The relationship between the zodiac and Buddhism and Taoism

Taoism is a native religion in China, and it is also influenced by primitive clan religion and myths and legends of polytheism. Qingyang Palace, with the reputation of "the first Taoist temple in western Sichuan", perfectly integrates the image of the zodiac into the modeling design of the whole Taoist temple.

In the Bagua Pavilion, the most well-preserved and luxurious building in Qingyang Palace, there is a statue of Laozi riding a green cow. The importance of zodiac cattle as mounts for Taoist masters can be seen.

The most famous one-horned Qingyang in Qingyang Palace, with unique shape, contains the characteristics of the zodiac, including mouse ear, ox body, Tiger Claw, rabbit back, dragon horn, snake tail, horse mouth, sheep beard, Hericium erinaceus, corns, dog belly and pig buttocks, which was presented by Zhang Peng 'ao, a university student in the first year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty. The inscription on the pedestal reads: "Shi Jing bronze sheep moved to Chengdu Gudaochang.

Yin, who passed the customs, seems to know him and found Huayang Music in Weiyang. Inscribed as "Xinyang copybook", Xinyang copybook is the number of Zhang Peng purlin. Folk rumors say that people who are unwell can "stop pain" by touching this copper sheep, which can indirectly show the soothing effect of religious gods on psychology.

As one of the core philosophical classics of Taoism, there is a story about the rooster in the zodiac in Zhuangzi: Ji is to domesticate cockfighting. 10 days later, Wang asked if the chicken had been domesticated. Ji Xunzi hasn't answered. On the surface, he is aggressive, but in fact he is impetuous and conceited, with a bloody pride.

Ten days later, Wang asked Ji again. He replied, "Not yet. Chickens will still be disturbed by the cries and shadows of other chickens, which will affect their play." Ten days later, Wang couldn't help asking again. Ji Xunzi thought it was not enough, but the chicken would still glare at each other.

After waiting for more than ten days, Ji Xunzi finally got used to it. At this time, the chicken did not respond to other chickens jumping and screaming. It looks like it's made of wood. This one has cockfighting spirit. None of the other chickens dared to fight. When they saw the chicken, they all turned and ran away.

Later, the commendatory meaning of "wooden chicken" in the text was transformed into the derogatory meaning of the idiom "stupefied". It can be seen that the connotation and usage of the zodiac are not immutable in the process of historical evolution.

The zodiac can't be ignored in Taoist plastic arts and Taoist classics, and it can't be separated from heavenly stems and earthly branches's belief in Taoist 60-year-old God (60-star God). According to Taoist theory, the cultivation of truth needs to be dedicated to the occasion of the core monument of life, and to get rid of distractions and selfishness in order to live forever.

Therefore, the Baiyun Temple in Beijing, built in the Tang Dynasty during the Kaiyuan period, has 60 statues in the hall, which is the core monument star used to worship life.

Buddhism originated in ancient India in 10 century BC, and was later introduced to Yunnan, China, which is also closely related to the culture of the zodiac. In the 10th year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (67 years), Emperor Hanming sent envoys to the Western Regions to collect Buddhist statues and classics, and invited monks such as Kayamoton and Zhu Falan to Luoyang to establish the first official temple-Luoyang White Horse Temple.

Tracing back to the origin of Buddhism in India, there is an Indian myth "Apo Tiesha", which says, "The Chinese zodiac was originally driven by 65,438+02 gods, thinking that the mouse, Pijero is a cow, Mia Piro is a lion, a rabbit, a dragon, an andro is a snake, an andro is a horse, and Sandro is a sheep and an Indaro.

Except for lions and goldfinches, animals and their arrangement order are not much different from those of the China Zodiac.

Even the Tathagata Sutra, one of the five sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, is closely related to the Chinese zodiac: "It is twelve kinds of animals, and they often travel in Jambu-Di^pa day and night. Heaven and man respect each other Merit has been achieved. I deeply pray to the buddhas for a day and a night. Often have a beast parade education. More than eleven animals live in peace and cultivate kindness. Cycle after cycle. " It depicts the scene in which the Buddhas let the twelve beasts take turns to be on duty day and night and walk the world.

Although the classic zodiac signs are different from those in China, their cave locations are the same as those in China, and they all started with rats. This may be the result of mutual influence and integration between Indian Buddhism and China culture.

As the representative of China's traditional twelve zodiac signs, religion has played an important role in the development of its form. At the same time, the Chinese Zodiac, as the bond of national unity and the essence of Chinese culture, should be protected and developed by integrating and respecting the totems and beasts of all ethnic groups.

Extended data:

Every aspect of China culture and every historical period has a place for the zodiac, which shows that the zodiac has an unparalleled position as a traditional culture. In fact, the inheritance of the zodiac culture is closely related to the religious development of human society.

"In the lower stage of barbarism, the advanced attributes of human beings began to develop. ..... At this time, unrecorded literature such as myths, legends and legends began to appear, which has already had a strong influence on mankind. " Marx showed that at this stage, human ideological activities, that is, primitive witchcraft-related activities including religion, art, decoration and so on, have begun.

Humans can't completely explain the laws of everything in the world with reason, so they often use animal images as the patron saint of this clan to seek peace. For example, in Shan Hai Jing, the female snail is a snake with a human face, while in Fu Kao, the snake is taken as the main body and combined with the characteristics of various animals to transform it into a "dragon" image.

The totem of Xia nationality is bear or fish, the totem of Shang nationality is blackbird, and the totem of Zhou nationality is dragon, bird, turtle, dog and tiger.

Ethnologist Liu Yaohan inferred the origin of the "Zodiac Calendar" from the totem relics of the Yi people. The zodiac calendars of the Yi people in western Guangxi and the Mao people are all recorded by the zodiac. There is a record of Nuo dance in the History of Etiquette in the Later Han Dynasty: "Children of Huangmen, over ten years old and under twelve years old, choose 102 Nuo children. They are all made of red soap, and they are very big.

Fang has four golden eyes, bearskin, mysterious clothes and Zhu Shang, and holds the Levin shield. Twelve animals have horns, and the yellow door in the middle makes them. "Primitive polytheistic religious sacrificial dance" is the legacy of primitive ideology that distinguishes between man and beast in reality. It can be seen that the zodiac originated from the totem worship of ancient polytheism and is a mixture of animal images of various nationalities and families.

References:

Phoenix. Com- the ultimate truth recorded in the traditions of the zodiac and religious Buddhist scriptures