Study On Ancient Chinese Stupas From Science Of Religion

There are many researches on ancient Chinese stupas in archaeology and architecture.Stupas are often investigated in the two disciplines,but there is a lack of in-depth analysis from the perspective of religious studies.Archaeology and architecture first paid attention to the field of ancient Chinese stupas and explored the stupas in great detail.The essential attribute of a stupa is religiosity,which represents the Buddhist concept as a religious carrier.Therefore,it is very necessary to discuss the stupa from the perspective of religion,but the academic circle has not paid sufficient attention to this aspect before.As the material culture of Buddhism,stupa is on the edge of religious studies.Although the doctrine is the core of religious research,material culture is also the expression of religious significance,so material culture is worth exploring.The research paradigm of religious material culture in science of religion has not been formed yet.It is meaningful to provide some ideas for the research paradigm of religious material culture through the study of ancient Chinese stupas.The fundamental meaning of stupa is to express the Dharma.The stupa is the manifestation of the doctrine of Buddhism.This religious attribute is its essence.The stupa belief consists of the concept,emotion,behavior and organization of the believers,among which the Buddhist concept is the core.By exploring the religious ideas,the feelings of believers,the behavior of building stupas and the integration with the society,we can see all the religious forms of stupas.In addition to the religious perspective,this paper also sets a timeline for the study of ancient Chinese stupas.There is a development process of ancient Chinese stupas,that is,the process from the introduction of stupas to prosperity to localization in China,which has presented different development characteristics in different times.Through the exploration of different characteristic stupas in different periods,we can have a deep understanding of Chinese pagodas from macro to micro.The paper is divided into six chapters.The first chapter is the exposition of the Buddhist doctrine of the stupa.From the second chapter to the sixth chapter,it shows the five stages of the development of the stupa in China.The first chapter describes the interpretation of the meaning of the Buddha stupa,with Buddhist sutras to explain the meaning of the stupa.According to the classification of the stupa in the Buddhist sutras,the content of the stupa can be divided into three kinds.The first is the description of the stupa,the second is the narration of the merits and benefits of the stupa,and the third is that the stupa plays various roles in different situations,while the fundamental significance of the stupa is the Buddha’s spirit and merits.China stupa can be divided into two kinds of functions because of its different meanings.One kind of stupa can satisfy the wishes of believers,and the other one is to express the doctrine of liberation.The former pays attention to the interaction with believers,resulting in belief behaviors and rituals,and bearing the specific wishes,while the latter lies in the transmission of Dharma doctrine.Being itself is a metaphor for righteousness,telling the doctrine in a special tower shape.The second chapter describes the initial transmission and regularization of stupa in Han,Wei and Jin Dynasties.Han Dynasty were the prosperous period of China stupa,and with the introduction of Buddhism,stupa started its development process.The Han,Wei and Jin Dynasties were the period when people accepted the stupa.At this time,the stupa thought did not appear completely,and people gradually understood the connotation of the stupa.At the earliest stage,pagoda was a religious symbol outlined in China’s native cultural thinking,which was far from its original meaning.However,this incomplete cognition is also a process of people’s acceptance of stupa,and a better understanding is achieved through"misunderstanding".Whether the Han Dynasty stupas express the meaning of immortals or the former Wei Dynasty stupas have the meaning of supernatural Buddhist relics,their connotation,shape and function are very creative.During the Jin Dynasty,foreign monks were active in spreading Buddhism,and Chinese monks were active in studying Buddhism.At this time,the first climax appeared in the translation of Buddhist sutras,and people’s understanding of Buddhism rose to a new height.The people,including upper-class intellectuals and the country’s masters,showed great interest in Dharma,which was an important turning point for the development of Chinese stupas.More and more sutras about stupas appear,and stupas frequently appear in reality.The significance of stupas begins to be fully displayed.People have a real understanding of stupas,and Chinese stupas are on the right track of development.The third chapter describes the prosperity and localization of stupas in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.During the Southern and Northern Dynasties,with the introduction of large Buddhist sutras,more belief concepts of stupas came into being,and at the same time,Buddhist monks brought back the shape of stupas in foreign countries.Stupas were no longer limited to