A Study On The Phenomenon Of Concubine Becoming Buddhist Nuns In Northern Wei Dynasty

The Northern Wei Dynasty was a peak period of Buddhism's development after it was introduced into China.During this period,the rulers advocate Buddhism,making it more popular in palace.The strong atmosphere of worshiping Buddhism in the palace provides a good opportunity for the harem girls to study Buddhism.Meanwhile,it also provides a new way of thinking for emperors concubines in the face of great choices in life.The Northern Wei Dynasty was an important period for the formation and development of bhikkhunis Regiment in China.At this time,in bhikkhunis,a large number of women from the palace appeared.Their participation not only improved the overall quality of bhikkhunis.It also attracted the females from the noble,civilian family to join the temple.According to statistics,in the Northern Wei Dynasty,there were five queens,a lot of concubines,and maids joined the bhikkhunis.There was also a phenomenon that all the imperial concubines joined in the regiment,which was never seen before.This not only had a significant impact on the bhikkhunis Regiment,but also on the harem system.The present study examines the phenomena of concubines-to-nuns conversion in the harem mainly from three perspectives.Firstly,with the overall status of the development of Buddhism in Northern Wei as a starting point,by sorting out aspects of the transmission of Buddhism in the upper class,this study analyzes,on one hand,the relationship between the aforementioned transmission and religious belief in the harem,on the other hand,the impact of Buddhism itself on the values of women in Northern Wei.In studying the factors that led to the imperial concubine becoming nuns.Except for their beliefs and the fight against others for her own status and interests,the deficiency of the imperial concubine system and the tolerance of the ruling class were also the important contributors for the concubine to become a nun.Secondly,as the imperial concubines,they are the most honorable symbol of ancient women.And they were representatives of the most powerful woman.Once they chose to be nuns,they would not enjoy the privilege given by emperor.However,this wasn't saying they got rid of the control and spy from the palace.Dating back to the Northern Wei dynasty,the emperor once built Yao Guang Temple for his wives to study Buddhism.It was also a good place for his concubines to become nuns.This temple was in the charge of the palace,monitored by the emperor directly.It was different from other temples to some extent.The imperial concubines was no longer in sight.When a study was carried out on their devotion to the temple,the content they studied and their intersection with the secular society,it could be revealed vaguely the influence on the concubines as nuns.It was from the royal family's attitude towards the imperial concubines,the tendency of Buddhist classics circulating in the royal family,and the status of secular family.Finally,in the Northern Wei Dynasty,the imperial concubine generally had a large number of maid with her.These maid in name was their disciple but in fact they were still maid serving the imperial concubine in temple.Maid's joining the imperial concubine showed characteristics of a group of concubines becoming nuns.This kind of collective movement inevitably had influence on the Buddhist history and the imperial concubine's history.With regard to the history of Buddhism,the conversion of concubines stimulated the development of the bhikkhunis community.With the surge in number of bhikkhunis,especially women from the harem,the original clergy management system with monk-officers could no longer suffice.The system of bhikkhuni-officers emerged and was gradually perfected at the time,which served as a reference for posterior clergy management.When it comes to the history of concubinage,the phenomenon of the concubine-to-monk conversion began in Northern Wei,while the later Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties generally adopted measures similar to those of the first epoch.Although concubine-to-monk conversion was not officially part of the rules or regulations in the harem,it was used as a strategy to deal with concubines who have lost favor or power from the period of Northern Wei all the way to the Tang Dynasty,where it had transformed into a way for the royals to retain their honor and became one type of personal endings for concubines.