When Tang Sai'er launched the uprising, he used the "White Lotus Sect" as an organization, so what is the so-called "White Lotus Sect"?

White Lotus Sect, the most complex and mysterious religion in Chinese history, originated from a branch of Buddhism in the Southern Song Dynasty, worshipping Maitreya Buddha, the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties were popular among the people, legend has it that Song Gaozong Shaoxing was founded by Mao Ziyuan in three years of Buddhism branch White Lotus Sect, because the believers are careful with green onion milk, do not kill or drink, so it is also known as White Lotus Cuisine, and then gradually evolved into a folk community organization White Lotus Sect.

In China's old days, the pseudo-Maitreya religion, and mixed with Manichaeism, Taoism, the White Lotus Sect and the secret church of folk beliefs, belonged to the Pure Land system of the sect and bandit association, popular in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Among them, Maitreya is a lay religious group that worships Maitreya Buddha, and since the Sui and Tang dynasties, careerists have repeatedly used the name Maitreya to reincarnate in an attempt to rebel. Manichaeism was introduced into our country after Tang Wu, because Tang Wuzong was distributed, Manichaeism was also banned, and went underground, with the religion advocating light, the god worshiped was called Mingwang, so it was renamed Mingjiao. The teachings of these two religions contain the idea of dissatisfaction with the status quo and longing for the future, and there are many similarities in rituals such as burning incense and eating fasting. Whenever realpolitik disappoints the people, rumors about the birth of Maitreya and King Ming naturally emerge. In addition, Taoism is an inherent belief in our country, and the Maitreya and Mingjiao that are spread among the people are not immune from its influence. Therefore, the White Lotus Sect, which arose later in the Yuan Dynasty, also integrated the three beliefs of Maitreya, Mingjiao, and Taoism. In addition, another source of the White Lotus Sect is the White Lotus Society.

The Eastern Jin Dynasty monk Hui Yuan founded the White Lotus Society in Lushan, cultivated the Buddha Samadhi, and prayed for rebirth in the Western Pure Land. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Cizhao Ziyuan (Mao Ziyuan) admired the legacy of Huiyuan's establishment of the White Lotus Society. Therefore, it advocated a common people to recite the Buddhist sect, that is, the White Lotus Sect (the believers are called the White Lotus Sect), but because of the distorted teachings of its disciple Xiao Mao Yanli, it was considered an evil sect at the end of the Song Dynasty and prevailed in the Jiangnan area.

As for the name of the White Lotus Society, it was in the eighteenth year of Yuan Shizu to the Yuan Dynasty (1281), and it was gathered by Du Wanyi of Duyi County, Jiangnan. At this time, it is not clear whether there is a connection with the White Lotus disciples of the Ziyuan system, but there is a White Lotus Buddha thing. This White Lotus Society was regarded as a thief in the Yuan Dynasty, so it was suppressed by impeachment, and the name of the White Lotus Society and all the techniques of the Left Way Troubled Times were banned. At this time. Jiangxi Lushan Donglin Temple of the White Lotus Sect monk Youtan Pudu. He wrote ten volumes of "The Treasure of the Lushan Lotus Sect", clarifying the true meaning of the White Lotus Sect advocated by Ziyuan, and using it to refute the heresies and evil deeds of the White Lotus Society at that time. To the first year of Wuzong to the Great (1308), because of the non-practice of the White Lotus Road in the White Lotus Hall in the back mountain of Jianning Road, Fujian Province. Suppressed again. However, because of Youtan Pudu, he personally went to the capital. Efforts to revert to the movement. At the time of Yu Renzong's accession to the throne (1312), he was allowed to resume his religion. After that, in the second year of the reign of Emperor Yingzong (1322), he was banned from activities three times.

Shun Zong. Luancheng Han Shantong father and son, the white lotus bloomed, Maitreya came to the world, officially founded the White Lotus Society, relying on Buddhism, made scriptures and talismans, spread the people, in the eleventh year of Zhizheng (1351) led the foolish people to be in chaos, and was executed for a long time, which is the "red scarf thief." "When Ming Taizu was in power, he was banned.

