from No Selves, No Masters
October 17, 2025
Hello, my patient readers. Believe it or not, the work continues behind the scenes.
Among other things, I have been interested in revisiting the pre-modern historical roots of Buddhist Anarchism. This is because I have clarified my historiographical methods. Instead of searching for analogues of Anarchism in the distant past long before it was developed I will look for its ancestors. This helps us avoid anachronism and the pitfalls of projecting modern ideologies onto the people of the past. Anarchism is by definition a movement which was born from the struggles of the industrial and agricultural working classes in the context of industrial capitalism. It is one member of a family of radically egalitarian ideologies born in this same context which can broadly be categorized as “socialist”.
Anarchism distinguishes itself from other socialist currents by its insistence on liberty and revolutionary change as indispensable means to the socialist goal of political and economic equality. In practice this results in strategies of opposition to state power and in defense of democratic self-managing social movements as the protagonists of revolution. As Bakunin famously wrote, “ We are convinced that liberty without socialism is privilege, injustice; and that socialism without liberty is slavery and brutality.” Liberty then, for the anarchist, must also be distinguished from mere individualism, because “The freedom of all is essential to my freedom.” Freedom is an interdependent and social phenomenon.
Anarchists also defended the necessity of revolution, meaning the rapid abolition of all institutions of domination (principally the state) rather than their gradual reform through legislative action or their seizure and use as instruments of class struggle.
The pre-modern historical record may be devoid of true anarchists but it is not hard to find evidence of egalitarianism, libertarianism and revolution. These traits seem to be more or less innate to the human social-behavioral spectrum, and as such appear in nearly every time, culture and place to varying degrees.
Undercurrents of egalitarianism and libertarianism (interdependent, in the Bakuninist sense) are well documented in the history of Buddhism. Revolution, however, is somewhat rare. This is not all that surprising. Buddhism as a practice promoted detachment from society. As an institutionalized religon it relied heavily on patronage from the rich and powerful. Doctrinally Buddhism centers non-violence as a core practice. Simply reading the sutras and commentaries would not give one the impression that Buddhists could ever practice political violence. This is emphatically not the case.
The ancient world was incredibly violent. Buddhist sects and leaders regularly used violence: for self-defense, for political advantage, for expropriation and for conquest. The famous Shaolin Kung Fu, for example, was invented by Chan monks at the Shaolin Temple for self-defense against bandits and warlords. Monks would often crop up as leaders or instigators of peasant uprisings, including the Red Turban Rebellion that toppled the Yuan Dynasty. The vast majority of Buddhist institutions, however, would more often use or support violence in support of the status quo.
It seems that for Buddhism to become properly insurrectionary, it needed to evolve particular qualities. First and foremost, it needed to produce doctrines, practices and sects which were accessible to the common people. Sects which emphasized devotional practices and were deeply integrated with folk religions (syncretism) were the most likely to have the mass base of support required for revolution. When the commoners felt that their oppression had become intolerable they would find elements of their belief systems which justified violent rebellion. Taoism, Buddhism, Manicheanism and later Christianity all played this role at various times in Chinese history. Often all at the same time. Syncretism, the organic fusion of different belief systems, acilitates the popularization of new ideologies. When people can relate a new idea to ones which they already accept it is much easier for them to adopt it as a feature of everyday life. Fewer people will be capable of importing and practicing a new idea which has no connection to their context or history.
Second, popular sects needed to encounter situations of political instability and trouble. Foreign invasions, plagues, famines, floods, civil wars, unfair tax structures. For apocalyptic cults to thrive people needed to really feel like they were living in the end times. The 14th Century was undoubtedly such a time. A massive climatic shift towards colder and drier average temperatures destabilized crop yields and promoted the spread of diseases like Bubonic Plague. Winters were longer and colder. Rivers alternately dried up and flooded. Environmental instability led to reduced crop yields. Hunger and tax deficits led to banditry, piracy, exploitation and civil conflicts, all of which fed back into less reliable food and more political unrest. This was a time of almost universal instability, and East Asia was no exception. In fact, as the History of China Podcast points out, China had an exceptionally unlucky 14th Century (1). Most civilizations of the time could and did withstand one or two concurrent calamities brought about by climate change. It would take more than a few disasters to break down a reasonably stable government. Yuan China was unfortunate enough to experience all of these within a very short period. For the average person in 14th Century China, the end wasn’t just coming. It was here.
