Fang Shuliu took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued to preach: "In the hundred years after the 'Faqing Rebellion,' the Maitreya Sect has died down, and it seems that it has never used prophecies to disrupt the Dharma.
The Maitreya faith is still popular, but it mostly focuses on "educating the people" and "sincerely worshiping the Buddha" as its teachings. Since then, the "Amitabha faith" and "Guanyin faith" have also begun to catch up.
After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, hundreds of years of war finally ended.
However, in the early years of the founding of the Emperor, there was another prophecy that "the emperor in white clothes will come out of the East China Sea" spread like wildfire. The real meaning of "the emperor in white clothes" is exactly "Maitreya is reborn" because it is said that Maitreya was wearing white clothes.
This prophecy has been circulated among the people for many years, and it can be said to be a household name and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Mr. Di often said: 'Although prophecies reflect the sufferings of the people, the fabricators of prophecies are often those who rebel and conspire against them.'
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty built the canal and conquered Korea, which caused turmoil in the world and devastation of all living beings. The maker of this prophecy finally waited for the opportunity and began to put it into action.
On the first day of the first lunar month of the sixth year of Emperor Yang's reign in the Sui Dynasty, at dawn, dozens of strong Maitreya believers wearing white skirts walked forward holding flowers and burning incense, claiming that Maitreya Buddha had descended to earth and broke into the Jianguo Gate of the imperial city.
The Jianguomen defenders respected Maitreya Buddha very much. When faced with believers dressed in white who claimed that Maitreya had come to the world, they did not know the authenticity, but they did not dare to be disrespectful to Maitreya and kowtowed in worship.
So this group of Maitreya believers took the opportunity to snatch the guards' swords, rushed into the palace, and launched a rebellion. Fortunately, King Qi led the guards to arrive in time, fought fiercely, and killed them.
The rebellion actually happened in the palace?!
Emperor Fan of the Sui Dynasty was shocked and ordered a large-scale search and arrest in Luoyang City. Thousands of people were arrested one after another.
Although this rebellion ended in failure, it showed that the Maitreya Cult was quite powerful. Not only did they have assassin warriors who dared to sacrifice their lives, but they also had Imperial Guard officers who were familiar with the palace guards as internal agents.
However, the paradox is that despite all his efforts, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty failed to find the real mastermind who launched this palace rebellion, which shows how deeply hidden the power of the Maitreya Cult is.
The failure of this uprising did not stop those behind the scenes.
In the ninth year of the Sui Dynasty, there was another Maitreya believer, Song Zixian from Tang County, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Maitreya. This man was very good at illusions and could transform into the appearance of Maitreya Buddha, which convinced many believers.
At this time, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty happened to be visiting Gaoyang. Song Zixian immediately held an unobstructed meeting. Through local officials and wealthy families, he invited Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, who believed in Buddhism, to attend the meeting, in an attempt to assassinate Yang Guang at the event.
The matter was not kept secret, and Song Zixian was accidentally killed for leaking the news. More than a thousand of his accomplices were convicted together.
In the same year, Xiang Haiming claimed to be the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha in Fufeng. Once he became a believer, he would be able to dream of the Buddha's Pure Land that night. This illusion amazed everyone, and believers in Chang'an worshiped him and respected Xiang Haiming as the 'Great Sage'
.
Therefore, Xiang Haiming used his huge prestige among the people to gather tens of thousands of people to rebel, and was eventually defeated by the Sui army.
In just one year, one east and one west launched attacks almost at the same time, which shows how powerful the Maitreya Sect is.
…
In the early Tang Dynasty, Maitreya belief still had a huge influence.
In the second year of Emperor Yonglong's reign, a strange incident occurred in Chang'an: On September 1, Liu Ningjing, a woman from Chang'an's Wannian County, rode a white horse, dressed in white, and led eight to ninety believers into the Taishi Bureau to ask if there was any disaster here.
These demons deceived the public and stirred up trouble. Taishi ordered Yao Xuanbian to be furious and arrested these demons and threw them into prison for questioning.
Since the prophecy that "the emperor in white clothes will come out of the East China Sea", wearing white clothes and claiming to be "the descendant of Maitreya Buddha" to raise troops and raise troops has become a common tactic used by Maitreya believers.
The paradox of the "Liu Ningjing Incident" is that she brought eighty or ninety men to the Taishi Bureau for no reason.
Taishi Bureau is not an important place for the imperial court, nor is it a place where money is gathered. Whether it is rebellion or robbery, it is of no value.
