From the basic teachings of Buddhism, it is not unsurprising that the monarch claims to be Maitreya. One of the most basic considerations is the Buddhist description of the ideal secular monarch, primarily the Wheel King. Moreover, the relationship between the wheel king and Maitreya (Buddha) is a corresponding relationship. The Wheel King is the Buddha's counterpart in the secular world. The Buddha is the supreme ruler of the spiritual world, and the chakra king is the supreme ruler of the secular world. So it's very puzzling, why would Wu Zetian claim to be Maitreya himself?
*The article is excerpted from "Eighteen Lectures on Buddhist Culture" (by Sun Yinggang, Joint Publishing Co., Ltd., 2024-2)
The Tang Dynasty doorway of the Yingtianmen site
Is Wu Zetian preaching that he is Maitreya in his next life?
Text | Sun Yinggang
As the only female emperor in Chinese history, Wu Zetian has stirred up brilliant waves in the long river of history, not only because of her gender, but perhaps more because of her use of Buddhism as a religious and political ideology. The rise and spread of Buddhism in the Asian continent is not only the export and import of faith and religion, but also the fusion and agitation of ideologies. The spread of Buddhism not only placed the spiritual world of people in the Middle Ages under the illumination of the Buddha's light, but also reshaped the connotation of royal power, reformed political discourse, innovated political etiquette, and propagated Buddhism's concept of the ideal secular monarch in addition to the local doctrine of the Son of Heaven, which is an important plot of the political world and the world of faith in the Middle Ages of China that cannot be ignored.
However, for a long time, the Buddhist view of kingship has been confined to the old theory, and many fundamental issues have not been thoroughly studied. For example, Wu Zetian and Buddhism generally follow the saying that Wu Zetian proclaims that he is the next birth of Maitreya and rules the world. But is this really the case? Did Wu Zenaively claim that he was Maitreya himself?
Wu Zetian is the next birth of Maitreya, the main evidence is the record of the "Old Tang Book", such as the "Old Tang Book: The Biography of Xue Huaiyi": "Huaiyi and Fa Ming and others made the "Great Cloud Sutra (Shu)", Chen Fu Ming, Yan Zetian is the next birth of Maitreya, as the Lord of Yan Futi, and the Tang family is micro. Therefore, the heavenly revolution is called Zhou, Huaiyi and Fa Ming and other nine people are crowned county dukes, and the gifts are different, all of them are given purple robes and silver turtle bags. Its pseudo-"Great Cloud Sutra" was issued in the world, and the temple each had a copy, so that the seat was raised to speak. ”
Perhaps one of the most important flaws in official history books such as the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty is that they have almost abandoned the traces of Buddhism on the historical stage. Although the Tang Dynasty was an era of prosperity for Buddhism, it is impossible to read this meaning when reading historical materials such as the Old Tang Book. With the exception of a very small number of unavoidable eminent monks and political monks whose image has been distorted, the role of Buddhism in either social life or political ups and downs is not the focus of the document.
From the basic teachings of Buddhism, it is not unsurprising that the monarch claims to be Maitreya. Among the previous scholars who are proficient in the history of Buddhism, Tang Changru, Yabuki Keihui, and R. Gaiso. Guisso), A. Fuandon (A. Forte) and others were quite hesitant and even suspicious of Wu Zetian's claim to be Maitreya Buddha. One of the most basic considerations is the Buddhist description of the ideal secular monarch, primarily the Wheel King. Moreover, the relationship between the wheel king and Maitreya (Buddha) is a corresponding relationship. The Wheel King is the Buddha's counterpart in the secular world. The Buddha is the supreme ruler of the spiritual world, and the chakra king is the supreme ruler of the secular world. According to the Chinese translation of Buddhist texts, the funeral of the Wheel King is the same as the funeral of the Buddha, and both can be divided into relics to build a pagoda, and the Wheel King, like the Buddha, has 32 phases. In the Middle Ages in China, the basic idea of the Buddhist concept of kingship was also the separation of church and state, rather than the integration of religious idols and secular monarchs.
