SYNCRETIC SECTS: THREE TEACHINGS
While popular religious movements have left their
marks in the Chinese historical record since the East-
ern Han dynasty (25–220 C.E.), a new type of syncretic
sectarianism emerged from the Yuan dynasty (1279–
1368) onwards. Continuing trends begun under the
preceding Song dynasty (960–1279), this age was char-
acterized by expanding commerce, the spread of liter-
acy, a flourishing printing and publishing industry,
improved communication and transport systems
throughout the empire, and increasing social and ge-
ographical mobility of the population. All of these fac-
tors facilitated the flow of religious ideas across
regions, denominational boundaries, and classes, and
thereby stimulated the emergence of new religious
movements. The resulting syncretic proclivities of the
age are part of a long history of negotiating the rela-
tionship of China’s two major indigenous traditions
(Confucianism and Daoism) with the foreign new-
comer, Buddhism. Harmonizing tendencies consti-
tuted a strong intellectual undercurrent among the
literati elite, while striking even deeper roots in popu-
lar religion, where a focus on family and the local com-
munity did not require exclusive affiliation with a
particular teaching. Instead, each was seen to have its
role to play in the life cycles of families and commu-
nities, and thus the concepts and religious specialists
associated with each could be drawn upon as needed.
This general outlook conditioned the efforts of popu-
lar religious virtuosi, creative individuals who pos-
sessed enough literacy to benefit from the burgeoning
supply of printed texts, but lacked the formal educa-
tion needed to gain access to literati circles. Many
founders of popular sects from the Yuan dynasty on-
wards came from the ranks of these “folk intellectu-
als,” who received inspiration from many sources and
combined their ideas into new religious systems. These
systems become visible to the historian of religion pri-
marily in the texts composed by sectarian founders,
texts that are treasure troves of information on the re-
ligious life of China throughout the Late Imperial pe-
riod up into modern times.
This entry will focus on the contributions of Bud-
dhism to the colorful world of Chinese popular sec-
tarianism. The impact of Buddhist thought varied
from sect to sect, with some movements being so
strongly Buddhist in orientation that they have been
regarded by outside observers as “lay” or “folk Bud-
dhist” movements, while the teachings of others were
more influenced by Daoism. Lin Zhao’en (1517–
1598), for example, founded the Sanyi Jiao (Three-in-
One sect), which sought to combine the Three Teach-
ings, but in doing so emphasized Confucianism and
the internal alchemy of Quanzhen (Complete Realiza-
tion) Daoism over Buddhism. On the other hand, Luo
Qing (1442–1527), founder of the Wuwei (Non-
Action) sect, was a major figure in Buddhist-inspired
sectarianism. Originally a soldier by profession, he set
out on a quest for salvation, studied with various mas-
ters, and drew inspiration from a large number of
texts, the majority of which were Buddhist in nature.
Among these, the Jin’gang keyi(Ritual Amplification of
the Diamond Sutra) touched him particularly; he de-
voted three years of study to this text and frequently
referred to it in his writings. His teachings show a
strong influence of Chan Buddhism, with an empha-
sis on the individual’s recovery of his or her innate
buddha-nature, or TATHAGATAGARBHA. For Luo Qing,
the concept of S ́UNYATA(EMPTINESS) collapsed all dis-
tinctions, including those between men and women,
and clergy and laity, opening up release from SAMSARA
for all living beings. His writings were gathered in a
collection called the Wubu liuce(Five Books in Six Vol-
umes), which still enjoys the status of sacred scripture
among present-day sects such as the Longhua Pai
(Dragon Flower Sect) of southeastern China.Alongside the “popular Chan” of Luo Qing, there
developed a separate sectarian tradition of a millenar-
ian nature. The first text to formulate this approach is,
in fact, the earliest surviving sectarian scripture, dated
to 1430: the Foshuo huangji jieguo baojuan(Precious
Volume Expounded by the Buddha on the [Karmic] Re-
sults of the [Teaching of the] Imperial Ultimate [Pe-
riod]). Here we find a Buddhist inspired view of the
world as moving through three cycles: First there was
the Ultimateless (wuji) period reigned over by the
Lamplighter (Dpamkara) Buddha (Randeng Fo); the
present age is that of the Great Ultimate (taiji), gov-
erned by S ́akyamuni Buddha; and now the world is
about to enter the Imperial Ultimate (huangji) period
of the Buddha MAITREYA. This three-stage COSMOLOGY
with its eschatological expectation of a savior ushering
in a new and better world became a powerful motif
among later popular sects. It was modified somewhat
by the introduction of a mother goddess, the Eternal
Mother (Wusheng Laomu), who dispatched the vari-
ous buddhas to the world so that her human children
might return to their original home at their Mother’s
side. This return is becoming urgent as the worldSYNCRETICSECTS: THREETEACHINGS