BUDDHISM IN CENTRAL ASIA AND CHINA 2138. 7.1 Religious Life: Monastic
Buddhist religious life had taken some unusual directions in China, influenced
by indigenous and Taoist ideas and practices. Taoism and Buddhism both con-
tained shamanic elements in practice and thus had certain similarities that
eased the introduction ofBuddhist practice during the Han dynasty. Medita-
tion guides were the first Buddhist texts sought after by the Chinese, who
hoped for the psychic or supernatural powers that meditation might provide.
Devotionalism was less pronounced in Taoism than in Buddhism, how-
ever. Buddhist devotional cults grew rapidly from the time of the fall of Han
through the Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties period (220-584). The most
popular objects of devotion were Kuan-yin (= Avalokitesvara, who eventually
metamorphosed from male to female during the Sung dynasty-see Strong
EB, sec. 8.7.1), Amitabha, and Maitreya. Kuan-yin saved one from dangers
here on Earth, whereas Amitabha and Maitreya welcomed one to happiness
after death. There was also a cult of the Hinayana saint Pi!). <;lola Bharadvaja
(see Section 3.4.2). According to Sarvastivadin tradition, the Buddha had as-
signed him the duty oflooking after the religion as punishment for having ex-
hibited his psychic powers to lay people. He and other arhants were often
portrayed in the lohan (arhant) halls that were built in monasteries even after
Mahayana was established as the dominant form of Chinese Buddhism. By the
fifth century the belief developed that Mafijusri (see Section 5.4.2) had made
his home on Mount Wu-t'ai, which by the eighth century was attracting pil-
grims from as far away as India.
Members of the Chinese Sangha did not, as a rule, beg for their food. In-
stead, they were supported by income from monastic landholdings or by gifts
from lay donors. Havitrg a choice in their food, some monastics followed
Taoist diets. The practice of eating nothing but pine needles was borrowed di-
rectly from the Taoists. A diet of fragrant oil was observed by the few monas-
tics who practiced self-immolation in the early centuries of Chinese
Buddhism. This practice was inspired by a passage from Chapter 23 in the
Lotus Sutra, describing bodhisattvas who set fire to their bodies as an offering
to the Triple Gem. Although there is good reason to believe that the compil-
ers of the Lotus Sutra meant the passage to be taken figuratively, a small num-
ber of monastics took it literally and practiced self-immolation at night,
making their bodies into lamps as a way of offering light to others and demon-
strating their total commitment to the Dharma. The Taoists also accepted
transformation by fire, although it is not certain whether any Taoists actually
set fire to themselves; at any rate, the notion was not utterly foreign to the
Chinese. So far as is known, this suicide by fire was practiced only in China or
areas within the Chinese cultural sphere, such as Vietnam (see Section 9 .12).
An attenuated form of this practice, still common today, is that of monastics
using incense to burn marks on their heads when they ordain, as a sign of ded-
icating their bodies to the Triple Gem.
Another dietary practice was vegetarianism. The Vinaya does not forbid
the eating of meat, although it does forbid monastics from eating the flesh of