Why is Maitreya called "Bag Monk" in China?

Myth world 32: cloth bag monk Maitreya Buddha

Maitreya Buddha statue

Among all Buddhists, Maitreya is probably the most interesting one. He looks very cute. As soon as I entered the King's Palace, I saw a fat monk sitting in his seat, his chest bare, his belly round and convex, which was very eye-catching. He was holding the beads in his hand, smiling and laughing all the time. There is such a couplet that describes him like this:

A big belly can hold things that are difficult to hold in the world;

Open your mouth and laugh at the ridiculous people in the world.

Therefore, Maitreya, with a big belly and a bright smile, has been deeply rooted in China.

But when Buddhism was introduced to China from India, Maitreya was not like this. He is solemn and inviolable. His head was covered with curly bun, rich and kind eyes, big ears and shoulders, dressed in cassock and expressionless, which was completely different from Maitreya Buddha in China.

The Maitreya Buddha in The Journey to the West looks like this: "With big ears and fat shoulders. It's full of spring, and my eyes are full. Cardigan sleeves are blessed, and mango shoes are strong in spirit. The first statue in the realm of bliss, there is no Maitreya laughing monk in the south. "

The Maitreya Buddha here is also a smiling Buddha similar to China, and a "cloth bag monk" who is called "Happy Fairy" among the people of China. When four disciples passed the Little Thunder Temple, the little Lei Yin monster they met was the boy of Maitreya Buddha. The image of Maitreya in The Journey to the West is obviously different from that of Maitreya in India. Why is the Maitreya Buddha in China completely different from the original Indian one? This has gone through an evolutionary process.

Maitreya is a transliteration of Sanskrit Maitreya, which means cishi. This is the name of the Bodhisattva, which is a layer below the Buddha. According to the Maitreya Sutra and Maitreya Sutra, Maitreya was born in Luo Jiating, a big woman who robbed Boli village in southern Tianzhu, ancient India. She was a first-class aristocrat and very distinguished. He later converted to Buddhism and became a disciple of Sakyamuni. Buddha said that Maitreya will inherit its own Buddha position and become the future Buddha. Buddhism believes that there are three consecutive Buddhas in the Buddhist world. The first is the past Buddha, which is called "burning Buddha". When he was born, everything around him was as bright as a lamp, hence the name. Before Sakyamuni became a Buddha, the burning Buddha recorded it for him, because the burning Buddha was called the past Buddha. The second is the present Buddha, namely Sakyamuni Buddha. The third place, Maitreya Buddha, is also called the future Buddha.

Maitreya Buddha statue in India

Maitreya Buddhism disappeared and ascended to heaven before Sakyamuni.

The Journey to the West Zhongdou Lutian is the place where the old man lived in alchemy, but in Buddhist scriptures, it is the residence of Maitreya Buddha. A day and night here is equivalent to 400 years on earth. Sakyamuni told all sentient beings in his nirvana? After 4000 years (equivalent to 5.67 billion years on the earth), there will be looting again and again on the earth. At that time, Maitreya will come down from his pocket and inherit his cause of promoting Buddhism under the Longhua tree in Hualin Garden to help all sentient beings, and the light will return to the world. It is for this reason that Maitreya was promoted to be the future Buddha.

However, the well-known smiling cloth bag monk "Maitreya with a big belly" actually existed in history. He was a monk at the end of the Five Dynasties. His name was Qiben, also known as "Master Changting Zibao". According to the Biography of Song Monks (Volume 21) and the Biography of Buddhism in Past Dynasties (Volume 25), he was from Fenghua, Zhejiang Province, with a strange appearance and a huge stomach. He often carries a big cloth bag with a bamboo pole, smiles and begs everywhere, incoherent, lying like a fool. He is good at astronomy, yin and yang, and wears wet cloth shoes when it rains; In drought, people regard clogs as a sign of the weather. He can also predict good and bad luck and ward off evil spirits for people. He once wrote a song: "only the heart is Buddha, and the ten sides are the most spiritual things in the world." Everything is not as real as the heart? What's the difference between universal law and mind? Why bother to seek justice? " This song expounds the truth of Zen that "the heart is the Buddha"

This crazy behavior aroused people's great interest and became famous for a while. His death was also very strange. In the third year of Liang (AD 9 17), he came to the east profile of Lin Yue Temple in Fenghua, sat on a rock and said, "Maitreya Buddha is really Maitreya Buddha, incarnating tens of billions; Always show the world, the world does not know. " When I finished, I died safely. It suddenly dawned on people that this monk was originally the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha. People buried his body in the West Erli of Lin Yue Temple and named it "Maitreya Temple". So people molded themselves into "Maitreya Buddha and Bodhisattva", and his cloth bag could not be separated from him. The statue was placed in the Tianwang Temple and was worshipped by people.

