Title: Monastic and Political Culture in the Late Period of the Northern Dynasties: ‘National’ Monasteries, Political Districts, and Battle Sites
Abstract:During the medieval period, a system of official temples was established in Chinese history, with the imperial court assigning temple quotas to the various states of the country, most typically the Da...During the medieval period, a system of official temples was established in Chinese history, with the imperial court assigning temple quotas to the various states of the country, most typically the Dayun Temples during the reign of Wu Zetian 武則天 (r.690-705), the Zhongxing 中興 or Longxing 龍興 Temples during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong 中宗, and the Kaiyuan 開元 Temples during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong 玄宗 (r.712-756).This landscape of institutional temples, built upon the dynastic system of local government, served both the functions of a religious institution and a local administrative facility, and became a new cultural phenomenon that profoundly influenced both the Korean Peninsula and Japan.Its origins are often traced back to the Daxingguo Temple 大興國寺 system, which was established in the Daxingguo Monasteries in 'the forty-five provinces he toured before ascension' after the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty 隋文帝.However, the institutional and cultural influences of the Eastern Wei (534-550) and Northern Qi (550-577), as well as the Western Wei (535-557) and Northern Zhou (557-581), can be seen in most of the many systemic imperial 'Zetian huanghou ji' 則天皇后紀 [Era of Empress Zetian], Jiu Tangshu 6.121.'Si' 寺 [Monasteries], Tang huiyao 48.847, 850.monastic initiatives of the Sui period, including the Daxingguo Temple.This is precisely the question that this paper seeks to address: how did this monastic landscape, which was a combination of both a religious institution and a local administrative facility, come about?Did it have an earlier political and institutional cultural origin?And what kind of relationship between religion and the state did it embody?Read More