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Spread of Buddhism in China
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Recommended: Spread of Buddhism in China
After the collapse of the Han Dynasty the spread of Buddhism was largely accepted by many scholars and positions of power. However after the rise of the Tang dynasty, the spread of Buddhism was largely discouraged by scholars and high-ranking officials with a few exceptions of Buddhist scholars. Buddhism’s spread was accepted and flourished until the rise of the Tang dynasty were government officials started campaigned against it. Whereas Buddhism started fifth century BCE with Buddha’s first sermon, which preached the four noble truths, Buddhism’s spread into China happened later during the period of political instability, after the collapse of the Han dynasty. One of the first documents showing the acceptance of the spread of Buddhism was the Chinese scholar Zhi Dun who preached that anyone in China who served the …show more content…
Buddhism grew stronger when the government was weak and there was less of a force against Buddhism, but in the later Tang period governmental power grew and as a result emperors and scholars began speaking against it. Han Yu, leading Confucian scholar and Tang imperial court official, spoke against Buddha’s finger bone coming to the palace as it was nothing but an idol of Buddhism from a cult of the barbarian people spread to China. Han Yu wished that the finger bone will not come to the palace as its presences gives merit to Buddhism which disrupts Han Yu’s position of power. Another powerful official against Buddhism was the Tang Emperor Wu himself. He spoke to his people in the edict on Buddhism on how it takes working people into Buddhist temples to take food from working citizens allowing others to starve. Emperor Wu also talks about how Buddhism causes people to abandon their lords and this leads to the conclusion that Wu is condemning Buddhism as it is a threat to his power and not because it is a threat to his
However, the trend toward supporting Taoism provided a reactionary means in which Emperor Wuzong and court officials, such as Han Yu, were able to invert this form o cultural tolerance to a more xenophobic governmental movement to remove Buddhism from China. In the writings of Han Yu, it is apparent that the weakness of Chinese Emperors tended to be directly related to the practice of Buddhism by elites. More so, Chinese government officials began to become hostile to Buddhist, which set the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution into motion as a formal movement action against non-Taoists throughout the
The response to the spread of Buddhism in China differed according to one’s social position.
As Buddhism spread from India to China beginning in the first century C.E., it was met with mixed results and reviews in the classes. The Chinese people in some dynasties preferred Buddhism’s philosophy and promise of the afterlife while others scrutinized Buddhism’s absence from past texts. Although the Chinese turned to Buddhism for its promises of external enlightenment during times of hardship and invasion, the period that followed the initial spread led to many attempts to reconcile the religion with the traditional religion of Confucianism, increasing the views that Buddhism was a barbaric invasion.
Buddhism saw its initial, but slow rise under the Han Dynasty, which lasted from 206 BCE to 220 CE; however, the religion spread rapidly towards the end of the Han amidst political chaos and hesitance in Confucian principles. During the postclassical era, Buddhism’s spread in China was caused by the prospect of Nirvana, while it also gave way to both negative and positive responses.
During the early years of Buddhisms creation and spread to China, the Religon seemed to be more publicly accepted. In the course of the
Thomas Tweed brings up some interesting points when it has to do with Buddhism. He brings up how the spread of Buddhism was a difficult road to go down. It had made tribulations to go through before actually being accepting in society. There are a couple major reasons why Buddhism had a rough history. One reason is that it was an Asian influenced religion. At this time in America people of Asian origin were not allowed to come to America, so when Buddhism was introduced to Americans it was not popular with the majority of the citizens. Another was the classification of Buddhism as a religion. Buddhism had this conflict of categorization of whether it was a philosophy or an actual religion. Many believed Buddhism was a philosophy because Buddhism is more of a way of life that a religion. However, for the believers and followers of Buddhism it was much more than just a philosophy it was their faith. The reason it was grouped in with the rest of the different philosophy's and not a religion because Buddhism was not similar to other religions. There is no "One Being" that is prayed to like Christianity or Protestant. Buddhism does not consist of praying but meditating and self-discipline.
Centuries after the death of the Buddha, his teachings spread throughout Asia and dominated (2). Around 1500, Western powers began entering the Buddhist controlled areas of Asia and created colonies, which persisted into the middle of...