Liu Ningjing broke into it at the risk of beheading her head just to ask: "What's the disaster here?"
Regardless of whether they are those who deceive the public with their lies or those who are rebellious and rebellious, unless they are crazy, they will never do such stupid and useless things.
Liu Ningjing’s crazy behavior troubled Mr. Di very much and was puzzled.”
Bai Fu also felt that this matter was by no means simple, and couldn't help but interject: "What's the truth about this matter? Did Liu Ningjing confess anything?"
Fang Shuliu shook his head and said: "The outcome of this matter, Liu Ningjing's life and death, is unknown. All files related to this matter, whether they are from the Six Gates or the Ministry of Punishment, have been destroyed.
From the 'Jianguomen Incident' to the 'Liu Ningjing Incident', the group of men in white who launched rebellions decades apart are probably from the same sect, secretly lurking in the darkness and hidden from the court's sight."
Having said this, Fang Shuliu paused for a moment, pondered the words, and said: "Looking back, the 'Liu Ningjing Incident' is not worthless. There is one person who has benefited greatly from this incident."
"Who?" Bai Fu and Tang Kui asked in unison.
"Empress Wu Zetian!"
Fang Shuliu said: "During the 'Liu Ningjing Incident', Emperor Gaozong was seriously ill, and Wu Zhao listened to the government behind the curtain, so he had great power.
However, there is still a gap that is difficult for Wu Zhao to overcome in order to become a true emperor of the Ninth Five-Year Plan—never in history has a woman ascended the throne and become an emperor.
After all, in the tradition of male superiority and female inferiority, even though there were powerful women such as Empress Lu and Empress Dowager Dou, there had never been a true female emperor.
Liu Ningjing's crazy behavior solved Wu Zhao's sleepless night problem.
After this incident, Wu Zhao was convinced that not only would women not be discriminated against in the Maitreya religion, but they could also claim to be the reincarnation of Maitreya and lead the group.
This realization kept Wu Zhao awake all night and he was overjoyed.
In the next ten years, Wu Zhao used Gaozong's death, Zhongzong's succession and dethronement, Ruizong's succession and abdication, the failure of the Yue King's conspiracy with the British, bloody cruelty of officials and other means to gradually eradicate political opponents who could compete with him for imperial power.
Become the supreme ruler of the empire."
"Could the 'Liu Ningjing incident' be carefully planned by Wu Zhao himself to test the reaction of the government and the public?" Bai Fu asked.
Bai Fu had met Wu Zhao in Wulong and knew that Wu Zhao, who possessed the Ninth Cauldron Pill, was unstoppable in terms of martial arts and desire, and would definitely have the heart of the Dragon Throne.
"This possibility cannot be ruled out, but there is no evidence to support this inference." Fang Shuliu replied seriously.
…
Because the story of Maitreya's coming into the world was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, when Emperor Gaozong fell ill, Wu Zhao also announced the end of Li's destiny in order to successfully ascend the throne.
In July of the first year of Wu Zetian's Heavenly Grant, Faming, a monk from the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and others wrote four volumes of the Dayun Sutra, which is listed in the table. It is said that the Queen Mother was the descendant of Maitreya Buddha. In the contemporary Tang Dynasty, she was the Lord of Jambudvipa (human world), and it was issued to the world.
.
In the previous Mahayana Buddhist sutras, it was only said that women can become Buddhas like men, but this sutra allows the goddess to take the body of a woman to "king over all lands" and "power the world."
This 'Treasure Sutra' was a blessing for Wu Zhao, who was eager to become emperor but had no status. Wu Zhao ordered eminent monks to ascend the throne and explain this sutra to the believers. He regarded the Queen's deeds in the "Dayun Sutra" as a
The Buddhist principles of changing dynasties and conquering the hearts of the people by oneself.
At the same time, Wu Zhao's lover Xue Huaiyi wrote the "Dayun Sutra", saying that Wu Zhao was the goddess of pure light, the King of Wheels, and the reincarnation of Maitreya.
The Bodhisattva Bodhisattva of the Tang Dynasty translated "Buddha Speaks of the Precious Rain Sutra", following Xue Huaiyi's theory, saying that the Moonlight Bodhisattva took the female form as the king of Mahachina (the Great Tang Dynasty in the Middle Kingdom), and described Wu Zhao as the reincarnation of the Moonlight, which is called "Moonlight Bodhisattva".
The pure light of the moon thus blesses Wu Zhao and creates a tradition in which the heroine can also ascend the throne and become emperor.