Statue of Kaseksha, Matura Museum. 1.85 meters high, 2nd century AD, with an inscription in the middle of the hem of his skirt: "Great King, King of Kings, Son of Heaven, Kaseksha." This title indicates his status as a "universal ruler" and perhaps as a chakra king, the unified monarch rather than a small king who splits the regime
One of the most vivid examples of the Buddhist concept of secular monarchy is the gold coins of the Kushan period. There is no doubt about this that Kasserka is described as the king of the wheel in the Chinese translation of the Buddhist texts. The meaning of King Kaseksha as a Buddhist monarch is reflected in the coins he struck. One side of the coin depicts the monarch, generally believed to be Kasserka himself, and the other side of the coin depicts the Buddha with the inscription "Buddha". In a sense, the coin's structure has shed some light on the Buddhist view of kingship in the time of King Kaseksha, in which the monarch was the Buddha's counterpart in the secular world.
A gold coin with the image of the Buddha. On the obverse, the inscription means "King of Kings, King of Kushans, Gasserka". On the reverse side, the image of the Buddha is in the Greek style, with the dreadnought seal on the hand, and on the right is a painting of Kasekka
"One Buddha and one wheel king" is a concept that is widely spread in Buddhism. This concept was introduced to China, and it was also the dominant Buddhist monarchy theory during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties. It can also be proved from Buddhist documents, stone carvings and other records that the knowledge about the wheel king was very popular in the Tang Dynasty, from the high monks and ministers to the rural people, all understood the basic meaning of the wheel king.
Of course, some scholars have given an explanation to Gu Zhengmei, Kang Le, and others, holding that in the original concept of the wheel king, the model of "one Buddha and one wheel king" was introduced into China, and due to the influence of traditional political thought and Mahayana Buddhism, it gradually changed into the model of "the wheel king is the Buddha." Wu Zetian was the first monarch to make the best use of Buddhist resources and implement the concept of "the wheel king is the Buddha". This explanation seems to perfectly solve the theoretical dilemma of Wu Zetian's claim that he is Maitreya, but we have always doubted whether this concept of "the wheel king is the Buddha" was the Tang Dynasty itself or was constructed by scholars in the later period. In the absence of conclusive evidence, highly skilled and sharp-minded scholars can easily construct a "convincing" picture of history. But we always have to go after the most basic piece of the puzzle that constructs the historical picture. Here, the most basic piece of the puzzle is: how to prove that there was a general concept of "the wheel king is the Buddha" in the Tang Dynasty?
The author's feeling when reading historical materials is exactly the opposite. Fu Antun also made it clear that Wu Zetian's claim that Maitreya was against the concept of Buddhism, and it was impossible to deceive the monks and ministers who had studied Buddhism deeply. However, he gave an expedient explanation, pointing out that there is a duality in political propaganda, and that theories such as the "Treasure Rain Sutra" are strictly for the top to see, and specious statements are for the public to see. To explain this, let's first look at a Buddhist flag that Stein took away from the cave in Dunhuang in the 10th century. The flag numbered Stein.Ch.00114 is currently in the British Library. This banner painting consists of two parts, the upper part is the Seven Treasures of the Wheel King, and the lower part is the birth of the Buddha. It seems to be unrelated, but in fact it is a whole, describing the content of the detailed translation of the "Cultivation Book of the Beginning of the Sutra" by Sanzang Zhu Dali and Kang Meng in the Western Regions of the Later Han Dynasty, which embodies the political thought of "one Buddha and one wheel king" in Buddhism. Among the seven treasures of the banner painting, the representative of the treasure of the soldiers is a general holding a flag, and the banner is written "Zuo Yi General", perhaps because China is still in the ranking, "Zuo Yi General" means the highest general, that is, the treasure of the soldiers. The Warden Treasure holds a shield decorated with large blocks of color, similar to the style of unadorned silk banner paintings.
