作者：鲁慧文
编辑：韩立华 校对：程筱筱 翻译：吕峰
起笔的时候纠结了很久要不要用这个词来放在标题，但似乎不用这种极限词已经无法表达我对于佛教对中国深度伤害的痛恶之情。是的，佛教，严谨一点说中国式佛教对于中国的伤害是深入骨髓的，是罄竹难书的，是全方位的。
佛教大约在公元前6世纪至5世纪起源于古印度，是当时印度几百种宗教中的一个不起眼的小教派，从起源到现在基本没有在印度形成气候。大约在公元前后（东汉时期）佛教传入中国。起初在民间流传，我想之所以能够超过中国本土宗教道教，或者一些少数民族的宗教，例如萨满教之类的，在民间逐步兴盛起来，是因为在当时的社会背景下，人民需要一种大众心理学去支撑连年战乱痛苦不堪的生活。东汉之初昆阳之战（公元23年），随后公元40-100年，连续60年的征服西南蛮夷和匈奴、羌人作战，民间疾苦如地狱。直至公元184年爆发黄巾起义，是一次大规模农民起义，标志着东汉的崩溃开始。东汉时期，老百姓需要交农业税，要服徭役（成年男子服劳役或兵役），我们可以从上面时间线看出来东汉时期大部分时间都在打仗，也就是家家户户的男丁基本都在服兵役。著名的《十五从军征》就是徭役悲歌（出处：东汉民歌《乐府诗集·横吹曲辞》，主题：反映百姓长期服兵役、家破人亡的悲惨现实）。“十五从军征，八十始得归。道逢乡里人：‘家中有阿谁？’遥看是君家，松柏冢累累。” 描述的就是一个人十五岁就出去打仗，八十岁才得以回乡。在路上遇到同乡人，问其家中还有谁。远远望去，是自己的家，却只剩满地坟墓和松柏。这首诗是古代文学中最深刻的反战诗。在我看来，这首诗是夸张了，那种生存条件下，又连年战争，有几个人能活到八十岁呢？据史学和考古学研究推算，东汉时期中国人的平均寿命均为25-35岁左右。《后汉书》中多有“疫病流行”、“民多饥死”等记载，出土墓葬的人骨数据显示，很多人死于20-40岁之间。
佛教的核心是讲究来生，苦行僧、现在吃苦来生享福、自己吃苦子女享福等自修自度的核心思想。小乘佛教就是自己吃苦修来生，大乘佛教就是去传扬佛法、慈悲他人、普度众生，其实就是告诉大家和自己一起吃苦修来生。老百姓在连年战乱、疫情肆虐的时代生不如死。这样一种精神食粮在那个不识字不懂基本社会常识，最基层的社会群体中是最容易流传的。它让老百姓能够较为心安理得的接受命运给自己带来的一切，包括饥饿、疾病、战争、死亡等并且认为这种苦是合理的，吃苦是为了来生享福的，所以一切就顺理成章的被接纳下来。佛教这个外来宗教结合当时百姓的疾苦更具有了比本土宗教的适应性（要知道道教是对人的灵性、学识、认知、能力等有一定要求的）。简单的讲，就是人们有了一种念想，这种念想让人们能够在最艰难的日子里得以留存一线生存的希望。
佛教的这种大众自我安慰功能对于任何一个集权统治阶级都是天降馅饼，岂有不吃之理？于是统治阶级开始介入推动佛教的推广。直至今天，佛教这个外来宗教仍然被作为主要宗教在中国这片土地上盛行着，可以说有佛教的地方就有民间苦难。而基督教这种天然带着人民权利、个体权利、自我感知的民主化宗教在中国被打压就是再正常不过的了。
佛教在进入中国不久就已经政治化了，这种民间免费安慰剂是任何一个统治阶级都不会放过的。玄奘在西游取经之后回来受到了皇帝的隆重欢迎，而拒绝被统治阶级利用的世界四大佛教翻译家之一鸠摩罗什就遭受了各种死亡折磨，并且在整个历史记载里面几乎没有留下只言片语，这个佛教史上重要的世界级人物就被中国从历史上直接清除出去了。
