White Lotus Societies

thumb|Illustration of a meeting of the Pure Land Buddhist White Lotus Society of [[Lushan Huiyuan in the style of Li Gonglin, ]]

The term White Lotus Society () or White Lotus Teaching () refers to a variety of religious and political groups that emerged in China over many centuries. Initially, the name was associated with Pure Land Buddhist organizations that sought to promote devotional practices centered on rebirth in a Buddhist Pure Land. These early societies emphasized spiritual salvation through faith, chanting of Amitābha's name (nianfo), and adherence to moral precepts.

Over time, however, the term "White Lotus" became associated with diverse salvationist and apocalyptic movements, often blending elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Chinese folk religion. Many later White Lotus groups adopted millenarian ideologies, predicting the imminent arrival of a new age or a divine savior (mainly the future Buddha Maitreya) to rectify social and cosmic imbalances. These movements frequently arose in times of political turmoil, natural disasters, or social unrest, positioning themselves as vehicles for both spiritual liberation and sociopolitical reform. As White Lotus sects developed, they appealed to many Han Chinese who found solace in the worship of numerous deities, like Queen Mother of the West (or the "Birthless Old Mother" ). A few of these groups even supported armed rebellions against the Chinese state, such as during the Qing era White Lotus Rebellion (1794–1804).

History

Pure Land Lotus societies

The religious background of Pure Land White Lotus societies goes back to the founding of the first White Lotus Society () in the Donglin Temple at Mount Lu by Lushan Huiyuan (334–416). Huiyuan came to be widely celebrated by later Pure Land Buddhists in China as the first patriarch of Pure Land. At some point during the Tang, the name "White Lotus" began to be applied to his community, though it is unlikely that this was the actual name of the group during Huiyuan's time. Huiyuan's society was a small elite group and it did not survive much after his death. However, during the Tang dynasty, there were numerous Buddhist societies associated with various practices including vegetarianism, construction of Buddhist statues, and scripture copying and recitation. Some of these societies were also associated with Pure Land practice, such as the society founded by Zhiyan (564–634).

During the Northern Song period (960–1126), Pure Land Societies were founded throughout southern China, spreading Pure Land teachings and meditation methods with them. The key figures involved in the creation of these Song dynasty Pure Land societies were Tiantai school monks like Shengchang (959–1020) and Siming Zhili. Zhili's society included monks and laypersons, men and women who vowed to recite the name of Buddha Amitabha one thousand times a day. The followers of Xu Hongru wore red turban, they soon capture Yuncheng, Zouxian, Tengxian and other places, controlling both sides of the Grand Canal and cutting off the grain transport. The rebel army quickly captured Yuncheng, Zouxian, Tengxian and Yixian, and about 100,000 people submitted and joined them. At the same time, Yu Hongzhi raised troops in Wuyi, Zaoqiang and Hengshui in Hebei Province. Liu Yongming also gathered 20,000 people and soon joined Xu Hongru's rebels alliance. They planned to connect their movements from Xuhuai, Chen, Ying, Qi and Huang in the south, intercept the grain transport in the middle, and finally reach the capital in the north. In November of the same year, Xu Hongru was betrayed by his subordinates, arrested in Zou County, and taken to the capital, where he was executed. The peasant uprising initiated and led by Xu Hongru lasted for more than half a year and shook Shandong and the imperial court. Although the main force was defeated, the remaining forces continued to fight until August 1624. Due to the severe drought, the peasants in Zou County had no source of income. Hundreds of peasant soldiers gathered in Sizhou and started a struggle against the Ming rulers again. When Li Zicheng rose up to rebel in Mizhi, the so-called "Dongling Fumang" who joined him refers to Xu Hongru's followers and its remnants. Gu Yingta testified that there was a direct line of succession from Xu Hongru to Li Zicheng's uprising is correct. When Li Zicheng marched into Henan. This suggests that the White Lotus Sect members organized by Xu Hongru constituted Li Zicheng's forces. When Li Zicheng openly rebelled, followers of as the White Lotus Society which had long time predicted that a figure with surname "Li" would one day become the emperor. Li Zicheng tried to use faith to solidify his own legitimacy by consulting a soothsayer. However, when the soothsayer denied Li Zicheng as the prophesied "Emperor Li", and foretold his imminent demise, he had the soothsayer executed.

During the uprising in 1813, The Baguadao sect was speculated as being a branch of White Lotus Societies.

The White Lotus reemerged in the late 18th century in the form of an inspired Chinese movement in many different forms and sects.

