Ring scars are also known as incense scars. It refers to the scars left on the body by Buddhists who burn incense in order to purify their bodies. Their actions are either based on the idea of sacrificing one's self or on the idea of cutting off self-grasping. The number of incense burns is generally one, two, three, six, nine, and twelve. The twelve points indicate the highest "bodhisattva vows" among the vows received. At home, there are many people in the armpit before the day of taking the bodhisattva vows, and the burn ring scars on the wrists; The scars of the monks are mostly burned on the top of the head. Regarding its origin, according to Tan Xuan's "Chinese Monk Ordination and Incense Scar Research", it is said that it began in the twenty-fifth year of Yuan Shizu to Yuan Dynasty (1288), when Shamen Zhide was the abbot of Jinling Tianxi Temple, he and the seven people conferred ordination, burned incense on the top, and referred to as a lifelong oath. This gradually became a common practice. Later generations of Chinese Buddhists often used this to express their faith, and the burning of ordination scars became a way to identify whether or not they had taken the ordination. However, this is not a Buddhist system, and it is unique to China, and it is not found in other countries.

In December 1983, the enlarged meeting of the Council of the Buddhist Association of China issued the "Resolution on the Issue of the Ordination and Ordination of Han Buddhist Temples". The resolution stated that the practice of burning a scar on the ordination person's head at the time of ordination "is not an original Buddhist ritual and will be abolished in the future because it is harmful to physical health." From then on, the newly ordained Han monks will no longer have a scar on the top of their heads.

Origin

Article 16 of the 48 Light Precepts of the Sanskrit Net Sutra says: "If you burn your body, arms, and fingers; If you don't burn your body, arms, and fingers to make offerings to the Buddhas, you are not a monk. ”

The sixth volume of the Sutra on the Summits of the Great Buddha says: "There are bhikshus who have decided to practice samadhi, and they can burn a lamp on their bodies, burn their fingers, and burn incense on their bodies before the image of Nyorai.

In the Lotus Sutra, the Medicine King Bodhisattva's Abilities says, "All sentient beings are happy to see the Bodhisattva burn his body and arm to support the Buddhas."

From the content of these passages, it is explained that the original burning of the body has a dual meaning: first, it is used to express the supreme offering; 2. To remove karma. As for the location of the burning, it is not limited to the top of the head, but also the body, arms, and fingers.

Some monks have some scars on the top of their heads that have been burned by incense, which is an obvious external sign of Han Buddhism monks, so many people mistakenly believe that all monks have to burn the scars. In some movies or television films that tell the story of the Tang and Song dynasties, the monks who appear on the screen or screen are "burned" with the scars of the ordination, and anyone who has a little knowledge of Buddhist history feels very ridiculous when they see it.

In fact, Buddhism does not practice burning scars, and there is no provision for burning scars on the top of the heads of the instructed. Therefore, except for the monks of the Han region, the monks of the world's countries and ethnic minorities in China are not visible; Even among the Han Chinese monks, those who were ordained before the Song Dynasty did not have a scar on the top of their heads.

The custom of burning ring scars is said to have originated in the Yuan Dynasty, when a monk Zhide was revered by Yuan Shizu, and when he passed on the ordination, he stipulated that each person who received the ordination burned incense on the head, and the novice ordination burned three pillars of incense, and the bhikshu ordained burned twelve pillars of incense, as a lifelong vow. Such a small invention was quietly spread and passed down from generation to generation. Of course, this is a bad habit that harms the body, and it is a small local specialty of Han Buddhist culture. Here we can also see a characteristic of the Han Buddhist cultural circle, simply put, that is, in the later stage of the development of Buddhism, the "popular faith" has much more powerful energy than the "elite culture" composed of a very small number of thinkers (Buddhists). The Yuan monk Zhide, who invented the incense scar (commonly known as the "hot incense hole"), is not a Buddhist scholar at all, but his small invention is widely and far-reaching and incomparable to the doctrine of any famous monk after Huineng.

It is also said that the burning of Chinese monks began with Emperor Wu of Liang in the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Liang was a fanatical Buddhist, he had sacrificed himself to become a monk in a Buddhist temple three times, and was redeemed by the minister with a large amount of money to the temple three times. At that time, he granted amnesty to death row prisoners all over the world and made them believe in Buddhism and become monks. However, they were afraid that they would escape from the monastery and commit crimes again, so they used Qianxing (a criminal law that tattoos characters on the face) as a model, and burned the scars on their heads so that they could be identified and captured at any time, which was the beginning of the burning of the vows by Chinese Buddhists. Later, the burning vows were considered to be the beginning of ascetic practice in Buddhism, and gradually applied to all monks, and has continued to this day, becoming one of the signs of monks in the eyes of the world.

The number of ring scars

Anyone who becomes a monk or nun has to shave their hair, which is called shaving in Buddhism.

