Why did the ancients call themselves laymen?
In Chinese, the original meaning of the word "laity" refers to people who are not officials or officials at home. "Shuo Wen" "Shi: Things are also. Numbers start with one and end with ten, from one to ten. " Scholars are people who understand mathematics and reason, that is, what we now call intellectuals. The Chinese nation is a nation that advocates knowledge. Scholars were respected by people in ancient times, headed by four people (scholars, agriculture, industry and commerce). People often call men "X scholars", such as Guo scholars, Yuan scholars, rural scholars and so on. There is also a woman who is a scholar and a woman who is a walker. Scholars are called Jinshi, Shi Xiu, Jishi and Strategist. While those who are not officials have many names, such as hermit, Yi Shi, Chu Shi and laity. Although there are various names for people who are not officials, there are few real hermits and hermits in the history of China, and most of them can be called laity or Chu Shi.
The name "lay man" originated earlier. Since ancient times, the Book of Rites Jade Algae: "The ribbon of the lay man." Zheng Xuan's Note: "The laity also knows Chu Shi." Everything is done by Han Feizi, the foreign reserve says the top right: "In the East China Sea of Qi, there are two people, a layman and a petrochemical Kundi. They argue,' I don't care about the emperor, I don't care about the princes, I live by farming, I dig wells to drink water, and I don't want other people's things.' "Because lay people are talented, have personality, morality and practice, they are respected. Such as "Shu Wei Lin Ru Lu Chuan Jing Yu": "His uncle occupies a prominent position and has the same status, but Jing Yu stops at the garden house. His feelings are all in the countryside, he is humble and obedient, and he is complacent. Therefore, he is a layman. " "Northern history wei? Biography: "I am lonely and self-sufficient, and I am a layman." Therefore, as a layman, you can even avoid chaos and disasters, such as "The History of the Three Kingdoms Wei Zhi Hu Zhao Chuan": "The wolf and others are attached to Guan Yu in the south, feather in the soldiers, and are also thieves. When they arrived at the Laoting in the south of Luhun, they vowed to meet each other and said,' Hu Jushi is also a saint, and no one can violate his tribe.' A stream of Lai Zhao is salty and fearless. Another example is "Biography of Southern History and Danger": "Because Bao can't be remonstrated, he is afraid of his disaster, but he is convinced by the laity to refuse." It can be seen that lay people have a great influence on the people. There are often reclusive biographies in China's history books, and laity has a high position in cultural history. Therefore, the word "lay man" has further become an honorific title.
With the in-depth and extensive spread of Buddhism and the gradual integration of Chinese and Indian cultures, many words in Chinese have added new meanings, and their cultural meanings are therefore more profound, such as the word lay man. In Sanskrit, the word Kulapati, which is closest to the meaning of China lay man, refers to a person who lives at home, a person who lives well, and a person who is determined to believe in Buddhism at home. Translate Chinese into layman. Another word in Sanskrit, grhapati(Drhapati), originally refers to the rich in ancient Indian industry and commerce, and later it is the general term for people who have accumulated wealth and virtue. Chinese is translated into elders, lay people, parents, and then into laymen. The Vimalakīrti Classic translated by Yao Qin and Kumarajiva calls for the elders in narration and the laity in dialogue with Vimalakīrti. It can be seen that although these two words are honorifics in Sanskrit, their meanings and uses are different. That is, from the perspective of virtue and wealth, Vimalakīrti can be called an elder; From the perspective of practicing Buddhism at home, he is called a layman. Later, people often translated these two words into laity, and the word laity in China added a new meaning. In addition, in Sanskrit, the word Upāsakā is translated into Youpo Sai, Qing Xin Shi, Jin Shinan and so on. , that is, close to the meaning of three treasures, generally known as the "five precepts." In Sanskrit, the word upāsiā is translated into Youpoyi, pure-hearted woman and near-thing woman, which means close to the meaning of serving three treasures, and is generally called a woman bound by the "five precepts". These two words are just common terms in Buddhism, and their meanings are different from those of laymen, and they were later honored as laymen. These translations and appellations make the meaning of the word "lay man" in Chinese increase and confuse. The reason why this happens is that translation is simplified, that is, multiple similar names are translated with one word; Second, because the word "lay man" in Chinese has profound cultural implications in the long-term development, it is easy to be accepted and understood by people.