In the first year of Wu Zetian's attainment of sainthood, Master Yijing, who had traveled extensively in the Western Regions, returned to Luoyang and was ordered to translate "Buddha's Sutra on Maitreya's Rebirth".
From then on, in the Wuzhou Dynasty, Maitreya religion and the imperial power were mutually beneficial and prosperous, almost becoming the state religion.
…
Since the prosperity of Maitreya Religion was based on Wu Zhao's personal belief, I thought that with the death of Emperor Zetian, the Maitreya Religion would decline. Unexpectedly, in the Xuanzong Dynasty, Maitreya Religion would be reborn.
In the first year of Kaiyuan, Wang Huaigu, a native of Beizhou, spread prophecies and instigated rebellion: "Sakyamuni Buddha has died, and a new Buddha has appeared. The Li family is about to die, and the Liu family is about to flourish. There will be black snow this winter, in Beizhou,
Get out of Yincheng.'
Wang Huaigu advocated that the destiny of the "Li family" came from the old Buddha who was approaching the end of the world, while the "Liu family" represented the new Buddha in the future.
'The new Buddha appears' and 'the Liu family is about to flourish', which implies that after Maitreya is reborn in the world, he will establish a dynasty with the 'Liu family'. Even if the 'Liu family' is not Maitreya himself, he will be the Wheel King or the Moonlight Bodhisattva.
He was reborn in the human world before Maitreya, creating conditions for Maitreya's rebirth.
When Xuanzong heard about it, he was furious and ordered various envoys to arrest and kill Wang Huaigu and his followers.
Although Wang Huaigu and his followers were executed by the imperial court, their prophecy that "the Li family is in decline and the Liu family will be prosperous" touched the foundation of Li Tang's rule of the world. Throughout the Kaiyuan period, a large proportion of demon thieves and monsters were
The rebellion was all related to the Liu family.
In the third year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong promulgated the edict "Forbidden of Demons and Frauds" and "Prohibition of Long Hair Associations in White Clothes", accusing believers in white clothes and long hair of "pretending to be reborn under the pretense of Maitreya", spreading rumors, and making false claims about blame. He asked the local governor and the county magistrate to
Gatherings and associations of Maitreya believers are strictly prohibited.
In addition to the Wang Nostalgic Case, there are many other important rebellions in the world:
In the fifth month of the 13th year of Kaiyuan, Liu Dinggao, a demon thief from Luoyang, broke into Tongluomen at night and captured and executed him.
In the winter of the twenty-third year of Kaiyuan, Liu Pu, a native of Dongdu, rebelled and was executed.
In May of the 24th year of Kaiyuan, Liu Zhicheng, a demon from Liquan in Chang'an, started a rebellion. He drove away passers-by and marched to Xianyang. The villagers reported to the county magistrate and burned bridges and cut off roads to resist them. The crowd then collapsed and they were all captured and executed within a few days.
Therefore, Xuanzong was very sensitive to the 'Maojin Knife'. Yang Guifei's brother Yang Zhao, because of the prophecy of the alloy knife in his name, begged Xuanzong to name him Yang Guozhong.
It can be seen that as long as the Li and Tang royal family encounters a governance crisis, prophecies such as "Mao Jin Dao" and "Liu will be king" will appear again.
One interesting thing is that the Maitreya Rebellion and the Liu Family Rebellion mostly occurred in the Youji area: Liu Lingzhu was a native of Yan County and once served as the governor of Youzhou.
Wang Huaigu was a native of Beizhou near Youzhou. Earlier, Liu Senshao also raised an army in Youzhou and claimed to be the King of the Ming Dynasty of Jingju Kingdom. One year after Liu Sengshao failed to raise his army, Jizhou Shamen Faqing called himself Mahayana and launched an army to rebel.
All in the same area.
Why do so many Maitreya religious rebellions occur in the Youji area?
I personally think that the belief in Maitreya is more prosperous in this area. In addition, it may also be related to the fact that the King of Moonlight will appear north of the Yellow River and south of Weishui as propagated in the "Sura Bhikkhu Sutra".
…
With the imperial court's suppression of Maitreya religion and the rise of Amitabha belief, Maitreya belief began to fade out of the mainstream of Buddhism. Wuzhou Dynasty's status that could almost compete with Sakyamuni Buddha has become a "gone flower", and Amitabha belief and Guanyin belief have also far surpassed
it.
The Maitreya sect, which has been suppressed by orthodox Buddhism, has moved further towards extremes and violence. Once the world is in turmoil, Maitreya sect members are likely to take the opportunity to start an uprising."