Chinese Buddhism

(4, 6, 7) Particularly during its largest period of influence (The Era of Division), they largely welcomed Buddhism, as it offered a type of refuge from the turmoil and war of that time period (ADD EV). Buddhism was very flexible, and as Zong Mi pointed out, was fairly flexible to the needs of the individual worshipper (Document 6). It disregarded previous social structures, and accepted people regardless of social status or education, as displayed in the records of Buddhist teachings transcribed by disciples (Document 4). Though, documents such as this one aren’t fully credible, as the events written about are transcribed by loyal, and heavily biased, disciples (SOURCE). But, around the 840s, the government’s view on Buddhism began to shift. Many confucian administrators claimed that the lack of taxes on the religion caused an economic deficit, feeding state fears and leading to restrictions, and later the open persecution of the religion by Emperor Wuzong (Doc 7). Monasteries either heavily taxed or destroyed, monks/nuns were forced to renounce their religion, and previously Buddhist lands were parceled out to landlords. (ADD EV). So despite the inclusiveness and flexibility of the religion with peasants, the ultimate persecution of worshippers affected buddhist members of the Chinese peasant class

Classical China was a breeding ground for new ideas, inventions, and most importantly, religions. Although Classical China was littered with different religions and beliefs, Confucianism was the most prominent. Confucianism is based on the teachings of a philosophical

The response to the spread of Buddhism in China differed according to one’s social position.

Around 845 CE, Tang Emperor Wu states that the spread of the religion wore “out people’s strength” and “pilfers their wealth” (Document 6). The stealing of their wealth is an act of opposing the public policygoing against the rules that were made by the government, while the wearing out strength represented his impression of Buddhism. Emperor Wu did not approve Buddhism because he believed that the religion was corrupting his citizens since they were abandoning the those above them. As a result, he stated that the “evil” should be eradicated (Document 6). In 819 CE, Han Yun, a Confucian scholar at the Tang imperial court, called Buddhism a “cult of barbarian peoples.” He goes on to address that considering how Buddhism “did not exist in [China] in ancient times,” their clothes were different and their lives were lived out differently (Document 4). In his view as a governmental official, Han Yun felt that Buddhism had become such an integral part of their lives that they were tearing apart the foundation of their

It is prevalent that the spread of Buddhism collectively affected the government in 300-900 CE (Doc’s 1,7). Many people working in the government were impacted by Buddhism’s arrival in China such as emperors, aristocrats, and other higher ranking scholars (Doc’s 1, 7). Another way Buddhism was affecting government was Buddhism was skewing the reasoning and view of economy as shown according to Emperor Wu, Buddhism harmed the government by convincing them to give up farming, resulting in reducing tax revenue as an effect of the spread of Buddhism (Doc 7). Because the author is an emperor then they would write the the information to influence people not to be Buddhist which would lead them to state why being a Buddhist is not good and over exaggerate the other information about Buddhism; this helps support the claim that the spread of Buddhism definitely influenced the working of the government. Additionally the most popular religion of China at the time would almost always find

“It is often said that, aside from the impact of Marxism on twentieth-century China, the only other time when the Chinese looked beyond their own borders for intellectual sustenance was during the period when Buddhism was absorbed from India” (LaFleur 23). Why did this religion appeal to the Chinese when they disregarded so many other external influences? After all, being tied to the rest of the world by the Silk Road meant they were constantly inundated with novel concepts from far and wide. The answer must lie in how Buddhism interacted with the other faiths already established in the country, namely Confucianism and Daoism (sometimes spelled Taoism). While at first glance it may appear that Confucian China would be the last place

It is believed that Buddhism spread to China through the Silk Road. When the Silk Road opened in the 2nd century BC, missionaries and pilgrims spread Buddhism to China. Chang Ch’ien was recorded to first bring Buddhism to China when he heard about India and Buddhist beliefs on his way back to China. In about the 1st century BC, a Buddhist community is said to have been living in China. But the most well-known story of the spreading of Buddhism is when Han emperor, Mingdi, had a dream about Buddha in 68 CE and sent Cai Yin, his official to learn more about it. Meanwhile, Mingdi learned from his ministers that he had seen Buddha, “the God of the West” in his dream. After 3 years Cai Yin came back to china with Buddhist teachings and

