Buddhism in China: Acceptance, Rejection, or Encouragement

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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.

Those who supported, or accepted, Buddhism made their opinions known through documents two and five. Document two was produced by an educated Chinese scholar, Zhi Dun. He was an author and confidant of the Chinese aristocrats and high officials circa 350 BC. He wrote it when Northern China was being invaded by Central Asian nomads. Dun provided a positive image of the Buddha and the spreading of Buddhism. He describes the mission of Buddhists, saying that “He will behold the Buddha and be enlightened by his spirit, and then he will enter Nirvana”. This message was intended to reach out to those looking for conversion or those not already following the Buddhist ways. He discussed the 'correct' way to live and how to get into Nirvana, the h...

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...ould not phase you and should not keep you from fulfilling your mission in life and reaching the magnificent place of Nirvana, by following the Way. An additional document that would be helpful in fully classifying this response would be that of a law 'enforcement' citizen, or someone who enforces the rules and punishes for the breaking of them. This is helpful solely because it would shine some more light on a topic that's already supported, but would strengthen the argument.

The responses of several Chinese citizens in China during the Han dynasty were classified in three categories; acceptance, rejection, or the encouragement of combined religious ideas based on the spread of Buddhism throughout China, giving a view of the wide array of expectations, traditions, and thoughts of the Chinese people.

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