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 a ...
(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 List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
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 ...
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 prophet Mani (A ...
, 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 importan ...
(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 nega ...
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 div ...
, 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 dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...
, 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]
See also
*
White Lotus
The White Lotus () is a syncretic religious and political movement which forecasts the imminent advent of the "King of Light" (), i.e., the future Buddha Maitreya. As White Lotus sects developed, they appealed to many Han Chinese who found sol ...
*
Chinese salvationist religions
Chinese salvationist religions or Chinese folk religious sects are a Chinese religious tradition characterised by a concern for salvation (moral fulfillment) of the person and the society.; ''passim'' They are distinguished by egalitarianism, a ...
*
Three Suns (eschatology)
*
Yiguandao
Yiguandao / I-Kuan Tao (),; ko, 일관도, Ilgwando; th, อนุตตรธรรม, . meaning the Consistent Way or Persistent Way, is a Chinese salvationist religious sect that emerged in the late 19th century, in Shandong, to become C ...
*
Xiantiandao
The Xiantiandao (, or "Way of the Primordial"; Vietnamese: ', Japanese: '), also simply Tiandao (; Vietnamese: ', Japanese: ') is one of the most productive currents of Chinese folk religious sects such as the White Lotus Sect, characterised by ...
*
Luo teaching
Luodao (罗道 "Way of Luo") or Luoism (罗教), originally Wuweiism (无为教), refers to a Chinese folk religious tradition, a wide range of sect organisations flourishing over the last five hundred years, which trace their origins back to the ...
*
Miledadao
Wang Hao-te (1921–1999) was the founder of the Great Way of Maitreya (), which is based in Hsinchu, Taiwan. According to a survey done in 2004, this religion has 1,000,000 members and 2,000 temples all over the world. Wang was born in 1921, th ...
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