The Northern Wei was a dynasty ruling much of northern China from 386 to 535 CE, founded by the Xianbei Tuoba clan. Its rulers became major patrons of Buddhism, sponsoring the carving of the Yungang Grottoes near their early capital at Pingcheng and continuing to fund Buddhist cave temples and monasteries after moving the capital to Luoyang in 494 CE, work that carried on into the Longmen caves there and reached the Mogao caves at Dunhuang along the Silk Road. Almost no wooden religious architecture from the period survives, which makes the brick Songyue Pagoda, built in 523 CE and the oldest surviving brick pagoda in China, an unusually durable witness to the dynasty's building programme. Patronage was not unbroken: Emperor Taiwu carried out a severe persecution of Buddhism in 446 CE before his successors reversed course and resumed sponsorship on an even larger scale, and Confucian state ritual and Daoist practice continued alongside Buddhism throughout the dynasty's rule.
Facts
Religion and State
State ReligionBuddhism, adopted as an officially sponsored state religion under most Northern Wei emperors, with the ruler often presented as a living buddha or bodhisattva. 1 Religious PolicyAlternated between vigorous Buddhist patronage, funding the Yungang, Longmen and Mogao cave complexes, and one severe persecution under Emperor Taiwu in 446 CE before his successors resumed and expanded sponsorship. 1 Attributions
Associated ReligionConfucian state ritual and Daoist practice continued to be observed at court and among the population alongside the dynasty's Buddhist patronage. 1 Origins
Origin RegionNorthern China, ruled from Pingcheng and, after 494 CE, from Luoyang, by the Xianbei Tuoba clan. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Northern Wei directly: "Wikipedia's article on Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei documents his patronage of Kou Qianzhi's reformed Taoism, the 442 ceremony in which he received Taoist amulets and became the first Northern Wei..."
This source names Northern Wei directly: "faith in 618, also recorded here, the Northern Wei emperor Taiwu ascended a specially built platform in the capital Pingcheng and, at the urging of the reformist Celestial Master Kou Qianzhi..."
The Mogao Caves at Dunhuang received Buddhist carving and painting continued through the Northern Wei among later dynasties.
This source names Northern Wei directly: "Mather's essay traces the Northern Wei Taoist Kou Qianzhi's rise from a 415 revelation claimed from Laozi through his reform of the Celestial Masters tradition to the 442 ceremony in which Emperor..."
Songyue Pagoda was built in 523 CE under the Northern Wei dynasty and is the oldest surviving brick pagoda in China.
This source names Northern Wei directly: "seven decades before Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei received Taoist investiture in 442, both already recorded here, a new visionary current entered Taoism's spread."
The Yungang Grottoes were carved under Northern Wei imperial sponsorship near the dynasty's early capital at Pingcheng.
Belongs to Tradition
The Northern Wei dynasty sponsored Buddhism as an officially favored state religion for most of its rule.
Sources
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