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White Lotus

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This article is about the religious and political movement. For the TV series, seeThe White Lotus.For other uses, seeWhite Lotus (disambiguation).
White Lotus
Bạch liên giáo
White Lotus Society,c. Ming–Qing
ClassificationChinese salvationist
OrientationMaitreya teachings
LanguageChinese
FounderHuiyuan
OriginduringJin dynasty
Mount Lu,Jiujiang
Branched fromPure Land Buddhism
AbsorbedChinese Manichaeism

TheWhite Lotus(traditional Chinese:Bạch liên giáo;simplified Chinese:Bạch liên giáo;pinyin:Báiliánjiào;Wade–Giles:Pai-lien chiao;lit.'White Lotus Religion') is asyncreticreligious and political movement which forecasts the imminent advent of the "King of Light" (Minh vương), i.e., the future BuddhaMaitreya.[1]As White Lotus sects developed, they appealed to manyHan Chinesewho found solace in the worship of theQueen Mother of the West(or the "Birthless Old Mother"traditional Chinese:Vô sinh lão mẫu;simplified Chinese:Vô sinh lão mẫu).

History[edit]

Origin[edit]

The religious background of the White Lotus Sect goes back to the founding of the first White Lotus Society (Bạch liên xã) in theDonglin Templeat Mount Lu byLushan Huiyuan(334–416). During theNorthern Songperiod (960–1126), White Lotus Societies were founded throughoutsouthern China,spreading Pure Land teachings and meditation methods with them.[1]Between 9th and 14th centuries,Chinese Manichaeansincreasingly involved themselves with thePure Land school.Through this close interactionManichaeismhad profound influence on ChineseMaitreyanBuddhist sects within the Pure Land tradition,[2]practicing together so closely alongside the Buddhists that the two traditions became indistinguishable.[3]

Later development[edit]

During the 12th century a Buddhist monk, Mao Ziyuan (Mao tử nguyên) (c. 1096–1166;Dharma name:Cizhao (Từ chiếu)), developed the White Lotus School (Bạch liên tông) in order to connect the scattered White Lotus Societies. He erected a Lotus Repentance Temple (Liên sám đường) where he preached the teachings of the White Lotus School, which became the basis of the White Lotus religion (Bạch liên giáo).[1]This White Lotus religion was ahybridmovement ofBuddhismand Manichaeism that emphasisedMaitreya teachingsandstrict vegetarianism;its permission for men and women to interact freely was considered socially shocking.[4]

Development into a secret society[edit]

During the late thirteenth century, the MongolYuan dynasty's rule over China prompted small yet popular demonstrations against its rule. As they grew into widespread dissent, adherents of White Lotus took part in some of these protests,[5]leading the Yuan government to ban the White Lotus religion as aheterodoxreligious sect (Tông giáo dị đoan), forcing its members to go underground. Now asecret society,the White Lotus became an instrument of quasi-national resistance and religious organisation. This fear of secret societies carried on in the law; theGreat Qing Legal Code,which was in effect until 1912, contained the following section:

[A]ll societies calling themselves at random White Lotus, communities of the Buddha Maitreya, or the Mingtsung religion (Manichaeans), or the school of the White Cloud, etc., together with all who carry out deviant and heretical practices, or who in secret places have prints and images, gather the people by burning incense, meeting at night and dispersing by day, thus stirring up and misleading people under the pretext of cultivating virtue, shall be sentenced.[6]

Like other secret societies, they covered up their unusual or illicit activities as"incense burning ceremonies".[4]

White Lotus Revolution[edit]

Main article:Red Turban Rebellion

The White Lotus was a fertile ground for fomenting rebellion.

The White Lotus doctrines and religious observances, particularly their "incense burning" ceremonies which in the popular mind came to typify them, merged with the doctrines and rituals of the Maitreyan sectarians; that produced a cohering ideology among rebel groups, uniting them in common purpose and supplying discipline with which to build a broad movement, recruit armies, and establish civil governing.[7]

A Buddhist monk fromJiangxinamed Peng Yingyu began to study the White Lotus and ended up organizing a rebellion in the 1330s. Although the rebellion was put down, Peng survived and hid inAnhui,then reappeared back in South China where he led another unsuccessful rebellion in which he was killed. This second rebellion changed its colours from white to red and its soldiers were known as the "Red Turbans" for their red bandanas.

