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Buddhism and Chinese Science and Technology

Buddhist Library

Buddhism and Chinese Science and Technology

Daojian, lecturer at China Buddhist College

(one )Buddhism and medicine and health

Buddhist medicine belongs to the medical prescriptions of one of the five wisdoms. The Buddhist scriptures "Agama Sutra" Volume 12, "Golden Light Sutra" Volume 3, "Abstract of Diseases", "Lotus Sutra" Volume 5, "Metaphor of Good Doctors", etc. contain medical knowledge, which can give you a glimpse of Buddhist medicine.Among the "Twenty Baltimores" regulations on the practice of monks and nuns taking precepts and living, the seventh item "Medicinal Baltimores" (Also known as medical law )Detailed descriptions of various regulations on the types of diseases that monks suffer from, prescriptions for treating diseases, and dietary conditioning during the disease.Tang Yijing Sanzang's "Biography of the Nanhai Reference and Resources" cited "eight-part medical prescriptions" and summarized various methods of diagnosis and administration in ancient India.

The classics related to Buddhist medicine, the Tripitaka include the Buddhist Medical Sutra, the Buddhist Sutra, the Buddhist Sutra, the Mantra, the Mental Sutra, the Mental Sutra, the Mental Sutra, the Dharani Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Karma Sutra, the Secret Sutra of Treating Zen Diseases, etc.Volume 8 of the Northern Version "Nirvana Sutra" contains a "golden grate" for cutting the eye mask of the blind man, and later it became a tantric teaching instrument.The Traditional Chinese Medicine Fangming Department of the Tibetan Tripitaka "Danjuer" includes several medical books such as "Naru Shu Hundred Treatment Method". Most of the temples such as Tibet and Mongolia also have medical departments, which specialize in treating diseases and saving people through medicine.

In the long-term development of Buddhism, a unique set of medical theories has been formed, among which the "Four Major" theories are the general outline of Indian Buddhist medical theory.The four universities believe that earth, water, fire and wind are the basic elements of the world, each with four attributes: hardness, moisture, warmth and movement, and have the four major functions of holding, absorbing, maturing and growing.The four elements are divided into subjectively feeling the four elements and the four elements that can be perceived.The human body is also composed of the four elements.There are two types of four elements: one is the four elements with consciousness, namely the "five internal roots" of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body; the other is the four elements without consciousness, namely the "five external dusts" of color, sound, fragrance, taste, and touch.The human body's skin, flesh, muscles, bones, earth, essence, blood and foam belong to water, body temperature and heat belong to fire, and breathing exercise belong to wind.The four elements are united and the body is born, and the four elements are dispersed and the body is destroyed.After a person dies, his bones and flesh return to the ground, his dampness returns to the water, his heating returns to the fire, and his breath returns to the wind. He is born from the four elements and returns to the four elements.Personal diseases are mostly caused by the four elements that are not adjusted, which is the theory of the causes of the four elements that are not adjusted.As the "Buddha's Medical Sutra" says: "Wind increases the energy, fire increases heat, water increases cold, and soil increases strength."Therefore, the four Buddhist universities say it is a summary of medical students' theory, pathology, and therapeutic theories.

With the flow of Buddhism, famous medical thology such as Ji Po and Nagarjuna were also introduced to China.For example, the "Nainu Qiyu Causes and Responsibility Sutra" says that Qiyu is at the same time as the Buddha, and his medical skills are like gods."Sui Shu·Jing Ji" contains eleven Indian medical books translated by monks, including "Jipa's Immortal Fate Prescriptions".The ancient Chinese medical scientist Sun Simiao recorded more than ten prescriptions of Qipo Xian.Jipo's medical theory is of great significance to changing Sun's principles of taking medicine and formulating prescriptions.Through Sun's medical works, he influenced later medicine and opened up the medical style of the Tang Dynasty.

