"Leaning on the Heavens" Bright Top Ming Sect
The leader of the Fengyang branch altar in the "Book of the Slaughter of the Dragon in the Heavens" is Zhu Yuanzhang, so most people think that Zhu Yuanzhang is a Ming Sect. The question of which religion Zhu Yuanzhang came from is a big issue debated by historians, and Mr. Wu Han, an expert in Ming history, published an article entitled "MingJiao and the Ming Empire" in 1941, arguing that Zhu Yuanzhang and the Ming Dynasty were both from the Ming Sect (Manichaeism). There is also the view that Zhu Yuanzhang was born in the White Lotus Sect. However, with the deepening of research, we find that the name of the Ming Dynasty is the same as that of the Yuan Dynasty, which comes from the "I Ching", and the words "Daming" and "Dayuan" are inherited.
First, the name of the Ming Dynasty comes from the Ming Sect and the White Sect?
Mr. Wu Han published "MingJiao and the Ming Empire" in 1941, the core idea of which is that the name of the Ming Dynasty comes from the Ming Sect, and the so-called "founding of the country because of the Ming Religion, so the Ming Is the name of the country". Han Shantong and Lin Er's father and son are titled "Ming Wang", and the word "Ming Wang" comes from the "Ming King's Birth Classic", which is a classic of Ming Sect, so Zhu Yuanzhang must be related to Ming Sect, and the Ming Dynasty state name also comes from Ming Sect. After that, Mr. Wu's masterpiece "Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" further stated that Zhu Yuanzhang's generals were all Ming Believers.
This view has been highly supported in the field of historiography.
The Ming Dynasty Sacred Fire Order
Mr. Tang Changru, who has studied the history of the Sui, Tang, And Liao dynasties, supplemented this doctrine: Mingjiao is Manichaeism from Persia, but in the Song Dynasty, Manichaeism and Maitreya beliefs were related, and Han Shantong's maitreya reincarnation originated here. The "Ming" of the Ming Dynasty is the "Ming" of the Manichaean "Ming Envoy".
Professor Yang Ne, an expert in yuan history and former deputy director of the National Map, believes that Zhu Yuanzhang is a White Lotus Sect. In the past, it was also believed that white lotus religion integrated many religions such as Ming religion and Baiyun sect, but Yang Ne refuted it, believing that although there are many similarities between white lotus religion and Ming religion, Ming religion is the officially recognized religion of the Yuan Dynasty, and the god believed is Manichae; while white lotus religion is a folk secret religion, and the god believed is Maitreya. On the basis of the independence of Ming and Bai, Professor Yang pointed out that the slogan of the rebel army at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, "Born of the Ming King", came from the Great Amitabha Buddhist Sutra (the Pure Land Sect classic of the Buddhist family, which is also listed as a classic of the White Lotus Sect), and the Ming King refers to Maitreya, "the light of the Buddha", "the light of the Buddha", "the light of the world is always bright", so the ming dynasty name comes from here, and Zhu Yuanzhang is naturally a White Lotus Sect.
The White Lotus Sect in "Huang Feihong"
Second, the development trajectory of Ming And White Lotus Religion
Historically, it is generally believed that in the 6th and 7th centuries, manichaeism of the Shanshan dynasty had spread to the Xinjiang region of the mainland, and in 768, Manichaean churches had appeared in the interior of Jianghuai. When Emperor Wuzong destroyed Buddhism and Manichaeism was also the target of attack, Manichaeism shifted from open to secret association. The main doctrine of Manichaeism is that the gods of light and darkness fight each other, and believers believe that as long as they endure disasters, the light will surely come, so they are renamed "Ming Religion". Many uprisings in the Southern Song Dynasty were under this banner, the most famous of which was Fang La. Therefore, the Ming Sect itself has a strong sense of resistance and struggle.
