The Khitan people initially believed in shamanism. Later, under the influence of the Han people, they also began to believe in Buddhism and Taoism. At the latest before the founding of Yelu Abaoji, Buddhism had been introduced to Khitan. Two generations, Abaoji and Yelu Deguang, invaded the south year after year, captured cities and captured their people. Among these captured Han people, there were many monks, nuns and Buddhists. Abaoji knew that Buddhism could stabilize his rule. Therefore, he built a Buddhist temple in Shangjing to house the original monks and nuns, which also enabled a large number of Han people who were captured to convert to their Buddhist beliefs and no longer miss their homeland. After Taizong, all Khitan emperors were also keen on promoting Buddhism. After Shengzong, the Liao Dynasty entered its heyday. After the "Chanyuan Alliance" of the Liao and Song Dynasties, the two countries transitioned from a state of war and hostility to a period of peaceful coexistence. The society of the Liao Dynasty also completed the process of feudalization, and the economy and culture experienced great development. After that, the peace lasted for a long time, everyone was fine, the emperor and the nobles indulged in drinking and having fun, and there was no wasted time. The trend of monasticism is becoming more and more popular day by day. In the Xingzong and Daozong dynasties, the degree of belief in Buddhism was even greater than in the previous dynasty. Especially in the Daozong dynasty, the rulers were almost crazy about Buddhism. From the emperor to the princes and nobles, everyone worshiped famous monks as their teachers. Most of these famous monks were given titles such as Three Lords and Three Masters, and they were even invited to hold sermons in the inner hall of the palace.
Shenyang Wusui Pure Light Relic Pagoda
What is good at the top will be worse at the bottom. More and more people believe in Buddhism across the country, and Buddhist temples are spread all over the country. Since monks and nuns are exempted from official service, more and more people are fleeing to monasteries and requesting to become monks. Even "the monks eat 360,000 yuan a day and receive 3,000 blessings a day." Even so, it still could not meet the needs of society, so there was a large number of private and excessive monks and nuns, and the imperial court continued to prohibit it.
The murals of the Four Heavenly Kings in the underground palace of Tawan Stupa in Shenyang
There are not many documented records of the development of Buddhism in the Shenzhou area during the Liao Dynasty, but judging from archaeological data, the prosperity of Buddhism was The number of Buddhists is the same as in other parts of the country. Prominently manifested in the following aspects:
Xiu Pagoda Temple A large number of Buddhist temples were built in various places during the Liao Dynasty. There must have been many temples in Shenzhou at that time. Only a few temple names such as Hongmiao Temple and Chongshou Temple have been preserved. Most of them were lost. The Liao Dynasty also liked to build pagodas in temples. Since Buddhist temples are generally wooden buildings, it is difficult to preserve them to this day. However, pagodas are mostly built with blue bricks, and a relatively large number of them have been passed down to this day.
As far as we know so far, there are Liao pagodas around Shenzhou City: Shenyang Tawan Relic Pagoda (built in 1044); Chongshou Temple Pagoda outside Xiaobeimen (built in 1107, 1950s) Demolished in 1989); Liao Pagoda in Zhuowang Mountain (built in 1045), Mozi Mountain in Hunnan; Baitabao Pagoda in the south of Shenyang City (the construction age is unknown and destroyed in the Russo-Japanese War). These pagodas were all built in the middle and late Liao Dynasty, which was the peak period of the development of Buddhism in the Liao Dynasty. So far, only the Tawan stupa is well preserved. This is a typical octagonal thirteen-story brick tower with dense eaves. The base of the tower is divided into two layers. The upper layer is the Xumizuo. There is a stone sculpture of a beast on each side in the middle of the waist. The upper part of the Xumizuo has two layers of brick carvings, supporting the tall tower body. There is an arched Buddhist niche in the middle of each side of the pagoda. Each niche has a rosette and a seated Buddha. On both sides of the niche stand two attendants, with a treasure cover and a flying sky on top. There are bricks with Buddha names embedded in the middle of the upper part: Baosheng Buddha to the south, Guan Buddha to the southwest, Pingping Buddha to the west, Huihua Buddha to the northwest, Great Compassionate Buddha to the north, Puji Buddha to the northeast, Compassionate Buddha to the east, and Achim Buddha to the southeast. Above the tower body are thirteen layers of dense eaves, and above that is the pagoda temple. The shape of the entire tower is dignified and beautiful, and the brick carvings are delicate and vivid, reflecting the level of architectural craftsmanship of the Liao Dynasty.