Nagarjuna was an Indian monk in the 3rd century AD and the founder of the Mahayana Madhyamaka school.He revised the Indian classic "Miaowen Collection", especially famous for his medicine.In China, Nagarjuna is famous for its ophthalmology and is called "Naru Shu Eye Theory".Among them, the Golden Needle Detachment Method is the most famous. This method originated from India. It was lost in India and developed greatly in China.

The introduction of Buddhism has also affected China's hygiene customs, including the customs of brushing teeth and cleaning teeth and cleaning body.Although China used to have the habit of rinsing mouth and bathing, it was not as important as India and was given sacred meaning in Buddhism.The method of brushing teeth originates from wiping teeth in China.In Indian Buddhism, brushing teeth is a chewing wood, which means using bitter and spicy trees as wood chips, eight to twelve fingers and wood chips and branches as thick as little fingers.Chewing teeth wood not only cleanses teeth, but also has the effect of "medicine toothpaste".Later, Chinese doctors absorbed the Buddhist chewing wood and developed it into a coarse toothbrush in the Liao Dynasty, which became a good hygiene custom for the people.Bathing in the Ganges has a specific religious significance in India, that is, through the activities of washing, we can obtain spiritual and physiological purification purposes.As Buddhism was introduced to China, good Buddhist hygiene habits were also introduced to China. For example, the "Blessings of Buddhas" emphasized the accumulation of merits in building a bathing pool garden.The bathing pool is a public bathing place, and the garden is a public toilet.These public welfare sanitary facilities have a certain promoting effect on China's health industry.

The most profound influence of Chinese medicine is to promote the Buddhist medical ethics and moral codes derived from the idea of "retribution for retribution".There should be three basic principles for the ethical and moral standards of Buddhist medical science: First, great compassion is the first, compassion is the first, joy is the first, and compassion is the best.Second, do not do any evil and do all good.The third is to benefit oneself and others, and to be aware of others.This basic spirit is specifically discussed in "Qianjin Yaofang" by Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty.He also absorbed the Buddhist precepts of "not killing" and advocated that rescuing life cannot be at the cost of killing life.

There is also Buddhist theory of health preservation and Zen that is closely related to the wisdom of medical care, health preservation, fitness and development in ancient China.Meditation can help people eliminate troubles, reduce desires, purify their thoughts, and be at peace with their body and mind. It can naturally cure diseases and improve their fitness.The yoga practice of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism is beneficial to health preservation. Under the promotion of monks, Tibetan medicine has unique therapeutic effects.

(two )Buddhism and printing

Buddhist monks have made great contributions to the invention, development, promotion and application of printing.The earliest woodblock prints in existence are all Buddhist scriptures.

Buddhism was introduced to my country at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, and most rulers of all dynasties advocated Buddhism after the Eastern Han Dynasty.During the Kaihuang period of Emperor Wen of Sui (581-600),The government ordered the construction of temples, carving Buddha statues and copying Buddhist scriptures, making the development of Buddhism unprecedentedly prosperous.As the number of Buddhist believers increases, the demand for Buddhist propaganda materials has increased greatly. People are extremely in need of a method that can quickly and in large quantities of Buddhist propaganda materials, which has promoted the invention of printing.

Early Buddhist prints only carved Buddha statues on wooden boards and printed in large quantities.Feng Zhi recorded in "Yunxian Sanlu" at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the 19th year of Zhenguan (645)Later, "Xuanzang printed the statue of Samantabhadra with Huifeng paper and imposed it on the four groups, with five loads every year."This is the earliest record of Buddhist printing. The printed product is just a Buddha statue and it is printed in large quantities every year.

The earliest existing print is a volume of "The Uncensored Purity and Bright Dharani Sutra" discovered in 1966 in the Sakyamuni Pagoda of the Foguo Temple in Gyeongju, southeastern South Korea.The scripture scroll paper web is 610 cm long and 5.7 cm high. It has one side on top and bottom, and is drawn with boundary lines.Each line is mostly eight characters, with a height of 3.5 cm.The whole roll is printed with twelve pieces of mulberry paper and is mounted into a roll. There is a wooden scroll at the beginning and ends, and red paint is applied at both ends.The scriptures are written in regular script, with obvious wood grain on the characters and neat knife techniques.Research has proved that this print should be a thing of the Tang Dynasty in my country, with an age of about 705 in India. ~751Year.In the Xuanzang era, only one-sided Buddha statues could be printed, but after a century of development, a whole volume of Buddhist scriptures could be printed and bound into scrolls.