Another revolution inspired by the White Lotus society took shape in 1352 aroundGuangzhou.A Buddhist monk and former boy-beggar, the futureMingdynasty founderZhu Yuanzhang,joined the rebellion.[8]His exceptional intelligence took him to the head of a rebel army; he won people to his side by forbidding his soldiers to pillage in observance of White Lotus religious beliefs. By 1355 the rebellion had spread through much of China.

In 1356, Zhu Yuanzhang captured the important city ofNanjing(then calledJiqing) and made it his capital, renaming itYingtian(Ứng thiên). It was here that he began to discard his heterodox beliefs and so won the help of Confucian scholars who issued pronouncements for him and performed rituals in his claim of theMandate of Heaven,the first step toward establishing a new dynastic rule.

Meanwhile, the Mongols were fighting among themselves, inhibiting their ability to suppress the rebellion. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang extended his rule to Guangzhou, the same year that the Mongol ruler,Toghon Temür,fled toKarakorum.In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang and his army entered the former capital of Beijing and in 1371 his army moved throughSichuanto the southwest.

By 1387, after more than thirty years of war, Zhu Yuanzhang had liberated all of China. He took the title Hongwu Emperor and founded theMing dynasty,whose name echoes the religious sentiment of the White Lotus.

Birthless Old Mother[edit]

Despite their involvement in overthrowing theYuan dynastyand therefore in the founding ofMing dynasty,the White Lotus did not cease its political activities against Chinese authorities; consequently, it remained prohibited during theMing dynasty.Since they were prohibited from establishing a central authority, no doctrinal orthodoxy could be enforced, allowing their teachings and practices to increasingly diversify. While Maitreya remained the central figure for most White Lotus sects, during the reign of theZhengde Emperor(1506–1521) a new deity began to grow in popularity among White Lotus adherents, namelyQueen Mother of the West(or the "Birthless Old Mother"Vô sinh lão mẫu). Originating from theDaoistChinese folk religion,she was identified as thetranscendent Buddhawho never incarnated but exists without coming into being or transforming into non-being, but was nevertheless foretold to come down upon earth to gather all her children at the millennium into one family and guide them safely back toHeaven,the "home of the trueemptiness"(Chân không gia hương).[1]

Wang Lun uprising[edit]

Further information:White Lotus Rebellion § Wang Lun Uprising

The White Lotus reemerged in the late 18th century in the form of an inspired Chinese movement in many different forms and sects.

In 1774, theherbalistand martial artistWang Lunfounded a derivative sect of the White Lotus that promoted underground meditation teachings inShandongprovince, not far from Beijing near the city of Linqing.[9]The sect led an uprising that captured three small cities and laid siege to the larger city ofLinqing,a strategic location on the north–south Grand Canal transportation route. After initial success, he was outnumbered and defeated by Qing troops, including local armies of Chinese soldiers known as theGreen Standard Army.[9]

An account of Wang Lun's death was given to Qing authorities by a captured rebel. Wang Lun remained sitting in his headquarters wearing a purple robe and two silver bracelets while he burned to death with his dagger and double-bladed sword beside him.[9]

Wang Lun likely failed because he did not make any attempts to raise wide public support. He did not distribute captured wealth or food supplies, nor did he promise to lessen the tax burden. Unable to build up a support base, he was forced to quickly flee all three cities that he attacked in order to evade government troops. Though he passed through an area inhabited by almost a million peasants, his army never measured more than four thousand soldiers, many of whom had been forced into service.[citation needed]

White Lotus Rebellion[edit]

Main article:White Lotus Rebellion

Beginning in 1794, two decades after Wang Lun's failed uprising, a movement also arose in the mountainous region that separates Sichuan fromHubeiandShaanxiin central China as tax protests. Here, the White Lotus led impoverished settlers into rebellion, promising personal salvation in return for their loyalty. Beginning as tax protests, the eventual rebellion gained growing support and sympathy from many ordinary people. The rebellion grew in number and power and eventually, into a serious concern for the government.[citation needed]

