从康熙朝《常宁县志》看清初佛教在常宁的兴盛

On Prosperity of Buddhism in Changning County in the early Qing Dynasty from the Changning County Annals in Kangxi Dynasty

常宁现在是湖南省一个县级市。该县保存一部康熙朝编纂的《常宁县志》,是唯一一部记载明清鼎革时期该县史事的县志,也是该县目前在存最早的一部县志,修竣于康熙十二年(1673)。该志第十三卷《方外志》详细记述了佛教和道教活动场所,尤其是佛教活动场所(寺庵)。从中可以发现,大量的佛教寺庵兴建于清初的顺治和康熙朝前期,说明清初佛教在常宁一度兴盛过,其原因有二:一是清朝统治阶级的佞佛;二是常宁人民的苦难生活。

Changning is now a county-level city in Hunan province. Now the county has preserved a"Changning County Records"compiled in Kangxi Dynasty. It is the only county annals recorded the historical events of the county in Ming and Qing Dynsaties. It is also the earliest county annals currently in existence of the county records. It was completed in Kangxi twelve years(1673). The Volume ⅩⅢ of this record describes in detail the Buddhist and Taoist activities, especially Buddhist activities(temples and nuns). It can be found that a large number of Buddhist monasteries were built in Shunzhi in the early Qing Dynasty and the early Kangxi Dynasty, indicating that Buddhism flourished in Changning County at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. There are two reasons for these, one is that the ruling class in Qing Dynasty flatters the Buddhist and the other is that the people’s life in Changning County is very hard.