Abstract
Following the pacification of the troops of Wang Shichong (王世充) and Dou Jiande (竇建德) in 621, Li Yuan, Emperor Gaozu of Tang, issued a decree that only one temple would be allowed for in each prefecture in the enemy-occupied territories. The maximum number of resident Buddhist monastics was thirty and those exceeding this number were all laicized. The overriding rationale was the difficulty in distinguishing the legitimate monastics from illegitimate ones. This decree, later known as “the decree of the eastern provinces,” was subsequently implemented in the local warlords’ territories such as Zheng (鄭), Liang (梁), Xia (夏), and Song (宋) states. This paper pieces together a wide array of sources, such as dynastic chronicles, monastic biographies, stele inscriptions of the monasteries, and inscriptions recorded in the local gazetteers, and it uses a series of case studies as the basis to investigate how the purge was executed in these territories, specifically the scope and intensity, the actual number of purged temples and male/female monastics in each prefecture, and the handling of monastic properties.
The purge was initiated shortly after the enemy-occupied territories were being unified into the Tang dynasty map. Following a preparation period of six months to one year, the decree began to take effect in these territories. With the exception of the monastics who assisted in Tang’s military campaigns against the local warlords, all the other monastics and their monasteries were purged, in strict observance of “the decree of the eastern provinces.” Unlike any of the preceding dynasties, this purge covered the entire enemy-occupied territories. The severity in the purge of monastics and monasteries was comparable to the notorious suppression of Buddhism in the Huichang period under the reign of Wuzong. Therefore, the objective of the purge carried out in the later years of Wude period was two-fold: to punish the monastics within these territories and to limit the influence of Buddhist monasteries. The impact of Gaozu’s policy was deeply felt by his successors.
Keywords
Li Yuan, later years of Wude (624-626) period, enemy-occupied territories, the purge of monasteries and monastics, punishment and purge
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