In 1985, when the cultural relics department was repairing the tower, they discovered a stone letter in the underground palace of the tower, which was covered in a bucket style. Except for the bottom surface, all sides of the entire stone letter are engraved with inscriptions in Chinese characters, totaling more than 5,000 words, which provide us with precious information to understand and study the development of Buddhism in Shenzhou during the Liao Dynasty.
Brick Bodhisattva statue unearthed from Liaobin Pagoda
From the inscription on the stone letter, we know that this pagoda is called the Wusui Jingguang Relic Pagoda, and a Buddha relic is buried in the pagoda. One thousand five hundred and forty-six, buried on April 15, the thirteenth year of Chongxi (1044).
The wish of building the pagoda is: "To serve as the queen mother, emperor, and empress, all the kings and princesses will live forever, all civil and military officials will always occupy the position of honor, and the state will be respected as the grand master (this refers to Yelu Shuji). The blessings and longevity will be extended, the weather will be smooth, and the country will be peaceful and the people are safe." This is the Liao Dynasty. A customary prayer for pagoda construction in the middle and late stages. The reason for building the pagoda is: "Li Hongsui, a native of the city, and more than a hundred people, saw that on the east crucible of Wujiazhuang, the land was as smooth as a mirror. Therefore, the people of the city invited the former monk Zheng Shamen Yunxiu to be the master of merit, and transferred them to Monk Fa Zhi is the master of the pagoda, and I have jointly vowed to build a pagoda with pure light relics. If you have faith, please give me a name." Apart from this, the rest are all inscriptions. That is the list of people from all walks of life who participated in the construction of the pagoda. There are more than a thousand people in total, including officials, monks, and urban and rural people. Officials ranged from Yelu Shuji, the envoy of the Zhaode Army in Shenzhou, to middle and lower-level officials; there were also officials from other places and retired officials. The people range from rural tribute scholars to ordinary urban and rural men and women; the monks range from eminent monks to ordinary monks. Some give land, some give up money. It can be seen that building the pagoda was a major event in Shenzhou at that time. Many people participated, the event was unprecedented, and it had a great impact.
The construction of stone sutra blocks began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Liao Dynasty. This may be related to the belief in Dharani, especially the belief that the Dharani is honored on the top of the Buddha. It is said that this kind of Dharani can ward off disasters and increase people's blessings:
If the dust on the sutra pillar engraved with the Buddha's top Dharani gets on your body, or its shadow covers your body, or you see By reading this sutra, all sins such as the five rebellions and ten evils can be eliminated, and you can ascend to heaven. If you recite it once a day, you will have infinite merit. When you are about to die, the saints from the ten directions will hold a canopy to welcome you to the Western Paradise. You will soon complete the practice of supreme Bodhi.
This simple and easy way of practice has great temptation. Therefore, since the Tang Dynasty, many Dharani sutra pillars have been erected in various places, which are called Zunsheng pillars. Of course, there are also other dharani engraved on them. These sutra buildings were placed at thoroughfare intersections, temples, cemeteries and other places, so many of them were unearthed in various places.
The "Big Ten Faces" of the Shenyang Forbidden City is a tower of honor. This kind of sutra pillar is generally octagonal in shape and consists of three parts: the canopy, the pillar body, and the pillar base. The pillar body is an octagonal cylinder with four wide sides and four narrow sides. They are mainly engraved with the Sanskrit transliteration of Buddha's Dharma Dharani. Some of them have an invitation message in the front and a note in the back, describing the time when the tower was erected, who erected it and why it was erected. Most of the text on the existing stone scripture building in the Shenyang Forbidden City has been worn away, and the date and time when the building was erected have no longer been preserved. Therefore, it has long been mistaken for being erected in the Tang Dynasty, but it is actually a scripture building in the late Liao Dynasty. This stone scripture building was first discovered outside Donghua Gate. It was probably erected at the Shenzhou intersection at that time.
