523 AD
Six Towns Uprising: The First Death Knell of the Fall of the Northern Wei Dynasty
In 523, the military and civilians of the six towns on the northern border of Northern Wei (Woye Town, Huaishuo Town, Wuchuan Town, Fumu Town, Rouxuan Town, huaihuang Town) rebelled against the Northern Wei court and were later suppressed.
In April of that year, because of famine, the townspeople of Huaihuang town demanded that the garrison general Yu Jingkai warehouse release grain. Yu Jing refused, and the victims killed Yu Jing in one breath, opened a warehouse and distributed the grain, and this robbery of public grain became the fuse for the entire six northern towns to rise up.
Soon after, the townspeople of Woye Town (present-day Wuyuan County, Mongolia) broke through the Six Han Tombs and gathered a crowd to kill the town generals and captured the town of Woye. This Broken Six Han Tombs is said to be a descendant of the Xiongnu Shan Yu and is quite effective. Under his leadership, the townspeople of Woye simply raised their banners and made a big show of it against the Northern Wei court and established their own political power.
He proclaimed himself true king and changed his era name to True King Yuan, and then sent his general Wei Kegu to attack the neighboring towns of Wuchuan (present-day Miancheng, Wuchuan County, Inner Mongolia) and Huaishuo (southwest of present-day Guyang County, Inner Mongolia). On the other side, in Luoyang, Emperor Xiaoming was only thirteen years old, and the power of the dynasty was in the hands of Yuan Yi, a powerful minister of the clan. Yuan Yi learned that there was a rebellion in the north, and quickly made Yuan Yu, the king of Linhuai, the capital of the northern region, to discuss the military and destroy the Six Han Tombs.
At the same time that Yuan Yu was leading his troops north, Wei Keguo had already captured Wuchuan and Huaishuo, and the remaining townspeople of Rouxuan and Fuxuan in the six towns also rose up in response to the destruction of the Six Han Tombs.
Yuan Yu led his troops to garrison Yunzhong (in present-day Shanxi) as a stronghold, and then sent his troops north to encounter the Liuhan Tomb at Wuyuan Baidao (northwest of present-day Hohhot, Inner Mongolia). The generals and soldiers of the officers and soldiers who were well-regarded in the Central Plains on weekdays were almost vulnerable to the six-town rebel army that had been fighting on the border for many years and defending against the plunder of Rouran, and they were quickly beaten and fled.
Yuan Yu could not defend itself, and the imperial court decided to remove the commander-in-chief. Soon after, the imperial court reassigned Li Chong as the governor of the Northern Capital, and also had the fujun general Cui Xian and the Zhenjun general Yuan Yuan assist him.
Li Chong's use of troops was cautious and cautious, and he had planned to plan from a long time, but Cui Xian was reckless and complacent, believing that he did not need any strategy to deal with a group of mobs, and he would be finished directly. He confidently sent troops to provoke the destruction of the Six Han Tombs, but the result was a complete defeat, almost the entire army was destroyed, and he rode back alone. Breaking the Six Han Tombs to attack Li Chong, a similar history was staged again, Li Chongli was defeated, and had to retreat to the clouds and stalemate with the rebel army. At this point, the six towns were occupied by the townspeople.
Judging from this process, the six towns were not originally agreed upon, so why could the initial spark ignite the plains? This needs to start with the system of six towns. The so-called six towns were a barrier set up by Tuoba Tao, the Emperor wu of Northern Wei at the beginning of the founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty at that time, to defend against the "Rouran barbarians". The townspeople here are soldiers in wartime and farming in their spare time, and most of them are Xianbei people, who live according to the original habits and ways of the Xianbei people. With the continuous expansion of the territory, all the ethnic groups in the north were placed under the rule of the Northern Wei, and the social class of the Xianbei people also increased, so the military and civilians of the six towns were originally a group of people with a very sense of superiority.
