As is well known, after becoming a monk, one must abide by the precepts. Among the precepts of monks, there is one called "abstaining from lust." Therefore, once a monk steps into the sacred land of Buddhism, he must have no connection with women. However, according to numerous historical records, ancient women, especially beautiful young widows, liked to secretly meet and have affairs with Buddhist disciples to satisfy their insatiable desires. The earliest recorded woman in history who had an affair with a monk was Xu Zhaopei, a charming middle-aged woman known to all.
According to the "Southern History • Empresses Biography," Emperor Yuan of the Liang Dynasty married Xu Zhaopei as his concubine, but their relationship was not harmonious. This was mainly because Emperor Yuan had only one eye, which made him unattractive. Every time Emperor Yuan visited Concubine Xu, she would always apply makeup to only half of her face, implying that with one eye, he could only see half of her. This always provoked Emperor Yuan's anger, causing him to storm out. Over time, he never entered Concubine Xu's quarters. Xu Zhaopei felt lonely and wasted her youth.
Despite being a real woman with emotions and desires, Xu Zhaopei couldn't endure the loneliness and desolation of the deep palace. She began having secret affairs with Monk Zhiyuan from Yao Guang Temple in Jingzhou. Later, she also took a fancy to Minister Ji Jiang. Ji Jiang was handsome and elegant, so Xu sent her trusted maid to secretly bring him into the palace for clandestine rendezvous. Ji Jiang remarked, "Old hunting dogs like Bozhi can still hunt; old horses like Xiao Yang are still spirited; Old Lady Xu, though old, is still passionate." Thus, the idiom "Xu Niang Ban Lao" (meaning 'still charming despite being middle-aged') became a classic phrase in history.
Could the emperor really be inferior even to a monk? Emperor Yuan of Liang finally lost patience and forced Concubine Xu to commit suicide by jumping into a well. He then returned her body to the Xu family, calling it "divorce." Afterwards, Emperor Yuan executed all those who had illicit relations with Concubine Xu, including Monk Zhiyuan, and personally wrote "The Rhapsody of Wandering Women's Autumn Thoughts" to describe her promiscuity and vent his anger.
Of course, the preference for having affairs with monks wasn't limited to Empress Xu of Emperor Yuan of Liang. There were also many examples of empresses and princesses in ancient times engaging in affairs with monks.
According to the "History of Northern Qi • Imperial Harem," after Emperor Wu Chengdi Gao Zhan ascended the throne, he forcibly raped his brother's wife Li Zu'e. Empress Hu found the palace life unbearable and had an affair with He Shikai, a close attendant of Gao Zhan. After He Shikai was killed, Empress Hu, now a dowager empress, sought solace under the guise of worshipping Buddha, frequently visiting temples. There, she started an affair with a monk named Tan Xian. Tan Xian was young, handsome, and energetic, thus earning Hu's favor. They often met secretly in the meditation room. Empress Hu moved treasures from the national treasury into the temple and even brought Emperor Gao Zhan's imperial bed into the monk's chamber. Everyone in the palace knew about this except Emperor Gao Wei. Once, Crown Prince Gao Wei entered the palace to pay respects to his mother and noticed two new female nuns standing beside her, both beautiful. That night, he secretly summoned them to his bedchamber, but they resisted until death. Enraged, Gao Wei ordered his attendants to forcibly remove their clothes, only to discover they were actually young monks disguised as nuns! These two were junior monks under Tan Xian, selected for their good looks and brought back to the palace by Empress Hu. Shocked and furious, Gao Wei immediately ordered the execution of Tan Xian and the two young monks the next day.
Speaking of ancient women liking to have affairs with monks, one cannot fail to mention Empress Wu Zetian. This woman who ruled over all men also indulged in male favorites, but her first lover was a monk named Xue Huaiyi. Originally named Feng Xiaobao, Xue Huaiyi was a street vendor selling ointments in Tongguan County. Later, after accidentally injuring someone in a street fight and fleeing to avoid capture, he escaped to Luoyang and became a monk at the White Horse Temple. After Emperor Taizong's death, Wu Zetian, as one of Taizong's concubines, was sent to the Gan Ye Temple to become a nun. Since the White Horse Temple and Gan Ye Temple were separated only by a wall, the two eventually met and naturally engaged in secret affairs. After Wu Zetian became empress, she immediately appointed Feng Xiaobao as the abbot of the prestigious White Horse Temple in Luoyang. After Emperor Gaozong's death, Wu Zetian allowed Feng Xiaobao free access to the palace to fulfill her desires.