In the year of Fu Yuanyuan in Song Dynasty (A.D. 1098), this cloth-bag monk was named "Ding Yingshi" by Song Zhezong. According to legend, in the cemetery where he was buried, it was bright for three years, and Zhang Xi and Jin Ping Mei stood on the top of the tomb. To this end, people hide these things in the "Maitreya Buddha Temple". In the third year of Chongning (A.D. 1 104), this temple was named "Chongning" by the emperor and has been burning incense for thousands of years. The Maitreya Buddha in The Journey to the West is based on the image of this cloth bag monk.

The road to eternity

But there is still a difference between a cloth bag monk and a Maitreya statue. For thousands of years, he actually replaced Maitreya in Buddhist scriptures and became a household name.

Maitreya's Pure Land is wonderful. It is said that there are 50 billion treasure palaces on it, and 50 billion women holding various musical instruments and singing and dancing are gentle and rich. Maitreya becomes a Buddha, and the "pure land of Buddhism" is even more wonderful. According to the Buddhist view of Maitreya Bodhisattva Sutra, there are abundant grains and prosperous people, and all kinds of treasures are scattered everywhere, and no one picks them up and treats them like tiles. The land here is as flat as a mirror, and there are fragrant juices everywhere, which are very fragrant. Japonica rice can be naturally produced in the field without skin. What's more interesting is that when people want to be convenient, the ground cracks on its own, and then closes it on its own, without even using the toilet.

Because the pure land of the Western Heaven is so rich and beautiful, it really fascinates some people. China's belief in pure land has flourished since the Tang Dynasty and lasted for a long time, which shows its far-reaching influence. Xuanzang, a monk in the Tang Dynasty, also yearned for the pure land. Before he died, in order to live in the "inner court", he kept chanting the name of Maitreya. Bai Juyi was completely addicted to Buddhism in his later years. Every day, he burns incense in front of the Buddha and bows his head to make a wish: "May the afterlife be the same with Maitreya, the same with cishi, the same with cishi, the same with cishi, and the ultimate success." ("Painting the Life Frame of Maitreya Buddha")

Because Buddhism claims that Maitreya is the future Buddha to inherit the Buddha position of Sakyamuni, Maitreya has become the Buddha of the dynasty change, and Maitreya has become the symbol of the dynasty change in the afterlife. In history, some peasant uprisings suggested that Maitreya was born in the afterlife, and "Maitreya was born" became the gospel of salvation. Maitreya Next Life is the savior of the working people who are eager to get rid of suffering. According to Sui Shu, in the twenty-two years, Song Zixian of Hebei Province and Haiming Xiang of Shaanxi Province both claimed to be Maitreya and planned and instigated the uprising. During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, there was also a proverb: "In the last days of Sakyamuni, a new Buddha came out. What the Li family wants is the ending, and what the Liu family wants is happiness. " To this end, Tang Xuanzong personally wrote "Forbidden Magic, Mistakes, etc.". And strictly investigate people related to the incident. In the Song Dynasty, the king rose to revolt. He also declared: "Sakyamuni Buddha is declining, and Maitreya Buddha should live in the world."

After the Yuan Dynasty, Maitreya became more convinced. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhao Chou-si and Guo Bodhisattva advocated that "Maitreya deserves the world", Han advocated that "there is chaos in the world, and Maitreya lives", and monk Peng made a eulogy to persuade the world to read Maitreya. These vigorous peasant uprisings finally overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, an army of Guizhou revolted, and Anbaili sent a branch of snuff and a new king who publicized Maitreya's descent to take charge of Gankun. In modern times, some Christian sects, such as Heaven-Earth Society (Hong Men), Green-Red Religion, Yi Chuandao and Congenital Taoism, also worshipped Maitreya.

Anbalism attracts people with the reincarnation of Maitreya.

However, Maitreya Buddhas worshipped by the people in China are mostly Chinese-style cloth-bag monks. In history, some people used cloth-bag monks to satirize rulers. After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he killed heroes and brutally suppressed the opposition, creating many unjust cases. Once, he went out for a private visit until a ruined temple was empty. He saw a cloth bag monk painted on the wall and wrote a poem:

The world is vast, and everything is hidden in one bag; After all, there is still a charge. What's wrong with relaxing!

The ink is still fresh. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and immediately sent someone to catch the man who wrote poetry and painted, but the man had disappeared without a trace.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, the image of the cloth-bag monk has also appeared on the stage of drama. Famous ones are Tingyu Zheng's zaju Bao Shang Ren Hua in Yuan Dynasty and the drama Fish Basket of Guanyin Bodhisattva in Qing Dynasty.

Due to the strong pragmatism of China people's worship belief, it is always felt that the Chinese Maitreya with a paunchy belly is more kind and lovely than the serious Maitreya coming from India. To this end, people have created some "spiritual responses", such as touching his belly, which can eliminate disasters and diseases and bless peace. Later, there was a statue of Maitreya with five sons, in which several big fat boys crawled around and played with Maitreya, so-called "Farewell to Maitreya". The peace and interests of this world are naturally more realistic than the pure land in the afterlife, so it is very popular.

With the change of time, all kinds of potbellied Maitreya artworks have become the furnishings of ordinary people's homes and lost their original religious significance. In people's minds, it is more appropriate to say that he is an optimistic and open-minded mascot than that he is a noble future Buddha.