However, from 495, after Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang and implemented the Policy of Sinicization, the professional soldiers and xianbei culture in the six towns did not change, but the social class declined rapidly, and the privileges of eunuchs and restorations were gone, and the "heart of the country" gradually degenerated into a town household and a government household, and its status was low. However, the sons of Qiangzong who moved to Luoyang were baptized by Sinicization and honored each other; those who served as soldiers in border towns became "serving in the same way", which caused widespread dissatisfaction among the military and people in the six towns. This policy of excluding the Xianbei warriors could also be seen in the capital city of Luoyang at that time, and once caused a small rebellion of the forbidden army.
Bureaucratic reform was the underlying cause of the uprising, and economic recession exacerbated the contradiction. During the reign of Emperor Xiaoming, droughts and famines occurred in the six towns for many years. In February 523, the northern Wei nomadic tribal regime Ofururan also suffered a great famine and asked Northern Wei for help, but Northern Wei refused because of its own economic embarrassment and consistent contempt for Rouran. In April, the Rouran Khan Anahuan sent troops to invade six towns on the Northern Wei border to plunder to solve the famine.
The Rouran people stole the grain, and the townspeople had to turn to the officials for help. The people of Huaihuang Town had difficulties in making a living because most of their food resources had been robbed, so they asked the town general Wu Wei general Yu Jing for relief, but was brutally refused, so they killed Yu Jing and his wife in anger. In fact, at that time, the situation in the entire six towns was similar, and the accumulated dissatisfaction of the townspeople had long turned this place into a gunpowder, and it was a little bit.
It was in this context that the Six Towns Uprising broke out. In February 525, Emperor Xiaoming finally could not stand Yuan Yi's incompetence and dictatorship, so he launched a coup d'état and relieved him of his military power and duties. At the same time, Emperor Xiaoming sent envoys to Rouran with gifts, asking Rouran to send troops to help quell the rebellion. The leader of Ruoran led 100,000 troops into the town of Woye, and won successive battles and defeated the army of the six towns. Northern Wei also sent Yuan Chen to lead an army from Pingcheng to attack Huaishuo, forming a pinch attack on the six towns. In June, Yuan Chen changed his strategy and began to divide and recruit rebels. Under the threat of a north-south attack, many rebel generals chose to surrender to the officers and soldiers. Under the combined ambush of the rebels and Yuan Chen, the soldiers were defeated and killed.
Conclusion: Although the chaos was peaceful, the resettlement of the military and civilians in the six towns became a thorny social problem, which triggered a larger-scale Uprising in Hebei led by Ge Rong. Erzhu Rong also gradually rose in the process of suppressing the uprising, gaining the trust of Emperor Xiaoming's mother and son.
The six towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Woye, Huaishuo, Wuchuan, Fumu, Rouxuan, huaihuang
526 AD
Dharma Dongdu: Journey to the East, The Ancestor of Zen Buddhism
In 526 AD, Bodhidharma sailed from India to southern China, known as Dharma Dongdu.
Bodhidharma is the progenitor of Zen Buddhism in China. According to the Biography of the Continuing High Monk, Bodhidharma was a South Indian; the Luoyang Galan is recorded as a Persian. Dharma studied Buddhism with the Indian monk Prajnaparamita. He once asked Prajnaparamita where he was going to spread the Dharma in the future. Prajnaparamita told him not to travel far away, and when the time came, he would go to Aurora (China). Master also specifically instructed Dharma that when it came to China, we should not stay in the south for too long, because that place only paid attention to meritorious deeds and did not understand the Buddhist principles.
Years after Prajnaparamita's death, Dharma followed his previous teachings and began his journey east to China. He first crossed east to the south to discuss Buddhism with Emperor Wu of Liang. According to legend, Dharma drifted at sea for a long time before reaching China, and the first stop was Guangzhou. Earlier, he had heard that Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasty was advocating Buddhism and was ready to go to see him.
