The Buddhist communities in the territory of the Tangut state Hsi Hsia operated under strict government control. Their activity was regulated by the laws enacted in the Codex.
The law prohibited the spreading of tenets without supervision. The Buddhist missionaries, who came to Hsi Hsia from India and Tibet, were forbidden to teach without the knowledge and consent of the authorities. A Buddhist was forbidden to say things that could «lead the people into error, that did not comply with the law and did not contribute to the maintenance of true peace». The authorities were obliged to arrest any missionary who did not observe this rule. The offender could be sentenced to three years' hard labour.1 The law also prosecuted soothsayers, who bore the grace of God. «It is forbidden for everyone to deliver an inciting speech and say: 'I can see the rays of Divine light emanating from Buddha' and thus mislead the people of the houses and the common folks». If a soothsayer – alleging divine grace – delivered a stirring speech with an unusually grave anti-state attitude, the magnitude of the sentence was specially determined by the authorities. If he was a blackmailer he was condemned to one year's hard labour…
The Annual IOM Academic Session “The Written Heritage of the Orient as the Basis for Classical Tradition of Oriental Studies” will be held on December 4–6, 2023.
PDF-files
