After Western Pure Land thought was introduced to China，Established a complete theoretical system based on the "Three Pure Land Sutras"。Among them, "Contemporary Sutra of Infinite Life" is regarded as the Chinese Apocrypha，Combined with China’s local official selection system, the Nine-Rank Officials’ Law, to create the Nine-Rank Rebirth Method，Determine the level bet365 bonus code 2023 afterlife as ninth grade，Making Chinese Buddhism’s concept of paradise similar to the hierarchical division of human society。This is the result of Chinese people understanding and reinterpreting foreign ideas based on local elements，It is also a classic example bet365 bonus code 2023 Sinicization of Buddhism。

"Three Pure Land Sutras"，That is, "The Sutra of Infinite Life" translated by Cao Wei Kang Sengkai (birth and death unknown)、The "Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra" translated by Kumarajiva (344-413) bet365 bonus code 2023 Later Qin Dynasty and the "Buddha Speaks of Avalokitesvara Sutra" translated by Liu Song Dynasty Liangyeshe (383-442)。These three classics jointly laid the foundation of Amitabha Pure Land belief。The Infinite Life Sutra focuses on explaining the principles of rebirth，That is, relying on Amitabha’s vow；The "Amitabha Sutra" focuses on preaching the practice method of "naming the Buddha and chanting the name bet365 bonus code 2023 Buddha" and the benefits of rebirth by "non-retreating and becoming a Buddha"；The "Analysis of Infinite Life Sutra" establishes the mechanism of nine levels of rebirth。

Based on the records bet365 bonus code 2023 "Three Pure Land Sutras"，The way to practice to be reborn in the Pure Land bet365 bonus code 2023 West is very simple，Just recite the name bet365 bonus code 2023 Buddha。But in such a wonderful Buddhist country, you only need to recite the Buddha's name to be reborn，The world may not believe it，Even the "Amitabha Sutra" calls itself "the unbelievable method" at the end bet365 bonus code 2023 sutra。The creator bet365 bonus code 2023 "Infinite Life Sutra" may be aware of this problem，So it is proposed that there is a difference between womb birth and metamorphosis after beings are reincarnated in the Western Pure Land，Only those who have clear faith in Buddha and wisdom can be born naturally in the Seven Treasure Flower，Wisdom and merit are like Bodhisattva；Although those who doubt the Buddha’s wisdom can still be reborn，But it can only be born in the palace，No wisdom，Life span is only 500 years，And I can’t see the Buddha all year round、Bodhisattva，Can’t hear the sutra either，Cannot practice merit。This statement shows that after being reborn in the Pure Land of Western Bliss, you will receive different treatment according to your deeds during your lifetime。In addition，The "Infinite Life Sutra" also mentions ways of practice other than chanting the name bet365 bonus code 2023 Buddha，And divides the paths to rebirth into three categories according to different ways of practice，That’s the senior、Middle-aged、Junior Generation。The elder became a monk and became a monk，“Concentrate on the Buddha of Infinite Life”；The middle generation passed the test of "always concentrating on the Buddha of Infinite Life"，How much good practice、Observe fasting、Standing Tower Statue、Food Samana、Xuanzhuan Ran Lamp、Scatter flowers and burn incense to make vows for reincarnation；The younger generation concentrates on chanting the Buddha's name，"Joy and Believe，No doubt”，These three ways can lead to death，But merit and wisdom gradually decline。It can be seen from this，Just saying the name of Buddha can lead to rebirth，But only the junior with the lowest merit and wisdom，Therefore, the benefits obtained by being reborn in the Western Pure Land are actually classified into different levels。