佛教在传入中国几百年之后鸠摩罗什诞生于龟兹国（如今的新疆库车一带），他的父亲是来自印度的婆罗门家族，是一位僧人，母亲是龟兹国公主，他从很小开始就跟着母亲在寺庙中学习佛法，并从幼年开始就已经得道，有了很深的造诣。因此龟兹当时成了佛教加速进入中国的中转站，而精通印度语、梵语和汉语的鸠摩罗什更是成为了印度佛学和中国佛学的桥梁，他翻译了许许多多的著名经文，比如《金刚经》、《法华经》、《维摩诘经》等，并且他的佛教思想对敦煌莫高窟、麦积山石窟等多个著名佛教发源地建筑有直接影响。鸠摩罗什的译经是把经文从梵语翻译成汉语，而玄奘是用汉字的形式把梵语的声音模拟出来（这就是为什么玄奘这只鹦鹉翻译的东西里面有很多不认识的字，因为很多梵语的发音在汉字里面找不到对应发音，他就创造了很多汉字来对应梵语的发音，充其量玄奘就是皇帝养着的一只模仿梵语的鹦鹉）。但是为什么鹦鹉可以成为座上宾，而圣人却查无此人？这就是鸠摩罗什与当时的统治阶级斗争的背景故事了。当时的统治阶级盛情邀请鸠摩罗什为政治服务，和他们站在一起，为他们的统治进行宗教背书。因当时追随鸠摩罗什的信众比追随皇帝的还多，鸠摩罗什就是活佛一般的存在，皇帝需要这样一位可以有众多信徒的人物在自己身边，以提高自己的统治向心力和所谓的民心凝聚和政治稳定。但是这个鸠摩罗什就是敬酒不吃吃罚酒，三番五次的拒绝当时的皇帝吕刚。吕刚本乃鲁莽之人，早已失去耐心，于是对鸠摩罗什实施了惨无人道的折磨，包括让他在大庭广众之下骑牛，恶牛乱舞，他洋相百出，给他灌酒让他破酒戒，把他赤身裸体和自己的表妹放在一起数日逼他破色戒，如此种种，恶行百出，让他在民众心中活佛的形象毁掉（如此看来中共给人泼脏水是有历史遗传的），失去民心。鸠摩罗什历经千番磨难，仍然不从，直至后来到长安去传播佛法。约公元401年鸠摩罗什抵达长安，路上历经战乱、被俘、漂泊，期间除了被吕光控制的这17年以外，他还经历了饥荒人吃人的时期。终于公元401年，北方的后秦皇帝姚兴攻下凉州，姚兴是鸠摩罗什的仰慕者，派使者邀请鸠摩罗什入都长安。此时鸠摩罗什已57岁，随后他被尊为国师，在今西安城外的草堂寺安顿下来，作为自己的译场带领弟子翻译，留下来大量佛教经典。
哪怕是世界四大佛学翻译家之一，哪怕有众多的佛教经典译本，鸠摩罗什本人也因为一生中大部分时期与统治阶级对抗，不受用于统治阶级而被折磨、被冷落。以至于在历史文献中的记载仅有几百字。这就是佛教进入中国之后不服从政治的典型例子。而相反的例子就是玄奘，一只不懂印度语、不懂梵语、用自己创的汉字模仿梵语声音译经的鹦鹉，却因积极靠近皇权受到皇帝的极大吹捧，在中国佛教史上留下浓重的一笔。著名的《西游记》也是以这只鹦鹉为原型来写的，成为了中国的四大名著之一。在当今的各种文艺形式中，西游记人物都被演绎出各种版本的故事，源远流长。这就是中国历史上传承下来的政治文化，顺我者昌，逆我者亡。
历史一步一步走来，仔细观察，每一个民间疾苦民不聊生饿殍遍野的时期几乎也是佛教盛行时期，而基督教进入中国的时期恰好又是中国经济发展上升时期，难道这是巧合吗？近年来，中国经济下行几近崩盘，也是基督教在中国无法生存，传教违法甚至坐牢的时期。中国表面不是政教合一的国家，但却是一个宗教盛行与否可以作为政治情况反应的晴雨表的国家。
佛教本来是叫人修心向善，自修成为一个宽容有大爱的人。它最初也和基督教一样是一个希望人间有爱、有怜悯慈悲的宗教，却被中国的统治者拿来用于告诉被统治阶级你只有吃苦才能有来生，今生你享福了来生就不好投胎或者就会很不好，或者你享福了你的子女的福报就被你耗尽了之类的，这种说法在民间已经深入人心，也奠定了老百姓习惯性吃苦、不反抗的思想来源，也是百姓失去斗志、失去自我认知、自我痛苦觉察、自我需求觉察的根源所在。这就是佛教的罪恶所在，它在精神上奴役着百姓，让百姓从精神上服从。从民俗、节日、语言、艺术乃至日常生活，许多我们如今习以为常的文化习惯、语言表达、乃至节日习俗，都带着浓重的佛教色彩。
比如我们现在相信业、相信因果、相信好人好报、相信不是不报，日子未到、相信坏人一定会被天收。于是普通老百姓恪守着人性，恪守着善良，遵守着人的底线，但是统治阶级却大肆掠财。比如老百姓相信吃苦是福，相信努力会有回报（这是从今生吃苦来生享福上转变来的）。于是中国老百姓可以在被欺负了的时候忍让，就有了退一步海阔天空、多一事不如少一事的说法。中国老百姓很多相信吃素，觉得吃肉是杀生（这应该是中国人会气血不足，而欧美人没有这个问题的核心所在）。中国人可以任劳任怨一天工作十四五个小时，可以996、007却不反抗，因为相信吃苦是福，吃亏是福。而中共统治阶级呢？杨兰兰呢？网传杨兰兰是习近平私生女，她的零花钱是普通中国人把大脑想烂都想不出来的数字，1.35亿零花钱，还只是其中一个卡。普通老百姓感觉自己上坟都没用过这么大的数字，如同宇宙的边界是人类的大脑无法想到的一样，中共统治阶级的钱的数量也是普通老百姓的大脑无法想到的。
