Buddhism And Confucianism Essay

In 494 CE the Wei Emperors who had previously patronised Yungang relocated their capital to Loyang and constructed another cave shrines at nearby Longmen [Fig. 5] below. As limestone was used to sculpt the figures, it allowed the Chinese artists to add more sophisticated details in the head and arms of the figures compared to figures sculpted using sandstones. Even though the style of the drapery is still the same as [Fig. 4], there is more rhythm and flow in the loose fitting robes worn by the Buddha in [Fig. 5]. Confucianism is a philosophy that encouraged conformity, piety and logical thoughts, and this philosophy was deeply rooted to the Chinese before Buddhism came. With regards to Confucianism moral on exposed skin, the native Chinese strongly discourage the exposure of the body, although the clothing might be loose enough to reveal part of the chest. The

When the Buddhist Sutra in Forty-two Section was brought to China and was translated to Chinese, Buddha was similar to Chinese legends which consist of supernatural immortals, longevity, changeability, and flying abilities. The Taoists saw Buddhism a new way of gaining immortality and felt that the Buddhist’s Nirvana was similar to Taoist’s salvation.16 As a result, some of the Buddhist doctrines from India came into China were translated into Chinese using some of the Taoism terms, causing Buddhism and Taoism to be almost similar. The constant interactions with the West along the Silk Road, and the Chinese who were not influenced by Taoism searching for the original form of Buddhism in India, changed the style of Buddhism art and the religion again. Buddhism no longer has the close connections with Taoism and Confucianism. Hence the body of the figure became visible again, linear patterns and decorations were discarded and simplified to portray the monastic cloths on the body