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Buddhism Dbq Essay

497 Words2 Pages

Due to China’s Warring Period after the Han Dynasty, Buddhism gained popularity because no imperial authority was around to enforce laws. Once an empire rose to power, Buddhism was turned against. Initially the Chinese defended Buddhism and its policies, but after centuries, others increasingly analyzed how Buddhism had not presence in older documents. Buddhism began to be blamed for the political and social problems of Chinese society. An additional document, such as a graph, that demonstrates actual numbers of Buddhist converts of this time period would help determine if the given documents’ author’s statements about Buddhism were accurate. After Buddhism’s arrival in China, the Chinese defended the policies and beliefs of Buddhism. Zhi Dun described Buddhism as providing a way to reach nirvana, or total enlightenment. Due to Zhi Dun’s position as an upper class scholar, his writing doesn’t reflect the lower classes’ feeling of danger due to invading nomads. As an upper class scholar, Zhi Dun was not directly threatened by such nomads. (Doc #2) As …show more content…

Han Yu ridiculed Buddhism as “a cult of barbarian peoples.” (Doc #4) Han Yu’s statement on Buddhism reflects his position in the imperial court as well as his status as a Confucian scholar, though additional evidence from the imperial court is necessary to know how influential Han Yu actually was over the official policy. Empress Wu wanted Buddhism to be eradicated because of the belief that Buddhism was the cause for poisoning customs. As the Empress, this Edict was highly influential, but it is also possible that Wu believed that the Buddhist monasteries outshined the imperial palace and based the Edict off of jealousy more than true concern for her subjects. An additional document showing the cause of deaths of citizens could help evaluate if Buddhism actually caused citizens to go hungry as Empress Wu claimed. (Doc

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The main theme that entangles itself in all of the source material is the idea of how governments should be run in such a powerful empire, such as Imperial Rome and the Han Dynasty. Starting with the first source, it is evident that the first Qin emperor believed that only the orthodox teachings should be tolerated, which meant that the works of the Five Classics and its teachings were to be extinguished. The next primary source serves as a supplement to explaining the fall of the Qin dynasty due to its warring ideas and Jia Yi argues that if Confucius teachings were implemented then the dynasty would have still been intact. The third source explains how the Qin dynasty was unjust in its equal appropriation of punishment against criminals regardless of motives or social class. Essentially, Dong Zhongshu believed that a dynasty could not be successful if it failed to establish a fair and righteous justice system for its citizens.

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489 Words | 2 Pages

DBQ Different people in China had different views on the spread of Buddhism. Buddhism was a religion, created in India (6th century B.C.E) and spread to China (1st Century). After Buddhism, China started to experience political problems. Many people believed this was caused by Buddhism. Some people sided with the belief and praised Buddha saying he has much to offer, while others repelled it for the effect of the ideas on China.

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687 Words | 3 Pages

The religion of Buddhism first appeared in India during the sixth century B.C.E and its teachings migrated to China by the first century C.E., gradually winning over the Chinese people following the collapse of the Han dynasty in 220 C.E. Buddhist influence continued its expansion in China for several centuries. Throughout Chinese history, China reacted to the spread of Buddhism within its empire in several ways: some valued its policies for their implications in Chinese culture, others condemned Buddhist ideals for not being original to the empire, while many remained indifferent towards Buddhism and its spread. Support for the spread of Buddhism became most evident among Chinese scholars. An anonymous scholar believed that the old Confucian philosophies of China were nothing in comparison to the greatness of Buddhism, even going as far as to compare the sages to the Buddha as swallows to a phoenix (document 3). Additionally, he admires the dedication that the Buddhist monks showed; the monks enjoyed the act of living and inaction, freeing themselves from worldly pleasure.

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1137 Words | 5 Pages

In the first document the Buddha puts importance on the steps to talking about the ending of suffering. This is why so many people decided to join the religion of the Buddha, many people who were poor were struggling because many lives were lost as the nation of China had unstable governmental leaders. Then again, this is why a lot of the wealthy people could not relate to Buddhism, they were not struggling and have an extravagant lifestyle (Document 6). Zhi Dun, who was pro Buddhist spoke about how the understanding and the acceptance of the Buddhist is important in China because the people in China who are wealthy don’t understand what it means to be a Buddha because they are lost in their wealthy life style. During upsetting eras, for example the time period after the Han yu’s fall, people would join Buddhism to be able to believe that they had the potential of a release from the physical world and escape to a better place where they could find enlighten (Document 4).

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964 Words | 4 Pages

Most of the civilization was uninterested in the religion, as seen in Document 1. The Asian monk and scholar wrote about how they saw it as equal to other religions, yet were incurious about it. The Qin monk is trying to persuade others to convert to buddhism, so when they die they will reach Nirvana and it will ‘Free them from all fear and keep them from falling into the evil paths of existence. Buddhism first became popular, when Kumarajiva himself translated these Buddhist texts into Chinese. This made the texts available to all, and laid the foundation for the acceptance of Buddhism.