The other one is Geng's famous Buddhist print in the Tang Dynasty. It is a "Diamond Sutra" printed in woodblock and bound by scrolls. It was discovered at the stone chamber of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang at the beginning of this century and is now in the London Museum in the United Kingdom.The print is made of seven printed sheets, with a length of 16 feet and a height of 1 foot. The beginning of the scroll is an illustration. The picture shows the scene where Sakyamuni Buddha preached the elder Subhuti on the lotus seat to the Lonely Garden.A few days before the seat, he offered sacrifices to the magic weapon. The elder Subhuti leaned against his right shoulder, put his right knee on the ground and put his palms together, and he was asked.The Buddha's head is left and right, flying in the sky, and the two Vajras guard both sides of the Buddha's seat.The illustration is the scriptures, and the end of the volume is engraved with a line of text "On April 15, 2009, Wang Jie respected the general teachings for his two relatives."The engraved and printed quality of this print is very exquisite.The illustrations are skillful in engraving techniques, the lines are natural and smooth, the characters and clothes are simple and vigorous, Subhuti is ancient and vigorous, the tendons are exposed, and the mind is vivid.This shows that the printing technology had reached a very high level at that time.Buddhist printing was the main body of printing in the Tang Dynasty. Its development also promoted the printing of other types of books, and gradually promoted the printing industry to various places.

The printing of Buddhism in Song Dynasty made a leap, with the printing scale greatly increasing and the distribution became wider. Not only did temples engraving Buddhist scriptures, but some printing workshops also participated in the engraving business; the government also offered bonuses to support the engraving business, such as Kaibao Four Years (971)The government sent Gao Pin and Zhang Congxin to Chengdu to be responsible for carving and printing the Buddhist scriptures. It took 12 years to complete the carvings, with a total of 130,000 pieces.This Sutra is called "Kai Treasure" or "Shu Treasure", and is the earliest Buddhist book to be printed in my country's history.After the "Open Treasure" was printed, it was stored in major temples in the north and south, and was given to Western Xia, North Korea, Japan, Vietnam and other countries.Through this large-scale printing, it set a precedent for the printing industry in the Song Dynasty and played a certain role in promoting the development of the printing industry.At the same time, it has had a great impact on the printing industry of neighboring countries such as Korea and Japan.

Since the printing of "Kai Treasure", the collection industry in all dynasties has become an important undertaking in China's printing industry.For example, the "Jishazang" in the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty was presided over by Zen Master Fazhong and was engraved in the Jishayansheng Courtyard in Chenhu, southern Wu County, Jiangsu Province. It took 91 years to be engraved."Jishazang" has a total of 6,312 volumes, and contains 1,521 Buddhist scriptures.During the Chongning period, the "Dharani Sutra" engraved in Jiangsu was a Buddhist propaganda material that mainly uses pictures and supplements with texts. It was a brand new layout and was very popular among the people and had a certain influence on the later illustrated books.

Since then, the Chinese Buddhist scriptures printing industry has gradually emerged.The Song Dynasty plans include: the Liao version of "Khitan Cang", the Jin version of "Zhaocheng Cang", the Fuzhou version of "Wanshou Cang", the Vairocana Cang, the Huzhou version of "Yuanjue Cang", the Zifu Cang, and the Jisha Cang, etc.According to the Song Dynasty, there were two types of Buddhist scriptures: "Puning Zang" and "Hongfa Zang". At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Buddhist scriptures were burned out.During the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, Shuode collected Shuode in Jiangshan, edited the Tibetan Buddhist scriptures and published "Hongwu Southern Tibet".In the Ming Dynasty, there were also "Northern Tibet", "Lingyan Temple Edition", "Baoen Temple Edition", etc.The 13th year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty to the 3rd year of Emperor Gaozong’s Qianlong period (1735~1738),Taking "Northern Tibet" as the basis, new books were added to engrave "Dragon Tsang".Later, there will be "Pinjiazang" and "Bainazang".