Third, to complete its evolution into a revolutionary doctrine, the sect needed to respond to the apocalyptic conditions the people lived with. Yes, the world is ending, they said. But a better future awaits on the other side of the long night for those faithful few who know the truth and are willing to fight for it. The destruction of this corrupt and sinful world heralds the arrival of heaven on Earth. This phenomenon, called millenarianism, is found in nearly all religions. Its common features are a belief in an impending calamity, a prophet or savior come to liberate the chosen believers, and most importantly, a belief that a utopia was coming as surely and as swiftly as the dawn. In this utopia, the existing order and institutions of the world would be turned upside down. In the ancient world Millenarian cults were one of the primary outlets for the common people to express their class anger. They were also a repository of their dreams of equality and peace.
Buddhism has its own history of millenarianism, particularly well-documented in Imperial China. It is almost always tied to prophesies of the future Buddha, Maitreya, coming to Earth and ushering in a new golden age of peace, prosperity and wisdom where everyone could easily attain enlightenment. Though there are examples of Maitreyan cults in Theravadin South Asia, the vast majority of examples come from lands where Mahayana Buddhism was dominant.
The doctrinal impetus for Maitreyanism to proliferate was the development of Pure Land Buddhism. This sect preaches that recitation of the names of Buddhas was the most effective means of salvation. Because the world is in an age of decline, the old methods of liberation are no longer available. People’s intellectual capacity has declined too far to understand the teachings. The world is too corrupt to practice virtue. Life is too short and upredictable to spend hours meditating in a cave. There were crops to be brought in, wares to be sold, wars to be fought. Instead, recitation and devotion to a mythical god-like Buddha will guarantee that after death the believer would be reborn in a heavenly Pure Land ruled by this Buddha. There, no one suffered poverty, illness, hunger or oppression. All would have their needs met and be able to practice the true Dharma. Pure Land has more and less sophisticated teachings depending on the capacity of the disciple. But the bare simplicity of devotional Buddha recitation made it immediately available to the poor and illiterate masses of peasants, merchants, soldiers and craftspeople of China.
Pure Land beliefs on their own were not threatening to the worldly authorities. But when the Buddha the people devoted themselves threatened to bring this utopian land to Earth they became concerned.
Enter the White Lotus.
The White Lotus Society is said to have been founded by Huiyuan, the first Master of Pure Land Buddhism in China, in the early 5th Century C.E, as an association of his most accomplished lay followers. Because their teachings were practical, easy to understand and easy to propagate, the White Lotus Societies spread widely across China for several hundred years. At times they came into favor and were patronized by the government and the rich. At these times they used their wealth to sponsor public works and charities. In prosperous times like these the White Lotus Societies were simply normal religious institutions that spoke in the language of everyday people. At other times they were repressed by hostile governments and had to practice in secret. Unable to meet aboveground, their doctrines began to diverge from the official orthodoxies. Clandestine, and rooted among the common people they absorbed other religious traditions like Manichaeanism, which taught of an apocalyptic struggle between the forces of good and evil, and of Taoism, which taught medicinal, martial and magical arts. Most importantly for our purposes, they also absorbed the nearly transhistorical undercurrent of popular resistance to an exploitative and uncaring ruling class. While critical of religion as a potential “opiate of the masses”, social historians like Marx also recognized that in ancient imperial and feudal societies, religion may be the only available vehicle to inspire and unite the rebellious will of a people. (4) In these cases, heresy can become a stimulant (or psychedelic) of the masses. It can heal people who are suffering. It can wake people up to reality.
Elizabeth J. Perry writes that, “Orthodox Neo-Confucians of the Ming and Qing periods were acutely aware of the intimate connection between folk religion and peasant uprisings. Thus such teachings and related organizations were outlawed by repeated imperial edicts.
