In 842 AD, Emperor Wuzong of Tang launched the "Campaign to Destroy Buddhism", confiscated more than 4,600 monasteries, melted and cast those gold, silver and bronze Buddha statues into currency, collected them into the national treasury, and solved the financial crisis! In addition, 265,000 monks and nuns have returned to secular life and become taxpayers again; 150,000 monastic slaves have changed their identities and become ordinary people.
In Chinese history, buddhist temple property was often plundered to solve financial problems.
During the reign of Emperor Wuzong of Tang, the state's tax revenue had been drastically reduced, and from Henan Province to the Huai River area, there were poor and famine wanderers everywhere!
The crisis hung over the entire country, and in order to deal with the crisis, the emperor needed to open up new sources of finance.
At that time, the buddhist temple accumulated a huge amount of social wealth, and had the privilege of not paying taxes, and also enjoyed countless incense sticks. Many nobles and large landowners saw the monastery as an investment in fixed assets.
On the one hand, the country was poor, on the other hand, the Buddhist temple was luxurious, and under the fierce conflict between rich and poor, Tang Wuzong announced the "campaign to destroy Buddhism", and Wuzong used harsh language in his anti-Buddhist edict to describe the anti-Buddhist movement as an effort to eliminate Buddhist pests and eradicate evil spirits.
This vigorous movement destroyed more than 40,000 religious buildings of various types, countless scriptures and other precious religious objects.
It was not until 847 that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang terminated the "Extinction of Buddhism" campaign and allowed the buddhist temple to remain open. #History##唐朝 #
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