several categories,and the shape and belief categories developed to the greatest extent.The prosperity of stupas in the Southern and Northern Dynasties can be reflected in temples grottoes,folk stupa-building movements and literature records.The grottoes have various types of stupas in the Southern and Northern Dynasties,such as stupa columns,relief stupas,mural stupas,etc.The appearance and connotation of these stupas tend to be localized.Folk stupa-building movements in the Southern and Northern Dynasties included Beiliang Stone stupa and South Nieshui stupa.From the remaining stone stupas,the stupa-building movement at that time can still be seen.From the doctrine,emotion and behavior of regional stupa beliefs,we can see the complete belief ecology and the localization characteristics of its beliefs.Many stupa-building events of emperors in the Southern and Northern Dynasties were recorded in the literature,and the trend of the upper class laid the foundation for social development.When emperors built stupas and grotto temples with the power of the whole country,the enthusiasm of the public for building stupas was mobilized.The stupa built by the emperor is a kind of pavilion that can be climbed,and the merits of building the stupa are combined with the culture of filial piety,all of which show the indigenized of the stupa.The fourth chapter describes the deepening of the relationship between Buddhist stupas and secular society in the Sui and Tang dynasties.During the Sui and Tang Dynasties,the Buddhist stupa belief developed to a mature stage,and the stupa of Buddhist relics was a model.In the Sui and Tang Dynasties,the Buddhist relics stupa was the most prominent type of stupa.With the strong promotion of imperial power,its belief emotion,experience and ceremony became popular,showing unity and consistency in believers.At this time,Chinese stupas began to show the characteristics of deep integration with the society,which was a two-way choice between stupas entering the society and the secular use of stupas.In the Sui Dynasty,stupas entered the level of emperor’s political rule,and in the Tang Dynasty,stupas had a deeper integration with the ritual society.Due to the influence of Ashoka’s stupa building in ancient India,stupa building has a natural political attribute.Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty started a large-scale imperial stupa-building movement to realize his political ideal.As a result,the stupa as a political product promoted the social and historical process,thus deeply blending with the society.The burial of the Buddhist relics in coffins in the stupa is a manifestation of the ritualization.Under the influence of Chinese cultural and ritual thinking,the offering is presented in the manner of the ritual order,which is a breakthrough in the political ritual system.In the deep blend with the society of rites,the stupa has many ritualized elements,and the Tang stupa was in a ritualized shape.The fifth chapter describes the sectarian Buddhism doctrines and practices of stupas around the Tang Dynasty.The Tang Dynasty was a period of the development of sectarian Buddhism.Influenced by sectarian Buddhism,stupas had a special function of expressing and practicing Buddhism.Sectarian Buddhism endows the stupa with an exclusive doctrinal concept,and the purpose of the stupa shows the doctrinal ideology.The thought of Saddharmapundarika-sutra displayed by the multi-treasure stupa,the Sutra of Golden Light Seamless stupa displayed by the four gate stupa and the Zen thought displayed by the seamless stupa all illustrate the spirit of sectarian Buddhism.The expression and practice meaning of Tantric Buddhism stupas are the most prominent among Sectarian Buddhism.It is an important representation image of the Tantric Dharma,which serves as a bridge between doctrine and reality and conveys the Tantric Dharma.Stupa has the function of cultivating according to Tantric Dharma,as the medium of doctrine to actua lpractice.The sixth chapter tells about the change of stupa attributes in Ming and Qing Dynasties.With the sinicization of Buddhism and the Integrate harmony of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism,the Buddhist doctrine was no longer the only attribute of the stupa in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,and the stupa was no longer just the product of Buddhism.Other cultural circles could also produce the stupa,which developed from "stupa" to "pagoda".In the development of the stupa,the thoughts on the stupa are constantly mixed with secular ideas,and the concept of geomantic omen is one of them.When secular idea on the stupa exceeds the Buddhist thought,the stupa is separated from the Buddhist attribute.Geomantic omen stupa is undoubtedly the pioneer of abandon attribute of Buddhist stupa,while Wen Feng stupa as one of Geomantic omen stupas is the main participant.When the stupa became the product of the secular idea,Taoist towers and memorial towers that removed Buddhist significance also formed.They magnified the secular concept on the stupa until stupa became tower.The disappearance of Buddhist attribute in the stupa is the most fundamental manifestation of its integration into Chinese culture.Breaking the boundaries of Buddhist attribute is the most thorough sinicization of the stupa.