In addition to the shaving ceremony, Buddhism also has a "pure heart" ceremony. That is, after entering the monastery, after a period of study, those with excellent grades, the old monk will use incense sticks to light the first ring scar of their monk career, which is called "pure heart". Then in the next year or two, if you behave well, you are eligible for a second ring scar, named "Lefou".

Generally speaking, if it goes well, most of the older monks in the temple can have five or six ring scars; The abbots of important temples such as the Shaolin Temple have eight or nine "senior monks" or "special monks" with eight or nine ordination scars. However, the tenth ring scar is not something that ordinary monks can have, except for the Bodhidharma Patriarch and the Six Patriarchs Zen Master. In China, there are no more than five "chief monks" with ten ring scars.

Related information

Occasionally, someone asks how to distinguish a Chinese Buddhist monk. The answer is: Look at the top of his head. Unless he grows his hair, several rows of small, round white scars should be visible on his scalp. These dots, called 'incense scars', are made by burning wormwood on the scalp at the end of the ordination. I have not delved into the history, but I may have traced it back to the Song Dynasty. According to one interviewee, after Emperor Yongzheng (1723~1736) suspended the official precepts, the monks turned to burning scars as a method of identification. Another interviewee said that burning scars is like burning fingers, and that it was originally intended to be an offering to the Buddha. Regardless of its origins, burning scars was common among Chinese monks in this century. Guangdong Province is an exception. In Dinghu Mountain and other monasteries in Guangdong, the burning scar is on the inside of the left forearm, not on the head. J. B. Pratt writes that a monk can burn three, nine, or twelve scars 'according to his zeal and courage.' There is no choice in Baohua Mountain, and those who have been ordained as bhikshus will burn twelve scars, no more, no less. Nine of those who have received the ordination of Upasa. Novices, three. The number of scars is said to be similar throughout Jiangsu, but when it comes to other monasteries, the number is indeed different. If the master of the vows is required to burn at least nine scars in a given year, the vows can burn three more scars as a sign of piety.

Usually (in Baohua Mountain) incense scars are burned the day before taking the bodhisattva vows. However, some monasteries are after the bodhisattva vows. In either case, it should not be done too late, and the reason for this is detailed by Prip-Moler. His introduction to scars in his book Chinese Bud-dlist Monasteries is worth quoting here.

The novice wrapped the prayer blanket tightly around his neck and held the small red bag he had received during the previous ceremony. The bag contained 12 to 14 small black wormwood wool made of wormwood, each about one centimeter high. In front of him stood one of the presiding monks, who applied wax made from dried longan to his left thumb. After removing the flammable mugwort from the small red bag handed to him, the monk applied the wax to the bottom of the mugwort and placed it one by one on the novice scalp dotted with small circles. Then, he picked up the paper twist and quickly lit twelve wormwood wool. Alone, or with an assistant standing behind the novice (now kneeling), he pressed his hand on the novice's head to keep it still. Due to the burning pain, the novice must make involuntary movements, at which point the moxa may roll and the scar is in the wrong place, so this procedure and the wrapping of the blanket around the neck are necessary. During the preparation phase, as well as when the moxa was lit and burned, the novice and the assistant monks kept reciting Shakyamuni Buddha or Amitabha. As the twelve fiery dots approach the scalp, we can almost measure the degree of pain according to the rhythm of the chanting. The Buddha's name was repeated faster and faster in the novice's mouth, and the tone gradually rose until finally - usually the moment when the scalp was burned - stopped in the midst of a cry of pain, and the moxa burned for about a minute. I have seen people who have been tortured without flinching, and I have also seen old people and children beating the knee of the monk in charge with their hands, as if they were also young people. It is interesting to note that I have not seen any nuns or female believers scarred - whether three or twelve - without making a sound or trembling when looking at them among adults.

Momentary pain is not the only undesirable consequence of scarring. If precautions are not taken, vision and vision will inevitably be damaged. Sleeping after a scar can cause transient blood poisoning, yet sleep is almost irresistible. If the novice could not resist the deep sleepiness and lay down and fell asleep, irreparable consequences would be unavoidable. Such as reduced vision or blindness, swollen head, etc. In order to help the novices fight drowsiness, the temple announced that they would be allowed to roam around the temple as they pleased, meeting men and women, visiting the guest hall, the abbot's room, etc., using their natural curiosity to help them stay awake. The Huiju Temple lit a scar at 9 a.m., as did the Gulin Temple in Nanjing, where novices could be seen wandering around the day, peeking into or browsing the houses that they were normally forbidden to visit. At nine o'clock in the evening, the abbot ordered them to stay awake until twelve o'clock in the evening. It was only after twelve o'clock that they were relieved to let the weary wanderers look for the rest they had deserved and had been waiting for. ’

The former abbot of Baohua Mountain said that they should eat more melons and annealing that day (Nanhua Temple eats chestnuts). Another respondent denied that he was at risk of blindness. The only possibility is for the monk to hide his sins during his ordination – for example, he has killed someone, but does not answer the question truthfully (because the murderer is not eligible for ordination) – and the ghost of the victim has caused him to faint or even die after he has been scarred.