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697 Words | 3 Pages

However, Quan kept talking about Yesu, “I will say the name of Yesu” (Alcorn, 162). The reader can notice that monks do not like to hear the name of Yesu in their temple and they do not like Christians. Also, China’s government believes that “Christians are the cause of economic problems…” (Alcorn, 99).

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

The novel Monkey: Journey to the West is one of the greatest classics of Chinese literature. The novel follows the adventure of Tripitaka followed by the protagonist, monkey and his disciples to India in order to find ancient Buddhist scriptures. The story consists of Chinese legends, tales, and superstitions. Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, which are the three main religions in China, play a huge role throughout this story. In the adaptation of Monkey: Journey to the West by David Kherdian, religions are often woven in to the journey of the traveling companion in order to show the path toward self-cultivation and collective harmony.

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382 Words | 2 Pages

According to Earhart, the early Christian mission was a failure because of the exclusiveness of Christianity. Christianity did not spread well in Japan because it did not accommodate any other Japanese religions of the time. Earhart believed that the ”stark contrast with the Japanese religion” is what caused Christianity to be expulsed from Japan (Earhart 165). Another interesting point Earhart makes is comparing the early spread of Christianity to the development of other forms of Buddhism. To Earhart, the spread of Buddhism and other religions in Japan is attributed to the “relative instability of the social and political situation” of that time (Earhart 163).

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468 Words | 2 Pages

The influence of Buddhism in China arose religious conflicts. One big similarity is the attack of outside invasions. Nomads lead several attacks on Rome and China. These attacks called for big armies, armies that the neither of them had. Therefore, the nomads overtook China and

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1095 Words | 5 Pages

“Buddhist thought governed how aristocrats saw the world; Buddhist institutions became a powerful political and economic force.” Throughout the Heian period two of the most prominent sects of Buddhism, Shingon and Tendai, implemented large political and ideological impacts. Kukai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, attracted many aristocratic followers bringing artistic elements and influential Chinese ideas that aided in the validation of imperial and state power. Within Tendai Buddhism, Saicho developed a rich cosmopolitan community that promoted the protection and validation of the Japanese state. In the Heian period, sects of Buddhism represented different ideologies and exercised different impacts, acting as separate geographical foundations

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250 Words | 1 Pages

Daoism and Confucianism were two major growing religions that became popular in East Asia, which spread to Japan and Korea. Daoism and Confucianism, even though they both are opposite of each other, they are valued in the East Asian society. Chinese people refer to their religious practice as worshipping and temples include images from “Three Teachings”. Archeological finds that elements of present Chinese religious ways are still popular and institutionalized, which were practiced long ago. Evidence show that people worshiped their ancestors.

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1686 Words | 7 Pages

Matthew Truong A09941133 “This paper has been prepared in accordance with the Academic Senate Policy on Integrity of Scholarship.” -Signed Electronically Neo-Legalism According to the historical context in “A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy,” translated and compiled by Wing-Tsit Chan, China experienced the most change in the twentieth century compared to any other periods in its history (Chan, p. ix). “If one word could be used to characterize the entire history of ancient Chinese philosophy, that word would be humanism — not the humanism that denies or slights a Supreme Power, but one that professes the unity of man and Heaven” (Chan, p. 03). If one name could be used to represent the origin of all ancient Chinese

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421 Words | 2 Pages

a. Religion and other realms of culture are especially problematic in China because “the realm of religion easily shades into the realms of medicine, astronomy, philosophy, government, and more.” (Lesson 5-1) Moreover, when Buddhism entered China in about the third century of the Common Era, it mingled with Daoism. (Lesson 7-11) “Today Daoism as a popular religion is so thoroughly intermixed with Buddhism and local folk religions that it is impossible to separate them.” (Lesson 7-11) Therefore, it is possible to socialize with people whose religion is different from your

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1202 Words | 5 Pages

Before Buddhism spread in China, there were indigenous Confucianism and Taoism in that land. However, Confucianism could not be regarded as a religion in its true sense, and the influence of Taoism was rather limited. The introduction of Buddhism enabled common people in China with a new religious faith and the ideas of Karma and Reincarnation enriched Chinese people's spiritual life. Buddhism ushered in a profound and pervasive revolution in Chinese culture. A series of new philosophical concepts for understanding of the universe and individual soul were brought into China by Buddhism [6].

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1811 Words | 8 Pages

If a scholar of Confucianism or any other philosophy had written this, then preaching for one to remove their desires would not be the answer. More likely than not, people would have been panicked without a philosophy to calm the nation. Zhi Dun is spreading Buddhism and its values to guide anyone who needs it during this worrying time, consequently people are less afraid of what would be to come. Six centuries later, a leading Buddhist scholar Zong Mi describes how religions and philosophies are important to Chinese society and provide order in places in which they are used. Zong Mi states that all Chinese philosophies “encourage the perfection of good deeds, punish the wicked ones, and reward good ones.”

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