NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM 6l 



Since Buddhism was interwoven with ahnost every phase of that cul- 

 ture, it gave attacks on Buddhism a receptive and sympathetic hear- 

 ing. It was criticized as being a foreign rehgion, with wasteful 

 expenditures on temples, images, and ceremonies, an idle clergy, and 

 a great deal of tax-free property, and because of its other-world- 

 liness. 



During the ninth century there were considerable government op- 

 position and attempts at suppression. The rulers attempted to im- 

 pose drastic restrictions on Buddhist activities and organizations. In 

 A. D. 842 to 845, there were decrees that Buddhism must be sup- 

 pressed, an empire-wide destruction of temples, the confiscation of 

 Buddhist lands, and an attempt to secularize the clergy. 



At this time there was a revival of Confucianism, which continued 

 into the Sung dynasty. Leading scholars reinterpreted Confucianism 

 and enriched their philosophy by borrowing from both Buddhists and 

 Taoists, developing what has been called neo-Confucianism. This 

 appealed strongly to the educated classes and lessened among them 

 the influence of Buddhism. 



It is not certain just when Buddhism first entered the province 

 of Szechwan. The first of the Buddhist caves at Tun-huang in 

 Kansu is dated A. D. 353 (Shih Yai, 1947, p. i). Some of the local 

 histories of West China claim that certain famous temples were 

 erected during the T'ang d)masty, A. D. 618-907. At Ch'iung-chou, 

 which is southwest of Chengtu, there was a local flood about the year 

 1947 which washed away a great deal of soil and exposed the founda- 

 tions and many stone images of a very old Buddhist temple. Most 

 of the articles of scientific value were deposited and displayed in the 

 museum of the West China Union University. On some of the 

 stones were inscriptions dating the temple in the T'ang dynasty. Ac- 

 cording to the local history, there was at least one other Buddhist 

 temple in Ch'iung-chou in 1947 which was founded in the T'ang 

 dynasty. These were great temples, with very artistic images and 

 carvings ; hence Buddhism must have entered Szechwan several cen- 

 turies earlier. 



In the survey of the temples of I-pin conducted by myself and 

 others in 1928 it was found that there were 49 Buddhist temples, 

 25 Taoist temples, 2 temples of the Ju T'an sect, and 2 Confucian 

 temples. The survey of the temples of Chengtu conducted from 

 1941 to 1944 revealed that there were still traces of 98 Buddhist 

 temples, 44 Taoist temples, 16 temples of the Ju T'an sect, and 3 

 Confucian temples. This shows fairly well the comparative strength 

 of the Buddhist and Taoist religions in West China. 



