(Minghui.org) Do Buddhas exist? Is it true that evil is punished and good is rewarded? Many people have doubts about these questions. Four significant events aimed at destroying the religion of Buddhism were recorded in the Twenty-Four Histories (a set of books detailing the history of various dynasties in China from 91 BC to 1644).

The term “Three Wu's and one Zong” refers to Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, Emperor Wuzong of Tang, and Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou. Each of these emperors slandered the Buddhist teachings and defamed the Buddha, suffering karmic retribution as a consequence.

The first significant attack occurred during the reign of Tuoba Tao, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He was the third emperor of the dynasty and ruled from December 423 to March 452.

According to the Book of Wei, both Tuoba Tao’s grandfather and father were devout Buddhists, which fostered a positive attitude towards Buddhism in Tuoba Tao as he grew up. However, after ascending to the throne, his attitude gradually changed, largely due to the influence of Cui Hao, his trusted Prime Minister of the Northern Wei, who was shrewd, capable, and very knowledgeable about “Xuanxiang Yin-Yang” (mysterious phenomena of Yin and Yang).

Cui Hao harbored a strong resentment toward Buddhism, believing that the large number of monks weakened people’s potential, and that the casting of Buddha statues and the construction of temples wasted national resources.

In spring 446, a rebellion broke out, and Emperor Taiwu personally led a campaign to suppress it. After reaching Chang’an, some weapons were discovered in Buddhist temples, which led him to believe that monks were colluding with the rebels.

Cui Hao then advised the emperor that temples harbored hidden troubles and should be eliminated. Soon after, Tuoba Tao ordered the destruction of temples and Buddha statues, and that monks be put to death.

Recognizing the serious nature and extent of such destruction, some officials talked with Cui Hao, as his opinion significantly influenced the emperor. One of them was Kou Qianzhi, a respected Daoist reformer who was also highly regarded by Tuoba Tao. Cui Hao was formerly his student.

Kou Qianzhi tried hard to persuade Cui Hao not to support Tuoba Tao’s order, but Cui Hao refused to listen. Kou Qianzhi then warned him, “You will now face an early death and bring destruction upon your family clans.”

Cui Hao’s wife respected the Buddhist scriptures and often recited them, which made Cui Hao furious. Consequently, he burned the scriptures and dumped the ashes into the latrine.

Cui Hao’s cousins, Jizhou Governor Cui Ze and Xingyang Governor Cui Mo, also believed in and respected Buddhism. Still Cui Hao mocked them, saying, “So you bow your heads and kneel before that barbarian god!” Although Cui Ze and Cui Mo shared the wonderfulness of Buddhism with him, Cui Hao refused to listen.

He remained high-handed and arrogant. A few officials, skilled at flattery, suggested erecting stone tablets carved with the Wei dynasty’s history and honors for him. Cui Hao happily agreed and played a major role in the project. However, the tablets contained unflattering portrayals of some past leaders, which Tuoba Tao disapproved of. He initiated an investigation into Cui Hao that found him guilty of corruption.

In the year 450, Tuoba Tao ordered the execution of Cui Hao’s entire family clan, sparing only the families of Cui Ze and Cui Mo—whom Cui Hao had disparaged and mocked for their belief in Buddhism. Kou Qianzhi’s warning of the “destruction of Cui’s entire family” came to fruition.

History shows that when Cui Hao was put into a caged cart and left outside the then-capital city of Chengping, soldiers who were guarding him urinated on his head in front of crowds of onlookers.

It is recorded in the Book of Wei: “Since the disgrace of high ministers, none had suffered such humiliation as Hao. The people all viewed it as a sign of retribution.” Cui Hao tried to suppress Buddhism and suffered retribution for his actions.

During the years that Buddhism was persecuted in Northern Wei, Tuoba Tao nearly lost his life when a folding screen fell on him during a heavy thunderstorm. Others interpreted as a celestial warning. However, he didn’t take it seriously and regarded it as an accident.

At the age of 45, Tuoba Tao was killed by his eunuch, Zong Ai, in the spring of 452. Later that year, the Emperor Wencheng fully restored Buddhism in Northern Wei.

The next attack on Buddhism occurred when Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou (personal name Yuwen Yong) banned both Buddhism and Daoism in 574. He fell ill and died suddenly in 578 at the age of 36. His young son also passed away, and not long thereafter, the Northern Zhou dynasty crumbled.

Although Emperor Wuzong of Tang (Li Yan) was a devout Taoist, he is infamous for his persecution of Buddhism and other religions, which reached its peak in 845. He destroyed thousands of Buddhist temples and shrines, and expelled a vast number of monks and nuns from the monasteries. He died the following year at the age of 33, leaving no offspring.

Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou (Chai Rong) issued orders to suppress Buddhism in 955, in the name of strengthening the state’s finances and consolidating central authority. He closed tens of thousands of temples, melted down statues and turned the metal into coins, and forced more than 60,000 monks and nuns to return to secular life. It is said that Emperor Shizong smashed a Buddha statue with a hammer. He became ill and died at the age of 39.

In fact, during the attacks on Buddhism, people at various levels and positions attempted to persuade the authorities to abandon the persecution, but they refused to listen. The rulers were arrogant and believed that with power in hand, they could do whatever they wanted, even to the extent of persecuting Buddhist teachings and principles.

The wise remained clear-headed, while the foolish were lost in the maze. We ought to learn lessons from the past.

However, towards the end of the 20th century, the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a cruel persecution of a Buddhist school practice called Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong). Tens of millions of innocent practitioners were subjected to unlawful arrests and incarceration. They suffered cruel torture, forced labor, coercive brainwashing, and residential surveillance. A great number of practitioners also lost their lives in the government-sanctioned practice of live organ harvesting. The persecution still continues unabated.

Regardless of what people believe they can get away with, the karmic law of cause and effect—good and evil always receive their due—never changes.

There have been many instances of retribution that befell those who participated, whether actively or passively, in the persecution of Falun Gong. Minghui.org published a report in Feb 2019, “More than 20,000 individuals reportedly met with retribution during 19 years of persecution of Falun Gong,” stating that according to incomplete statistics, from 1999 to 2019, as many as 20,784 individuals experienced retribution, which includes 4,149 family members of the perpetrators.

We have seen some of them fall during anti-corruption campaigns, some die from illnesses, some develop severe depression, and some involved in traffic accidents, among other reprisals. Nevertheless, punishment in hell still awaits them because the Buddha Fa is both compassionate and solemn.

Over the years, Falun Gong practitioners in China and abroad have dedicated considerable time and effort in clarifying the truth to people, and advising against participating in the persecution. Numerous people working within China’s legal system and the police forces have learned the truth, adjusted their actions, and thus left a way out for themselves and their families.

However, through Chen Yixin (the current Minister of State Security) and his followers, the evil CCP and its leader (Xi Jinping) have set up “Branches of the Anti-Falun Gong Campaign” in recent years, to spread their persecution policies toward Falun Gong outside of China, especially in North America.

The CCP leaders strive to defeat Falun Gong, surpass the U.S., and dominate the world, believing they can act with impunity and that no one can stop them. However, reality and lessons from history present a different narrative. The divine is always above mankind, regardless of how deceitful, presumptuous, and arrogant the evil CCP and its followers may be.

Famous German writer Goethe once said, “It is not difficult to perceive the misguided ambitions of others; the difficult part is recognizing one’s own—that requires great clarity of the mind.”

Cui Hao in Northern Wei cried out in grief when he was humiliated while stuck in a caged cart prior to his execution, but there is no escaping the laws of heaven. A person must take responsibility for whatever he does because everyone chooses their own path.