The Yuan rulers rose in the northern desert backward compared with the agrarian area in terms of the culture. Consequently when they became the ruler in the Central Plains of China they adopted a tolerant policy towards the cultures of different sources here mainly supporting assisted with suppressing so as to utilize them for their own benefit.
Towards the end of the Jin Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, due to the reputation and influence of two famous monks of Zen (ìø×Ú)£¬the Buddhist sect of Zen developed continuously in the capital of Khanbalik. One was Wangsong Xingxiu, a dignitary of the sect of Caodong extremely well-known for his amalgamation of the essences of the three schools of Zen. So Yel¨¹ Chucai once consulted him about Buddhism and his logion of ¡°managing state affairs with Confucianism and edifying the mind with Buddhism¡± spread widely for a period of time. The other was Haiyun Yinjian, a dignitary of the sect of Linji. Once a follower of another dignitary named Zhonghe Zhanggong of the Daqingshou Temple, he came from Shanxi, venerated by the Mongolian rulers. Emperor Xianzong (namely Möngke, the Great Khan) of the Yuan Dynasty once granted him a silver seal and ordered him in charge of the Buddhist affairs in the Central Plains of China. |