In the Tang Dynasty, the empress liked monks, and so did the princesses. The most famous cases were Gao Yang Princess and Tai Ping Princess.
Gao Yang Princess was the seventeenth daughter of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin. At the age of fifteen, Li Shimin carefully chose Fang Yilai, the second son of Chancellor Fang Xuanling, as her husband, but this didn't suit Gao Yang's taste. She preferred scholarly gentlemen, and after their wedding night, Fang Yilai never again approached her bed.
Gao Yang Princess enjoyed hunting, and during one such outing, she met a handsome and refined monk named Bian Ji from Huichang Temple. Bian Ji was diligent and talented since childhood, entering the monastery at the age of fifteen under Master Dao Yue. In the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, when Master Xuanzang returned with scriptures, Bian Ji was chosen by Xuanzang for his profound knowledge of Buddhism and literary talent to participate in the writing of the monumental work "Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang." The year Gao Yang Princess had an affair with Bian Ji, he was only twenty-six years old. To comfort Fang Yilai, Gao Yang specially gave him two young and beautiful maidservants. Fang Yilai, receiving these two maidservants, actually served as a lookout while Gao Yang and Bian Ji were together.
Tai Ping Princess was the daughter of Empress Wu Zetian. According to the "Old Book of Tang," "There was a foreign monk named Hui Fan, wealthy in treasure, skilled in serving the powerful. The princess had an affair with him and recommended him as the head of the Sheng Shan Temple, granting him the rank of third class, conferring the title of Duke, and allowing him to trade goods freely between the Yangtze and Jian rivers."
During the Five Dynasties period, monks were particularly favored by women. As recorded in Zhang Bangji's "Collection of Forgotten Names of Servant Girls": In the Five Dynasties, there was a monk named Zhicong Chan Shi who practiced on Mount Zhurong for ten years, believing himself to be fully disciplined and immune to temptation. However, one day, descending the mountain, he saw a beauty named Honglian. A glance was enough to move him, and they soon consummated their passion. Seeing that he was a revered high monk, Honglian welcomed him without hesitation. By dawn, the monk arose to bathe, and both he and Honglian transformed. Later, a poem was written: "A revered high monk named Zhicong, for ten years he never left Mount Zhurong, the accumulated Bodhi water in his waist, poured into the heart of Honglian."
By the Song Dynasty, even courtesans liked to have affairs with monks, provided they were wealthy monks. According to Ming dynasty writer Yu Yonglin's "North Window Trivia": "Monk Liaoran of Lingjing Temple in the Song Dynasty did not follow the precepts and often stayed overnight with a prostitute named Li Xiunu. After spending all his money, he was rejected by Li Xiunu, yet remained infatuated. One drunken night, he forcibly entered her place and killed her." Su Dongpo, then serving as vice magistrate of Hangzhou, investigated this bloody case. Surprisingly, he found two lines of love poetry tattooed on the monk's body: "May we be reborn in the same paradise, freeing us from this world's painful longing." Enraged, Su Dongpo exclaimed: "This bald slave, too much in his cultivation, holding the precepts in vain on the peak of Ling Mountain, once entangled with worldly beauties, his patched robes were utterly useless. His hands hurt others, shattering beautiful faces, where are the empty colors now? His arms bear the marks of bitter longing, repaying this debt of love." Su Dongpo immediately executed this licentious monk.
The most typical case of women seducing monks in the Song Dynasty was Pan Qiaoyun, the wife of Liangshan hero Yang Xiong from "Water Margin." The monk she seduced was named Pei Ruhai. The two grew up together, and as adults, Pan Qiaoyun remembered their past affection and secretly consorted with Pei Ruhai behind her husband Yang Xiong's back. Later, Yang Xiong's sworn brother Shixiu killed the monk Pei Ruhai, abruptly ending their illicit affair.