After the Ming Dynasty, the White Lotus Society was influenced by Luojiao (created by Luo Qing in the Ming Dynasty, with a purpose close to the Southern School of Zen Buddhism), absorbed the idea of "vacuum hometown, no biological parents", and regarded the unborn old mother as the creator, declaring that the unborn old mother sent Maitreya and other gods and Buddhas to descend to earth, and the fetal daughter of the emperor who was lost in the red dust was taken back to the vacuum hometown. Since then, there have been many sects, with many names, and each sect does not belong to each other, and the leader of the sect has monopolized the power, and the father dies and the son succeeds him; the hierarchy is strict, and the believers hold certain ceremonies when they enter the church, pay money, meet regularly, burn incense and worship, preach the scriptures, and teach the practice of boxing sticks. During the Wanli period of Shenzong, Xu Hongru and Wang Sen rose up again and advocated the White Lotus Sect, which was the beginning of the White Lotus Sect. However, if we talk about the ideological origin of Maitreya's reincarnation in the White Lotus Sect, it should be from the Sui and Tang dynasties, and if we are concerned about its form of mixing beliefs, it should be formed in the Southern Song Dynasty or the Yuan Dynasty. Wang Sen claimed to be the leader of the incense sect with the strange fragrance of the demon fox, and led the people to rebel, affecting Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Shaanxi provinces, and Xun was also defeated.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, its religion rose again, and the leader of the sect, Liu Song of Anhui, was arrested and confiscated into Gansu, rebelled, and was defeated and killed. Later, Liu Zhixie, Song Zhiqing, Wang Sanhuai, Leng Tianlu and others rose again, called on the congregation, and plotted to raise troops to overthrow the Qing, and the incident occurred and was killed successively. And the officials searched on a large scale, and many innocents were involved. As a result, the remnants of Jingzhou, Xiangyang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places, under the pretext of official coercion and rebellion, rose up one after another, spreading to Wuxing Province, which was called the battle of Sichuan and Chu disciples. The battle between the Qing army and the Qing army was fruitless, but it was a policy of fortifying the wall and clearing the wilderness, which was pacified by Erle Dengbao, Yang Yuchun, Yang Fang and others. However, the root of the White Lotus Sect has not yet been purified.

Looking at the White Lotus Sect, in the process of its development, its name has changed one after another, and its branches have multiplied, and there are many names in it, and the doctrines, organizations, rituals, and activities of each sect are still similar, so they can be collectively called the White Lotus Sect. From the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China, the number of factions is estimated to be more than 100. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, there were Hongyang, Jingkong, Wuwei, and Western Mahayana, and from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, there were Hongyang, Mixed Yuan, Shuyuan, Laoguanzhai, Longhua, Bagua, Tianli, Consistent Dao, Boxer, Red Spear Society, Big Knife Society, Small Knife Society, Tianmen Society, Wuji Society, Fast Dao, Fan Society, Miaodao Society, Red Lantern Society, Nine Immortals Society, Emperor Society, Wuji Old Mother Association (Zodiac Society), Tianshen Society, Liuli Society, Fangdao Society, Dadaomen, Baode Gate, Ten Ancestors Gate, Jindan Dao, Teacher Dao, Sitting Gong Dao, Lao Buddha Gate, Learning Good Teaching, Xiansheng Sect, Great Buddhism, etc. [Da Yuan Tong Tiao Ge 28, Yuan Dian Chapter Volume 33 Rite Department 5, Lushan Lotus Sect Baojian, Lushan Fujiao Collection]p2103FROM:【Buddha Guangda Dictionary (3rd Edition)】

The leaders and leaders of the White Lotus Sect used the teachings of the White Lotus Sect scriptures to oppose darkness and pursue light, and that light will eventually triumph over darkness, propagating that "the great calamity is coming, the heavens and the earth are dark, the sun and the moon have no light", "the yellow sky will die, the sky will be born", and "the world will surely change greatly". They also called on believers to regard the relationship between the Catholics as siblings of the same biological parents, and called on the Catholics to exchange money and help each other, and to be equal between men and women. These slogans directly reflect the interests and urgent demands of the broad masses of peasants. Therefore, it has a great attraction to poor peasants, and it has developed very rapidly, becoming a huge social force.