A systematic program of pacification followed in which the populace was resettled in hundreds of stockaded villages and organized into militia. In its last stage, the Qing suppression policy combined pursuit and extermination of rebel guerrilla bands with a program of amnesty for deserters. The rebellion came to an end in 1804. A decree from theDaoguang Emperoradmitted, "it was extortion by local officials that goaded the people into rebellion". Using the arrest of sectarian members as a threat, local officials and police extorted money from people. Actual participation in sect activities had no impact on an arrest; whether or not monetary demands were met, however, did.[citation needed]

Eight Trigrams uprising[edit]

Main article:Eight Trigrams uprising of 1813

In the first decade of the nineteenth century, there were also several White Lotus sects active in the area around the capital city of Beijing. Lin Qing, another member of the Eight Trigrams sect within the White Lotus, united several of these sects and with them build an organization that he would later lead in the Eight Trigrams uprising of 1813.[10]

Administrators also seized and destroyed sectarian scriptures used by the religious groups. One such official wasHuang Yupian(Hoàng dục tiện), who refuted the ideas found in the scriptures with orthodox Confucian and Buddhist views inA Detailed Refutation of Heresy(Phá tà tường biệnPōxié Xiángbiàn), which was written in 1838. This book has since become an invaluable source in understanding the beliefs of these groups.[citation needed]

Second Sino-Japanese War[edit]

White Lotus adherents who collaborated with the Japanese during theSecond Sino-Japanese War(1937–1945) were fought against by the Muslim GeneralMa Biao.[11][better source needed]

Uses of the term "White Lotus" in later periods[edit]

While traditional historiography has linked manyMaitreyistand millenarian uprisings during the Ming andQing dynastiesas all related to the White Lotus, there are reasons to doubt that such connections existed. B. J. Ter Haar has argued that the term "White Lotus" became a label applied by late Ming and Qing imperial bureaucrats to any number of different popular uprisings, millenarian societies or "magical" practices such as mantra recitation and divination.[12]If this interpretation is correct, the steady rise in the number of White Lotus rebellions in imperial histories during the Ming and Qing does not necessarily reflect the increasing strength of a unified organization. Instead, this trend reflects a growing concern by imperial bureaucrats with any form of Buddhism practiced outside of the sanctioned frameworks of the monasteries.[12]

Tiandihui and the Triads[edit]

The White Lotus sect may have been one of the main ancestors of the Chinese organizations known as theTriads.[13]The Triads were originally members and soldiers of theTiandihuior "Heaven and Earth Society" during the period of the war between the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Triads' formation was not for criminal purposes, but to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming to power. The White Lotus Society may have been one of five branches of the Heaven Earth Society which formed at theShaolin Monasteryfrom Ming loyalists. The Five Branches, known by some as the "Five Ancestors", were the Black, Red, White, Yellow and Green Lodges. After there was no longer any need for the triads on the battlefield, some high-level military leaders resorted to criminal activity in order to find means of survival.[citation needed]

Popular culture[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdTheobald (2012).
  2. ^Ma & Meng (2011).
  3. ^Yar (2012).
  4. ^abTeng (1958),p. 94.
  5. ^Mote (2003),p. 529.
  6. ^Flower (1976),p. 4.
  7. ^Mote (2003),pp. 529–530.
  8. ^Purcell (2010),p. 149.
  9. ^abcSpence (1991).
  10. ^Naquin (1976).
  11. ^"Ma Jiajun's tragic war of resistance: a hundred cavalry collectively thrown into the river and die for the country (1)"(in Chinese). China.com. 19 September 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 18 May 2014.
  12. ^abTer Haar (1992),p. 242.
  13. ^Triad Societies,p. 4
  14. ^""Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)"".hkmdb.com.Retrieved2022-09-28.
  15. ^"10 Things Most Avatar Fans Don't Know About the White Lotus".CBR.2020-11-15.Retrieved2022-04-08.

Bibliography[edit]

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