#云游风物之旅 #
Text: Deadwood
The eighth day of April is the folk tradition of bathing the Buddha, and legend has it that this day is the birthday of Buddha Shakyamuni, so every year Buddha's birthday becomes one of the most important festivals in Buddhism. Buddhist temples chant on this day, and dip various spices in water to wash the Buddha statues to commemorate it, so it is also known as the "Bathing Buddha Festival".
However, the records and origins of the Buddha's birthday and the Buddha bathing festival are slightly different in ancient times. This is because although Buddhism originated in the Western Regions, it shined in China. Moreover, the birthplace of the Buddha has long been in decline or even extinct due to the influence of other cultures. And the scriptures that I took from the Western Regions have undergone the changes of the times and copied by hand, and most of the original copies have been annihilated. Coupled with the difference between southern and northern Buddhism, there are different versions and many translations. Therefore, although the Buddhist scriptures are roughly the same, it is inevitable that there will be discrepancies in the details, which will cause future debate.
Take the birth of the Buddha, there are as many as 60 theories, and there are three mainstream theories, which are briefly discussed in the author's previous work "Talking about the Buddha on the Birthday of the Eight Buddhas in the First Month of April". The author prefers the third, that is, Shakyamuni was born in 565 BC and died in 486 BC, and interested friends can extend reading and discussion.
There are also many theories about Buddha's birthday. As far as Buddhist scriptures are concerned, although many are clearly recorded, there are discrepancies between different scriptures. Generally, there are two main theories, one is the "Chang Ah Han Sutra", "Past and Present Cause and Effect Sutra", "Buddha Ben Xing Sutra", "Sabha Dobini Vishvasa Sutra", etc. recorded as the eighth day of the first month of February; One is that the "Meditation Book Beginning Sutra", "Prince Rui Ying Book Beginning Sutra", "Different Bodhisattva Book Beginning Sutra", "Buddha's Practice" and so on are recorded as the 8th day of the first month of April, and below we will give a few examples of scripture records.
In the volume of the "Cultivation Book of Origin and Bodhisattva Descendation Goods II" translated by the monks Zhu Dali and Kang Mengxian at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is recorded that the Buddha's birthday is April 8. There is a slight contradiction in the original text, and the above text is: So Nengren Bodhisattva, take the white elephant, come to the mother's womb, and use the eighth day of April." The following is true: "By the 7th of April, Madame is on a trip. Under the trees of the displaced people, the flowers bloomed. When the star came out, Madame climbed a tree branch and fell from the right side. Take the seven steps and raise your hand and say, 'Heaven and the world, only I am honored; All three worlds are suffering, and I should be at peace. However, it is understandable that the Buddha's birth was on the eighth day of the fourth month.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the Wu monk Zhi Qian's translation of the "Crown Prince Ruiying Ben Qi Sutra on the Scroll" has the following: "By the night of April 8, when the star came out, he was born from the right and fell to the ground. Raise your right hand and dwell and say, 'Heaven and the world, only I am honored; All three worlds are suffering, what a cola. 'It is the time when the heavens and the earth move, and the palace is clear. Brahma Shishi God Heaven is all sent down to the air. The Four Heavenly Kings took over the gold machine, bathed the prince with heavenly fragrant soup. The body is golden, with thirty-two phases, and the light is shining. This is the earliest account of the Buddha's birthday and why he bathed in the Buddha, which is the eighth day of the first month of April.
However, in the "Parade Sutra 2-3" article of the Chang'a Han Sutra Volume 4 translated by the Later Qin Buddha Yeshe and Zhu Buddha Nian of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, when discussing the question of "when the Buddha was born", it was recorded as follows: "The eighth day is like the next life" and "February is like the next life", so the Buddha's birthday is the eighth day of the first month of February. The Past, Present, Cause and Effect Sutra, Book 1, translated by the Tianzhu monk Qiu Navardala during the Liu and Song dynasties of the Southern and Northern Dynasties: "At the beginning of the sun on February 8, Madame saw that there was a big tree in the garden, and the name was worry-free. The flowers are fragrant and fragrant, and the branches and leaves are distributed and extremely luxuriant. That is, raising his right hand and wanting to take it, the bodhisattva gradually came out from the right. Under the tree of time, there are also seven treasures and seven-stemmed lotus flowers, as big as a wheel, and even if the bodhisattva falls on the lotus, there is no helper, and he takes seven steps on his own. Raise his right hand and the master roars, 'I am the most honorable and victorious among all heavenly beings, immeasurable life and death.' In this life, it will benefit all people's days'". In addition, it is also recorded in the Buddha Scriptures Book 7 and Sabhava Dobini Vishvasa Book 2.
In addition to the above two statements, there are other statements. For example, Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty recorded in the article "Legend of Shakya when he was a prince" in the "Travels of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty, Volume 6 Robbery of Birova Blockage Country": "Its side essence house is the mother's womb where Shakya Bodhisattva descended, and there is an image of the bodhisattva séance." The Theravada Bodhisattva descended from the mother and womb on the 30th day of the 15th day of the month of the Shandhara (the fourth month of the twelfth month of the ancient Indian calendar, equivalent to the 16th month of April to the 15th of May of the mainland lunar calendar), which is the 15th day of May; The tribes descended to the mother and womb on the night of the 23rd of this month, and on the 8th of May. "It seems that we in China, in the Western Regions, where Buddhism was relatively prosperous at that time, and in the birthplace, still have different understandings of Buddha's birthday.