The White Lotus Sect is a folk religion that has been circulating from the Northern Song Dynasty to modern times. Originated from the Pure Land sect of Buddhism. According to legend, Huiyuan (334~416), the founder of the Pure Land Sect, recited Buddha together with Liu Zhimin and others in the Lushan Donglin Temple, and later generations of believers thought it was a model. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Pure Land Buddha Association was prevalent. It is mostly called the White Lotus Society or the Lotus Society, and the hosts are both monks and lay believers. During the Shaoxing period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1131~1162), Mao Ziyuan (legal name Cizhao), a monk in Kunshan, Wujun (now Kunshan, Jiangsu), founded a new sect on the basis of the popular Pure Land Society, called the White Lotus Sect, that is, the White Lotus Sect. The Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties were popular among the people, and the peasant army often revolted in the name of the White Lotus Sect. A secret folk religious group under the pretense of "Maitreya was born". It prevailed in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. There are many denominations, and there are strict hierarchies within the sect. It is often used as an organizational tool for peasant uprisings, such as the Red Turban Uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the White Lotus Rebellion in Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty

White Lotus Sect. A folk religious organization. According to legend, in 1133 A.D., the White Lotus Sect, a branch of Buddhism, was founded by Mao Ziyuan. Don't kill or drink". Therefore, it is also known as white lotus vegetable. Later, it gradually evolved into the White Lotus Sect, a non-governmental community organization. The White Lotus Sect, the earliest of which was the "Pure Land Sect", was founded during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The earliest name was "White Lotus Society", according to the record of "Buddha Tongzai Volume VII": Later Qin changed to Baique (2) in the ninth year of Taiyuan, and the master Huiyuan returned to Jin with Qin chaos. Far out of Yanmen Jia's family. ...... Even if the boat is full of strength, the boat is gone, and its image is lost. The rumor said that Kan Wei Jianxiong, like a god mark, can be sincere, difficult to recruit, and Yuanchuang Temple, the heart prays. So it was like being cold. The Jin Dynasty is slight, and the world's wizards are mostly reclusive. Ruo Pengcheng Liu Zhimin, Yuzhang Lei Cizong, Yanmen Zhou Xuzhi, Xin Cai Bi Yingzhi, Nanyang Zongbing, Zhang Shimin, Li Shuo, etc., traveled from afar, and "more than 1,000 people in Shamen" formed the White Lotus Society. In front of the statue of Amitayus, Jianzhai made a vow to give birth to a pure land. and heard that (Kumarosh) Master Rosh entered the customs, and the distant (Huiyuan) looked at the wind and admired, and the suicide note was good. The words said: I got Yao's right army book last year, and Chengde heard it, and the benevolent person was in the special domain, and the more from the outside world. When the transliteration was not delivered, I was happy to hear the wind, and I was grateful to Huaibao to travel, and I was nine gallops a day. "Sending Qingyuan Temple Monk" Tang Dynasty Wen Tingyun. The stone road is dust-free and the bamboo path is open, and it has been accompanied by Dai Hao in the past. After the bell was heard in the window, Panasonic sent the guests back. The curtain hides the night snow to the jade peak, and the brick grows autumn moss because of the blue water. In the White Lotus Society, if they ask each other, they say that the tourist is surnamed Lei. White Lotus Sect Famous Union: The silt originated from the chaos of Qi, and the White Lotus was prosperous. It is printed on the Holy Lotus Order, a sacred relic of the White Lotus Sect

"White Lotus Society", actually from the "Pure Land of Cultivation", first there is the White Lotus Society, and then there is the White Lotus Pond, the White Lotus Pavilion, according to the Northern Song Dynasty Chen Shunyu's "Lushan Chronicle Volume No. 1" record: less pushed, a sight of the distant public, solemn and convinced. It is the temple to turn over the Nirvana Sutra, because the chiseled pond is the back, and the white lotus pond is planted. The name of its platform is called the scripture platform, and now the White Lotus Pavilion is its hometown. Yuan Gong and Hui Yong, Hui Zhi, Tan Shun, Tan Heng, Zhu Daosheng, Hui Rui, Dao Jing, Dao Yu, Tan Xu, Bai Yi, Zhang Ye, Zong Bing, Liu Zhimin, Zhang Quan, Zhou Xuzhi, Lei Cizong, Buddhist monk and Buddha carry Yeshe, eighteen people, the same practitioner of the Pure Land Law, because of the name of the White Lotus Society. Because the founder of the "White Lotus Society" is Huiyuan, also known as "Yuangong", until the Song Dynasty, it was also known as "Yuangong White Lotus Society". For example, the Northern Song Dynasty's "Maoting Hakka Volume 3" (Huang Xiufu) records: There is a Miaoyuan Pagoda outside the east gate of the pseudo-Shu Dynasty, and the name of the monk is Xingqin, and the common surname is Zhang. ...... Zhang Daoist does not gather disciples, is very sprinkling, and does not marry the Far White Lotus Society. The heart is like a round of the autumn pond moon, why use fame to spread the world. Because the "White Lotus Society" was founded by Huiyuan in the "Donglin Temple (in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was named Taiping Xingguo Temple)", also known as the "Donglin White Lotus Society". For example, "Sheng'an Poetry Volume 10" (Yang Shen): What is planted on the Yuangong Pond, the red-scaled fish at the bottom of the Biluo fan. ...... When did you have to enter the Donglin White Lotus Society with Liu Zhimin.

