What is a laity?

Laity refers to the general name given by the old monk to people who enlighten at home; At the same time, this term still pretends to be a scholar. For example, Taoist Li Bai calls himself a violet Buddhist, Su Shi calls himself a Dongpo Buddhist, Tang Yin calls himself a six-elephant Buddhist, and Sun Yue calls himself a bright moon Buddhist.

It first appeared in the Confucian Book of Rites Jade Algae: "The golden ribbon of the lay man." Zheng Xuan's Note: "The laity also knows Chu Shi." Taoism also has the title of "lay man". After the introduction of Indian Buddhism, it was translated into Buddhist scriptures.

The word "lay man" in ancient China originated from the jade algae in the Book of Rites. In Han Feizi's book, it is also said that there are laymen such as Ren Ti and Shihua, all of which refer to those who are quite good at art and do not seek official positions. Since then, both China and Japan have not followed the original intention of Confucian classics, but generally called those who have the means "laity".

Extended data:

In India, Geha Patti was not created by Buddhism. Sanskrit calls Gehapati "Jia Max Loehr". Whether you believe in Buddhism or not, anyone who stays at home can be called a layman.

In China, the word "lay man" originated from the jade algae in the Book of Rites. In Han Feizi's book, it also refers to laymen such as Ren Ti and Shihua, all of whom refer to those who are quite capable and do not seek official positions. Later, China and Japan did not follow the original intention of Confucian classics, but generally referred to those who had the means as laymen.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Taoist practitioners also claimed to be laymen, which had a great influence on middle and upper-class intellectuals, so many people took the name of "laymen". For example, Li Bai, who believes in Taoism, is a "violet layman"; Bai Juyi calls himself "Xiangshan laity"; Su Shi was named "Dongpo layman" and Fan Chengda was named "Shihu layman"; Li Qingzhao named herself "Yi 'an Jushi" and so on.

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