In history, Buddhism carved more than 20 Buddhist scriptures, and it is even more difficult to count.In short, because Chinese Buddhism first used printing technology, it has made certain contributions to the invention and widespread application of printing technology.It is the Buddhist community’s active application and innovation in printing technology that can continue and improve printing technology.

(three )Buddhism and astronomy, geography and history

Buddhism has made a lot of contributions in the field of Chinese astronomy.The two volumes of the "Modanga Sutra" translated by Zhu Luyan and Zhi Qian of Wu of the Three Kingdoms, the "Sun Cang" and "Moon Cang" of the "Mahashu Sutra" are all Buddhist astronomy classics.Among the calendars it contains, there is a system of the twelve palaces and seven stars that are not in the Indian calendar but rich in Western astronomy knowledge, and the calendar that places the vernal equinox at the beginning of the year.Buddhist astronomy combines the twenty-eight constellations into all directions, which is obviously influenced by China.In addition, in the "Abhidharma" and "The Great Wisdom of the Path", sporadically introduce the arrangement methods of leap months in India and the four-month names headed by the starry moon, which are also precious documents.

With the prosperity of the Chinese Secretology, the astrology of cleverly combining the twenty-eight constellations and the seven stars was also very developed.The representative works include the two volumes of "Su Yao Sutra" translated by Bukong.During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, there were famous astronomers and mathematicians in the Tang Dynasty, a group of masters of the famous Tang Dynasty. (682~727)He wrote "The Seven Stars and Stars" and "The Nine Stars and Stars of Brahma", "The Seven Stars and the Severe Stars of Disaster Resistance" written by Jin Juzha, a monk from Western India, and "The Seven Stars of the Big Dipper and the Seven Stars of Reciting the Rites" translated by Vajra Zhi, etc.

Astronomer Yang Jingfeng is a student of the Tantric monk Master Bukong. In 764 AD, he mentioned using the Indian calendar to know the "shou" that the five major planets pass by when they are running.At that time, there were three Indian astronomical calendar experts, namely Kashyapa, Gautam and Kumara. (See Chapter 20 of "China's Science and Civilization" by Joseph Needham )Among them, a member of the Kashyapa clan compiled a calendar table for 665 AD.The Qutan family compiled the calendar from 697 to 698 AD.The most famous one is Gautam Siddha. In 729 AD, he compiled the book "Kaiyuan Zhan Jing" and translated the Indian calendar. He also collected a lot of ancient Chinese astronomy historical materials in the book. He can be called the greatest astronomer from India to China.As for the Kumara family, it is closely related to Master Yixing.

Since all the works of Master in mathematics have been lost, it is difficult for us to know his achievements in mathematical theory.It is said that he once calculated all the methods of arranging seventeen lines of Chinese chess pieces vertically and horizontally.An expedition team was organized to travel across the South Ocean to observe the southern starry sky that China could not see.From their observations and the star maps they have drawn, we can know that they have reached the end of Sumatra.More importantly, a plan to measure China's latitude led by a team of masters. He and his companions set up nine measurement stations within about 3,500 kilometers from near the Great Wall of Shanxi Province to the Indochina Peninsula. They used an eight-foot-long measuring ruler to record the projection of the sun on the summer solstice and winter solstice respectively, so as to determine the correct latitude of each station.However, the "Tianyuan Dayan Jing" was re-written and continued into "Wei Shu·Astronomy Records", and the length of the meridian was calculated for the first time in the world, which made outstanding contributions to the development of Chinese astronomy.

