Fourth
In 955, Emperor Shizong (r. 954-959) of the Later Zhou Dynasty (951-960), due to the need for copper, ordered that Buddha statues be destroyed so that copper could be used to mint coins. His edict was issued at the threat of death (if one illegally continued to possess more than five jin (斤) (roughly 2.5 kilograms) of copper; lesser weights brought lesser penalties), but it is unclear how many Buddhist monks, nuns, or lay persons were executed under the requirements of the edicts. Traditional historical accounts conflict on the issue of whether there was suppression of Buddhist doctrines or practice, although they, in unison, showed a lack of evidence of massacres. The Zizhi Tongjian and the New History of the Five Dynasties suggest the lack of suppression of doctrines and practices, although the New History indicated that people who had dependents were disallowed from becoming monks or nuns. The Old History of the Five Dynasties indicates that there were destructions of temples, and forced return to civilian life for monks and nuns whose vows were not approved of by their parents.
According to the Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, Emperor Shizong destroyed 3,336 of China's 6,030 Buddhist temples.
Read more about this topic: Four Buddhist Persecutions In China
Famous quotes containing the word fourth:
“We are playing with fire when we skip the years of three, four, and five to hurry children into being age six.... Every child has a right to his fifth year of life, his fourth year, his third year. He has a right to live each year with joy and self-fulfillment. No one should ever claim the power to make a child mortgage his today for the sake of tomorrow.”
—James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)
“The fourth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Four colly birds,”
—Unknown. The Twelve Days of Christmas (l. 13–15)
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
—Bible: Hebrew Exodus, 20:8-11.
The fourth commandment.