that the Northern Wei regime was eyeing up, while the southern region was usurped many times, the basic social order disappeared, the basic Confucian orthodoxy and morality were lost, and the basic social morality declined. In the southern region, as long as they have certain power or military power, they are all seeking opportunities to usurp the throne, and the loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness advocated by the autocratic imperial society have long been abandoned.

In order to rebuild social order and maintain the long-term stability of the country, Xiao Yan strongly advocated Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in social life and ideological and cultural fields.

Confucianism advocated by Xiao Yan is mainly used to regulate people's behavior. He vigorously set up Confucian educational institutions, cracked down on aristocratic forces, opened an upward channel for the children of poor families, and then promoted various Confucian norms and etiquette, so that Confucianism such as loyalty, filial piety and righteousness was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

In the religious field, Xiao Yan strongly advocated worshipping Buddhism. It must be pointed out that Xiao Yan's worship of Buddhism has its own beliefs and realistic political considerations. The Southern and Northern Dynasties were in troubled times, the country was in turmoil, the people's lives were in dire straits, and their spirits were nowhere to be pinned. Buddhism has a great comforting effect on people's hearts, so at that time, regardless of the south or the north, Buddhist belief was extremely popular among ordinary people. In order to win the hearts of the people, the Northern Wei Dynasty vigorously promoted Buddhism. As a competitor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Nanliang regime also began to vigorously advocate Buddhism in order to win the support of the people.

Xiao Yan's admiration for Buddhism is unmatched by monarchs of past dynasties. He elevated Buddhism to the state religion. At the beginning of his reign, he built two temples in the name of his parents-Daaijing Temple and Dazhidu Temple. Later, during his career as emperor, ZSZSZSZ became a monk four times. At the same time, under his rule, Nanliang began to build temples, the so-called "480 temples in the Southern Dynasties", most of which were built during the reign of Liang Wudi.

Xiao Yan not only promoted Buddhism, but also studied Buddhist theory and compiled books on Buddhist theory. He not only preached Buddhist scriptures in public, but also wrote "Awarding Bodhisattva precepts at home", and was called the Emperor and Bodhisattva. Also under the impetus of Xiao Yan, the monks gave up meat and fish.

Originally, Buddhism only prohibited monks from killing. As long as he didn't kill himself, the meat wouldn't give up, and Sakyamuni couldn't help eating it himself. However, after studying a lot of Mahayana Buddhist classics, Liang Wudi Xiao Yan came to the conclusion that monks must ban alcohol and meat. He personally wrote the article "Breaking Wine and Meat", and discussed the reasons why monks banned wine and meat.

He believes that if monks can't help eating meat, they will be compared with heretics by evil spirits, and they will not be able to achieve first-class Buddhism; Even laymen who practice at home are not as good as them and cannot lead Buddhists; There will be obstacles in practice, planting evil causes and getting bad consequences.

Xiao Yan also issued the "imperial edict to kill ancestral temples for sacrifice". Even the traditional ancestral temple sacrifices prohibit the use of animals such as pigs, cattle and sheep, and only vegetarian sacrifices can be used.

In order to promote the vegetarianism of monks, Xiao Yan himself only eats vegetarian food. In his later years, he even ate only one meal a day, and often a simple meal was just one meal.

Under the strong impetus of the emperor, Nanliang monks all over the country began to ban alcohol, meat and vegetarianism. Later, despite the subjugation of Nanliang, the vegetarian tradition of Han Buddhism began, so that all Han Buddhist monks in China eat vegetarian food today.