Chinese monks traveled across the Silk Road and had a broad understanding. Their travel notes made significant contributions to China and Asian geography and history.As Faxian's "Records of the Buddha's Kingdom" and Xuanzang's "Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty" are praised by Chinese and foreign academic circles.For history, Chinese Buddhist scholars have always attached great importance to history. The Buddhist history books passed down from generation to generation are vast and extensive. The types of chants include "Biography of Famous Monks" sung by Bao of Liang Dynasty and "Biography of Emerging Monks" by Huijiao; the chronological forms include "Biography of Buddhas" by Zhipan of the Song Dynasty, "Biography of Buddhas" by Nianchang of the Yuan Dynasty, etc.; the types of chronological forms include "Brief History of Monks of the Song Dynasty" by Zanning of the Song Dynasty.In addition, the "Biography of Master Zhizhe in the Sui Dynasty" and the "Biography of Master Xuanzang, a master of the Tang Dynasty" that was inaugurated in the Sui Dynasty and other "Biography of Master Xuanzang, the Datang Dynasty" that were inscribed in the Sui Dynasty can all be used as subsidy materials for historical books.For example, the biography that records the inheritance of a Buddhist sect include two "Records of the Fa of the Fa in the Dafa" by Haiyun in the Tang Dynasty and the "Records of the Jingde Chuan Lanterns" by Daoyuan in the Song Dynasty.The collection of miscellaneous biography about one sutra or one sect includes Huiqing of the Tang Dynasty's "Biography of Hongzang's Lotus Sutra", the "Biography of Huayan Sutra" by Fazang, and the "Biography of Pure Land Rebirth" by Jiezhu of the Song Dynasty.In terms of induction biography, there are the "Brief Records of the Three Treasures Induction" of the Song Dynasty.Others include special materials on Buddhist history such as "Hongming Collection" by Monk You of the Liang Dynasty.These materials are important historical materials in Chinese history.

(Four )Buddhism and garden planting

The garden art of Buddhist temples has developed great contributions to China's garden planting industry. Not only does it have a wide variety of trees, flowers and fruits, but it also introduces new foreign varieties, cultivates strange flowers, strange trees, vegetables and herbs, and promotes them to the society. For example, the monks have made great contributions to the development of tea planting industry.

Buddhist gardens are the three major gardens in China (Royal gardens, private gardens, temple gardens )one.Royal gardens are unique to the emperor and the king, and private gardens are owned by the family. Only Buddhist temple gardens are facing the public and are truly public welfare public gardens.Generally, a large number of trees are planted in Buddhist temples. Some temples also have pools. The ponds are clear and green, fish swim, lotus reflect the clouds, and birds sing at the sun, which makes people feel refreshed and refreshed, and they suddenly filter out miscellaneous thoughts.The Buddhist temples and monks in the mountains often come from the water, and build rocks across streams. The layout emphasizes twists and turns and staggered heights.Therefore, a Buddhist temple is a beautiful landscape garden, with the temples and gardens intertwined with picturesque scenery and tourists.

Chinese Buddhist temple garden construction was early, such as during the Taiyuan period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (376-396),Master Huiyuan built Donglin Temple in Lushan, "but he carried the peak of the incense burner and the valley of the waterfall; he still built the foundation of the stone, which was the pine tree, and the smoke from the forest trees condensed, and the stone path grew moss." (Liang Huijiao's "Biography of the Empressed Monk: Biography of Huiyuan" )Building temples based on the mountains, taking the harmony of natural landscapes and artificial gardens, setting a precedent for Buddhist gardens.According to the "Luoyang Galan Record", the gardens of Luoyang temples in the Northern Wei Dynasty had begun to be achieved.For example, Jingle Temple "the hall is pangzhou, the curved room is connected, the light Buddha's house is placed in the courtyard", Zhengshi Temple "the tall forest is opposite to the window, the green pines and green tassels are reflected in the branches", Yongming Temple "the houses are connected, with more than a thousand rooms.The courtyard is lined with bamboos, tall pine trees, strange flowers and plants, and built with stairs in a row."Since then, Buddhist temples have been built in beautiful natural scenery, and the style of planting flowers and flowers in Buddhist temples has been endless throughout the ages. Garden planting has become a convenient method for Buddhism to convey the spirit of compassion and help the world.