比如六道轮回，老百姓吃亏吃苦默认为自己来生还能做人、那些贪污的坏人肯定下辈子来不了人间了。于是老百姓自动洗脑自动吃苦，进入一个死循环，也就演变出来生还做华夏人的说法，因为相信自己吃苦是修来生的。
比如前世今生，中国人相信自己没有基本权利，比如退休老干部一个月退休工资几万，免费医疗，农民一个月退休金100多块。但是中国人为什么不反抗呢？因为还有佛教的一个思想，就是我肯定是上辈子没有修来今生的福气，那些享福的人肯定是上辈子做好事了。这个可以很大程度上平复他们看到社会不公、自己遭遇不公时候的心情和态度，同时也能让他们心满意足的吃今生的苦，因为他们来生也想有一些基本权利。
鄙夫放下屠刀，立地成佛，这就是中国没有法治的一个体现，坏人可以随便被原谅。中国是一个不讲法治，讲人情、讲改过自新的社会，这在很大程度上对中国法治进程产生了根本性的伤害。
善有善报，恶有恶报，前面业讲了，所以中国人成了全世界最乖、最懂事、最好管理、最好统治、最没有思想、最像羊群的一群人。
比如烧香拜佛。明明是经济下行，统治者各种控制、让老百姓到了无法呼吸的地步了，老百姓明显感觉日子过不下去了，却说是流年不顺，却说是八字不好，却说是年份不好，需要去寺庙烧香拜佛，这就又养了一大群肥头大耳的释永信们。去佛前忏悔，祈福，却不明白，你之所以穷得活不下去，穷得娶不上媳妇、买不起房子，是因为中共统治阶级利用中央集权拿走了几乎全部社会财富，你跪在佛前祈求的时候，烧香的钱和寺庙门票钱又养活了释永信们。
比如相信地藏王菩萨。于朦胧死了，网传给习近平献祭了，全国都在封禁他的信息，老百姓明知他死的冤枉、凄惨，却没有办法为他做任何事，只能给地藏王菩萨抄经、点灯。老百姓没有权利，没有法律，只能拿起佛教的武器，所以你就能明白佛教为啥必须为政治服务了吧，鸠摩罗什要是早点明白这个道理他就会有享不尽的荣华富贵了。
渗透的太多了，可以说我们生活中的方方面面都有佛教的影子，佛教是中国统治阶级的一种政治手段，它可以用无形的力量化解更多统治危机，可以说佛教在中国统治中起到的作用比任何一个朝代的军队起到的作用都大千倍百倍。
罪大恶极的中国式佛教，它不是让我们成为更好的自己，而是让我们成为更好的牺牲品，并且还是心甘情愿。
【编者按】文中观点仅代表作者本人，不代表本杂志社。
The Sinister Accumulation of Evil in the Sinicized Buddhism
Author: Lu Huiwen
Editor: Han Lihua Proofreading: Cheng Xiaoxiao Translation: Lyu Feng
Abstract: This article reviews the transmission of Buddhism into China and traces its evolution under successive regimes up to the present CCP-ruled China. It analyzes how “Chinese-style Buddhism” has been repeatedly appropriated by rulers as an ideological tool for pacifying and domesticating the populace, ultimately becoming an accomplice to authoritarian power.