The banner of the Wheel King from the Dunhuang Scripture Cave
From the composition of this banner, we can judge that the idea of the Wheel King as the counterpart of the Buddha in the secular world was still prevalent in Dunhuang in the 10th century. It can be said that the explanation that Wu Zetian claimed to be the next life of Maitreya Buddha cannot be established, or at the very least, cannot be fully established. Just imagine, a Chinese monarch proclaiming that he is a Buddha is in itself a surprise to his subjects, and it is difficult to explain.
In fact, what Wu Zetian preached—or conservatively, mainly preached—was that he was the king of the wheel. Let's go back to the most important political symbol of the Wu Zhou regime and see what Wu Zetian wants to dress himself up into. The most important political symbols should include: first, the title of the monarch, second, the ritual instrument that symbolizes the authority of the monarch, third, the most important political propaganda documents, fourth, political rituals, and fifth, architectural space. Due to the limited space, only discussing the first three should be enough to prove what the author said, and in the most conservative way, Wu Zetian did not mainly proclaim that he was the next birth of Maitreya, but dressed himself up as the ideal monarch of Buddhism. This is an important aspect of the relevance of the believical, intellectual and political worlds of the Tang Dynasty, but it has been lost in the long river of history.
First, Wu Zetian's title. In the autumn and July of the second year of his longevity (693), Wu Zetian was honored with the title of "Emperor of the Golden Wheel Holy Spirit". Regarding Wu Zetian's addition of such a strange title "Golden Wheel" to himself, Ouyang Xiu and others seemed to think that it was related to the five elements of yin and yang, Tang Tude, and "the Wu Revolution thought he was the king of Jinde" ("New Tang Dynasty Book: Five Elements Chronicles"). In fact, the "Golden Wheel" is one of the seven treasures of the Wheel King, and it is the most important treasure, which is not only a weapon for the Wheel King to destroy the enemy, but also a ritual weapon to mark the identity of the Wheel King. The so-called monarch gives birth to people, cares about the throne, guards the throne, cares about the spiritual runes, and is measured by the political concept of Middle-earth, and the golden wheel is like the nine tripods and seals of the Son of Heaven in Middle-earth, which is a symbol of the sacredness of its rule. Jiuding is connected to the Mandate of Heaven, and Qibao is connected to the identity of the Wheel King, representing different political traditions. In the autumn of the first year of longevity (692), Wu Zetian was already called the "Holy Spirit Emperor", and this time it was equivalent to adding the symbol of "Golden Wheel" to the original honorific title. It should be pointed out that although Wu Zetian has changed his title many times since then, he has never removed the word "Golden Wheel", that is to say, from the second year of longevity (693) to the first year of Jiushi (700), Wu Zetian ruled the world for 7 years with the "Golden Wheel" on his head. In the folk, the influence of this title may have been more long-lasting, although Wu Zetian removed the "Golden Wheel" honorific title in 700, and until 703, the folk still called him the "Golden Wheel Holy Spirit Emperor" (such as the statue of Chang'an in the third year unearthed in Qinghe).
If it is said that the "Golden Wheel", the symbol of the Wheel King, has existed on Wu Zetian's head for seven years, how long has the title of "Cishi" (i.e., Maitreya), which is often mentioned by scholars as evidence of Maitreya's next life? In the first month of the first year of the Book of Heaven (695), Wu Zetian was called "Ci's Yuegu Golden Wheel Holy Spirit Emperor", and when it came to February Jiazi, he dismissed the "Cishi Yuegu" and only retained the title of "Golden Wheel Holy Spirit Emperor". In other words, from the first month of the first month of Xinsi to the second month of Jiazi, there were only 33 days in total! Fu Antun pointed out that it was a theoretical mistake to add both the "Ci clan" and the "golden wheel" to his head, and how could he persuade people, especially the eminent monks, to accept it? Therefore, Wu Zetian probably also realized this and quickly removed the "Ci clan." Some scholars also explain that the "Ci Clan" here may be taken from the meaning of an ordinary "loving mother" to symbolize Wu Zetian's loving mother image; some young scholars have put forward a new theory, believing that "Ci Shi" is actually a modifier of the "Golden Wheel", that is, Wu Zetian's Wheel King is the Wheel King of Maitreya's next life. No matter how it is explained, a basic historical fact is that the "Golden Wheel" existed for much longer than the time that the "Ci Clan" existed on Wu Zetian. From this, we can deduce that the main direction of Wu Zetian's political propaganda is to dress himself up as the wheel king who welcomes Maitreya's next life, rather than Maitreya himself.