When the name "White Lotus" came from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Huiyuan, the ancestor of the Pure Land Sect, invited eighteen sages to gather in Lushan, Jiangxi, and recited Buddha in Donglin Temple, vowing to die in the Western Elysium realm. They also chiseled ponds to plant white lotus. The place where the Buddha is chanted is named the White Lotus Society. Famous people Tao Yuanming and Xie Lingyun also came to play and sing from time to time, and Donglin Temple became a place where monks and laymen gathered. In the eighteenth year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1838), the abbot of Baoguang Temple, Miaosheng Zen Master, imitated the story of Huiyuan, and planted the white lotus in the pond on the west side of Zixia Mountain behind the temple, and built the White Lotus Society. The poet monk Hanche has a poem: "Between the white clouds and a dock house, worship the Buddha and flee to Zen next to the purple mountain; In the second year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1863), the disciple of Miaosheng Zen Master saw that the place of the White Lotus Society was too small, so he rebuilt the White Lotus Society behind the Jile Hall. This is a quiet courtyard with a quiet environment, in the middle of which is the Buddha Hall, and there is a lotus-shaped pool in front of the hall, which is covered with white meridian lotus. This flower is elegant and fragrant, and it is lovely. Outside the railing of the lotus pond, it is often surrounded by tourists, who throw metal coins into the pond one by one, sighing and sighing at the bottom, and floating up elated, that is because of the homophonic relationship between "floating" and "blessing".

The four earth beliefs of the Tiantai sect. The White Lotus Sect inherited the main ideas of the Pure Land and Tiantai sects of Buddhism, and took the theory of the four lands as the core of its religious teachings. The four lands are the four kinds of pure land, the surplus country, the fruit retribution country, and the constant silence light, which are also called the four pure land countries. The fundamental belief is to chant the Buddha and attain the Western Pure Land (Mida faith). After the Yuan Dynasty, many White Lotus followers regarded Maitreya's birth as the most basic belief. Believers are careful with green onion milk, do not kill or drink alcohol (careful green onion milk: Middle Earth Buddhism pays attention to the abstinence of meat, in which Xin refers to onions, ginger, garlic and other flavorful condiments, meat, refers to meat and milk and other animal food. White Lotus Buddhism's "Careful Green Onion Milk" is equivalent to Buddhism's "Prohibition of Bitter Meat". )

The White Lotus Sect is a kind of secret religious association that has been circulated among the people since the Tang and Song dynasties. Originated from the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism, according to legend, the ancestor of the Pure Land Sect of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Shi Huiyuan in the Lushan Forest Temple and Liu Yimin and others to chant Buddha together, and later generations of believers thought it was a model. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Pure Land Buddha Association was popular, and it was mostly called the White Lotus Society or the Lotus Society. During the Shaoxing period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Mao Ziyuan (legal name Cizhao), a monk in Kunshan (now Kunshan, Jiangsu), founded a new sect on the basis of the popular Pure Land Association, called the White Lotus Sect, that is, the White Lotus Sect. In the early days, the White Lotus Sect worshiped Amitabha Buddha, advocated chanting Buddha and keeping precepts, and stipulated that believers should not kill, steal, commit adultery, lie or drink alcohol. It calls on believers to worship their ancestors and is a secret society that is half-monk and half-layman. Its doctrine is simple, and the Scriptures are relatively easy to understand. It is accepted by the lower classes, so it is often used as a tool to organize the people to resist oppression. In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the White Lotus Sect organized peasant uprisings many times. In the early Qing Dynasty, it developed into an anti-Qing secret organization, although it was repeatedly bloodily suppressed by the Qing government, but in the first year of Jiaqing (1796), the White Lotus Rebellion had developed into the largest uprising in the Jiaqing period. (To be continued......)