Buddhism Dbq Essay

768 Words4 Pages

Buddhism has been and still is important to the Chinese culture, affecting many traditions and ways of life. Many scholars and political figures have reacted differently to the affect of Buddhism and how it has spread through the 6 chinese dynasties, by believing its effect, disagreeing, and have no say. Many different scholars believe in the success of Buddhism across the 6 dynasties. Many ruins of Buddhism are around China which help lead many scholars to believe that Buddhism had an affect on the different dynasties. For example, document 2 is a picture of Buddha carved out of a rocky cliff that was near the Tang capital. The statue in the image shows the importance that Buddhism had on the society where they worshiped Buddha and his teachings. …show more content…

Many of scholars believe that Buddhism was not the main teaching in early China. As many of the scholars see that Confucism was an active teaching or philosophy during the same time as Buddhism. For example, in document 2, Confucius has written records, while Buddhism does not, “Confucian Classics do not contain everything...Buddha is not mentioned.(Document 3)” In document 3, they also used the comparison of Confucius to Buddha, “white deer to a unicorn... swallow to a phoenix,(Document 3)” which is the comparison of a real animal to a fantasy animal. The authors purpose is to show that Confucius is the a real teaching in China while Buddhism was not and just an idea. Finally, many people did not believe that Buddha had any affiliation with China and the dynasties. Buddha did not speak Chinese nor wear Chinese cultural clothes and he came from India which leads many scholars to believe he did not have an effect. For example, “...to say that Buddha is no more than a cult… did not exist here in ancient time.(Document 4)” The point of view of the author is against Buddhism and does not believe that Buddhism had any correlation with China. Many scholars disagree and have no say with the success of Buddhism in …show more content…

During early China, many religions, teachings, or philosophies acted as the main or leading idea of the civilization. Thus leading scholars not able to know which one had more an effect on China. The author of document 5 does not choose a side and has equal amount of regard. For example, “all three teachings lead to the creation of an orderly society… must be observed with respect.(Document 5)” The point of view of the author in document 5 was to show that all three teachings happened at the same time and we are unable to know which one had an effect, although the author had a high level of respect. Many scholars will say that statutes or written records would show proof of existence in China, however many would disagree. Leaving some scholars not able to take a side with the evidence that is left. For example, in document 1, an excerpt of “ The Four Noble Truths,” is one of the teachings of Buddha. This excerpt does not give enough information whether or not scholars can pick a side. Many scholars are not able to decipher evidence which lead them to be unsure of Buddhism in