Fortune-telling by Master Bai Lian _ Fortune-telling novels by Master Bai Lian

Anbailism is an important religious group active in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it has an indissoluble bond with the peasant uprising at the end of Yuan Dynasty. In recent years, historians have launched a new debate on the origin of Anbalism, the focus of which is:

First, the emergence of White Lotus Sect, also known as "White Lotus Sect", originated from the pure Sect of Buddhism. There are two theories about when it first came into being.

One way of saying it is: It started in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Hui Yuan was born in Tuolin Temple of Lushan Mountain in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. There were Hui Yong, Jiao Zhi, Liu Yimin, Lei Cizong, etc. 123 people, who specialized in Buddhism and vowed to live in the pure land of the West. Because of digging ponds to plant white lotus, it is called "White Lotus Sect". This is a traditional saying.

Another way of saying it is: it started in the middle Tang Dynasty.

According to Tang Yongtong's textual research, it was not until the middle Tang Dynasty that Huiyuan established the Lotus Sect: the earliest records did not involve the Lotus Sect in Yuan Gong, only the words of the Ming master in Sui Dynasty who sent a letter to the King of Jin in Kuangshan and Xie Lingyun tied the pool, without mentioning the establishment of the Sect. After the middle Tang Dynasty, it became the name of Lotus Society.

There are three kinds of views about the official appearance of White Lotus:

An idea began in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Its founder is Mao Ziyuan from Kunshan, Wu Jun, and its ancestor is Hui Yuan. He advocated converting to the Three Treasures, receiving five honors, not eating meat (wine) and reciting Amitabha five times, that is, he could die in the pure land of the West. He built Bailian Temple in Dianshan Lake in Pingjiang (now Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province), calling himself "Bailian Master". The Southern Song regime began to regard it as a "sacred object" and banned it. It was not until the second year of the main road (1 166) that Zhao Gou changed its past policy and specially called Mao Ziyuan to Beijing to "lecture on the pure land" in Deshoutang, and was named "the teacher and loving mother of Bailian". An Baili "has been greatly promoted since then."

The second view is that it started at the end of Yuan Dynasty.

At the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, Mao Ziyuan founded "Bailianlai" (only eating vegetables and not eating meat), not Bailian religion; Bailian religion "began in Han Dynasty and the end of Yuan Dynasty".

The third view is that Han created the White Lotus Sect at the end of Yuan Dynasty.

"From tomorrow on, Wilson, a native of Jizhou, will be called Bailianjiao."

Second, the nature of Anbalism Some people think that Maitreya and Anbalism are combined to form Maitreya An Baili.

Some people think it is a mixed religion of Ambry, Zoroastrianism and Maitreya. Others think it is a mixture of Mani, Ambry and Baiyun. The above three opinions all think that Ambry is a mixed religion, but the mixed content is different. However, according to rigorous research, some people think that Ambry is not a mixed religion. Just because the three factions have something in common does not mean that the three factions are mixed together. No matter how similar Zoroastrianism is to Anbalism, as long as Zoroastrianism does not worship Manifo, it will not be confused with Anbalism that worships Amitabha. By the Yuan Dynasty, Zoroastrianism was still an independent religion and gained legal status.

Regarding the nature of An Baili, there is also a debate about whether Anbaili religion is a peasant religion.