According to Theresa Flower, “The Great Qing Legal Code, which was in effect until 1912, contained the following section:
'[A]ll societies calling themselves at random White Lotus, communities of the Buddha Maitreya, or the Mingtsung religion (Manichaeans), or the school of the White Cloud, etc., together with all who carry out deviant and heretical practices, or who in secret places have prints and images, gather the people by burning incense, meeting at night and dispersing by day, thus stirring up and misleading people under the pretext of cultivating virtue, shall be sentenced.' (4)”
Much like the political scapegoats of today the so-called White Lotus sects rarely referred to themselves as White Lotus, and the term White Lotus did not refer to any singular, cohesive organization as much as an ideology or loose collection of popular practices and beliefs which subverted religious and state orthodoxies. We can draw some easy parallels to modern authoritarian attempts to label all forms of resistance to state orthodoxy “Antifa” (Anti-Fascist) and “Domestic Terrorism”. It is surpisingly consistent throughout history that where where the “Left” sees sectarianism and fragmentation the “Right” sees a unified conspiracy. Chao Ch’ang-Shen, a government official who wrote an investigatory report on White Lotus ideology in 1769 called them “heretics of the left” who “gather people under false pretenses” to stir up unrest and conspire against the government.(4)
In addition to Maitreya and other Bodhisattvas and sages, the White Lotus sects worshipped a mother goddess, Wusheng Laomu 無生老母 (“Birthless Old Mother”) who represented the wisdom of primordial emptiness (2). She was seen as the progenitor of all Buddhas, dharmas, beings and phenomena. The purpose of devotion to her was a return to the freedom and bliss of emptiness, or in the common parlance, “heaven”. I am reminded of the saying that amargi the Sumerian word which is the first known example of a term for freedom translates literally as “return to the mother”(6).
Egalitarianism is a remarkably consistent value of mother goddess-worshiping peoples throughout history, at least in comparison to cultures which center patriarchal deities. Chu argued that egalitarianism, between classes but particularly between the sexes, was a distinctive feature of the White Lotus belief that “all people were the children of the Eternal Mother”.(5) Chu also writes that “In many White Lotus movements throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties women were active as fighters and group leaders. The first sizable White Lotus uprising during the Ming was led by a Shandong (Shantung) woman, Tang Sai-er. Noted for her prowess in Taoist magical arts, Tang mobilized a revolt that swept across the province in 1420.” (5) And while tame by modern standards, the nocturnal “incense gatherings” common to most White Lotus societies were equally open for men and women to participate and socialize freely as “virtuous friends”, which was seen by mainstream society as extremely scandalous and subversive to public morality. Members of the sect were taught that all men and women who believed in the White Lotus teachings would become Buddhas and Buddha-mothers.(1)
Economic egalitarianism was also evident in the practices of some White Lotus sects. By the 1300s the White Lotus societies had accumulated vast wealth through various means: They collected membership dues, managed business enterprises, and to the irritation of officials, “pretended to be ‘doctors’ or’ fortune tellers’, or act as merchants, and go everywhere to evangelize and collect money.” Of course much of the money was thanks to the donations of their wealthiest members, often the hereditary leadership, who could afford to fund buildings and hire private armies to fight for them. (4) They were, on the whole a highly hierarchical organization, what we would understand today as a cult, which nonetheless practiced downward (andn probably some upward) economic redistribution among its membership. In good times and bad members of the society could also count upon their brethren for welfare and mutual help when they fell upon difficulties. Flowers goes farther, arguing that most of the White Lotus societies, “practiced a form of mutual aid, even communism” (4). During times of revolution there were instances of mutual aid between liberated regions and “hints” of the collectivization of property. (5)
The first significant revolution led by White Lotus Societies is known as the Red Turban Rebellion, named after the red scarves worn by its fighters. It might be more accurately described as a series of rebellions leading to a revolution which overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and inaugurated the Ming Dynasty. Frederick Mote writes that “The rebellions themselves were the final stage of a long history of Chinese resentment against Mongol rule, expressed at the elite level by reluctance to serve in the government and at the popular level by clandestine sectarian activity. The occasion for the rebellions was the failure of the Yuan regime to cope with widespread famine in the 1340s.” (7)
