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The Sale of Monk Certificates during the Sung Dynasty. A Factor in the Decline of Buddhism in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2011

Kenneth Ch'en
Kenneth Ch'en
Affiliation:
Harvard University
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Extract

Historians of Buddhism in China have long ago noted the fact that after the T'ang dynasty Buddhism no longer played a creative rôle in the literature and arts of China, and that the Buddhist church ceased to make any significant contributions toward the religious and social life of the nation. Some people are inclined to attribute this decline of Buddhism to the suppression of 845, when 260,000 monks and nuns were ordered defrocked, and over 40,000 temples and shrines ordered destroyed. It was held that the religion never recovered from this blow. However, this view does not take into account the fact that during certain periods of the Sung dynasty, the number of monks and nuns actually exceeded that under the T'ang; in 1021, monks 397,615, nuns 61,239; in 1034, monks 385,220, nuns 48,742. It would be necessary therefore to look for some other factors to account for the decline in the influence of the sangha, especially during and after the Sung dynasty.

Type
Research Article
Information
Harvard Theological Review , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , October 1956 , pp. 307 - 327
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1956

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