Buddhist Policies in the Ming Dynasty as Seen through Legal Codes: Focusing on the Da Ming lü and Da Ming lü ji jie fu li

Abstract

The Da Ming lü 大明律 is a book containing the basic laws of the early Ming Dynasty, and the Da Ming lü jijie fuli 大明律集解附例 is a commentary that includes the “text,” “compilation notes （纂注）” and “supplementary examples （附例）” of the Da Ming lü. During the reign of Ming Taizu 明太祖 （1368–1398）, he imposed strict management on Buddhism. Not only were the numbers of monks and temples restricted, but regulations on the attire of monks were also imposed. These measures were all eventually incorporated into the articles of the Da Ming lü jijie fuli in the form of revisions. In this paper, I discuss the early Ming Dynasty’s Buddhist policies by examining the original text of the Da Ming lü and the Da Ming lü jijie fuli.