Emperor Wu of Liang received Dharma at Jiankang, and the two discussed Dharma-related issues. Emperor Wu of Liang asked, "Since I succeeded to the throne, I have built many Buddhist temples, translated and written scriptures, and I don't know how many people have been ordained, what merits do they have?" Dharma replied, "There is no merit, these are appearances, and true merit is not something that can be attained by the dharma of the world." Emperor Wu of Liang, who could be regarded as the greatest sponsor of Buddhism at that time, was proud of it, but he never expected Dharma to evaluate him in this way, and then continued to ask several questions, and Dharma's answers made him very unhappy. The two did not speculate and dispersed without joy. After returning home, Emperor Liangwu and the Zen master talked about Dharma, and after the Zen master's enlightenment, they understood that Dharma was enlightening him, but unfortunately he did not understand the mysteries of the Dharma at that time. Emperor Wu of Liang regretted it and sent someone to find Dharma. Dharma knew that Nanliang was not a place to stay for a long time, so he quietly crossed the river on a leaf of reeds and ran to the north.
The second stop, Dharma, crossed the Yangtze River and reached Luoyang. At that time, the north was in the period of rule of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei. According to the "Luoyang Jialan Record", in Luoyang Dharma saw the pagoda in the Buddhist temple, said that he had traveled to various countries, had never seen such a beautiful, and "sang Nanwu with his mouth, and clapped his hands together for days." Later, Dharma settled in the Shaolin Temple of Songshan and stayed for nine years. During this time, Dharma practiced in the inner wall of the cave and organized his Dharma into a complete Buddhist system. This also became the origin of Zen Buddhism in China, and the Shaolin Temple thus became the birthplace of Zen Buddhism.
Dharma was in the north and passed on his mantle to his disciple Hui Ke, who became the second ancestor of Zen Buddhism. Since then, until the Six Patriarchs Huineng, Zen Buddhism has been in the same vein.
The story of "Dharma Dongdu" has been widely circulated in history and has become a famous public case of Zen Buddhism. But according to the research of Hu Shi and others, this story has many fictional components. Dharma's "crossing the sea" is universally recognized, but the question is how he crossed the sea. According to the Baolin Biography, the dissident king of Tianzhu personally prepared a large ship for Dharma, so that Dharma had the status of an envoy. The Chronicles of the Buddha records that Dharma crossed the sea on merchant ships and was relatively free to move. The story that came later integrated these two views.
According to records, his master Prajnaparamita pointed out to Dharma that there were countless people in the East (China) who had attained Dharma wisdom, indicating that Buddhism had been widely accepted by the people before Dharma's journey to the East. The flourishing of Buddhism at that time was the basis for Dharmadha to spread the Dharma. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism was supported by the rulers. In this process, the North has been walking in front of the South. The Northern Wei Dynasty provided a large number of monks and nuns. The temple occupies a wide range of fertile land and has become the envy of everyone. A large number of people were attracted to the monasteries. There are more and more monks, but there are not enough Buddhist temples. Most of these people retained their legal status as monks, and under the banner of wandering Zen, they formed a huge social foundation of Zen Buddhism.
Dharma, as a Zen master, was active in the Territory of the Northern Wei Dynasty and wandered in Luoyang. Dharma Dongdu became a necessary part of the formation of Zen Buddhism and was gradually deified by later generations. Dharma is thus revered as the ancestor of Zen Buddhism and becomes a key figure in the symbolic form.
Conclusion: "Dharma Dongdu" is an important part of the rise of Zen Buddhism in China, and it also reflects the prosperity of Buddhism during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
527 AD
Emperor Wu of Liang: Emperor of Buddhism
In March 527, Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu made his first renunciation at Tongtai Temple and concentrated on worshipping the Buddha. Three days later, Emperor Wu of Liang returned to the imperial court from Tongtai Temple and granted amnesty to the world. Since then, Xiao Yan has been ordained three times.
In 529, Emperor Wu of Liang ordained for the second time at Tongtai Temple. He took off his imperial robe, changed into a monk's robe, and like ordinary monks, cleaned the Buddhist temple every day, slept on a hard bed, and explained the Nirvana Sutra in the temple. But how can a country not have a monarch? Ten days later, the Manchu Minister of Culture and Martial Arts went to Tongtai Temple to kneel and beg him to return to the palace to govern, but Emperor Liangwu was not moved, and the abbot of the temple did not agree.
Ordinary people who give up their lives to become monks need to take a sum of money to redeem themselves from the monastery when they are still secular. As soon as the ministers of the Liang Dynasty discussed it, they collectively donated 100 million yuan to redeem Xiao Yan and return to become emperor. The abbot of the monastery saw so much ransom and asked Emperor Liangwu to return the favor without saying a word.