Fang La
In 1133, the Jiangsu monk Mao Ziyuan founded the White Lotus Confession Hall, which is considered to be the starting point of the White Lotus Sect. The White Lotus Sect also took Jiangsu as its base and developed towards the Two Lakes, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Shandong. In 1325, a large-scale uprising broke out in the Yuan Dynasty, and the White Lotus Sect became one of the anti-Yuan banners. As mentioned earlier, the Great Amitabha Sutra is a classic of the White Lotus Sect that hypes up the Maitreya faith. Looking at the Han Santong uprising, what he preached was "Maitreya reincarnation." Moreover, most ming and qing history books refer to the Red Turban Uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty as the "White Lotus Sect Uprising".
In this way, no matter which religion, it must be closely related to the uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and it seems natural that Zhu Yuanzhang, in order to inherit the revolutionary tradition and commemorate the revolutionary years, take the important viewpoint of these religions as the national name.
Zhu Yuanzhang
Third, the above views are flawed
Wang Jianchuan, a famous doctor of folklore and religious studies in Taiwan Province, believes that the "Sutra of the Birth of the Great and Small Ming Kings" is not a Ming classic at all. As we all know, the "Records of Taizu" records that in the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang issued three orders and five shens, strictly prohibiting the Ming Sect and the White Lotus Sect. Will Zhu Yuanzhang still choose one of the two teachings as the name of the country?
As early as the twenty-sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1366), Zhu Yuanzhang had already listed the White Lotus Sect as a heretic and a forbidden religion, and openly denied the existence of maitreya Buddha's reincarnation, saying in a text that recruited Zhang Shicheng that year that "the little people mistakenly believe in the magic of the demon, do not understand the delusion of their words, and believe that Maitreya really has" and "the evil words are deeds... Poison the creatures". Zhang Shicheng's base was in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which was the base camp of the White Lotus Sect, and Zhu Yuanzhang's edict fiercely ridiculed the White Lotus Sect. So will his Hongwu Founding Edict upgrade the important words of cults that have been banned to the name of the country?
White Lotus Sect
Moreover, it is impossible to remember the revolutionary years. Judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's killing of Han Lin'er, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to try his best to get rid of his relationship with the Han family regime. Moreover, the powerful revolutionary nature of the Ming Sect made Zhu Yuanzhang often wonder whether there would be new Ming Sects who wanted to subvert their rule like the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, the Ming Sect has become a forbidden religion, and there are even views that the Ming Sect and the national name are in conflict, so they are banned.
The fourth and fifth virtues are always depressed
When it comes to national fortunes and orthodoxy, everyone generally thinks of the five virtues and always speaks. The life attribute of each dynasty is one of the five elements, and as long as the attributes of the latter dynasty are correct, it is a continuation of the legitimacy of the previous dynasty. "Lü's Spring and Autumn" says: Xia, color Shangqing, wood life; Shang, color Shangbai, golden life, so take xia and replace it; Zhou, color shang chi, fire life, so take shang and replace it. In the Han Dynasty, it evolved into the five virtues, that is, the attributes of the descendants of the dynasty were bred from the previous dynasties, and the descendants of the previous generations were born, rather than the descendants of the previous generations. For example, the Sui Dynasty was huode, and fire was born of earth, so the tang dynasty was lucky for Tude; native gold, so Hou Liang was Jinde. The specific establishment of the middle is different due to political factors, but the pattern is probably the same.
The five virtues always speak on behalf of Zou Yan
When the Five Virtues were liquidated in the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu was the first to attack, he replaced the Five Elements Dynasty with monarchical morality, and in the Zhu Xi era, he thoroughly criticized the Five Virtues and replaced them with science. Therefore, the Yuan Dynasty no longer sought the five elements of the dynasty, but used a good national name to show orthodoxy.
