Why do monks shave their heads? Anyone who becomes a monk must shave his hair, which is called tonsure in Buddhism. In the 5th century BC, in a Sakyamuni tribe on the border between Nepal and India, Prince Gautama Fandado left home to practice. Seven years later, he became a Buddha and began to preach and recruit disciples in the Ganges valley. Buddhism believes that the world is illusory and life is suffering. Only by cutting off all troubles and practicing Buddhism can we get eternal happiness. When Buddha Sakyamuni first told Ye Jia and five other people, he personally shaved their hair and accepted them as disciples. A monk shaving his head has three meanings. First, according to Buddhism, hair represents countless troubles and wrong habits in the world. Cutting off hair is equivalent to removing troubles and wrong habits; Second, cutting off the hair is equivalent to removing the pride and neglect of the world; Get rid of all troubles and practice wholeheartedly. In ancient China, people regarded hair as very important, thinking that it was obtained from parents, so it must be protected and not damaged, otherwise it would be disrespectful to parents. Buddhism demands that these unnecessary family concerns be cut off; The third is to distinguish other sects in India. At that time, India was full of sects. But when people see a bald head, they know it's a Buddhist. Later, shaving became a Buddhist ceremony. When Buddhism was first introduced to China, other rituals were not developed. You can become a monk by shaving your hair and putting on coarse clothes like cassock. It's called the monk's scar, which means he's banned. It's not once a year It's three, six, nine or twelve. For the monk's scar, please refer to Talking about the Scar on the Monk's Head. Some monks have some scars left by burning incense on their heads, which is an obvious external sign of becoming a monk in Han Buddhism, so many people mistakenly think that all monks should burn the scars of monks. In some movies or TV series that dramatize the stories of Tang and Song Dynasties, the monks who appear on the screen are solemnly "burning" their scars, which makes people with a little knowledge of Buddhist history feel very ridiculous. In fact, Buddhism does not burn scars, and there is no provision in Buddhist precepts to burn scars on the heads of educated people. Therefore, except for the monks of the Han Dynasty, monks all over the world and ethnic minorities in China can't see scars. Even China Han monks who became monks before the Song Dynasty had no scars on their heads. In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a monk (1235— 1322) who was respected by Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty. When he preached the precepts in Tianxi Temple, it was stipulated that the ordained person must burn his head and fingers with incense to show his determination to believe in Buddhism. This is the beginning of China Han monks burning scars when they became monks. 1983 12 The enlarged meeting of the directors of the Chinese Buddhist Association made a resolution on the issue of preaching Buddhist precepts in the Han nationality Buddhism temples. The resolution said: the practice of burning ring scars on the heads of ordained people "is not the original ritual system of Buddhism, and it will be abolished in the future because it is harmful to health." From then on, there will be no scars on the head of the newly-born monk. The so-called sermon is that Buddhist temples gather people who voluntarily become monks, set up altars and hold rituals to make them formal monks and nuns. From the point of view of abstainers, becoming a nun requires many conditions, such as personal will, family consent, debt-free, and good facial features. This may not be possible in practice, but Buddhism requires it. Those who are interested in becoming monks must first get in touch with the temple and ask a monk to be their "teacher" in the temple. After the understanding and consent of the monks in the whole temple, the temple can then accept this person as a disciple, shave off his beard and give the novice monk a ring (* * * has ten rings), which is called "novice monk". Misha, also known as the little monk in Chinese, is actually not a formal monk! In Sanskrit, Misha's original meaning is diligence and kindness, that is, diligence is encouraged by Master and kindness to evil deeds. Shami is usually between the ages of seven and twenty. During this period, his "supporting teacher" was responsible for his education and upbringing. He is in his twenties. After the monk's meeting, he agreed to call ten elders of Dade and hold a ceremony for him. This time, the precepts are called monks' commandments, which are much more complicated than Misha's commandments. * * * has 250 commandments, so the conditions for becoming a monk are sufficient, so it is also called sufficient. Since then, he has obtained the qualification of becoming a monk. After five years of becoming a monk, you can leave a teacher and practice alone. In addition to the Misha precept and the Bhikkhu precept, there is finally a kind of Bodhisattva precept, including 10 heavy precept and 48 light precept, but this is not compulsory, but voluntary. Misha's precepts must be given and received separately. Monk's precepts allow three or fewer people to give and receive at the same time. The custom of burning scars is said to have originated in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, a monk named Zhide was revered by Yuan Shizu. When he preached the precepts, it was stipulated that everyone who was ordained should burn incense on his head, including three shamans and twelve monks, as a lifelong oath. Such a small invention was later spread quietly and passed down from generation to generation. Of course, this is a bad habit that is harmful to the body, and it is also a local product of Buddhist culture in Han Dynasty. From here, we can also see some characteristics of the Buddhist cultural circle in the Han Dynasty. Simply put, "popular belief" is much more powerful than the "elite culture" composed of a few thinkers (Buddhists) in the later stage of Buddhism development. Zhi De, a monk of Yuan Zhen who invented the incense burning scar (commonly known as "incense burning cave"), was not a Buddhist at all, but his little invention had far-reaching influence, which was incomparable to any famous monk's theory after Huineng. The monk's scar is only a symbol of status. It's a representation of rank. After several months of freshman training, the young monk who just shaved his beard will take a simple quiz. After passing the quiz, the old monks in the temple will help them ignite the first scar of their Buddhist career with thread incense, which is called "clearing the heart". Then in the next year or two, if you do well, for example, stop drooling when watching the lock code channel or stop looking around when silently writing the Diamond Sutra, you are entitled to get the second scar: "love". Generally speaking, if it goes well, most of the old monks in the temple can have five or six scars; The abbot of important temples such as Shaolin Temple, Great Muslim Temple or Longfatang may be a [senior monk] or a [super monk] with eight or nine Buddhist marks. However, this tenth scar is not something that ordinary monks can have. Except for the Dharma patriarch and the Six Ancestors Zen Master, there are no more than five [god-level monks] in the Ten Scars. Not only the head, but also the body, for example, the arm. Supplement: Except the Han nationality, monks of other nationalities have no custom of burning scars. This may be related to the theory of "burning the body to support" in the Sanskrit of Bodhisattva. The custom of burning the top with moxa in the Tang Dynasty formed a universal system. It is said that it was the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, foreign rulers wanted to distinguish between true and false, and prevent those who resisted the decree from fleeing to monks.