Azhaliism
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Azhaliism (
History
In 851, an inscription in
The Three Pagoda Temple 三塔寺 controlled the Ranggong Chapel 讓公庵, which the Gao family constructed during the Nanzhao kingdom period. Friends of the famous Neo-Confucian scholar Li Yuanyang 李元陽 (1497–1580) supported the chapel by donating funds to buy farm land for its maintenance as late as the Jiajing reign period (1522–1566). According to tradition, seven holy monks 聖僧 constructed Biaoleng Temple during the Nanzhao kingdom period. A stele dated 1430 (Xuande 5) records that Zhao Yanzhen 趙彥貞 from a local family of officials renovated Longhua Temple (flourished during the Nanzhao to Dali kingdom periods) after its destruction by the Ming army.[10]
— Jianxiong Ma
Azhali is considered a sect of Tantrism or esoteric Buddhism with hybrid traditions showing Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese influences.
The area had a strong connection with Tantric Buddhism, which has survived to this day
Deities
Key deities in this tradition include Mahakala (known locally as 'Black Sky god') and Acuoye Guanyin. The Shibaoshan (Stone Treasure Mountain) grottoes, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Shaxi, Yunnan, are examples of the art of this Vajrayana tradition.[16]
Modern era
The tradition faced several challenges during Yuan and Qing rule (such as being banned in 1507 and competition from Han Buddhist schools like Chan) but it continues as a living religion today.[16]
See also
Citations
- ^ Huang & Zhang (2013).
- ^ Wu (2011), p. 441.
- ^ Orzech, Charles D. (general editor) (2011). Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia. Brill, page 381.
- ^ Howard, Angela F. "The Dhāraṇī pillar of Kunming, Yunnan: A legacy of esoteric Buddhism and burial rites of the Bai people in the kingdom of Dali, 937–1253", Artibus Asiae 57, 1997, pp. 33-72 (see pp. 43–44).
- ^ India China Encyclopedia Vol. 1 (2014), p. 256
- ^ Hearn, Maxwell K. and Smith, Judith G. Arts of the Sung and Yuan: Papers prepared for an international symposium organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in conjunction with the exhibition Splendors of Imperial China: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Teipei, page 239.
- ^ a b Bryson 2016, p. 32.
- ^ "Nanzhao State and Dali State". City of Dali. Archived from the original on 2006-09-03.
- ^ Bryson 2016, p. 35.
- ^ Huang 2020, p. 55.
- ^ Orzech, Charles D. (general editor) (2011). Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia. Brill, page 379.
- ^ India China Encyclopedia Vol. 1 (2014), p. 151
- ^ Megan Bryson, "Baijie and the Bai: Gender and Ethnic Religion in Dali, Yunnan", Asian Ethnology 72, 2013, pp. 3-31
- ^ Megan Bryson, "Mahākāla worship in the Dali kingdom (937-1253) – A study and translation of the Dahei tianshen daochang yi", Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 35, 2012, pp. 3-69
- ^ Thant Myint-U, Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia, Part 3
- ^ a b Esoteric Buddhism in the Dali region, http://www.shaxichina.com/pray/buddhism-in-shaxi.htm Archived 2017-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
- Bryson, Megan (2013), Baijie and the Bai
- Bryson, Megan (2016), Goddess on the Frontier: Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Southwest China, Stanford University Press
- Huang, Zhengliang; Zhang, Xilu (2013). "Research Review of Bai Esoteric Buddhist Azhali Religion Since the 20th Century". Journal of Dali University.
- Huang, Caiwen (2020), The Lancang Guard and the Construction of Ming society in northwest Yunnan
- Wu, Jiang (2011). Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China. USA: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199895562.