The Bone that Changed China

15 April 2015

法门佛寺(位于今天的陕西省，在中华人民共和国)自六朝末期(公元220-581年)建成以来一直是一个重要的佛教中心。这座寺庙因安放佛教遗物而闻名，据说是一根佛陀的指骨。这种遗物有神奇的疗效的名声，在唐朝(618-906)期间，当皇帝或皇后生病时，它数次被带到位于长安(今天的西安)附近的皇宫。在一次从法门到长安的游行中，据说这块骨头使沿途的盲人和聋哑人恢复了视力和听力。

中国佛教最具影响力的形式之一是华言。僧人法藏(公元643-712年)是华严佛教的第三代祖师，他最著名的作品是《椽子对话》和《金狮论说》。鲜为人知的是他与法门寺的关系。16岁时，他去法门朝拜，佛祖的遗骨给了他很大的启发，他点燃了自己的手指作为祭品。Much later, after becoming a leading figure in Chinese Buddhism, Fazang wrote a commentary on the apocryphalFanwang sutra《圣经》是用来为佛教的自焚和身体残害辩护的主要权威资料。在他的评论中，他热情地支持这种行为的正统和虔诚，不同意更温和的佛教徒认为身体苦行的故事是隐喻或简单的upaya(用于教学目的的神话)。

大约在法藏两代之后，唐宪宗下令将佛骨从法门暂时运回宫中，以便亲自瞻仰。这促使儒家学者韩愈(768-824)写下了著名的文章《佛骨备忘录》。在这部作品中，韩愈严厉批评佛教，声称佛教的做法是愚蠢的，其免税的寺院和寺庙是消耗国家资源。韩愈反对佛教的理由之一是，佛教鼓励人们从事不健康的身体禁欲行为。(我们可以从法藏的例子中看出，这个指控不是没有道理的。)对于像韩愈这样的儒家来说，自焚和身体残害不仅是不自然的，而且是违反孝道的，因为它们涉及到故意损坏从父母那里得到的身体。虽然韩愈被皇帝流放(他是一个狂热的佛教徒)，但他的文章成为了复兴儒学的理学(neo -儒家)运动的重要文献。

Zongmi (780-841 CE), the Fifth Patriach of Huayan Buddhism, was a contemporary of Han Yu’s, and wroteOn the Origin of Humanity,a polemical work arguing for the superiority of Huayan to Confucianism, Daoism, and even other sects of Buddhism. (The title of this work may be a play on Han Yu’s essay “On the Origin of the Way,” another text critical of Buddhism.) Zongmi was also a supporter of religious self-mutilation, and lavishly praised a man who was so inspired by one of Zongmi’s public lectures that the man cut part of his own arm off as an offering. I am tempted to speculate that some of the Buddhist enthusiasm for self-mutilation was a manifestation of apotemnophilia, a mental illness in which individuals see parts of their own body as alien to themselves and crave their removal. (Apotemnophilia is recognized as a type of “Body Dysmorphic Disorder” according to the American Psychiatric Association’sDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.)

法门寺在公元845年被暂时关闭，这是武宗(公元814-846年)进行佛教迫害的一部分。根据我们对韩愈的了解，人们可能会认为武宗的反佛教运动是由儒家教唆的。事实上，正是道家们鼓励武宗将佛教从中国消灭。当佛教在汉朝(公元前202年- 220年)从印度传入中国时，佛教和道教之间的关系是友好的。这两种宗教的教义常常有重要的相似之处，有些人甚至猜测道家的传奇创始人老子和佛陀是同一个人。然而，佛教和道教后来变得越来越宗派化(也许是因为他们互相竞争，以获得普通民众的支持)。以中国经典小说《西游记》中的一个事件为例。这个著名的奇幻故事的灵感来自历史上的大和尚玄奘，他为了取回佛经，进行了漫长而危险的朝圣之旅。在小说的一个章节中，玄奘和他的两个同伴(美猴王和猪八戒，一只拟人化的僧猪)用魔法解放了一座被邪恶的道家奴役的佛教徒城市。

The Buddhist Persecution ended with the death of Emepror Wuzong a year later, but Buddhism in China never regained the extent of influence it had among intellectuals and rulers in the Tang dynasty. Neo-Confucianism, inspired by the writings of anti-Buddhists like Han Yu, came to dominate intellectually and politically. Nonetheless, Buddhism remained an important popular religion, and Famen Temple continued to be an active center up until the founding of the People’s Republic of China (1949). In accordance with Marx’s teaching that “religion is the opiate of the masses,” the practice of Buddhism was discouraged under Chinese Communism. Although the Famen Temple itself was nominally protected by law as a historical site, it was ransacked by members of the paramilitary Red Guard at the beginning of the ultra-leftist Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). In an effort to protect the religious artifacts from the Red Guards, the abbot of the temple, Liangqing, immolated himself at the entrance to the True Relic Pagoda. (Perhaps Liangqing was the reincarnation of Fazang or Zongmi.)

当代中国政府在很大程度上支持传统(作为一种鼓励民族主义的方式)。因此，法门寺是众多被修复的历史遗迹之一。中国政府还鼓励发展资本主义经济，就像旅游业一样，因此法门寺的园区已经扩大，以接待前来参观的人群(其中仅春节第一天就有近10万名游客)。对旅游业(和佛教)来说，幸运的是，梁清的自我牺牲显然是成功的，因为当真佛塔在1987年修复时，文物被重新发现，包括佛陀的手指骨。寺庙门票28元，博物馆门票45元。

The colorful history of Famen Temple and the alleged finger bone of the Buddha (allegedly rediscovered in 1987) is fascinating in its own right, and helps to illustrate the complex interplay of religion, politics, economics, and philosophy down to the present day.

Sources:

Chen, Jinhua, “Fazang, the Holy Man,”Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies28.1 (2005): 11-84. (Excellent brief biography of Fazang, along with some information about Zongmi.)

Tiwald Justin and Bryan W. Van Norden, eds.,Readings in Later Chinese Philosophy(Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2014). (Includes representative works by Fazang, Han Yu, and Zongmi.)

Waley, Arthur, trans.,Monkey: A Folk Tale of China(originally published 1942). (An abbreviated version of the classic novel, Journey to the West.)

Wang Zhiyong, “China’s Buddhist Mecca – Famen Temple – Enlarges,” China.org.cn (5 September 2007),http://www.china.org.cn/english/travel/223296.htm(accessed 16 April 2015).

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