Traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture and China culture have become popular overseas, and even Japanese and Korean trade in traditional Chinese medicine has been leading the world for many years. Even China's history and China's culture are the most well-preserved in Japan. In fact, good things, such as tea, porcelain, silk and other technologies can't be hidden, and flashy things have no market no matter how boasted. Why did the Li family deify Laozi and regard Taoism as the state religion in the most open Tang Dynasty?
Relationship between Tang Dynasty and Taoism
In fact, both the Tao Te Ching and the Book of Changes are classic documents collectively created and revised by the ancients for thousands of years.
If you exaggerate the value of a book and regard it as a panacea, it will not only make outsiders laugh, but also make you look very ignorant.
Only narrow-minded people live in their own world, thinking that only orientals know oriental culture best. Look at the number of orientals among internationally renowned sinologists.
When you tell the frog in the well that the outside world is big, he will think you are lying to him.
Why does Li Yuan regard Taoism as the state religion? Li Yuan first considered the inheritance of the Tang Dynasty.
As early as the Sui Dynasty, Taoism was very prosperous. Wang, the representative of the "Shangqing School" of Taoism, was regarded as the "French King" by the emperor and had great influence in the DPRK. When Wang Zhenren opposed Yang Guang's southward migration with extraordinary eyes and was rejected, Wang completely gave up hope for the Sui Dynasty.
In order to find another gold owner for himself, Wang established a political alliance with the Li family by secretly teaching Li Yuan's Taoist symbols and seals.
Because of his special trust in Wang, he mastered a large number of central secrets of the Sui Dynasty, which was later passed on to Li Yuan by Wang Zhenren, making great contributions to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty.
On the one hand, Li Yuan's father and son were replaced in order to return the gift and put Wang He and Taoism on the altar; on the other hand, Li Yuan saw the political value of Taoism.
Why is it that deifying Lao Zi is deifying the Tang Gaozu family itself?
The ancients were very interesting. No matter what his background is, he hopes to find a noble ancestor for himself. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to recognize Zhu as the ancestor, but the dynasty was too close to deceive himself.
In the Tang Dynasty, just after the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the whole empire was still under the shadow of the rule of the gate.
Although Tang gaozu won the world, in the eyes of the four great families in Hebei at that time (Boling Cui Shi, Zhao, Lu and Xingyang Zhang), Tang gaozu and his son were not only nouveau riche, but also not Han orthodox, and they simply looked down on the royal family.
To what extent are these four cows? They not only intermarried within the four families, but also put the royal Li family behind them when compiling the genealogy of the Tang Dynasty for the first time.
This not only made Li Yuan and his son fly into a rage, but also seriously realized the seriousness of royal family background to politics. Although there is not enough information to prove that Li Yuan and his son are ethnic minorities, Li Yuan's wife was indeed the so-called "Hu Ren" at that time.
In the later cultural construction, the Li family in the Tang Dynasty also changed the "distinction between Chinese and foreigners" in the Han Dynasty and treated all ethnic groups equally, which was very rare at that time.
In order to find a good ancestor for himself, Li Yuan accepted Wang's suggestion and traced Lao Zi (Li Er) back to his ancestors.
Not only did the royal family do this, but General Hu Ruge also said that he was a descendant of General Li Ling. Because Li Ling surrendered to foreign countries at that time, Geshuhan said that he was a half-breed after Li Ling and Ren Hu got married. Also for tLitt reason, he looked down on his competitor An Lushan.
Even a great poet like Li Bai should invent his own family. In fact, Li Bai's family, like Li Yuan's, has always been a historical mystery.
Tang Gaozu not only found the ancestor Lao Zi, but also made Lao Zi's image shine.
Even if the Tao Te Ching was written by Laozi, what does it have to do with Taoism? Under the king's operation, Laozi not only became the ancestor of Taoism, but also was named "Emperor Tai Xuan Yuan" by the royal family of the Tang Dynasty.
As long as you have a little knowledge of literature, you will know the weight of these words. Too: the meaning of limit; Yuan: the beginning of all things; Coupled with the words "Xuan" and "Shang", such comprehensive packaging will instantly upgrade Lao Zi from an ordinary librarian to the best fairy in the sky.
The Li family just made a fortune in Shanxi, which is said to be Laozi's hometown. After all this, Li Yuan and his son not only had a brilliant background, but also the establishment of the Tang Dynasty became an providential arrangement.
Wang, a real man, succeeded in changing from a master in Sui Dynasty to a master in Tang Dynasty by virtue of his own intelligence and wisdom, and pushed Taoism to the peak of history.
Why did Buddhism surpass Taoism in the Tang Dynasty?
In order to package himself, Li Yuan not only used the state treasury to refine more than 300 large Taoist temples, but also used the power of imperial power to make all Taoist temples in the country have statues of Laozi and himself.
In addition, the royal family in the Tang Dynasty listed the Classic of Tao Te Ching as the compulsory content of the imperial examination.
With Taoism becoming the state religion, with the support of the royal family and nobles, the worship of monasticism quickly rose in the whole country.
Confucianism and Buddhism in this period did not show much advantage in the Tang Dynasty, but with the decline of national strength in the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism gradually surpassed Taoism.
Although Tang Wuzong once launched a severe campaign to destroy Buddhism and nationalized the property of many monasteries in China, it still could not stop the rapid development of Buddhism.
The reason why Buddhism can quickly defeat Taoism is that Buddhism began to avoid the sharp edge and they were forced to choose the civilian route.
Take an Amitabha Buddha as an example. This is a simple sentence. As long as you can read this sentence, whether you are a relative or a butcher, you can pray for yourself and your family.
And this kind of blessing can not only keep you safe in this world, but also arrange a bright future for you after your death.
Under the unified propaganda of Buddhism, who will believe in and spend a lot of money on alchemy and make great efforts to practice breathing and luck?
Yes, the entry threshold is very high. Not only must you have high cultural literacy, but you must also have a lot of money.
But in Taoism, things such as health preservation, sexual intercourse and elixir are not understood by ordinary people and cannot be bought.
When Buddhism quickly occupied the market by mass consumption, the market share of Taoism was naturally squeezed out.
In addition, in order to get rid of the shadow of the royal Li family, Wu Zetian later shaped herself into the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha. You Li admire Taoism, but I, Wu Zetian, admire Buddhism.
Taoism is increasingly marginalized under the dual role of the people and nobles.
In fact, the author is thinking, are ancient emperors really superstitious? They killed so many people. If they really believe in ghosts and gods, can they sleep at night?
And if the emperor himself doesn't believe these things, why should he encourage others to believe them? Leave this question to the clever readers to answer!