BY MATTHEW S. DENTICE

Before we can adequately discuss the nature of this popular sectarianism and its own tripartite scheme of history, we have to acknowledge how far Chinese apocalyptic thought had come since we last examined it in the immediate centuries after the fall of the Han Dynasty. The biggest new development was the introduction of a new religion into the Chinese cultural sphere. With it came a new messiah. When we last looked at China, the apocalyptic atmosphere was largely Taoist and the expected savior was a figure bearing the surname of “Li,” and often, but not always, the given name of “Hong.” This character ultimately derived from a pro-Han Dynasty prophecy that emerged during Wang Mang’s usurpation at the beginning of the first century A.D. and his popularity only seemed to grow from there. But by the sixth and seventh centuries, Chinese apocalyptic thought was already moving on from him. He did not disappear entirely, for as late as the seventeenth century, the savior surnamed Li was still awaited in some quarters. But for the most part, Li Hong soon ceased to be a major figure in the popular apocalyptic story, pushed offstage by the shiny new messiahs offered by the new religion.

That religion was Buddhism. Already ancient in its native India, it began to make inroads into China in the second period of the Han Dynasty, after Wang Mang’s usurpation had been ended and the messianic promise of a restored Han had seemingly been fulfilled. But this faith did not catch on as a truly popular religion until after the Han’s fall, during those four chaotic centuries when fragmentation, rival warlords, and short-lived dynasties were the norm. Buddhism’s success in burrowing itself deep into China’s cultural life at this time has been credited to a number of factors. The one most often cited is the determined missionary drive undertaken by foreign monks in these centuries to bring Buddhist holy texts to China and translate them into the vernacular. Another possible factor is far more speculative; numerous scholars have proposed that Buddhism, with its basic tenet that all life is suffering......

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/innewestdays/2024/01/chinas-buddhist-messiahs-prince-moonlight-and-maitreya/