The theory of "three generations of rebirth" appeared further refined and evolved in the "Buddhist Sutra on the Infinite Life" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guan Sutra") translated by Liang Yesha during the Yuanjia period bet365 bonus code 2023 Liu Song Dynasty (424-453)。Since only the Chinese translation of "Guan Jing" exists，No Sanskrit version，And there are a lot of problems with the text，So academic circles often attribute it to "suspicious apocrypha"，It is believed that the sutra may have been created by Chinese，But it played a vital role in the development of Pure Land belief in China。"Guan Sutra" introduces the three blessings that need to be practiced to be reborn in the Western Paradise，And sixteen ways to meditate on the Buddha。(Sixteen of them are sun vision contemplation、Shui Xiang Guan、Thinking about the Earth，Baoshu Temple、Baochi Temple、Baolou Temple，Hua Zuo Guan、Buddha statue view、View bet365 bonus code 2023 True Body of Buddha、Guanyin Temple，The potential is great、General View、Miscellaneous Thoughts，View bet365 bonus code 2023 Elders、Middle generation view、View bet365 bonus code 2023 next generation。) The last three views among the sixteen views - the view bet365 bonus code 2023 elders、Middle generation view、The view bet365 bonus code 2023 next generation divides the levels bet365 bonus code 2023 afterlife into nine grades，That is, top-grade students、Shangpinzhongsheng、High-grade and low-grade life，Middle-grade student、Middle grade, middle grade student、Middle-grade lower birth，Inferior grade and superior grade、Low-grade students、The lower class is reborn。top of them、中、Although the lower three grades roughly correspond to the theory of "three generations of rebirth" in the "Infinite Life Sutra"，But its content is much more complicated。Like a top-grade person，Be sincere during your lifetime、deep heart、Dedicated Vows，And be compassionate without killing，Practice all precepts” “Read and recite Mahayana prescriptions and other classics”，“Practice the Six Thoughts，Dedicate yourself and aspire to be born in that Buddha’s kingdom”，You can be reborn in the Western Pure Land before you die。All living beings will ride on the lotus platform when they pass away，Reborn in the lotus pond。The upper-class living people ride on the Vajra Platform，The lotus blooms at the snap of your fingers，After rebirth, you can be remembered by all the Buddhas one after another。From the top to the bottom，Due to the different karma of believers in their lifetime，The treatment received in the afterlife and the positive achievements achieved after being reborn in the Western Pure Land will decrease in sequence，Furthermore, the time required to wait in the lotus before achieving the true fruition also increases in sequence，It can be seen that the afterlife system constructed by "Guan Sutra" has a very clear hierarchy。

The idea of ​​dividing the world by "nine grades" has already appeared in the Han Dynasty，"Historical Records" Volume 109 "The Biography of General Li" calls Li Cai "a man in the lower middle"；The note in "Historical Records Suoyin" written by Sima Zhen bet365 bonus code 2023 Tang Dynasty said: "In terms of nine grades，Below，Be eighth”，It can be seen that Sima Zhen believed that there were nine grades of people in the early Western Han Dynasty；The "Book of Han·Biao of Ancient and Modern People" written by Ban Gu during the Eastern Han Dynasty clearly divided people into upper and higher、upper middle、上下、upper middle、中中、lower middle、下上、Bottom middle、Inferior ninth grade，The best among them is the saint，The superior and the middle are benevolent people，Homo sapiens above and below，The next is a fool。According to the Biography of Chen Qun in Volume 22 of "Three Kingdoms": "Emperor Wen was in the East Palace，deep respect for the weapon，A gift of friendship。...and the throne，Feng Qunchang Wutinghou，Moved to Shangshu。How to make a ninth-grade official,Built by the group。" "Song Book" Volume 94 "Enxing Biography" also contains: "The late Han Dynasty was chaotic，Wei Wu Shiji，The army is in a hurry，Quanli Ninth Grade。To discuss the merits and demerits of talents，Not for the nobles and nobles，So we are together，It became law，From Wei to Jin，Mo Zhi can change。The capitals and counties of all states are distinguished by their talents。"It can be seen that during the Cao Wei Dynasty, nine grades were included in the official selection system，The method designed by Chen Qun as a ninth-grade official。