In 1774, the herbalist and martial artist Wang Lun founded a derivative sect of the White Lotus that promoted underground meditation teachings in Shandong province, not far from Beijing near the city of Linqing. The sect led an uprising that captured three small cities and laid siege to the larger city of Linqing, a strategic location on the north–south Grand Canal transportation route. After initial success, he was outnumbered and defeated by Qing troops, including local armies of Chinese soldiers known as the Green Standard Army.

An account of Wang Lun's death was given to Qing authorities by a captured rebel. Wang Lun remained sitting in his headquarters wearing a purple robe and two silver bracelets while he burned to death with his dagger and double-bladed sword beside him. Wang Lun likely failed because he did not make any attempts to raise wide public support. He did not distribute captured wealth or food supplies, nor did he promise to lessen the tax burden. Unable to build up a support base, he was forced to quickly flee all three cities that he attacked in order to evade government troops. Though he passed through an area inhabited by almost a million peasants, his army never measured more than four thousand soldiers, many of whom had been forced into service.

In the first decade of the nineteenth century, there were also several White Lotus sects active in the area around the capital city of Beijing. Lin Qing, another member of the Eight Trigrams sect within the White Lotus, united several of these sects and with them build an organization that he would later lead in the Eight Trigrams uprising of 1813.

Administrators also seized and destroyed sectarian scriptures used by the religious groups. One such official was Huang Yupian (), who refuted the ideas found in the scriptures Buddhist views in A Detailed Refutation of Heresy (), which was written in 1838. This book has since become an invaluable source in understanding the beliefs of these groups.

A systematic program of pacification followed in which the populace was resettled in hundreds of stockaded villages and organized into militia. In its last stage, the Qing suppression policy combined pursuit and extermination of rebel guerrilla bands with a program of amnesty for deserters. The rebellion came to an end in 1804. A decree from the Daoguang Emperor admitted, "it was extortion by local officials that goaded the people into rebellion". Using the arrest of sectarian members as a threat, local officials and police extorted money from people. Actual participation in sect activities had no impact on an arrest; whether or not monetary demands were met, however, did.

Second Sino-Japanese War

White Lotus adherents who collaborated with the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) were fought against by the Muslim General Ma Biao.

Uses of the term "White Lotus" in later periods

While traditional historiography has linked many Maitreyist and millenarian uprisings during the Ming and Qing dynasties as all related to the White Lotus, there are reasons to doubt that such connections existed. B. J. Ter Haar has argued that the term "White Lotus" became a label applied by late Ming and Qing imperial bureaucrats to any number of different popular uprisings, millenarian societies or "magical" practices such as mantra recitation and divination. If this interpretation is correct, the steady rise in the number of White Lotus rebellions in imperial histories during the Ming and Qing does not necessarily reflect the increasing strength of a unified organization. Instead, this trend reflects a growing concern by imperial bureaucrats with any form of Buddhism practiced outside of the sanctioned frameworks of the monasteries.

Tiandihui and the Triads

The White Lotus sect may have been one of the main ancestors of the Chinese organizations known as the Triads. The Triads were originally members and soldiers of the Tiandihui or "Heaven and Earth Society" during the period of the war between the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Triads' formation was not for criminal purposes, but to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming to power. The White Lotus Society may have been one of five branches of the Heaven Earth Society which formed at the Shaolin Monastery from Ming loyalists.

Belief and practice

Birthless Old Mother

Despite their involvement in overthrowing the Yuan dynasty and therefore in the founding of Ming dynasty, the White Lotus did not cease its political activities against Chinese authorities; consequently, it remained prohibited during the Ming dynasty. Since they were prohibited from establishing a central authority, no doctrinal orthodoxy could be enforced, allowing their teachings and practices to increasingly diversify. While Maitreya remained the central figure for most White Lotus sects, during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor (1506–1521) a new deity began to grow in popularity among White Lotus adherents, namely Queen Mother of the West (or the "Birthless Old Mother" ). Originating from the Daoist Chinese folk religion, she was identified as the transcendent Buddha who never incarnated but exists without coming into being or transforming into non-being, but was nevertheless foretold to come down upon earth to gather all her children at the millennium into one family and guide them safely back to Heaven, the "home of the true emptiness" ().

Popular culture

In the martial arts film Once Upon a Time in China II, members of the White Lotus are featured as antagonists.
The martial arts film Clan of the White Lotus, features "Priest White Lotus" as the main villain, who is seeking revenge after the death of his brother Pai Mei.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, an animated television series produced by Nickelodeon, features a secret society named the Order of the White Lotus.
The Mortal Kombat franchise also features the White Lotus society, a fictional foundation.