The initial spark came from a Buddhist monk named Peng Yingyu, who instigated and uprising in Jianxi in 1338 (7). This uprising was put down, but Peng survived to spread his Millenarian doctrine to other regions. He is credited with transforming the ancient Maitreyan beliefs into a “potent ideology of social action”. Soon prophets, popular militias and secret societies began popping up all throughout China to challenge the weakening Yuan regime. The White Lotus ideology and organizational network acted as an “axis” to unite and coordinate the various rebel groups in the Southwestern and Northeastern provinces. The incense gatherings of the White Lotus were to become the seeds of the so-called “incense armies” that would openly challenge the government. (1)
The Red Turban movement found fuel for its growing fire In 1351, when the government conscripted 150,000 peasants and workers to work on a “megaproject” to change the course of the Yellow River, which had been the site of devastating floods in 1344, and to re-open the Grand Canal in Shandong. This, amidst the chaos and suffering of the era, was spectacularly unpopular with the conscriptable workers and their families. Influential Red Turban/White Lotus leaders took advantage of the public reaction to instigate a rebellion against the Yuan. The leaders of this rebellion, Han Shantong and Liu Futong, intended to reestablish the Song Dynasty (with Han Shantong as emperor and “Lord of Light”, of course) and expel the occupying Mongol government. Han Shantong was killed by the government, but his wife and son escaped with the help of Liu, who established a new rebel “capital” at Yingzhou and installed Han’s son, Han Lin’er as the nominal child emperor and “little” Lord of Light. (1)
Meanwhile, to the south of the Huai River Peng Yingyu had managed to attract a significant following with the military force to match. Sensing that his movement was still lacking a certain millenarian vigor, he made a figurehead “messiah” out of an extremely ordinary cloth merchant named Xu, who he claimed was the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha, descended from heaven to “destroy the rich in order to benefit the poor” and establish his own new dynasty. Now fully cooking with gas, their movement grew exponentially.
At this point, as with many grassroots revolutions which get too big too fast, the power games began. The military and political leaders of the Red Turbans could see that one way or another, the Yuan were goidng down. What mattered the most, now, was determining who would come out on top to seize the “Mandate of Heaven” to establish a new imperial government. In one of History’s interesting twists, the Mandate would end up falling to an ex-monk and young soldier named Zhu Yuanzhang, who rose out of dire poverty and up through the ranks of the Red Turban army to eventually become the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in 1368. As such things often go, the Ming quickly turned on the White Lotus societies and resumed the Yuan’s campaign of persecution. However, for the White Lotus as a revolutionary vehicle this was more of a beginning than an end. Rebellions inspired or organized by White Lotus ideology would be a continuous threat to all successive dynasties until at least the 1804 Nian Rebellion or teh 1813 Eight Trigrams Rebellion. They remained a potent revolutionary force throughout Chinese history up until the modern era, when anarchism and communism captured most of the peasant demographic previously organized by the White Lotus. (3)
If the end result of the Red Turban’s revolution doesn’t make this clear, I’ll spell it out: we should be careful to not map modern social theories too closely over ancient ones. If we are looking for a socialist revolution in the Medieval world we are not going to find one. New things really do emerge in History. The White Lotus rebels by no means advocated for the abolition of classes and states or their replacement with self-managing democratic communes. Their theory of change centered on a prophecy of salvation and dynastic renewal by a divine leader. As we see in the story the end result of the Red Turban revolution was the foundation of a new Imperial dynasty, not freedom as we might understand it. The White Lotus provided the impetus for the uprising but was ultimately marginalized by more savvy political actors from within its ranks.
Limited by their religious dogmas and ideas available in their context, the White Lotus failed to create “concrete programs to meet the practical social, political, and economic problems of Chinese traditional society. Thus rebеllious movements under its leadership never succeeded in establishing an enduring and revolutionary regime.” (5) However, “The fact that this association managed to retain its spirit of resistance down through the ages suggests its importance as a vehicle of continuity.”(5)
What does this vehicle of continuity contain, and where did it go? Societies and syncretic folk religions bearing the lineage of the White Lotus still exist today, though to my knowledge none are the least bit revolutionary. It seems that torch has been passed. But to whom?
Buddhist influence on the Chinese socialist movement undoubtedly stemmed from the memory of popular power which the White Lotus rebellions represented. Without a doubt Venerable Taixu, who was himself a Maitreyan millenarian, was a descendent of this lineage. More likely than not the anarchists of Guangzhou, which organized themselves in secret societies and were familiar enough with Buddhist doctrine to use it in their propaganda also felt some of this influence, more or less directly. Marxist scholars in China have often struggled with the contradictory implications of the White Lotus and its practices.