The official name of the Yuan Dynasty was "Da Yuan", from the "I Ching, Qiangua And Yan Biography" "DaZha Qianyuan", this name was not promulgated until the eighth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1271), the state name of the year was to the effect that the first clear and good national name is the tradition of the ancient saint kings, which is where the "Great Righteousness" lies. He then criticized the Qin, Han, Tang, and Song dynasties for deviating from the scriptures, "because of the name of the place that arose at the beginning" and "that is, the first title of the lord". Now Dayuan represents Yao Shun orthodoxy, "righteousness and name", so that the Dayuan regime has obtained the Mandate of Heaven and Orthodoxy of the Central Plains.
Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty
Fifth, inherit the legitimacy of the Yuan Dynasty
Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang's era now, we can be sure that by the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Five Virtues have always been completely depressed, and Zhu Yuanzhang's great Confucians Song Lian and Liu Bowen have treasured Zhu Xi's orthodox theory, so they will certainly not take out Zhu Zi's critical doctrine to build the mandate of the new dynasty.
Liu Bowen
Therefore, in order to construct the mandate of heaven and orthodoxy of the new dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang adopted the retro approach of the Yuan Dynasty. In general, it is believed that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to expel Hu Yu and inherit the Tang and Song Dynasties, but in fact many of the systems of the Ming Dynasty came directly from the Yuan Dynasty, and there was no intersection with the Tang and Song Dynasties. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty did a great thing that advertised the former Dynasty as orthodox- revising the "History of the Yuan", which was a special honor that only the orthodox dynasty deserved. In the sixth year of Hongwu (1373), Zhu Yuanzhang included the ancestors of the Yuan Dynasty in the temples of the emperors, which also proves the Recognition of yuan legitimacy by the Ming Dynasty.
From the perspective of territory, the Ming Dynasty directly inherited the land of the Yuan Dynasty in the Great Southwest, Tibet, and great northwest, which were not part of the Song Dynasty in the Song Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty really flaunts the inheritance of the Song Dynasty, then the legitimacy of these places can be in question, so the Ming Dynasty will definitely not find trouble for itself.
Zhu Yuanzhang
Similarly, although the versions of the Founding Edict of the Ming Dynasty are different, they are roughly the same in terms of orthodoxy, saying that "the Song Dynasty ends" and "the emperor (Emperor Heavenly God) ordered the real people to be in the desert and enter China as the lord of the world", which is a straightforward statement of the legitimacy of the Yuan Dynasty. Only by acknowledging the legitimacy of the Yuan Dynasty can we lay the foundation for the new dynasty to inherit its legitimacy.
Since the Ming Dynasty inherited the orthodoxy of the Great Yuan, where did its national name come from? There is a saying in the "Qiangua Yan Biography" that "the Great Ming begins, and the six are timely." Time multiplied by the six dragons to the heavens", this is the second sentence of the "Qiangua Yan Biography", followed by "Dazai Qianyuan". So named, it can be said to show orthodoxy!
Wen Shijun said
In this way, we have basically clarified that the Name of the Great Ming Dynasty has nothing to do with religions such as the White Lotus Sect and the Ming Sect. Although Zhu Yuanzhang resisted the Yuan, but the political system and territory of Daming inherited the Great Yuan, and correspondingly its legitimacy was also inherited from the Great Yuan, and the name of the "Daming" country came from the Confucian classic "I Ching" as well as the "Great Yuan", which should be very reasonable.
bibliography
Du Hongtao, "The Ming Dynasty's National Name And Orthodox Meaning", Shi Lin, No. 2, 2014.
Zhu Jun, "The Birth Slogan of the Ming Dynasty and the Examination of the Ming Dynasty", Qinghai Journal of Social Sciences, No. 4, 2015.
Liu Yongsi, "The Relationship between The Ming Sect and the Great Ming Dynasty: An Attempt to Divide the White Lotus Rebellion and the Belief of the Ming King at the End of the Yuan Dynasty", World Religions and Cultures, No. 2, 2020.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Purple Orange)
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