Buddhist organizations such as Qianrenyi are popular. The so-called Qianrenyi, also known as Qianrenshe, is a temporary private Buddhist organization formed for a certain Buddhist activity. These activities include large-scale Buddhist construction activities such as building pagodas and temples, as well as Buddhist activities such as praying for a certain sutra or reciting a certain sutra. The purpose of this type of organization is to "form a society of a thousand people, unite the hearts of a thousand people, so that there is no need to plow in the spring, and no waste in the autumn, to establish their trust and guide their teachings. There will be no rich or poor first, no high or low, old or young, and there will be charity According to the rules, the money will be collected for a long period of time and stored in the treasury to make up for the shortage of the temple. "In fact, Qianrenyi is a non-governmental organization that funds Buddhist activities, and its participants are mostly Buddhist believers, including monks and nuns. Qianren town is a general term, and it is not necessarily limited to a thousand people. It can be more or less. Each town has a town head or a town chief. This type of community was very common in various places in the Liao Dynasty, and there were many such organizations in Shenzhou in the Liao Dynasty. For example, the inscription on the stone letter unearthed from the White Pagoda Palace of Chongshou Temple outside the Xiaobei Gate records that when the Bell and Drum Towers and Shengtian Pagoda of Chongshou Temple were built in 1107, the "Shengtian Pagoda Town" and "Bell Tower Town" were established. On the stone letter unearthed from the underground palace of Tawan Stupa, there is "Shangsheng Town", which may be a town formed to invite eminent monks to explain the Shangsheng Sutra. In addition, during the construction of the Liao Dynasty stupa on the Qixing Mountain of Shifo Temple in Xinchengzi District, it also formed the "Pagoda Building Town". This matter was also recorded on the stone letter unearthed from the underground palace.
Porcelain pure bottles unearthed from Tawan Pagoda
Stone scripture building unearthed from Zhangning’s tomb in Liutiao Lake
Buddhism influenced many aspects of social life and becoming a monk was very common in the Liao Dynasty , according to unearthed epitaphs and other inscriptions from the Liao Dynasty, many families, whether Khitan nobles or Han officials, had children who became monks. As for ordinary people, living in poverty, more likely to send their children to temples to become monks.
In addition, in the Liao Dynasty, when people were naming, they often liked to give names related to Buddhism. This situation was seen in the Han people and the Khitan people, and it existed in all strata. In the inscription of the stone letter of the Pure Light Stupa, there are many names related to Buddhism, such as: Buddhist slave, Ci Ge, Buddha girl, Ji Xiangnu, Dingguang girl, Arhat slave, Manjushri slave, novice monk, Samantabhadra slave, monk House slaves, Guanyin slaves, monk slaves, etc. can show the influence of Buddhism. In addition, there are many "× family slaves" with surnames, which may also be related to Buddhism.
Buddhism also has a great influence on burial customs. In November 1980, a Liao Dynasty tomb was discovered in Beiliutiao Lake, Shenyang City. The brick tomb is trapezoidal in plan. A sarcophagus is placed in the middle of the tomb, and the ashes are contained in the sarcophagus. What is peculiar is that a small stone scripture block is placed on the lid of the sarcophagus, connected with the lid with mortise and tenon joints. Seven of the eight sides of the sutra pillar are engraved with "Buddha's Top Honored Dharani", and one side is engraved with "Buried on the 29th of Bingshen, the ninth year of Bingshen in the second year of Qingning, on the 29th day of B, accompanied by Kong Muguan, the capital of the cavalry and infantry." Zhang Ning's male character is buried" and other words. This was established by Zhang Wenzhi for his father Zhang Ning. Zhang Ning's name is also found in the inscription on the stone letter of the Tawan stupa, and his official position is "military inspector". This Zhang Ning is probably the same person. This kind of Zunsheng tower is erected in front of the tomb or on the seal. This is the first time I have seen this kind of erected on the lid of the sarcophagus. It can be seen that Zhang Ning, the junior officer in Shenzhou, is a devout Buddhist. In addition, cremation sarcophagi tombs from the late Liao Dynasty have been discovered in Guangyi Street, Lingwen Street, Shandong Fort and other places in Shenhe District. The practice of cremation by the Han people is obviously the result of the influence of Buddhism.