元代宗教政策略论

On the religious policy of the Yuan dynasty

蒙古族本信萨满教,成吉思、窝阔台、蒙哥诸位可汗都是虔诚的萨满教徒,但他们从未因某种宗教是外来的或与自己原有的宗教信仰不相一致而加以歧视、排斥,在他们看来,佛教、道教、伊斯兰教、基督教或任何其他的正统宗教,都包含有劝人安分守己、修身养性的教义,都具有排忧解难抚慰心灵、稳定社会辅政教化的功能。因此,他们对各民族的各种宗教信仰,均采取兼容并包的宽容政策,允许一切人等享有选择和信仰任何宗教的自由权利,并为此积极身体力行。有元一代,宗教信仰自由和对各种宗教的宽容优礼政策,是其他王朝所无法比拟的。

The Mongolian ethnic group believed in Shamanism formerly, with several important khans such as Genghis khan, Ogadai and Mongka being devotional adherents of Shamanism. However they never discriminated against or excluded any religion just because it was exotic or differed from their quondam religious belief. In their view, Buddhism, Taoism, Mohammedanism, Christianity or any other orthodox religion all contained functions that could eliminate tribulations, placate souls, stabilize the society and assist cultures. So they took a tolerant policy, admitting all kinds of religions and permitted every person of equal and free rights to choose and worship in some religion. We can say that in the Yuan dynasty the freedom of worship and the tolerant religious policy were unparalleled compared with any other dynasty in Chinese history.