(AI想象中的黄巾军）
今天正式开始讲讲《读佛祖，到底说了什么？》这本书的读后感。
这本书读下来还是很有意思的。而且这是一部介绍佛教思想的书。按理说，它应该会从佛教的源头印度讲起，或者也应该从佛教第一次传入中国的东汉时期开始讲，此书却另辟蹊径。
开头讲了一个和佛教没有什么关系的事情，就是大名鼎鼎的开启三国乱世的黄巾起义，而且提出来一个非常有意思的问题。看过《三国演义》的都知道，黄巾起义的宣传口号是“苍天已死，黄天当立，岁在甲子，天下大吉”，而且在起义爆发之前，这句口号就已经流传甚广，甚至被写到官府的大门口。所以“岁在甲子”就是指的起义发动的时间。
自古以来造反，这种事情在发动之前都是要秘密筹备，而像黄巾起义，这样还没造反，就公然宣布日期，着实匪夷所思。而更匪夷所思的是，东汉政府居然并没有采取什么有力的应对措施，仿佛在坐等起义爆发一样。
另一个奇怪的地方，就是作为起义领袖的张角兄弟是如何做到在全国各地动员数十万信众起事的。因为这场起义规模浩大，直击汉王朝统治的核心地区，以古代的通讯条件，也只能采取这种公开化的宣传，才能做到协调一致。而这要从古代的征敛和动员机制说起。
某种意义上来说，国家或者说朝廷就是一架机器。这架机器由官僚构成，层层向上负责。这架机器的一个主要功能，就是从社会上以赋税的形式征集钱财或者动员劳力兴建工程或者进行军事。要胜任这一工作，需要建立庞大而复杂的官僚机构。显然，张角兄弟是没有的。
所以在东汉朝廷看来，真正的内部威胁就是那些熟知并掌握了这套机构的人，也就是封疆大吏、一方诸侯或者朝廷里的权臣，这才是要严密防范、可能颠覆朝廷的力量。
面对黄巾军在京城到处贴满“岁在甲子”的标语的时候，朝廷也派出了一位品阶比较低的官员处理了此事。在京城地区进行了一次大搜捕，抓捕并处决了近千名黄巾教众。
但这次张角兄弟们的动员能力让朝廷大吃一惊，甚至比朝廷更强。一夜之间动员出了数十万人。在没有精良武器的情况下，将各地的官军打得望风披靡。
在没有建立庞大复杂的官僚机构的情况下，黄巾军是如何实现如此高效的动员能力的？终于可以切入本书的主题了。答案是受佛教的影响。
严格来说，中国并没有非常成型的宗教组织。儒家完全是依附于官僚机构本身，没有独立的组织。而佛教传入中国，让人们见识到了如何建立一套有完整体系的宗教组织。
黄巾军的张角兄弟正是借鉴了佛教的组织形式，但是没有取其教义，而是用黄老学派辅之以一些封建迷信和一些迷信仪式而运作的，正是佛教的先进经验，成就了中国本土的宗教组织。
此后，以宗教为旗号的农民组织在中国历史上就成为一种常见的现象。这也许是佛教给中国带来的意想不到的影响吧。
Today we officially start talking about "Reading Buddha, What does it really say?" After reading this book.
The book is very interesting to read. And it's a book that introduces Buddhist ideas. It should begin in India, where Buddhism originated, or in the Eastern Han Dynasty, when it first came to China, but this book takes a different path.
At the beginning, I talked about a matter that has nothing to do with Buddhism, that is, the famous Yellow Turbans uprising that started the chaos of The Three Kingdoms, and raised a very interesting question. Those who have seen the Romance of The Three Kingdoms know that the propaganda slogan of the Yellow Scarf Uprising is "Heaven is dead, the Yellow sky should stand, the age is in Jiazi, the world is fine", and before the uprising broke out, this slogan has been widely spread, and even was written to the gate of the government. Therefore, the "age in Jiazi" refers to the time when the uprising was launched.
Since ancient times, revolts have been secretly prepared before they are launched, and the Yellow Turbans uprising, which has not yet revolted, openly announced the date, is really inconceivable. What is even more incredible is that the Eastern Han government did not take any effective measures to deal with it, as if it were waiting for the uprising to break out.
Another curious aspect is how the Zhang Jiao brothers, as leaders of the uprising, managed to mobilize hundreds of thousands of believers across the country. Because the uprising was massive in scale and directly attacked the core areas of Han dynasty rule, with the ancient communication conditions, it could only adopt such open propaganda to achieve coordination. And this should start from the ancient collection and mobilization mechanism.
In a sense, the state or the court is a machine. This machine is made up of bureaucrats, working their way up. One of the main functions of this machine was to collect money from society in the form of taxes or to mobilize labor for construction or military operations. To do the job properly requires the creation of large and complex bureaucracies. Obviously, the Zhang Kok brothers do not.
Therefore, in the view of the Eastern Han Court, the real internal threat was those who were familiar with and had mastered this system, that is, the commanders of the territory, the vassals of one party or the powerful officials in the court, which were the forces that should be closely guarded against and might overthrow the court.
In the face of the Yellow Turbans everywhere in the capital plastered with "age in a Zi" slogans, the court also sent a relatively junior official to deal with the matter. A major manhunt was carried out in the capital area, capturing and executing nearly 1,000 members of the Yellow Turbans.
But this time the mobilization ability of the Zhang Jiao brothers surprised the court, even stronger than the court. Hundreds of thousands of people were mobilized overnight. In the absence of sophisticated weapons, the government forces everywhere were defeated.
How did the Yellow Turbans achieve such efficient mobilization without creating a large and complex bureaucracy? Finally get to the point of this book. The answer is Buddhism.
Strictly speaking, China does not have a very established religious organization. Confucianism is completely attached to the bureaucracy itself, there is no independent organization. The introduction of Buddhism into China showed people how to build a complete system of religious organizations.
The Zhang Jiao brothers of the Yellow Scarf Army borrowed the organizational form of Buddhism, but did not take its teachings, but used the Huang-Lao School supplemented by some feudal superstitions and some superstitious rituals to operate, and it was the advanced experience of Buddhism that achieved the local religious organizations in China.
Since then, peasant organizations under the banner of religion have become a common phenomenon in Chinese history. This may be the unexpected impact of Buddhism on China.