Document 4 was clearly biased because the author was both a Confucian scholar and a court official, and he may have been influenced by a personal aspiration to stay at the top of the social hierarchy, like he was in Confucianism. The emperor in Document 6 also seems to blame his troubles on Buddhism. The emperor has never worked a day in his life, so there was no possible way that he understood the reasoning for lower class workers to turn to Buddhism. He could only guess from the state of the economy, since Buddhist monks didn't work and temples weren't taxed, which critically harmed the government's income. Buddhism's influence declined considerably provided that Confucianism was gaining a stronger foothold inside of Chinese society because of their pride and

The far-reaching and appealing aspect of Buddhism allowed some Chinese Buddhists to travel Asia to learn about its peoples and origins. For example, a Chinese Buddhist, Faxian, who traveled through South Asia to learn more about the religion collected many original texts and translated them back in China. He described “ They still followed the course of the P'oo na river, on the banks of which, left and right, there were twenty monasteries, which might contain three thousand monks; and (here) the Law of Buddha was still more flourishing.” (Doc E) This description is about the importance of Buddhism was to South Asia and its power to overcome so many barriers and universalize South Asia. This is also shown in a description of by another Chinese Buddhist by the name of Xuanzang. His reflection of his time in South Asia for the Tang emperor describes a unique, but totally different world from that of China. It says,”Now Buddha having been born in the western region and his religion having spread eastwards, the sounds of the words translated have been often mistaken, the phrases of the different regions have been misunderstood on account of the wrong sounds, and thus the sense has been lost. The words being wrong, the idea has been perverted.” (Doc G) By this Xuanzang means how the original word of the Buddha has been so distorted by the language barrier that its is almost impossible to understand what he truly meant when it is

DBQ: Buddhism in China After the fall of the Han dynasty, many Chinese people converted to Buddhism. They seeked a simpler way of life among all of the chaos and political instability going on at the time. This led to a drop in productivity in China, as many Buddhists spent their time meditating. The rise in Buddhism among the lower class led to a hate for the religion by the upper-class. While some people saw Buddhism as a new form of thinking in China’s evolving social landscape, many others saw it as a threat to the traditional Chinese way of life, as they were reluctant to change.

On top of being advantageous for the justification of Wu’s throne, the adoption of Buddhism also benefitted the Chinese government. Wu’s openhanded policies towards Buddhism and her proclamation of an era of peace brought the empire economic stability and prosperity (Smarr Feb. 17 2012). The reciprocated correlation between religion and state is clearly identified by Wu’s unambiguous relationship with Buddhism: Wu accepts the previously rejected religion and becomes its primary fiscal source, which ultimately leads to the wide-spread of Buddhism throughout the country, while Buddhism, in return, legitimizes her reign and facilitates the trade routes on the silk roads to the western world, bringing countless advantages to China and significantly boosting the Chinese economy during a peaceful period.

The term “Confucianism” is often regarded as a complex mechanism of social, political, moral as well as religious beliefs that have considerable influence especially upon the civilizations belonging to the East Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea along with Singapore and Vietnam. With reference to the observation made by Reid (1999), it can be viewed that a clear depiction about different principles and beliefs exists within the sphere of “Confucianism”. Therefore, the major purpose of this report is to briefly review of T. R. Reid’s book “Confucius Lives Next Door: What Leaving In The East Teaches Us About Living In the West” through concisely unfolding the experience of

Empress Wu claimed divine right to the throne and used faith and the religion of Buddhism to legitimize that claim. She financed numerous pieces of Buddhist art during her rule. Most notably, the Vairocana Buddha at Longmen and refashioning of the city of Luoyang into a ‘divine capital’.5 She transformed the imperial

including Buddhism is in both India and Chinas culture. The effects of China and India’s

Confucianism is regarded as one of the primary religions that have profoundly influenced Chinese beliefs and ideologies. While Kongzi, or Confucius, is the founder of Confucianism, he is not the only philosopher who has contributed to such a significant impact on China. Similarly, the Analects of Confucius is not the single text that represents Confucianism. In fact, during different time periods throughout the history, there are a number of eminent representatives of Confucian thoughts, such as Mengzi and Xunzi. Because Confucianism aims at eliminating chaos and maintaining order in a harmonious society , they all agree that the guidance and education of virtuous Confucian pioneers are of extreme importance to achieve this