The so-called "Nine-grade Official Law"，At the operational level，The first is to differentiate official positions into nine grades，This distinction is based on the importance bet365 bonus code 2023 official position and stipulates the talent level required for its holder；The second is to divide the evaluation of talents into nine grades in practice。(Chen Changqi: "Revisiting the Laws of Nine Rank Officials in Wei and Jin Dynasties"，"Historical Research" Issue 6, 1995) The criterion for judging talents by the ninth-grade official method is family background、Morality、Talent。Only general comments on the character’s morals and talents，Called “like”；Make a judgment on the characters，That is "product"，The quality is divided into top and top、upper middle、上下、upper middle、中中、lower middle、下上、Bottom middle、下下九级。Both Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties used this system to select talents。

From the first year of Emperor Wen bet365 bonus code 2023 Wei Dynasty (220) to the seventh year of Emperor Wen bet365 bonus code 2023 Sui Dynasty (587)，The Nine-Rank Official Personnel Law has always been the most important official selection system。Up to aristocratic families，Down to the children of poor families，Everyone needs to accept Zhongzheng’s evaluation before becoming an official。The concept of selecting scholars with nine grades has been deeply rooted in the hearts bet365 bonus code 2023 people during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties，“Since the emperor and the common people，Take it as a given”。The "Guan Jing", which promoted the nine-level rebirth, was written during the Yuanjia period of Liu Song Dynasty (424-453)，The division of its nine grades corresponds one to one with the nine grades bet365 bonus code 2023 nine-grade official evaluation method for talents，OK，The formulation bet365 bonus code 2023 Rebirth Machine as the ninth rank is related to the implementation bet365 bonus code 2023 ninth rank official law。The compilers bet365 bonus code 2023 scriptures wanted to promote the "unbelievable method" of Western Pure Land belief，It is natural to draw lessons from the official selection system that people from all walks of life in real society "take for granted"。

Ninth-grade official law provisions，Required in each state、Each county sets up the Zhongzheng，Used to evaluate the state、Ranking of people in this county。Zhongzheng can only be acted by local people，And most of them are concurrently held by current central officials，It is the top grade among the nine grades。Almost all of these people come from the noble families of their origin，Therefore, the assessment of talents was gradually controlled by local nobles。After the gentry controlled the power to elect officials，Only taking care bet365 bonus code 2023 interests bet365 bonus code 2023 children of high-ranking officials，Excluding common people from poor families，So an extremely unreasonable talent selection pattern has been formed。As Zhao Yi pointed out in "Notes bet365 bonus code 2023 Twenty-Two Histories": "There is no such thing as a poor family，Low-grade no aristocratic family。Gaomenhuavalve，The glory of living in this world；A commoner with the surname Han，The road to progress。Election malpractice，That’s all。Ran Wei、Three to four hundred years of Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties，No one can change it。”The ninth-grade official law based on family background has serious shortcomings，However, the ninth-grade rebirth method created by borrowing the name bet365 bonus code 2023 ninth-grade does not have this problem。"Kuan Sutra" declares，As long as you have bodhicitta，Believe in cause and effect”，“All ordinary people who want to practice purity” can be reborn in the Western Paradise，Therefore, regardless bet365 bonus code 2023 social status of believers during their lifetime，As long as you recite the Buddha’s name sincerely，You can get blessings after death，This also brings spiritual hope and sustenance to the common people surnamed Han who live in the lower classes of society。It can be seen from this，Although the Nine-Rank Rebirth System divides the levels of rebirth，But it can still reflect the Buddhist principle of equality of all living beings，It is an organic combination of Buddhism and Chinese local elements。

The emergence bet365 bonus code 2023 thought of ninth-level rebirth，As Erik Zürcher stated in the book "Buddhism Conquers China": "Cultural assimilation implies selection。From the beginning，The whole body of foreign theories is reduced to a few elements，By combining it with existing Chinese concepts and practices, real or imaginary，These elements should be easy to assimilate and integrate。The result of this frequent and continuous selection and mixing，Copied faithfully with Chinese believers、The contents of foreign classics memorized and recited are completely different。”Western Pure Land Thought as a Foreign Theory，In the process of being understood by the Chinese people, it has also been constantly reinterpreted and created，Eventually evolved into an important part bet365 bonus code 2023 Buddhist concept of heaven and hell with Chinese local characteristics。

(Author’s affiliation: Department of History, bet365 bonus code 2023 Yat-sen University)