The five anti-Buddhism campaigns in China

The five anti-Buddhism campaigns

The first three anti-Buddhism campaigns are known as “san wu mie fo”. They were anti-Buddhism campaigns launched by emperors (1) Tai Wu Di (423-452 A.D.) of Northern Wei, (2) Wu Di (560-578 .D.) of Northern Zhou, and (3) Wu Zong (841-846 A.D.) of the Tang dynasty. The fourth anti-Buddhism campaign together with the previous three campaigns is called the “san wu yi zong mie fo”. (4) “Yi zong” refers to Shi Zong of the Latter Zhou dynasty whose anti-Buddhism campaign lasted from 955 A.D. to 959 A.D. (5) The fifth anti-Buddhism campaign was the ten years of destruction by the Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution.

(1) Emperor Tai Wu of Northern Wei ascended the throne in 438 A.D. and launched his anti-Buddhism campaign in 444 A.D. when he ordered the execution of Buddhist high monk Shi Xuan Gao Zeng. by the time of emperor Wen Cheng, Buddhism was revived. The campaign lasted for a total of 7 years.

(2) Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou decided to destroy all Buddhist temples in 574 A.D. He first ordered the banning of Buddhism in 574 A.D. He was dead by the year 578 A.D. when emperor Xuan and emperor Jing ascended the throne and began the revival of Buddhism. The anti-Buddhism campaign from the banning of Buddhism in 574 A.D. to the revival of Buddhism in 578 A.D. lasted for four years.

(3) Emperor Wu Zhong of the Tang dynasty began is anti-Buddhism campaign in the first year of Huichang, 841 A.D. In 843 A.D., monks and nuns were not allowed to live in the capital city nor were they allowed to enter the city. The anti-Buddhism campaign began in the fourth month of 843 A.D., In the eighth month of 845 A.D., the emperor decreed the mass destruction and demolition of Buddhist temples. In the 6th year of Huichang 846 A.D., the emperor died, and emperor Xuan Zong ascended the throne and revived Buddhism. This campaign became known as the Huichang anti-Buddhism campaign. it lasted for six years.

(4) Emperor Shi Zong of Latter Zhou began his anti-Buddhism campaign in the year 955 A.D. by ordering the destruction of Buddhist statues. By 959 A.D., emperor Shi Zong was dead. The anti-Buddhism campaign lasted for four years. In 955 A.D., 30,336 Buddhist temples were destroyed.

(5) The anti-Buddhism campaign of the Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution officially began on May 16, 1966, with the infamous May 16 Notice. It launched the Cultural Revolution. On August 19, 1966, mass demonstrations called for the “destruction of the four olds”, “old ideology, old culture, old traditions, old habits.” Buddhist temples, artifacts, literature, were destroyed. During the ten years of the Cultural Revolution, 4,922 of the 6,843 Buddhist temples were destroyed, and 538,000 Buddhist relics and documents were destroyed.

Of the five anti-Buddhism campaigns, the Cultural Revolution lasted the longest and was the most destructive.

On January 10, 2012, the Archaeological Research Institute of the Chinese Social Sciences Academy and the Hebei provincial artifacts research institute conducted a joint excavation of Yecheng in today’s Anyang area in Henan province very close to Cao Cao’s burial mound. They unearthed a large burial pit and retrieved 3000 pieces of clay and colored stone figures of Buddhas, including a large stone head of the Buddha.

According to the archaeologists involved in the find, the artifacts were strewn about, and some of the painted pieces were characteristic of Tang dynasty artwork. The archaeologists believe that the burial pit was dug and the Buddhist figures were buried in a hurry, and that they may be the remnants of the anti-Buddhism campaign of Tang Wu Zong.