Why is Buddhism keen on building Buddha statues, while Taoism is rare?

Buddhism's tradition of making large-scale Buddha statues originated around 127 AD. With the reform of Buddhism during Guishuang Empire, Buddhism had the idea of making statues, and then King Guishuang promoted Buddhism to the Central Plains, which has been preserved to this day. Taoism pursues purity and inaction, does not engage in personal worship, and basically has no habit of making statues.

1. Buddhism absorbed the ancient Greek culture and began to worship idols, and then made statues.

Buddhism is a religion born in Nepal. It was founded by Gautama of the Sakya nationality. Siddhartha (Sakyamuni) was founded. At first, Buddhism advocated personal spiritual practice, exploring the true meaning of life and discovering the truth of the world in order to get rid of it.

primitive Buddhism did not encourage believers to build huge statues, and Sakyamuni himself did not support idolatry. However, with the changes of the times and the development of Buddhism, the concept of Buddhism began to change and divide, especially the rise of Guishuang Empire, which made great changes in Buddhism as a whole. Mahayana Buddhism absorbed the idol worship of ancient Greece and carved the Buddha into a huge statue and worshipped it.

Guishuang Empire belonged to one of the four great powers in Asia and Europe at that time, and the other three countries were the Han Dynasty, the Roman Empire and the Rest Empire. The king of Guishuang Empire, Ganeshega, did not dare to be hard on the strong Han Dynasty, but instead pushed Buddhism into the Central Plains. This statue was also touted by Mahayana Buddhism as? Accumulate virtue and do good? The great good thing has attracted many believers to run out of money for it and enjoy it.

Buddhism, which was just introduced into the Central Plains, was not welcomed and valued. The first heyday of Buddhism in China was the troubled times of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Suffer in this life and enjoy in the afterlife? Its concept has attracted many believers who suffer at the bottom, and its brilliant and colorful art has also been favored by literati and nobles. Persuade people to be patient and bear it? In this way, Buddhism has become a very prosperous religion in China, and huge believers also have material and financial resources to support the construction of huge statues.

2. Taoism pays attention to self-cultivation, and is not interfered by foreign cultures. It does not advocate sculpture.

Taoism was born in the Shu-Han region at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was a religion founded by Zhang Daoling, a descendant of Zhang Liang. Guided by the Taoist thought in the Spring and Autumn Period, Taoism integrated various small folk monastic groups, added elements such as cultivating immortals and alchemy, and regarded Lao Zi as the ancestor.

The original Taoism was to help the people in troubled times, to crack down on the lawless people at that time, and to cure diseases and dispel disasters for people nearby. Therefore, Taoism was widely praised and began to spread rapidly. Gradually, it became a branch of Quanzhen Taoism, Lingbao Taoism, Qingwei Taoism and many other factions.

Looking at all branches and schools of Taoism, their basic beliefs are the same. Most of them uphold the core concept of purity and inaction, pay attention to conforming to nature, and will not go to great pains to build huge statues, let alone support believers to make statues. This is nothing. Merit? It can be said that it is not helpful for personal inner practice, and believers will not do these thankless things.

Even at the peak of Taoism, when Taoism was the state religion in the Tang Dynasty and the whole country believed in it, not many statues were made during this period. Later generations of Ming Chengzu took Zhenwu Emperor as the banner, successfully gained the throne, and vigorously supported Wudang Mountain and Zhenwu Emperor, but only repaired the Taoist temple, and did not focus on the matter of sculpture. It can be seen that sculpture is not an important matter for Taoism.

And the vitality of Taoism has always been tenacious. It is closely combined with the Chinese nation. You have me and I have you. Taoism retains many ancient folk customs, and many folk customs are also influenced by Taoism. Foreign culture cannot shake the foundation of Taoism, so it will not let Taoism change its original intention and turn to large-scale statues.

3. Taoism and Buddhism are both traditional religions, so we should treat the statue objectively.

Although Buddhism is a foreign religion, it has become one of the important religions in people's minds after the localization transformation in 2, and it has also made certain contributions to the culture, ideology and art of the Chinese nation. As long as we treat the statue objectively, it is also a good thing to discover its connotation and artistic beauty.

Of course, many modern statues, regardless of Buddhism and Confucianism, are commercial activities and have little to do with religion. Those giant statues built for the purpose of collecting money and cheating are just a waste of money. They can't bless people, but will fall into formalism and even a symbol of evil.

To put it bluntly, a giant idol is idolatry. Not only is it a Buddha, but all kinds of great men who have contributed to human beings and society will also enjoy it? Build a statue and make a biography? The honor is remembered by the world and praised by future generations. In the final analysis, it depends on whether he is worthy of being worshipped.