Buddhism And Legend Of The Late Ming Dynasty

The Late Ming Dynasty is the flourishing stage for Legend Opera Creation. There are little relevant studies on observing the legend works' concept and value orientation from the religious aspect, especially from the Buddhist aspect. Therefore, the purpose of writing this paper is to disclose the Buddhist influence on the Legend of the Late Ming Dynasty by analysis of the Legend of the Late Ming Dynasty and the Buddhist concept and value orientation and by combination of the evolution of Buddhist policy, Zen Buddhism, Pure Land and "three religions amalgamated into one" in the Ming dynasty, especially in the Late Ming Dynasty.This paper consists of three parts: preface, text and epilogue.In the preface, firstly, to define the time concept of the Late Ming Dynasty concerned in this paper and then define that it's from the first year of WanLi to the end of the Ming Dynasty; Secondly, to summarize the present situations of studies on Buddhism and Legend works of the Late Ming Dynasty by academia in the 20th century; finally, briefly review the evolution of Buddhist policy and the situations of creation of Buddhist opera works in the Late Ming Dynasty and reciprocal influence and so on.The text is divided into three chapters:Chapter 1: Briefly introduce the concept of"Desire means nothing"contained in Prajna paramita hrdaya Sutra and Diamond Sutra, exhaustively elaborate the concept of"Desire means nothing"contained in NanKeJi. And take Zhangfengyi's ZhuFaJi and Tangxianzu's NanKeJi as examples to probe into the scholars mentality reflecting from the Legend works in the Late Ming Dynasty.Chapter 2: Mainly probe into the evolution of the thought trends of Pure Land. In this period, not only did the Buddhist convert to Pure Land, but also the scholars expressed their yearning for western Pure Land and feelings to convert. Legend works in the Late Ming Dynasty not only advocate the concept"release", but also develop the concept"harmlessness". And be associated"release"and"harmlessness"with Buddhist Karma, based on the creation idea"Do well and have well"from"release" and"harmlessness", to admonish all to be lenient and harmless. This is the author responding to the call of harmlessness and honesty by creating Legend works, which embody the main idea of creating Legend opera in the Late Ming Dynasty.Chapter 3:Regarding Zhengzhizhen's XinBianMuLianJiuMuQuanShanXiWen and Tulong's TanHuaJi as the main subjects, deeply probe into the influence from"three religions amalgamated into one"on characters, plots and value orientations in these two operas. Although these two operas contain strong Buddhist color, the ethic system they embody is still the tradition of Confucianism. Therefore, it's conceivable that the author's purpose is to publicize Dharma on the one side and advocate the traditional morals like loyalty, filial piety, moral integrity and faith with Buddhist stories.In the epilogue, to summarize this study and make clear the deficiency and problems exist in this paper.