The Sinicized Buddhism Laden with Transgressions
At the outset, I hesitated for a long time over whether to place such a strong phrase in the title. Yet it seemed that without such an extreme expression, I could not convey the depth of my indignation toward the harm Buddhism has inflicted upon China. Indeed, Buddhism—or more precisely, the Sinicized Buddhism—has caused injuries that reach down to the marrow. Its harms are countless and operate on every dimension.
Buddhism originated in ancient India around the 6th to 5th century BCE as an inconspicuous sect among hundreds of Indian religions. From its origins to the present, it has never developed into a major force within India itself. Around the turn of the Common Era (the Eastern Han dynasty), Buddhism entered China. Initially spread among commoners, it gradually surpassed China’s indigenous Daoism and minority religions such as shamanism. The reason, I believe, lies in the social context of the time: ordinary people needed some form of mass psychology to sustain their war-torn, miserable, and hopeless lives.
At the beginning of the Eastern Han, the Battle of Kunyang (23 CE) took place, followed by sixty years of continuous warfare against the Southwestern tribes, the Xiongnu, and the Qiang (40–100 CE). The suffering of commoners was hellish. In 184 CE, the Yellow Turban Rebellion erupted—a large-scale peasant uprising marking the collapse of the Eastern Han.
Ordinary people bore agricultural taxes and corvée labor (adult men serving either labor or military duty). The chronology itself shows that almost the entire Eastern Han was consumed by warfare—meaning virtually all household males were conscripted. The famous poem “The Fifteen-Year-Old Goes to War” (from Yuefu Shiji, “Hengchui Qu Ci”) laments this misery: “At fifteen I marched to war; at eighty I returned home. On the road I met a villager. ‘Who remains in my house?’ Looking from afar, I saw my home—only cypress trees and clustered tombs.”This is one of the most profound anti-war poems in ancient Chinese literature. In my view, even this poetic depiction is an exaggeration; under such conditions of ceaseless warfare and extreme privation, how many could truly live to eighty?
According to historical and archaeological studies, the average life expectancy in the Eastern Han was roughly 25–35 years (supported by Hou Hanshu reports of epidemics and famine; osteological data show most deaths occurred between ages 20–40).
Buddhism’s Core Message: Accept Suffering, Hope for the Next Life
Buddhism centers on the doctrine of future lives: monks practice asceticism; one suffers now to reap blessings in the next life; one’s own asceticism even benefits one’s children.Theravāda emphasizes self-discipline for personal liberation; Mahāyāna emphasizes spreading the Dharma and “saving all beings”—in essence, persuading everyone to endure hardship together for future salvation.
For people living in an era of constant warfare and epidemics, life was worse than death. Such spiritual consolation easily spread among illiterate and socially marginalized groups. It allowed commoners to accept hunger, disease, war, and death, believing these sufferings to be justified and even beneficial for the next life.
Thus Buddhism—an imported faith—proved more adaptive than Daoism (which requires higher literacy and metaphysical grasp). For ordinary people, Buddhism provided a hope that allowed them to survive.
For any autocratic ruling class, this mass self-consolation was a heaven-sent gift. Why wouldn’t they seize it? Consequently, rulers began promoting Buddhism. To this day, this foreign religion has flourished across China—wherever Buddhism thrives, one finds deep social suffering. Meanwhile, Christianity—naturally emphasizing individual rights and human dignity—has consistently faced suppression.
Early Political Co-optation: Kumārajīva versus Xuanzang
Shortly after entering China, Buddhism became politicized. No ruling class would ignore such a convenient free anesthetic for the populace.
Xuanzang, after his pilgrimage, received lavish royal favor. But Kumārajīva—one of the world’s four great translators of Buddhist scriptures—was persecuted for refusing political co-optation. His suffering was severe, and Chinese historical records preserve only a few hundred words about him—effectively erasing this globally significant Buddhist master.
Kumārajīva was born in Kucha (modern Kuqa, Xinjiang). His father was an Indian Brahmin monk; his mother a princess of Kucha. From childhood he studied Buddhism and achieved profound insight. Kucha thus became a key transit point for Buddhism’s entry into China. Fluent in Indian languages, Sanskrit, and Chinese, Kumārajīva became a crucial bridge between Indian and Chinese Buddhism. He translated major scriptures such as the Diamond Sutra, Lotus Sutra, and Vimalakīrti Sutra, and his thought influenced Dunhuang’s Mogao Caves and Maijishan Grottoes.