I am far from the only one who has seen the seeds of modern revolution in the sects and secret societies of the past. In fact much of the socialist movement has its origins in European secret societies devoted to occult ritual, enlightenment philosophy and working class resistance. (9) Magic, belief, ritual, belonging. All are consistent historical motivations for ordinary people to free their consciousnesses and fight their oppressors. Modern socialism, in my view, is too “dry” to ever inspire such courage. A common strength of the occult and religious movements are their ability to help people, for better or worse, to overcome their fear of death and conflict. For any revolution to succeed its participants must feel this otherworldly courage in their bones. Some believed that magic spells and amulets would make them invulnerable. Others, such as the Red Turbans, thought that the worse the tortures inflicted on them by the state, the “higher their place in heaven”. The faithful enemy of the White Lotus, government official Chao Ch’ang-Shen complained that “Not fearful of violating the law or committing seditious acts, as they are eager to return to heaven, they are happy to face capital punishment. Thus, penal sanction is useless in deterring them.”
Modern revolutionary movements are replete in programs to meet the people’s needs, some more concrete than others. What we sorely lack, however, is a comprehensive, popular, and widely accessible system of belief which sustains our spirits through the ages and acts as a “vehicle” of revolutionary continuity. The body may die, but the beautiful idea, the “birthless old mother”, lives eternal in the hearts of those ready to receive it. The inheritance of this “will” is never a certain thing. Nevertheless, the idea of revolutionary Buddhist societies overthrowing governments has trickled, like an underground stream, into modern consciousness, and even media.
After all, I would also be remiss not to mention the American animated television series “Avatar: The Legend of Korra”. The third season of this series features a secret anarchist revolutionary organization called “The Red Lotus”, which is itself a sect split from an international “White Lotus” secret society. The members of the Red Lotus are adept sorcerers and martial artists. Their beliefs stem from the teachings of the fictional “Guru Laghima”, whose philosophy resembles a mixture of Buddhism and Bakuninist anarchism. One of the guru’s quoted sayings essentially paraphrases Bakunin: “New growth cannot exist without first the destruction of the old.” Though presented as the season’s villains, it is hard to read the Red Lotus as anything but morally superior to the show’s protagonists. This fictional example shows that I am far from the first person to see similarities between modern revolutionaries and the White Lotus sects of ancient China.
In conclusion, there are many amusing parallels between the White Lotus Society modern revolutionary organizations. Any experienced social militant is likely to find a familiar flavor to the activities and inclinations of the White Lotus members. Surely many could imagine meeting secretly with “virtuous friends” to burn incense and candles in the dead of night.
Perhaps such practices should be given consideration once again. We are approaching turbulent times which may make the 14th century look tame in comparison. If relatively minor climate changes could bring about a century of near-universal misery then whatever the 21st and 22nd centuries are in store for will likely be apocalyptic in ways we have no real analogues to. We may need a belief system to meet the rising tides of history and arrive at a better shore.
Sources
1. The China History Podcast, Episode 195: https://thehistoryofchina.wordpress.com/2020/07/17/195-yuan-13-the-lords-of-light/
2. Theobald, Ulrich: Bailian jiao 白蓮教, the White Lotus Sect http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Terms/bailian.html
3. Heathen Chinese. “Millenarianism Pt. 4: The White Lotus Society And The Nian Rebellion” (2015) https://heathenchinese.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/millenarianism-pt-4-the-white-lotus-society-and-the-nian-rebellion/
4. Flower, Theresa J. (1976). Millenarian themes in the White Lotus Society (Thesis). McMaster University. https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/7251/1/fulltext.pdf
5. Chu, R.Y D. (1967) “An introductory study of the White Lotus Sect in Chinese history with special reference to peasant movements.” Ph.D. dissertation. Columbia University. https://www.proquest.com/openview/5f89aaf9a378bcb8421d81149bc715a2/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
6. Graeber, David. “To Have is to Owe”. (2010) https://davidgraeber.org/articles/to-have-is-to-owe/
7. Mote, Frederick W. (1988). “The rise of the Ming dynasty, 1330–1367”. In Mote, Frederick W.; Twitchett, Denis (eds.). The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 11–57. ISBN 978-0-521-24332-2.
8. Gillis, William. “An Anarchist Perspective on the Red Lotus” (2014) https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/william-gillis-an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus
9. Lagalisse, Erica. Occult Features of Anarchism: With Attention to the Conspiracy of Kings and the Conspiracy of the Peoples. 2019. PM Press.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Lotus_Rebellion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Nangxian
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