The development and evolution of the different sects of Japanese Buddhism such as Zen Buddhism played an important role in the development of classical Japanese culture throughout the four major periods, which was shown in the way that the Nara period, the Heian era, the Kamakura period, and the Edo period were all shaped by the ascent and decline of different Buddhist sects. It is these transitions that make Japanese history a myriad, but fascinating web of interconnecting events that manages to confuse even the most veteran historians. At first, Buddhism was only a pastime of the elite class of landowners and daimyo that held no special significance to the common peoples. It was mainly another way for the central government to gain power and influence among the many local lords that it had to contend with on a regular basis. Although it is to be noted that most of these new converts to Buddhism did not abandon their earlier religions, but instead blended it together with several aspects of Shintoism, the original indigenous religion of Japan(“Japanese Buddhism”,1). This created several amalgamations of the two religions wherever and whenever they met(“Japanese Buddhism”,1). However, as Buddhism was introduced to the general population through the process of hierarchical diffusion, it quickly branched off and evolved from its original form as different sects that shaped contemporary Japanese culture (Kasahara, 302).
Buddhist merchants traveled the silk road an introduced Buddhism to China. After the fall of the Han dynasty Confucianism suffered a loss to it credibility. Foreign religion such as Christianity, Manicheans, and Zoroastrians entered China. Emperor Tang Taizong allowed them to open monasteries n Chang’an and other cities. By the mid 7th centaury Arab and Persian merchants established Muslim
Regarding religion, Chinese culture saw the emergence of Confucianism and Buddhism as the major influence. Confucianism stressed filial piety which meant respecting elders and superiors, ruling righteously, and obeying commands and orders. Confucianism was introduced by the Chinese thinker Confucius. Buddhism was brought to China, but originated in India and was founded by Siddhartha Gautama. Followers of Buddhism worshipped Buddh...
“The spread of Confucianism across East Asia was accomplished largely through voluntary and consensual means, rather than by conquest o...
In the year 220 AD, as the Han dynasty was collapsing, Confucianism, then the state ideology, began to lose its popularity. This, along with the demise of the Han order, set up a situation in which the people of China were hungry for new ideas. There were also many dignitaries within the Chinese government that were looking to gain good political footing in order to ensure staying power. These factors all opened up the gate for Buddhism to enter Chinese society and gain popularity with the Chinese culture.
In China, the citizens' inclination of Buddhism varied from that of other states. There was a plethora of mental outlooks on how Buddhism was changing the Chinese society as it expanded from India, where it was founded in the sixth century BCE. The responses are organized depending on their acceptance, rejection, or encouragement of a combination of Buddhism with other religions. These categories are illustrated by the following documents; the acceptance by documents two and five, the rejection by documents four, six, and three, and last, the encouragement by documents two, five, and three. Additional documentations that would be helpful in classifying the reactions of the Chinese people would be a testimony or statement of a Chinese woman, or group of women, and of peasants. These would be helpful as we'd be able to examine exactly how the Chinese were affected by Buddhism's grasp. We would be able to see how Buddhism affected their daily lives and what they thought about the sudden religion.
Buddhism prevailed as a religion indigenous to west India and comprises of varieties of traditions, beliefs and practices based on the teachings of Buddha. There are many reasons why Buddhism became so popular and entered into many civilizations. Buddhism began to be popular throughout Asia alongside India. Buddhism has blossomed in the contemporary world, especially in the West. It is an issue to wonder what Buddhism offers that other religions cannot and has become so significant worldwide. Buddhism has become an idea that is widespread and the teachings of Buddha have made a real difference in many civilizations like India, China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea and surprisingly Buddhism has come to make a significant difference in American culture.
Xuanzang was a highly educated Buddhist monk from China, who in 629 C.E. made the long and treacherous journey along the Silk Road to India. His main objectives in his sixteen years away from home were fundamentally religious; he only wanted to study more complete scriptures to answer questions he had, which he deemed unsolvable in his own country. It is important to understand Xuanzang’s own position within the Chinese society and the type of situation it was in: Chinese Buddhists had many disagreements