The Maitreya teachings or Maitreyanism (), also called ''Mile'' teachings, refers to the beliefs related to

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit: ) or Metteyya (Pali: ), also Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha, is regarded as the future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. As the 5th and final Buddha of the current kalpa, Maitreya's teachings will be aimed at ...

(彌勒 ''Mílè'' in Chinese) practiced in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

together with

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...

, and were developed in different ways both in the Chinese Buddhist schools and in the sect salvationist traditions of the

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...

. Maitreya was the central deity worshipped by the first folk salvation religions, but in later developments of the sects he was gradually replaced by the

Limitless Ancient Mother The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most importa ...

(無生老母 ''Wúshēng Lǎomǔ''), although Maitreyan

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negati ...

continued to have a place in their doctrines. Folk Buddhist movements that worshipped and awaited Maitreya are recorded at least back to the years between 509 and 515 (6th century). A notorious event was the rebellion led by monk Faqing from

Jizhou City Jizhou (), formerly Ji County (), is a district in Hengshui, Hebei Province, China. It shares its name with a province of old, Jizhou or Ji Province, which covered parts of modern-day Hebei, Henan, and Shandong Provinces. Administrative di ...

, then

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

, in the name of a "new Buddha". Later, Maitreyan beliefs developed conspicuously outside the boundaries of Buddhism. By 715, as testified by an edict, wearing white clothes, that was originally a practice common to lay Buddhist congregations, had become a distinctive feature of Maitreyan sects.Seiwert, 2003. p. 154

References

Sources

* Hubert Michael Seiwert. ''Popular Religious Movements and Heterodox Sects in Chinese History''. Brill, 2003. * Xisha Ma, Huiying Meng. ''Popular Religion and Shamanism''. BRILL, 2011. {{religion topics Chinese salvationist religions Buddhism in China Maitreya

See also

References

Sources