The Great State of White and High: Buddhism and State Formation in Eleventh-Century Xia

Chapter 2 Buddhism and Monarchy in the Early Tangut State

27 CHAPTER 2 Buddhism and Monarchy in the Early Tangut State Tangut imperial history formally begins with the reign of Li (Weiming) Yuanhao (Jingzong, r. 1032–1048), the third ruler of the autonomous Ordos state founded in 981 by his grandfather Li Jiqian. In the winter of 1038 the Tangut ruler was enthroned as the first emperor of the Great State of White and High (Bai Gao Da Guo), or Great Xia (Da Xia, its Chinese name), and sent a letter to the Song court demanding due recognition as the sovereign of an independent neighboring state. The Song ruler could not countenance this challenge to the established order, in part owing to compromises already made to accommodate the Khitan Liao, whom the Tanguts regarded at once as protector, rival, and model. Thirty years of peaceful trade between Song China and its Ordos vassal gave way to an era of intermittent, escalating hostilities along the northwestern frontier, punctuated by brief lulls, until the Jurchen conquest of north China separated the two states. For the Tanguts, prolonged military and political crises strained the structures of centralized government erected by Yuanhao (Jingzong ),1 intensified factional struggles for power and control of the throne, sapped the economic resources of the state, and menaced its very survival. For nearly forty years (1061–1099), one clan, the Liang, dominated the court in the Fujiwara style, acting as regents and marrying daughter or niece to an underaged emperor. During these same decades, however, when Song sources on Xia are filled with nothing but warfare and intrigue, the entire Buddhist canon was translated into Tangut. Most if not all Tangut rulers were devout Buddhists who sought to harness religious faith in support of the throne; yet there is little evidence that the Tangut state ever achieved the degree of centralization, 28 Buddhism in Eleventh-Century Xia nor its monarch the degree of absolute power, enjoyed by the contemporary Song states and their rulers. Hence the notion, affirmed by Shi Jinbo, that the promotion of the Buddha Ùâkyamuni led to a demotion of native Tangut deities in the same way that the rise of the Tangut imperial institution led to the subordination of tribal leaders to the throne may reflect the hopes of the Tangut emperor but probably oversimplifies the real state of affairs.2 The spread of Buddhism among the populace in earlier centuries did not replace or appreciably weaken native religious beliefs. Deity cults, spirit worship, fertility rites, and shamanistic practices persisted and are attested in Tangut sources like the dictionary Wenhai.3 Such beliefs permeated all levels of society, and a number of nonBuddhist rituals became enshrined in Xia court ceremonials. One was the annual animal sacrifice to Heaven conducted by shamans in the old imperial palace on the third day of the fourth month, described in the twelfth-century law code.4 In Tibet, China, and Japan, competition and accommodation between pre-Buddhist (Bon, Daoist, Shinto) religious technicians and newly introduced Buddhists enjoying royal patronage played a prominent part in the history of state formation. A similar process may have occurred in Xia, especially before the eleventh century, though the meager sources make it virtually impossible to reconstruct. The Tanguts’ long exposure to Buddhism before the rise of the Xia state probably minimized the conflict occasioned by the emergence of a state-sponsored SaΩgha in the eleventh century. From the founding of the state to the end of the eleventh century, through the era of the regency, a Buddhist establishment grew under imperial patronage and became a significant feature of the political and cultural landscape. The Weiming restoration of 1099, when the death of the second Empress Dowager Liang ended the nearly fortyyear dominance of her clan, marks a turning point in the fortunes of both the throne and the Buddhist establishment, which seemed to go into temporary eclipse. In the few sources available to us, the level of recorded Buddhist activity drops and does not resume until the reign of the great twelfth-century monarch Weiming Renxiao (Renzong, r. 1139–1193). This gap in the record may reflect an actual decline in Buddhist influence and imperial patronage, or simply incomplete data, or both. The overall paucity of sources for the early twelfth century and specifically the Jurchen conquest period may account for the impression of a Buddhist retreat. Yet we cannot discount a court reaction against the SaΩgha long under the empress dowager’s control. [13.59.82.167] Project MUSE (2024...