The study of "The Evolution of the Precepts of Han Buddhism" is mainly based on the five pieces of vinaya books to analyze the reasons why the Buddha made the laws of the precepts. It is obvious that the dharmas and the vinayas have diverged since the time of the Buddha. As the Buddha passed away, since the first and the second dharmas’ being gathered-and-edited, the vinaya classics and their discussion topics have been extensively discussed by the Sectors. However, the inconveniences caused by the precepts to the politics and religions of Dongtu (the Easten Area) are mainly stated and discussed as follows:
First, as soon as the precepts spread to Dongtu, first of all, they had to face the “śramaṇa respecting the King", and three large-scale incidents were involved in it. Later, there were such issues as the “testing the Dharma classics to transform monks”, the “monk-identification system”, and the “advantages and disadvantages of placement” when the National Laws were operated. Among them, the advantage brought by the National Laws was that the lawbreakers would naturally and silently expel from the monk groups. However, the disadvantage was that the National Laws would sometimes conflict with the precepts.
Second, the monastic jungle system which violated the precepts included “engaging in farming”, “being not allowed to eat after noon time”, and “being not allowed to possess any money.” In the beginning, the Zen-Master Bai-zhang hoped to realized the concept of “eating nothing for a day without doing anything for a day”, so the Agriculture- Zen came into being.As for the piece of precept, “being not allowed to eat after noon time”, the ancient masters have ever insisted that once monks have to participate in practicing Zen all day, if they do not eat anything after lunch, they would be in the whole day even without eating a grain of rice or a mouthful of water. Besides, with regard to the precept, “being not allowed to possess any money”, because the donors who engage in farming and make money from it would donate what they have earned to monks. Therefore, they cannot help but possess some money.
Third, the most famous Vinaya-master Dao-xuan who passed “Dharmagupta-vinaya” to Dongtu not only integrated both Mahayana and Hinayana into Dharmagupta-vinaya but also had a profound impact on the future generations. What’s more, Vinaya-master Yuan-zhao have ever explained and elaborated Dao-xuan's “Three Major Classics of Nanshan School”. And then, “The normal regulations of passing Buddhist precepts”, written by Vinaya-master Jian-yue, has allowed future generations to understand the operation of the precepts. Vinaya-master Hong-yi has ever punctuated the Nanshan Precepts, which becomes easier to read and study for the future generations. From the above points of research, Dongtu has also changed a lot with the passing of the times in the evolution of the precepts. Although there are at times violations of the precepts, they could be applied in the daily routines to purify oneself only if they may follow the precepts which are compatible with the existing customs or policies .
