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Hui-ch'ang persecution

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | | Copyright

Hui-ch'ang persecution. Initiated in 845 by Emperor Wu-tsung of the T'ang dynasty, this was the third and, prior to the Cultural Revolution, the most catastrophic persecution of Buddhism in Chinese history. After many years of anti-Buddhist policies, the emperor decreed an unconditional proscription on Buddhism in the fourth month of 845, with the result that most temples and monasteries were destroyed, monks and nuns forcibly returned to lay life, foreign monks expelled, metal Buddha images recast as coins, and monastic properties confiscated. These measures remained in effect until the following year, when Wu-tsung died and was succeeded by a new emperor who was much more sympathetic to Buddhism. Many scholars think this event marked the end of Buddhism's golden age in China: the loss of so many academic, material, and human resources sounded the death knell for such intellectual traditions as T'ien-t'ai, Hua-yen, and Fa-hsiang, and left the field solely to the Ch'an and Pure Land traditions. These two, not needing the same kind of infrastructure and support as the others, were able to carry on and became the predominant forms of Buddhism in China thereafter.

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DAMIEN KEOWN. "Hui-ch'ang persecution." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAMIEN KEOWN. "Hui-ch'ang persecution." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Huichangpersecution.html

DAMIEN KEOWN. "Hui-ch'ang persecution." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Huichangpersecution.html

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