( Thai : พระเครื่อง; RTGS : phrakhrueang), also known as "Southern Sacred Artifacts", originated in Thailand a thousand years ago, and then began to spread throughout Southeast Asia , becoming the followers of Theravada Buddhism (also known as Southern Buddhism). Amulet .
佛牌歷史
There are many theories about the origin of amulets, but because of the long history, the correct origin has long been impossible to test.
The first statement: In ancient times, there were many wars in Thailand . In order to preserve the Dharma , the monks made the Buddhist culture continue, and at the same time, they also made it easier for the believers to worship the Buddha . Finally, the Buddha's image is carved on the soil, so as to make the prototype of the Thai amulet we see now, and then chanting and blessing it, and then burying it in the pagoda, so that it can be passed down.
The second way of saying is that there is a high- ranking official in Thailand who believes in Buddhism . A drought occurred in a certain area of Thailand, and the king of Thailand was so anxious that he sent high-ranking officials to deal with the disaster. Because of their strong belief in Buddhism, the senior officials wanted to bring the Buddha statue to the disaster area, but the statue was too large to be moved. At night, a senior official dreamed that the Buddha statue asked him to make a plaque in his image with the clay from the temple and hang it around his neck, which would bless the people in the disaster-stricken area. After arriving in the disaster area, senior officials sincerely recited Buddhist scriptures to bless the people in the disaster area, and indeed the situation in the disaster area gradually improved. Later, when the senior officials were old and returned to their hometowns, they gave the amulet to the king to bless the country's safety and health. Senior officials traveled around Buddha and continued to make amulets. In this way, amulets entered people's lives and have been handed down.
Textual research on the oldest amulet in Thailand can be traced back to the Kingdom of Haripungchai (located near Lamphun Province, south of Chiang Mai Province in northern Thailand), which was deeply influenced by the Mon culture of Myanmar a thousand years ago. The amulet was originally created by monks. The sacred objects made by soldiers who go on expeditions to pray for blessings, increase their courage and beliefs, and improve their combat capabilities. Through their belief in Buddha, it is hoped that the soldiers participating in the war will be protected by gods and Buddhas and will be invulnerable to swords and guns, so as to avoid casualties in battle; other Buddhas of different forms The cards appeared from the Sukhothai Dynasty, through the Ayutthaya Dynasty, the Thonburi Dynasty and the Chakri Dynasty (Bangkok Dynasty). According to the archaeological research of Thailand, the ruins of ancient villages or palaces and palaces before the Bangkok era have never found any traces of Buddha statues. This characteristic is obviously different from the modern Thai people's concept of holding Buddha statues; during the reign of the Bangkok Dynasty I Huang Tongluan, he collected Buddha statues all over northern Thailand, but they were all enshrined in Buddhist temples. After entering the palace and family house, the belief and custom of Thai people not to enshrine Buddha statues in their homes remained unchanged until the third emperor, Cedar Boding, until the fourth emperor Menggu came to the throne, and this belief gradually changed. The reason is that King Menggu once became a monk for 27 years. After he ascended the throne in 1851, he was committed to promoting science, attaching importance to art and loving antiques, which led to the opening of the collection of ancient cultural relics, which was originally only placed in various places. The large and small Buddha statues, deities and offerings in the ancient temples were transported to Bangkok in large quantities, which catalyzed the phenomenon of ancient Buddhas entering the palace or house. Since then, in addition to the religious function of worship, Buddha statues have also produced the secular value of antiques, which has increasingly promoted the collection of ancient Buddha statues, ancient Buddha tools and ancient Buddha tablets, and gradually spread to all levels of the people.
佛牌製作
Amulet is a sacred object of belief and worship unique to Thai Buddhism. It refers to a small molded Buddha statue . It evolved from the custom of placing sacred objects in the belly of ancient Indian slate towers. In the early days, concave molds were used to fill holy soil, Pollen , herbal medicine , scripture ashes, relics , grain powder and other materials are made by hand-pressing and then demoulding and drying. metal plate".
In the process of making, it must go through continuous chanting and blessing, and go through the consecration ceremony before it can become a sacred object of worship. The consecration process must be carried out in strict accordance with religious ceremonies, and the Dharma activities of consecrating the Buddha must be completed by eminent monks who have undergone empowerment , retreat and practice under the auspices of the deacon. After consecration, some amulets are directly placed in the basement of the stupa or enshrined in temples , Buddhist halls , or offered by believers and hung with them as amulets.
佛牌種類
The dharma in Thailand is divided into five levels, namely Buddha , Buddhist disciple, deity , immortal , and immortal beast . According to the dharma , there will be different types and levels of amulets. The Thai people believe that the blessing energy and expertise of different gods are different, so different amulets have different magical effects (such as avoiding danger, attracting wealth, attracting ghosts, suppressing evil, increasing popularity or preventing villains, etc.) The characteristics and functions are recognized by the Thai government and the public as an amulet of historical significance, miracles and legends.
Nowadays, there are many kinds of amulets circulating in the market in Thailand and in different forms. In addition to the Buddha's law, the images on the amulets also include gods, spirit beasts, spirits and ghosts, mythological or historical figures, eminent monks or masters themselves, and even five. The King Chulalongkorn or the Royal Statue of the Ninth King Bhumibol are all made into "Amulet".
Common amulet: Chongdi, Medicine Buddha , Bida (also translated as Bidda , Masked Buddha), Four Faces God , Elephant God , Lahu , Lu Shi, Khun Paen, Old Man (also translated as Xu Zhu), Guman , Butterfly card.
正牌和陰牌
The amulets are divided into genuine and yin cards. The difference lies in whether the materials used for making them use "yin materials", and the method used in making them. The so-called Yin material refers to "bad things", such as corpses , hanging ropes, ashes , etc.
The authentic ones are mainly made by monks in Thai temples, and there are also white-robed Ajahns making amulets. Most of them are made of natural materials, and a few are made with "purified Yin materials", such as the famous "Pai Guman Powder" in Taiwan. It is the representative of purified Yin material.
The purpose of monks making amulets is mostly to raise funds for building temples, doing public welfare and other things, and at the same time benefiting believers. Today, only temples are available for sale. In the early days, there were many sources of amulets and they were unreliable, so there were many commercial fake amulets for the purpose of defrauding money. For this reason, the Thai government stipulated that only temples and notarized amulet markets can sell amulets.