The relationship between Wu Zetian and Buddhism goes far beyond this. After ascending the throne, Wu Zetian promoted the spread and promotion of Buddhism in China through practical actions.
There are two stories about the "ban on slaughter" that can indirectly illustrate Wu Zetian's contribution to promoting the development of Buddhism.
Wu Zetian was a Buddhist, so after she became the emperor, she issued a ban on slaughtering animals, which meant that no one was allowed to kill animals or eat meat. It was not easy for everyone to follow this life creed, so many people felt uncomfortable not eating meat. So what should they do if the emperor forbids them to eat meat but they want to eat meat? So there were many things that happened with policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom.
Wu Ze sent the prime minister to inspect the post stations one by one. When the postmaster saw that an important person had arrived, he wanted to curry favor with the prime minister and wanted to give him some good food, so he served him a pot of mutton.
The postmaster was quite clever, saying that the sheep was killed by a wolf. The prime minister thought that it was killed by a wolf, so it was okay, just eat it. After eating, a dish of fish was served, saying that it was not right, and the emperor fish could not be salvaged. The postmaster was speechless, saying that the fish was also killed by a wolf, and the prime minister was so stupid that he thought that the fish was killed by an otter.
The second story is about an official who had a son born during the period when the slaughter ban was issued. The official was very happy and wanted to treat his colleagues to a meal. He secretly slaughtered a sheep and gave each of his colleagues a little mutton.
There was a colleague who was particularly unkind. After he ate the meat, he stuffed a piece of it into his sleeve. After returning home, he wrote a memorial to Wu Zetian, saying that his colleague had violated the ban on slaughtering and had slaughtered a sheep privately. Here was the evidence, and he also brought up the mutton.
Second, Wu Zetian summoned the official who had given birth to a son and said, "I heard you gave birth to a son, it's a good thing. Bring me a piece of meat. Where did you get this?" The official was so frightened that his face turned pale and he knelt there and couldn't get up.
At this time, Wu Zetian said, "I have issued the ban on slaughtering animals. I hope that everyone will be compassionate and not kill animals for no reason. However, I will not interfere with weddings and funerals. So whether you kill sheep or eat meat, I will not blame you. But in the future, when you invite guests, you must choose the guests carefully. That person told me this." The informer blushed, and the whole court wanted to spit at him.
In fact, it is not just these folk stories that Wu Zetian did a lot of things that were very beneficial to the promotion of Buddhism after she became emperor. Among them, the introduction and translation of Buddhist scriptures was an important measure.
Everyone knows the story of Tang Sanzang who went through 81 trials and tribulations and finally retrieved a large number of Buddhist scriptures from the West. But few people know that Wu Zetian played an even greater role in the introduction and promotion of Buddhist scriptures than Tang Sanzang.
The most important reason here is that there was once a Buddhist scripture that gave Wu Zetian an excuse to become emperor, or Wu Zetian found the theoretical basis in a Buddhist scripture to support her becoming an empress.
This Buddhist scripture is the famous "Da Yun Sutra".
Wu Zetian was a woman who became an emperor, which was unprecedented in Chinese history. In order to prove the legitimacy of her ascension to the throne, she could only look for evidence outside of Confucian and Taoist classics. So when she saw that Buddhism supported the doctrine of a female emperor, she was naturally overjoyed, promulgated the relevant doctrines, and vigorously promoted Buddhism. This Buddhist scripture is the "Dayun Sutra".
The Great Cloud Sutra tells such a story. The Pure Light Woman had heard the Great Nirvana Sutra from the Buddha of the Same Sex, and later when Sakyamuni Buddha was alive, she was born into the human world as a mortal and heard the profound meaning of the Dharma again. Although she was a woman, she later became a king and obtained a quarter of the territory ruled by the Chakravartin. She also taught the men, women, young and old in her area to eliminate all kinds of evil views and different opinions, and widely carried out the Bodhisattva cause.
In July of the first year of Shou, that is, the year when Wu Zetian changed the Tang Dynasty into the Zhou Dynasty, the monks Huaiyi and Fa Ming and others wrote "Dayun Jingshu", in which they attributed the above story to the "Buddha's prediction" that Wu Zetian would become the empress.
With this prophecy, Wu Zetian could become the emperor with dignity. Therefore, Wu Zetian promulgated the "Da Yun Sutra" and ordered Chang'an, Luoyang and each state to build a Dayun Temple, each of which had a copy of the "Da Yun Sutra" stored in the temple, and monks would stand on the high seat to explain it.
In this way, everyone knew that Wu Ze was Maitreya incarnate and should replace Li Tang as the emperor. Then, Wu Ze officially proclaimed herself emperor in September of that year and changed the country's name to Zhou.
Chinese Confucianism is strongly opposed to women interfering in politics. Therefore, after the Tang Dynasty, people have repeatedly used the "Dayun Sutra" to accuse Wu Zetian of forging Buddhist scriptures and deceiving the people.
So is there a teaching in the Buddhist scriptures about a woman becoming a king in her next life? The answer is: there is a story in the Buddhist scriptures about a woman becoming a king in her next life.
Seven hundred years after the Buddha's Nirvana, there was a country in South India called Amur. In the country there was a river called Heija. On the south bank of the river there was a city called Gushu. In the city there was a king called Dangcheng. The king and his wife had a daughter named Zhangzhang. One day in the future, King Dangcheng would suddenly pass away. At that time, the ministers would let his daughter Zhangzhang inherit the throne. After she ascended the throne, she would be so submissive that all the countries in Jambuvipa would come to serve her without any rejection or disobedience.
This story shows that the doctrine that women can be emperors has been clearly stated at least since the time when this Buddhist scripture was recorded.
After being suppressed by Emperor Taizong of Tang, Buddhism completely recovered its lost status during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian. It cannot be denied that Wu Zetian was the leader of the revival of Buddhism.
After Wu Zetian became the emperor, she sent people to bring the leader of the Northern Zen sect, Shenxiu, to Luoyang, and then put him on a sedan chair and knelt down to pay homage to him. Her actions attracted high-ranking officials and common people to follow her, and tens of thousands of people came to pay homage to this eminent monk every year.
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