On the back of the statue of Maitreya in the fifth year of Huangxing, the middle part is the image of the flying "flying emperor" or the king of the wheel
Second, Wu Zetian's Wheel King Ritual Vessel. Wu Zetian made seven treasures after adding the title of "Golden Wheel Holy Spirit Emperor". In the autumn and September of the second year of longevity (693), "Yiwei, the Empress Dowager Imperial Vientiane Shrine, was honored and pardoned the world." As the golden wheel and other seven treasures, every dynasty will meet, Chen Zhidianting" ("Zizhi Tongjian" volume 205 "then Tianshun Holy Empress longevity two years of September"). Regarding the Seven Treasures, the "New Tang Dynasty Book: The Biography of Empress Gaozong Zetianwu" makes a list:
太后又自加号金轮圣神皇帝,置七宝于廷:曰金轮宝, 曰白象宝(hasti), 曰女宝(female), 曰马宝(asva),曰珠宝(mani),曰主兵臣宝(parinayaka),曰主藏臣宝(householder),率大朝会则陈之.
The concept of the wheel king has been around since the beginning of Mahayana Buddhism. Judging from the record in the third volume of the Later Han Yue's translation of the "Buddha Says the Treasure of the Buddha Sutra Asked by the Buddha Zhendra", the idea of the wheel king was already popular in the Kushan period. The Kushan king, however, and the Kaseksha are both described as the king of the wheel. The Wheel King is the Buddhist name for the secular ideal monarch, the counterpart of the Buddha in the secular world, so he also has the 32 equal signs that a Buddha has. The Seven Jewels, associated with the Buddhist concept of kingship, are the identity symbols of the ideal Buddhist monarch – possessing the Seven Jewels to prove his status and authority as the Wheel King. As Xuanzang said in his translation of the Great Prajnaparamita Sutra, "If there are no seven treasures, there is no name for the wheel king, and if there are seven treasures, it is the name of the wheel king." The Chinese translation of the Wheel King is later than Qibao. The common translations of the Wheel King include King of Chakya Yueluo, King of Jakya Yue, King of the Wheel of Saints, Emperor of Flight, etc., especially the first three are transliterations, which appear more often in early translations. For example, the Western Jin Dynasty's Sanzang Dharma Torch translation of "The Buddha Says the Story of the King of Dingsheng" describes the Dingsheng Wang Yun: "The king of the true law, governs the people, and there is no violence." The Seven Treasures are sufficient. The so-called Seven Treasures, Wheel Treasure, Elephant Treasure, Horse Treasure, Jewelry, Jade Maiden Treasure, Lay Treasure, and Pawn Treasure are called the Seven Treasures. The translation of the "Buddha Says Wen Tuo Wang Sutra" mentions that he "later became the king of Chakya Yue" and listed the names of the seven treasures. To sum up, regardless of the translation of the name of the Wheel King into Chinese, the idea of Qibao as a symbol of its status and authority appeared very early. By the time of the Northern Sui and Tang dynasties, this had become a common concept and general common sense.
Wu Ze Tianmingtang restoration map
In the relief below, the image of the Wheel King surrounded by Seven Treasures reminds us of the Seven Treasures that Wu Zetian is setting up? If the Seven Treasures are the identity of the Wheel King that marks the monarch in the relief, isn't the Seven Treasures that Wu Zetian will put out every time in the Great Dynasty symbolize her identity as the Wheel King?