Due to the different routes and versions of Buddhist scriptures, and the long-term north-south confrontation between the mainland during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there are differences in the cognition of Buddha's birthday and bathing Buddha festival. At that time, it was roughly the 8th day of April in the northern dynasty and the 8th day of February in the southern dynasty. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Buddha's birthday and the Buddha bathing festival gradually became the eighth day of the first month of April, although there are also different records.
In the Song Dynasty, the north and south faced each other, and there were differences about the Buddha's birthday. The Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty followed the 8th day of the first month of April as the Bathing Buddha Festival, such as the Northern Song Dynasty Shi Tanhua's "Sixty Songs of Odes" has: "On the birthday of the Eighth Buddha in the first month of April, the jungle of the world bathes the Buddha", the scripture scholar Hu Hong's "The 8th of April shows the Chengzhao Master" has: "How is the bathing Buddha in the present day, and the pure heart field is also washed", and the Northern Song Dynasty Meng Yuan's "Tokyo Menghualu" recorded: "On the birthday of the Buddha on the 8th of April, each of the ten major Zen monasteries has a bathing Buddha fasting meeting, and the decoction medicine and sugar water are lost, known as bathing Buddha water." Yuan Shuoyou, the governor of the Southern Song Dynasty, said that you "Bathing Buddha Meeting on the 8th of April of Cigan Temple", and Lu You's "Two Songs of Youqi" has: "The rain is big and the leaves are large, and the demeanor is fragrant with neem flowers." Bathing Buddha children are happy, silk reeling women are busy", which shows that the Song Dynasty basically bathed the Buddha on the eighth day of the first month of April.
The northern Liao state is different, which is clearly stipulated as the 8th day of the first month of February. In the "History of Liao, Zhi Volume 23, Rites VI", there is: "February 8 is the birthday of Prince Siddha, the capital and the prefectures are carved with wood as statues, and the ceremonial guard is guided by a hundred plays, and the city is happy." Prince Siddhartha, Prince of the Western Regions, surnamed Qu Tan, given name Shakyamuni. Because of its awareness, it is called Buddha. Of course, there is also the eighth day of the first month of La Lunar (La Ba Festival) as the Bathing Buddha Festival, such as the "Nangezi Huangzhou La Ba Day Drinking Huaimin Small Pavilion" created by Su Shi of the Northern Song Dynasty in Huangzhou (now Huanggang City, Hubei) has: "Bake and burn incense pavilion, light cold bath Buddha day", although it does not say that the first 8th day of December is the Buddha's birthday, but the day is the Huangzhou Buddha Bathing Festival.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the territory was unified, and the festival of bathing Buddha was stipulated in the form of edicts. This is recorded in the "Birthday of the Buddha" article in the second volume of the "Emperor Shun Baizhang Qinggui" in the second volume of the "Emperor Shun Baizhang Qinggui", which reads: "The Buddha was satisfied with his deeds and deeds, and was born on the 8th day of April in the 26th year of King Zhou Zhao's reign." At the same time, it is stated that the eighth day of the first month of February is the day of Buddha's enlightenment: "When the star comes out on the eighth day of February, he suddenly realizes." And the ritual of bathing the Buddha is stipulated: "On the solstice (April 8th), Kusi strictly set up a flower pavilion, placed the Buddha's birth statue in the center, and placed it in a fragrant soup pot, and installed two small dippers." Buddha Mae Chen's offering..."
Since the Yuan Dynasty, successive dynasties have continued to use April 8 as the Buddha's birthday and the Buddha bathing festival. However, it is worth noting that in Southern Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, the full moon day of the fifth month of the Gregorian calendar (equivalent to the fifteenth day of the lunar month in the mainland calendar) is regarded as the birthday of the Buddha, and at the third general meeting of the "World Buddhist Friendship Association" held in Yangon, Myanmar in 1954, this day was designated as "World Buddha Day". The reason for this is probably that Tang Xuanzang's "Travels in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" records that Theravada (Southern Buddhism) believed that the bodhisattva was born on May 15, but its calendar was lost, so the Gregorian calendar had to be used.
Despite the regulations of the World Buddhist Congress, Buddhist temples on the mainland still observe the 8th day of the first month of April as the Buddha's birthday and the Buddha bathing festival. Of course, in order to reflect the solemnity and consistency of Buddhism, since 1990, major monasteries on the mainland have added the full day of the fifth month of the Gregorian calendar as the auspicious day of the Buddha. The above are the ancient scriptures and historical evolution of the Buddha's birthday and the Buddha bathing festival.
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May 26, 2023 Elm Wood Zhai
Bibliography:
"The Cultivation Book of Origin and Bodhisattva Descending Goods II" was translated by Zhu Dali and Kang Mengxian at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty
"Prince Rui Ying Ben Qi Jing Scroll Shang" Three Kingdoms period (Wu State) Zhi Qian translation
"Chang'a Han Sutra Volume 4" was translated by the Buddha Yeshe and Zhu Buddha of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (Later Qin).
The Past and Present Karma Sutra, Volume 1, Southern and Northern Dynasties (Liu Song) asked for Navardhara translation
"Travels in the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty" by Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty
"Tokyo Menghualu" by Meng Yuanlao of the Northern Song Dynasty
"Liao Shi Zhi Volume 23 Etiquette VI" was edited by Yuan Dynasty Shi Shi and others
"Edict Repair Hundred Zhangqing Rules" Yuan Dynasty Fengyuan Shun Emperor edict rebuilt