In China, the word "laity" mainly focuses on talent and morality. India, on the other hand, pays equal attention to wealth and morality, and tends to emphasize morality. Many internal and external codes have explanations for the word "lay man", but they are all very complicated. Relatively speaking, Song Mu An Shanqing's Zuting Poetry Garden is a little simpler. There are three clouds in this book: "Those who have four virtues are called laymen. First, do not ask for officials; Second, less desire to accumulate virtue; Third, great wealth; Fourth, Tao An since the Enlightenment. Of course, you don't have to have these four virtues to be called a layman. In fact, you only need to have one or more virtues to be called a layman. If we want to strictly combine the four virtues, there are only a few laymen in the history of Buddhism, such as Vimo and Hu Xian in India, Master Fu in Liang Dynasty in China, and Pang Jushi in Tang Dynasty. The Buddhist scriptures are mainly the Biography of Buddhist Golden Soup compiled by Zhu in Ming Dynasty and the Biography of Vulgarians compiled by Peng in Qing Dynasty, and those biographies specially made for women who have experienced the "three returns" and "five precepts" at home are called the Records of the Women. From the names of these works and the choice of characters, we can see that the author's understanding of the word "lay man" is still different. After Buddhism was introduced into China, the number of people related to Buddhism was the largest.
Moreover, there are also Taoists who claim to be laymen. For example, Song Cai's "Talk about Tiewei Mountain" Volume 4: "After the political reform, Taoists began to flourish, and many of them were named as Jinmen Feathers, Taoists and laymen because of the story of aiding Jiangnan." So sometimes it is difficult to tell whether a Buddhist layperson is a Taoist layperson or a Confucian layperson.
Because the word "lay man" has profound cultural implications, such as the "four virtues" mentioned in Zuting Poetry Garden, the word "lay man" contains many excellent qualities that people think, and it is more important to be an official than to seek meritorious service; People with virtue are respected; Rich people are easy to give and do righteousness; Since the enlightenment is clever. Therefore, literati also call themselves laymen to show that they do not seek career advancement, retire peacefully, or are frustrated in their careers, such as Li Bai (Qinglian laymen), Bai Juyi (Xiangshan laymen), Ouyang Xiu (Liu Yi laymen), Su Shi (Dongpo laymen) and Li Qingzhao (Yi An laymen). Even some emperors will show their talents, do good deeds and call themselves laymen. Some of these are related to Buddhism, and some have nothing to do with Buddhism. The situation is complicated. Monks often regard ordinary people as laity at home, and they are happy to do so at home. For example, in chapter 20 of the Scholars, "(the old monk) said,' laity, don't worry, you will be lucky if you say you are fierce; If you have some mountains and rivers, it's all on my old monk. "The 20th time of" Flower Moon Mark ":"old ni and Zhu Chi crossed their hands and said,' Where are the laity? Some people are even proud of being called a layman, such as the kind of person ridiculed by Lu Xun in Celebrating the Recovery of Shanghai and Nanjing: "A rich man who drinks and eats meat can be called a layman or a believer as long as he eats a vegetarian meal." These are unique phenomena in China culture, which are worthy of further discussion.
In a word, the word "lay man" is rich in connotation and puzzling. The reason for this phenomenon is that this word is a fusion of two languages, that is, the meaning of Sanskrit is integrated into Chinese, which expands its meaning. At the same time, it is habitual and random in daily address. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism all have laymen. So we can only determine the reference according to the specific language environment.