During the Jin Dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhists were popular with "sacrificing their houses as temples", and many nobles donated their houses as Buddhist temples.These official offices or houses were originally better private gardens. After being renovated by Buddhists, they had green tiles and red walls, high shelves and white pagodas, and the humanities and landscapes were naturally blended.This artistic form that integrates private gardens and Buddhist temples has more exquisite garden art and has made great contributions to Chinese garden art.As recorded in "Tongqiao Liezards" in the second year of Jin Weihe (327),Wang Xun and his younger brother Wang Min built Huqiu Temple in a villa. The temple was run by Buddhists and became the first scenic spot in Wuzhong.

Because Buddhist gardens are freely selected, or have broad roads or famous mountains and rivers, they often have beautiful mountains and rivers and elegant scenery.The landscape landforms with different characteristics provide Buddhist temple gardens with different characteristics of landscape materials and environmental implications.Buddhist gardens are generally integrated with religious activity venues and living supply areas.The religious activity area consists of halls, towers and pavilions, and is the central location of the temple. It adopts a courtyard or corridor pattern, which uses a symmetrical and regular, closed and static final to express the sacred atmosphere of religion.There are six group combination methods including courtyard style, corridor style, patio style, curved rule style, scattered style and highlight style.Buddhist gardens generally use these combinations according to the geographical environment, and randomly dye nature, making the architecture and garden interesting and becoming an organic part of Buddhist ritual activities.

In addition to planting gardens such as strange flowers and flowers, Buddhist temples also advocate drinking tea, and also attach importance to planting tea trees and picking tea leaves.Many temples have tea gardens to plant and make famous teas.Like Biluochun (Biluochun )Tea is produced on the Biluo Peak of Dongting Mountain, Jiangsu Province. The boiling soup is clear and bright green. It was originally named "Shuiyue Tea". It was first made by monk Dao of Dongting Mountain Water Yue Courtyard.The "Wuyi Yanfang Tea" in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian, the founder of oolong tea is the best made by monks from Wuyi Temple since the Song and Yuan dynasties.The "Dafang Tea" made by monks in the Ming Dynasty was the predecessor of "Tun Green Tea" in southern Anhui.Many famous teas in our country were originally produced in temples.According to legend, the purple clay pot with special smell protection function was also created by an old monk from Jinsha Temple in Yixing, southern Jiangsu in the Ming Dynasty.Lu Yu, who wrote the world's earliest tea monograph "Tea Sutra", was born in a temple and lived in temples for many lifetimes.The "Tea Sutra" is the result of his visits to famous mountains and ancient temples, widely absorbing the methods of making tea and drinking tea, and summarizing it.

The tea-drinking habits in Buddhist temples have had a significant impact on the folk tea-drinking customs.Feng Yan of the Tang Dynasty recorded in "The Record of Feng's Revelation": " (Tang )During the Kaiyuan period, there was a demon master Long in Lingyan Temple in Taishan who promoted Zen Buddhism. He was busy learning Zen and did not eat, so he allowed him to drink tea.People are tempted by themselves and cook and drink everywhere.From then on, it became a custom."The tea-drinking atmosphere of monks in temples spread and became a common custom among the northern folk.The famous Jingshan Temple in Yuhang, Zhejiang in the Song Dynasty often held tea banquets attended by the public, and "tea fighting" activities to taste and identify various tea quality. It also invented the "tea-making method" of grinding young and tender buds into powder and brewing them with boiling water.This plays a significant role in the further popularization of folk tea drinking habits.

【Questions of Thoughts] 1. The status of Buddhist culture in traditional Chinese culture?

2、What is Buddhist ethics?

3、What are the similarities and differences between Buddhist precepts and traditional Chinese ethics?

4、In what aspects does Buddhism’s influence on Chinese philosophy manifest?

5、What are Buddhism’s contributions to Chinese literature?

6、What is Buddhist art?

7、Please briefly describe the role of Buddhist art in Chinese art?

8、What contributions does Buddhism have to China’s science and technology?

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