After the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, many collections of stories about women and monks appeared, such as Ming writer Zhan Zhanwai's "Brief History of Love," and the more famous "Ocean of Sinful Monks and Nuns," allegedly compiled by the eccentric scholar Tang Bohu of Nanling. Whether princesses, wives of officials, virtuous women, or commoners, many women enjoyed illicit affairs with monks.
In Yuan Dynasty operas and Ming-Qing novels, stories of nuns longing for spring and monks having affairs abound. Perhaps the most popular story told by literati was the affair between Liu Cui and Monk Yue Ming. Based on this, Yuan Dynasty playwright Wang Shifu created the opera "Saving Liu Cui," and Li Shouqing wrote "Yue Ming Three Times Visits the Forked Willow." Although Wang Shifu's opera is lost, Li Shouqing's work is included in the "Selections of Yuan Operas" under the title "Monk Yue Ming Saves Liu Cui." It tells the story of how Guanyin's willow branch in her vase was accidentally tainted with dust and was punished by being reincarnated as a beautiful woman in Hangzhou named Liu Cui, returning to her original form. On the road, Yue Ming tried to persuade Liu Cui to become a nun but failed. He then appeared in her dreams and set up evil scenarios to make her realize the truth. Yue Ming preached in the Xian Xiao Temple, and after Liu Cui asked about Zen, she thoroughly understood and sat in meditation in the east wing before ascending back to the South Sea.
Ming Dynasty writer Xu Wei's "Dream of the Jade Zen Master" vividly expanded this story: High monk Yutong practiced for many years but struggled to achieve enlightenment. Refusing to pay homage to Magistrate Liu Xuanjiao, he was lured by the beautiful Honglian sent by Liu. Unable to control himself, he broke his vow of chastity within moments and died in anger. Later, he was reborn as Liu Xuanjiao's daughter, Liu Cui, who grew up to become a courtesan, tarnishing the family name. Finally, she was enlightened by her master Yue Ming and attained Buddhahood.
Even in the Qing Dynasty, incidents of women having affairs with monks were frequent and difficult to prevent. To prevent such occurrences, Qing officials went so far as to ban women from entering temples to burn incense and worship Buddha. According to modern scholar Li Ciming's "Diary of National Affairs in the Yeman Hall," "In the eleventh year of Guangxu, censor Zhang Liao requested the prohibition of the annual incense burning gatherings at Baiyun Temple in the capital, citing the mixing of men and women and secluded rooms where people quietly sit, claiming to be gods, as bizarre and inappropriate." Hunan governor Bian Baodi even issued a decree titled "Prohibition of Incense Burning," stating, "Incense burning and gathering with mixed genders pose the greatest harm to customs and morals," banning women from entering temples under the pretense of burning incense. Clearly, the custom of women having affairs with monks had spread widely at the time.
So why did ancient women like to have affairs with monks? In Chapter 45 of "Water Margin," titled "Yang Xiong Drunkenly Scolds Pan Qiaoyun, Shixiu Wisely Kills Pei Ruhai," Pan Qiaoyun's words before her death reveal the reason: "One night with my master is better than ten years with you." As for why monks possessed such charm, Shi Naian provided a detailed analysis: "Listen, dear reader: Of all human emotions, monks' desires are the strongest. Why say this? Both secular and religious people come from the union of father's essence and mother's blood. So why do monks have the strongest desires? This statement implies that among the five categories of 'Pan, Donkey, Deng, Xiao, and Idle,' monks are the most idle. Eating three meals a day provided by donors, living in grand halls and chambers, free from worldly concerns, sleeping on fine beds, they have nothing to think about but this one matter. Suppose, for example, a rich man, although possessing everything, has many trivial matters troubling him daily. At night, he worries about money, sleeping late. Even if he has beautiful wives and concubines sharing his bed, how can he find pleasure? And then there are the common folk, working hard every day, waking up early and going to bed late. Before going to bed, they check the rice jar, finding it empty, with no money for tomorrow. Even if their wives are attractive, they lack the desire. Therefore, they lose out to monks, who have the leisure to focus solely on this matter."
Clearly, monks spend their days sitting quietly in meditation rooms, doing nothing, conserving their energy, making them physically strong and full of vitality. Moreover, without wives or daughters to support, they have plenty of spare time. Thus, monks became the preferred choice for ancient women seeking clandestine affairs.