Why do monks have to shave their hair?

A new monk is called a novice (meaning to work diligently, stop evil and practice kindness), and when he is twenty years old or older, he receives the bhikkhu ordination and is called a bhikkhu (meaning a beggar-begging for Buddhist teachings). , begging for food and drink.

The Chinese misunderstood him as "Derbi Confucius, so he is called Bhikkhu", which is also a joke). Within five years of receiving the bhikkhu ordination, one is not allowed to become a teacher of fellow monks; after five years, if one has mastered the precepts.

Only one can become a teacher based on the specialty he has learned, and is called a standard teacher, which is called Acharya in Sanskrit. He can be trusted by others and teach others how to recite. After ten years, he can become a personal teacher. After twenty years, he is called a senior; after fifty years, he is called an elder.

Everyone who becomes a monk must shave his head, which is called tonsure in Buddhism.

The source of tonsure

In a Sakya tribe on the border of Nepal and India, Prince Gautama Siddhartha left home to practice Buddhism. Seven years later, he became enlightened and became a Buddha. He preached in the Ganges River Valley and recruited many disciples.

Buddhism believes that the world is illusory and life is suffering. Only by eliminating all worries and practicing Buddhism can eternal happiness be achieved. When Buddha Sakyamuni first preached the Dharma to Kasyapa and other five people, he personally shaved off their hair to express his acceptance of them as his disciples.

Monk shaving has three meanings. First, according to Buddhism, hair represents countless troubles and wrong habits in the world. Cutting off hair means removing troubles and wrong habits; second, cutting off hair It is equivalent to getting rid of the pride and laziness in the world; getting rid of all worries and practicing wholeheartedly.

In ancient my country, people regarded hair as very important. They believed that hair was obtained from their parents and must be protected and not damaged, otherwise it would be disrespectful to their parents.

Buddhism requires the elimination of these unnecessary family concerns; third, it is to distinguish believers from other sects in India. India at that time was full of religious sects. But when people see a shaved head, they know they are Buddhists.

Later, shaving one’s head became a ritual for joining Buddhism.

When Indian Buddhism was first introduced to China, other rituals had not yet developed, so as long as you shaved off your hair and put on coarse cloth similar to a cassock, you could become a monk.

Those are called precept scars, which means that you have received a precept. They are not one per year, but three, six, nine or twelve.

Extended information:

He is the collective name for the three realms. Shang means superior. In the world of Hua Zang, only Sakyamuni can be called "monk", but later generations did call all bhikkhus monks. Perhaps it is because after Sakyamuni's Nirvana, living bhikkhus became the most blessed field in the world.

The word "monk" is purely due to the pronunciation of the Western languages. In India, secular doctors are generally called "Wuxie". In Khotan, they are called Heshe or Khosha. In China, it was translated into "monk" (see "Jigui Zhuan" and "Secret Notes"). Therefore, there are also monks and monks and nuns among heretics in India (Za Agama Volume 9.253 and 255, etc.)

It is said to have originated in the Yuan Dynasty, when a monk Zhide was influenced by the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty. To respect the people, when he passed on the ordination, he required each person to burn incense on the head of the person who received the ordination. Those who received the novice ordination burned three sticks of incense, and those who received the bhikkhu ordination burned twelve sticks of incense as a lifelong vow. Such a small invention spread quietly and was passed down from generation to generation. This is of course a bad habit that harms the body and is a small souvenir of Han Buddhist culture. From here we can also see some characteristics of the Buddhist cultural circle in Han Dynasty. Simply put, in the later stages of the development of Buddhism, the "popular belief" has a much stronger influence than the "elite culture" composed of a very small number of thinkers (Buddhists). energy. Yuan Seng Zhide, who invented the Incense Burning Scar (commonly known as the "Incense Burning Cave"), was not a Buddhist scholar at all. However, the spread and far-reaching spread of his little invention was unmatched by the teachings of any famous eminent monk after Hui Neng.

Reference: Monk (Chinese word) - Baidu Encyclopedia