After returning from Tongtai Temple, Emperor Liangwu only ate vegetarian food, did not stick to fish, meat and meat, no longer slept with women, and devoted himself to worshiping the Buddha, saying that he finally truly gained the joy of life. Especially after speaking about the Nirvana Sutra, Xiao Yan carefully studied Buddhist theory, not only developed the habit of vegetarianism and abstinence himself, but also forced monks throughout the country to eat vegetarian food. Prior to this, Buddhists originally ate all meat and vegetarian food, and later the rule of only eating vegetarian food was set by Emperor Wu of Liang at this time.
On April 10, 546, Xiao Yan became a monk for the third time. In order to show his devotion to Buddhism, he not only gave up his body, but also claimed that he had given up the people in the palace and the land of the whole country. Emperor Liangwu said this: I am willing to give more, then naturally the money for me to redeem myself will also be more. In fact, it is asking the courtiers for a higher ransom. So it took the ministers a month and two hundred million dollars to redeem him.
Where did all that money go? These hundreds of millions of ransoms were used by Buddhist temples as development funds. By the end of Emperor Wu's reign, there were nearly 3,000 temples in the country, and there were more than 500 Buddhist temples in the capital City of Jiankang alone. In addition, the Buddhist temple in Jiankang City is also luxurious. There are more than 100,000 monks and nuns, who do not engage in productive activities and do not perform military service. In this way, the prevalence of Buddhism not only reduced the labor force of the Liang Dynasty, but also occupied a large number of social resources, which greatly increased the economic burden of the Liang Dynasty.
On March 3, 547, Xiao Yan became a monk for the fourth time and lived in Tongtai Temple for thirty-seven days, and the imperial court again donated 100 million yuan to redeem him. Emperor Wu of Liang became a monk four times before and after, and the ministers spent a total of 400 million yuan to redeem himself and tossed the treasury out. Xiao Yan spent a lot of state property on overhauling Buddhist temples and translating Buddhist scriptures, and although Buddhism prevailed in the Liang kingdom, it also seriously damaged the national economy and caused the country to begin to weaken.
Why did Xiao Yan concentrate on developing Buddhism? Because from the perspective of Confucian theory, Xiao Yan killed the emperor twice and usurped the throne to become Emperor Wu of Liang, and the name of this emperor can be said to be unjustified. So he needed a theory to explain his legitimacy.
In the early days of Emperor Wu of Liang's reign, he greatly believed in the Heavenly Master Dao. However, after Tianshidao was valued by the imperial family, he gradually interfered excessively in political affairs, and later even participated in rebellion activities such as plotting palace coups. Emperor Wu of Liang was deeply disgusted by the conspiracy and rebellion of Tianshi Dao, and gradually lost interest in Tianshi Dao, and found Buddhism that had begun to spread at that time.
The Buddhism promoted by Emperor Liangwu was a "low-desire" way of life, and he thought that if the whole country was dedicated to worshiping the Buddha, no one would want to struggle anymore, and of course no one would compete with him for the throne. However, xiao Yan not only failed to persuade the people of the whole country to worship the Buddha with peace of mind, but his promotion of Buddhism also greatly shaken his rule.
Because Xiao Yan invested too much energy in Buddhism, which led to his increasing neglect of the imperial government, the imperial court slowly began to dominate the court, and in the later period, Zhu Yi and other favored subjects caused chaos in the imperial government. Xiao Yan invested real money and silver, and the whole country built Buddhist temples on a large scale, which had a huge impact on the economy of the Liang Dynasty. In the end, Xiao Yan caused Hou Jing's rebellion for the Liang state, and he himself was starved to death.
Conclusion: With the support of Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu, Liang Dynasty Buddhism reached its peak in Southern Dynasty Buddhism. He carefully studied Buddhist theory, which left him with no energy to take care of the government, and the people who reused it also appeared as traitors, resulting in the darkness of the government. The elderly Xiao Yan was also self-conscious, building Buddhist temples widely and not listening to advice. He ended up starving to death during Hou Jing's rebellion.