Maitreya teachings

Part of a series on
Chinese folk religion
Concepts Tian—Shangdi Qi Shen Ling Xian ling Yinyang Hundun Mingyun Yuanfen Baoying Wu
Theory Chinese theology Chinese gods and immortals Chinese mythology Chinese creation myth Chinese spiritual world concepts Model humanity: Xian Zhenren Wen and wu
Practices Fenxiang Jingxiang Feng shui Miaohui Wu shamanism Jitong mediumship Precious scrolls
Institutions and temples Associations of good-doing Lineage associations or churches Chinese temple Ancestral shrine
Festivals Qingming Zhongyuan Zhongqiu Jiuhuangye Qixi Duanwu Nian
Internal traditions Major cultural forms Chinese ancestral religion Chinese communal deity religion Chinese mother goddess worship Northeast China folk religion Main philosophical traditions: Confucianism (state rites) Taoism Other schools Ritual traditions: Folk ritual masters' orders Jitong mediumship Nuo folk religion Chinese shamanism Devotional traditions: Mazuism Wang Ye worship Salvation churches and sects: De teaching Jiugongdao Luo teaching Maitreya teachings Tiandi teachings Tianxian miaodao Xia teaching Xiantiandao Zaili teaching Qigong Confucian churches and sects: Holy Confucian Church Indonesian Confucian Church Universal Church of the Way and its Virtue Phoenix churches Xuanyuanism Taigu school
Related religions Benzhuism Bimoism Bon Dongbaism Miao folk religion Vietnamese folk religion Qiang folk religion Yao folk religion Zhuang folk religion
Chinese folk religion's portal

The Maitreya tachings or Maitreyanism (Chinese: 弥勒教; pinyin: Mílèjiào; literally: "Maitreya teachings"), also called Mile teachings, refers to the beliefs related to Maitreya (彌勒 Mílè in Chinese) that penetrated China together with Buddhism and/or Manichaeism, and were developed in different ways both in the Chinese Buddhist schools and in the sect salvationist traditions of the Chinese folk religion.

Maitreya was the central deity worshipped by the first folk salvation religions, but in later developments of the sects he was gradually replaced by the Limitless Ancient Mother (無生老母 Wúshēng Lǎomǔ), although Maitreyan eschatology continued to have a place in their doctrines.

Folk Buddhist movements that worshipped and awaited Maitreya are recorded at least back to the years between 509 and 515 (6th century). A notorious event was the rebellion led by monk Faqing from Jizhou City, then Northern Wei, in the name of a "new Buddha". Later, Maitreyan beliefs developed conspicuously outside the boundaries of Buddhism. By 715, as testified by an edict, wearing white clothes, that was originally a practice common to lay Buddhist congregations, had become a distinctive feature of Maitreyan sects.

See also

• White Lotus
• Chinese salvationist religions
• Three Suns (eschatology)
• Xiantiandao
• Luo teaching
• Miledadao

Sources

• Hubert Michael Seiwert. Popular Religious Movements and Heterodox Sects in Chinese History. Brill, 2003. ISBN 9004131469
• Xisha Ma, Huiying Meng. Popular Religion and Shamanism. BRILL, 2011. ISBN 9004174559