Thousand Miles of Bright Moonlight

Chapter 132: Debate

Yaoying returned to her courtyard. Looking at the large plate of naan bread and warn snow-white soup that the attendant had just brought to her on the long table, she remembered the roast meat that had just passed in front of her eyes.

If she had known that meat was not forbidden, she would not have needed to eat vegetarian food these days.

On the way back, Yuanjue explained to her that the monks of the Royal Court did not forbid the eating of meat. Most of the monks in the Western Regions followed this rule. There was meat pure in three respects and meat pure in five respects. Meat was pure in three respect if it was not seen, heard, or suspected to have been killed on purpose for a monk. Meat pure in five respects if it was, in addition to the former three, killed from natural death or bird mutilation.

In other words, if you did not see the animal killed before your own eyes, hear the animal being killed, or know that the animal was killed for you, and did not want to take a life in order to eat it, then it was pure meat and could be eaten.

However, when cooking pure meat, no seasoning could be put on it. Monks could not have impure meat and fish with things "non-vegetarian" referring to onion, ginger, garlic, and other stimulating and strong seasonings.

In addition, if a monk was sick and needed meat, an exception could be made for them to have seasoned meats.

Yaoying had a sudden realization.

It was not uncommon that there would be subtle differences in the precepts of different regions.

For example, in the past, monks had the rule of not eating after noon. After eating at noon, they could not eat until the next day, which was called "fasting". After Buddhism was introduced to the Central Plains, this rule was changed and many Chinese monks gave up fasting and started to have three meals a day, otherwise they could not guarantee their strength.

Buddhism originated in Tianzhu, and the first monks were nobles in Tianzhu. The basic doctrine of Buddhism was closely related to the Tianzhu customs, so when Buddhism first spread to the Central Plains, it was unconvincing because it conflicted with the traditional patriarchal ethics and Confucianism in the Central Plains. Later, Buddhism was adapted to the local conditions and was developed and adjusted according to the Central Plains' societal customs. It continues to evolve, taking in the common people of the lower classes which allowed it to spread in the Central Plains.

The various nations in the Western Regions had different circumstances compared to the Central Plains, so the development of Buddhism naturally took on a different appearance. In many nations in the Western Regions, all the people were believers. Monks had a very high status and close relationship with the nobles, and sometimes the secular and religious power could even be controlled by one person.

In short, the regions were different so the customs were different.

The Central Plain's commandments were strict. One of the emperors of the Northern and Southern Dynasties had issued the "Abstinence of Wine and Meat", which prohibited taking an animal's life and required the monks to cut off meat. However, monks in the Central Plains did not depend on having alms bowls and begging for food. They were given fields to cultivate land and gardens. Because they could grow food themselves, they could be completely self-sufficient, so they did not need to eat meat.

Yaoying remembered that when Venerable Xuanzang traveled to Tianzhu to see the Buddhist scriptures and passed through the Western Regions, the monks were meat-eaters. She thought that the scriptures the Royal Court promoted had vague signs of transition from Hinayana to Mahayana, so they should not eat meat. Thinking that they should respect the monks and do as they did, they did not touch meat after staying in the Buddhist temple. She did not expect that it was not taboo for the monks in the temple to eat meat.