Kumārajīva translated Sanskrit scriptures into Chinese. Xuanzang, by contrast, produced transliterations—attempting to mimic Sanskrit sounds with newly coined Chinese characters, many incomprehensible because corresponding sounds did not exist in Chinese. Thus Xuanzang was essentially a “parrot” trained to reproduce foreign phonetics, yet he became a royal favorite and cultural icon.
Why the “parrot” was exalted and the sage erased? The reason lies in Kumārajīva’s defiance of political authority. His followers outnumbered the emperor’s subjects. The ruler, Lü Guang, wished to harness Kumārajīva’s charisma for political legitimacy. But Kumārajīva repeatedly refused. Lü Guang, impatient and crude, subjected him to public humiliation—forcing him to ride a crazed ox in front of crowds, intoxicate him to break monastic discipline, and imprison him naked with a woman to break his vow of chastity. All this sought to destroy his saintly image, erode public faith, and break his resistance.(Here one can see the historical precedent for political smear tactics.)
Despite immense torment, Kumārajīva did not yield. After seventeen years of captivity, famine, cannibalism, and war, he finally reached Chang’an in 401 CE. There, under Later Qin ruler Yao Xing—who admired him—he was installed at Caotang Temple and produced a large corpus of translations that shaped East Asian Buddhism.
Yet even as one of the world’s four greatest Buddhist translators, Kumārajīva was marginalized in Chinese historiography because he resisted serving political power.Xuanzang, on the contrary, ingratiated himself with the throne and was elevated into literary canon—Journey to the West being based loosely on his image.
This reflects a long-standing political logic in Chinese history:Those who obey prosper; those who resist perish.
Buddhism as a Barometer of Popular Suffering
Across Chinese history, periods of extreme social misery almost always coincide with the popularity of Buddhism. When Christianity entered China, it happened to be during periods of economic growth. Conversely, in recent years as China’s economy has deteriorated and approached collapse, Christianity has been increasingly suppressed—preaching has been criminalized, and pastors imprisoned.
China is nominally not a theocracy, yet the flourishing or suppression of religion reflects political conditions with remarkable precision.
Originally, Buddhism encouraged compassion, mercy, and inner cultivation. Yet in China it was transformed into a doctrine teaching the ruled that only by enduring suffering could they secure a favorable rebirth; that enjoying blessings now would bring misfortune later, or exhaust their children’s good fortune. Such ideas—deeply rooted in folklore—have shaped the cultural psychology of self-abnegation, passivity, and resignation.
Thus Buddhism became a mechanism for psychological subjugation. From customs to festivals, language to daily life, Sinicized Buddhism permeates Chinese culture.
Examples of Cultural Penetration
Karma and retribution: People believe “good is rewarded, evil punished,” and await cosmic justice while rulers plunder unrestrained.
“Suffering is a blessing”: Ordinary people work fourteen-hour days, endure 996 or 007 schedules without protest, believing hardship builds future fortune.
Vegetarianism as moral purity: Many equate eating meat with “killing life,” leading to widespread qi-blood deficiency uncommon in Western populations.
Leniency toward wrongdoing: The saying “A butcher who lays down the knife becomes a Buddha” undermines rule of law and valorizes mercy over legal accountability.
Meanwhile, the ruling elite enjoys unimaginable wealth—for example, online rumors about Xi Jinping’s alleged daughter Yang Lanlan’s staggering allowance of 135 million RMB—numbers beyond ordinary comprehension.
Reincarnation: Sufferers console themselves that enduring hardship ensures rebirth as humans, while corrupt officials will be reborn in lower realms. Thus they enter a self-reinforcing loop of resignation.
Past-life karma: Enormous inequality—retired cadres earning tens of thousands while farmers receive less than 200 RMB—gets justified as “previous-life karma,” pacifying resentment.
Burning incense and worship: Amid economic downturn and suffocating control, people attribute misery to “unlucky years” rather than structural oppression. Donations and incense fuel monastic elites rather than improve living conditions.
Rituals for the dead: When the actor Yu Menglong reportedly died under suspicious political circumstances, the public, unable to seek justice, resorted to reciting scriptures to Kṣitigarbha. Lacking rights and legal recourse, people fall back on Buddhism—which explains why Buddhism must serve politics. Had Kumārajīva understood this, he would have enjoyed endless wealth.
Conclusion: The Structural Violence of Sinicized Buddhism
Buddhism permeates Chinese life so deeply that it functions as a political technology—an invisible force dissolving crises of rule. Its role in governance has often surpassed that of armies.
The greatest crime of Sinicized Buddhism is that it does not help people become better individuals—it helps them become better sacrifices, and willingly so.
[Editor’s Note] The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not represent the editorial stance of this magazine.
