Stills of the Young Kumarosh
During the lifetime of Kumarosh, countless legends and myths were created. At the age of 5, he memorized the scriptures, at the age of 7 he became a monk, at the age of 9 he was able to preach the scriptures, and at the age of 12 he was already famous in the Western Regions.
However, such a highly talented monk was treated as a trophy by the Later Liang ruler Lü Guang and imprisoned for 17 years. During his imprisonment, Lü Guang sent soldiers to monitor him, follow him wherever he went, and did not allow him to go far. Depriving him of his liberty and even marrying him was such an insulting act that he was only as calm and indifferent as Ever.
At this time, the reputation of Kumarosh had long been known. Although Lü Guang did not respect Kumarosh as a high monk, he could not resist the eyes of the rulers of other countries. Among them, Houqin, who shared the power with Houliang in the Hexi Corridor, is a typical representative. In 401 AD, Yao Xing, the ruler of the Later Qin state, invited Kumarosh to his country several times, but Houliang never let anyone go, so Yao Xing sent troops to attack Liangzhou, in order to take Kumarosh for himself, and after winning the war, he welcomed Kumarosh back to Chang'an.
So the question arises, in order to rob a person, the Later Qin emperor did not hesitate to raise the strength of the whole country and destroy Hou Liang, even if Kumarosh came to Hou Qin, what could he bring to this country? Or was it that Yao Xing saw what bit of value in Kumarosh had in mind before making this decision?
In fact, this has to be the reason for this.
Kumarosh is famous at home and abroad, mainly because he is very "cattle". At the age of 9, he can open the altar to preach the Scriptures, and at the age of 12, he is famous in the Western Regions and other countries, and this young prodigy of early wisdom does not rely on "hype", but on real talents. Those who can preach at the altar are themselves very wise in Buddhism, not to mention that Kumarosh often has his own unique insights and shows unusual understanding.
Even from a modern point of view, the status of Kumarosh cannot be underestimated. He is one of the four great translators of Chinese Chinese Buddhism, on a par with Xuanzang. In the more than ten years of Later Qin, he and his disciples translated the "Myo Fa Lotus Sutra", "Buddha Says Amitabha Sutra", "Vimalaya Sutra", "Amitabha Sutra", "Diamond Sutra", "Zhongjing", "Hundred Treatises", etc., and the number and influence of the sutras translated by him were so large that they made outstanding contributions to the spread and development of Buddhism in China.
Another important point is that the reason why the Later Qin attached so much importance to Kumarosh was that it attached importance to Buddhism.
Buddhism, together with Christianity and Islam, is known as the three major religions of the world. In the 6th to 5th centuries BC, Buddhism was founded by Shakyamuni and introduced to China during the Two Han Dynasties. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Chinese Buddhism developed gradually and gradually deepened from the ruling class to the people. In China's feudal history, the spread of Buddhism was often carried out at the same time as the translation of Buddhist scriptures, just as we are familiar with the "Journey to the West", four Tang monks and disciples went to the Western Heavens to worship the Buddha and ask for scriptures, and the true scriptures retrieved needed to be translated in order to circulate the contents. And master Xuanzang, the prototype of the Tang monk in "Journey to the West", is precisely one of the senior monks who takes sutras and is good at translating Buddhist scriptures.
After Yao Xing, the emperor of the Later Qin state, personally welcomed Kumarosh back to Chang'an, he not only treated him with the courtesy of a national teacher, but also opened a large number of translation sites in the area ruled by Later Qin, and Kumarosh was responsible for presiding over the translation of the scriptures. The reason why future generations can see so many precious Buddhist traditions handed down, in addition to the translation efforts of Kumarosh and his disciples, is inseparable from the strong support of the Later Qin rulers.
Why do you attach so much importance to Buddhism? First of all, Buddhism is a culture and a belief that has spread into the country. If people do not have any faith, in many cases the heart is like a drifting duckweed, there is no refuge, there is no bottom line, and faith is more like a full force, can fill the inner gap, and even to some extent can become the driving force of people.
Therefore, in costume TV dramas, we can often see that the female dependents and women of the families of the dignitaries and dignitaries are particularly Buddhist. In his spare time, he would go to copy Buddhist scriptures, go out and ask the Buddha to burn incense, including the queen of the palace would be happy to do Buddhist deeds, and his belief in the Buddha was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Second, the spread and popularization of Buddhism is actually a means for rulers to consolidate their rule. If the people under the rule all believe in Buddhism, then to a certain extent, a strong sense of identity and cohesion will be formed, and even under the baptism of Buddhism, people's thinking will become more "clean", they will be more identified with the "four emptiness", they will be more satisfied with the status quo, they will not think more about some unnecessary things, and they will not even oppose the decisions of the rulers.
It is precisely because of the strong support of the rulers for the development of Buddhism that the spread and development of Buddhist culture in the Central Plains was promoted, leaving behind some valuable architectural buildings such as cave Buddha statues, and also laying an ideological foundation for the development of Buddhism and philosophy in later generations.
Author: Our team has a falling moon
References: Documentary "Hexi Corridor", Wang Rong's "A Brief Discussion on Kumarosh and Buddhist Culture", Ma Li's "On the Translation of Buddhist Texts and Its Historical Contribution"