Unearthed in Jaggayapeta, a relief of the King of the Wheel in the collection of the Government Museum of Madras, India
Third, the evidence of the "Treasure Rain Sutra". In the second year of longevity (693), with the support of Wu Zetian, Bodhiruci and others translated the Buddha Says the Treasure Rain Sutra (hereinafter referred to as the "Treasure Rain Sutra") into ten volumes. The translation of the Baoyu Jing is not accidental, it is an important part of the political movement of the Tang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty. However, in the past, scholars paid more attention to Wu Zetian's use of "The Great Cloud Sutra" for political propaganda, but did not reveal enough about the meaning of the "Baoyu Sutra". The main reason is that the "Old Tang Book" clearly mentions Wu Zetian's use of the "Great Cloud Sutra": "There are ten people from Shamen who forged the "Great Cloud Sutra", and on the surface, they say that the God Emperor was ordained. The system was issued in the world, so that the states each placed the Dayun Temple, and the total number of monks was thousands. And the two Tang books do not mention the "Treasure Rain Sutra".
Although the "Baoyu Sutra" is often classified as a doubtful apocrypha, in fact, the proportion of the Bodhi Liuzhi and other parts mixed is not large, and it is mainly concentrated in the first volume. The most obvious part is incorporated, that is, the part in Volume 1 about Wu Zetian taking the female body in the Mahachina country in the northeast of the Southern Ganbu Continent as the free master:
For this reason, after I attained Nirvana, in the last moment, in the fourth and fifth hundred years, when the Dharma was about to be extinguished, you were in the country of Mahachina, in the northeast of the Ganbu Continent, and you were in the state of Atarba, and you were really a Bodhisattva, so you appeared as a woman, and you were the Lord of Freedom. After many years of age, he is able to rule the law and nurture sentient beings, just like a child, and he is ordered to cultivate the ten virtues; he can establish a pagoda and temple with the abbot of our Dharma; he also offers clothes, food, bedding, and decoction to Shamen; and he practices Brahma at all times, and is called the Son of the Moon and Pure Light. However, all women have five obstacles. What are the five? One, one is not allowed to be the chakra-turning king, two, the emperor, three, the great Brahma king, fourth, the bodhisattva, and five, the Buddha. Son of Heaven! Ran Thou deserves two of the five thrones, the so-called A-Ta Bazhi and the wheel throne.
Comparing the previous generations of "Baoyun Sutra" and "Mahayana Baoyun Sutra", it can be seen that this part of the content is all mixed by Bodhi Liuzhi and others. One of the main contents is to talk about Wu Zetian's female body as the emperor. Bodhi Liuzhi and others even fabricated a new theory to dispel the "five obstacles" of women in traditional Buddhist theory—that is, the female body cannot be the wheel of the holy king, the emperor, the Brahman, the demon king, and the Buddha. The "Treasure Rain Sutra" replaced the demon king with the Bodhisattva. The Chinese translation of A-Tababa to the Bodhisattva is "non-retreating", which is the name of the Bodhisattva's rank. After the practice of a great monk, you can get this position. Bodhi Liuzhi and others pointed out in the name of Buddhist scriptures that although women have five obstacles, Wu Zetian can obtain the two ranks of Wheel King and Atavarzhi Bodhisattva, but he cannot be Buddha, Emperor Shakti and Great Brahma King. The "Treasure Rain Sutra" has made it clear at the beginning of the volume that Wu Zetian focused on promoting his role as the Wheel King, rather than Maitreya. Even the "Treasure Rain Sutra" directly said that Wu Zetian could only be the Wheel King and the Bodhisattva. So, what is her role in the Maitreya next life movement vigorously propagated by Wu Zetian? It is very likely that her main thing is the wheel king, and the wheel king and Maitreya have a close relationship, which is very clear in the Chinese translation of Maitreya's scriptures: the wheel king prepares for Maitreya's next life.
The Middle Ages was an age of religious literature, but secular documents were constantly selectively written, which seriously distorted the historical picture. The most basic logic of returning to the world of faith and knowledge is to return to the religious literature itself, which may open up a new world for the study of the Middle Ages. This is also in line with the purpose of the new vision of literary and historical research.