Study on the Relationship between Jiannan West military governor and Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty

Proceedings of the International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities in the 21st Century

Year: 2023

DOI:

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Study on the Relationship between Jiannan West military governor and Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty

Jie Zhou

 

 

ABSTRACT: 

Military governor was not only the provincial governor in the mid and late Tang Dynasty, but also a synonym of a local administrative district. The origin of the Jiannan West military governor can be traced back to the Yizhou Governor’s Office and the Yizhou Daoxingtai in the early Tang Dynasty, and then experienced the changes of the Yizhou Dudufu, the Dadudufu, and the Jiannan military governor. The predecessor of the Jiannan West military governor was called Jiannan military governor, which was one of the earliest military governor established in the Tang Dynasty. Due to its developed economy and close proximity to the Guanzhong region, Jiannan West became an exceedingly important area of the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, the flourishing of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty tended to reach its peak, affecting all fields. Under the influence of Buddhism, the bureaucrats and scholars generally worshipped Buddhism, including all the Jiannan West military governors; In addition, under the state bureaucratic system of the Tang Dynasty, most Jiannan West military governors were literary giants, which had an important impact on the formation and development of the urban culture  in the Tang Dynasty. Especially in religious activities, they extensively participated in the communication between Confucianism and Buddhism and treating famous monks with civility. And they either donated money to build temples, or regarded houses as temples, or became monks during their tenure. Their fully supports of Buddhism not only united of the people in Jiannan West, but also indirectly stabilized the Tang Dynasty’s rule of Jiannan West.

keywords: Buddhism, culture, jiannan West military governor, monks, tang Dynasty