Buddhism in China DBQ A little before the Tang dynasty there was the Han dynasty where Confucianism was a staple of daily life and government. When the Han dynasty dissolved and the Tang dynasty took authority. Buddhism began to spread widely all over China. Buddhism was met with all types of responses: some saw buddhism as a threat to Confucian family values, while some saw Buddhism as a way to disregard worldly pleasures and luxuries that would only bring them harm, and lastly some mixed on the concept of Buddhism had an issue with the ascetic lifestyle led by its followers. One of the responses to Buddhism in China was that it was thought that Buddhism was a threat to Confucian family values.
While Chinese initially accepted Buddhism and defended its policies, over the centuries others increasingly scrutinized Buddhism’s absence from past texts and used it as a scapegoat for political and social problems. When there was no empire to enforce laws, Buddhism gained popularity, but after imperial authority reemerged, Buddhism faced mounting opposition. An additional document that shows the actual numbers of converts to Buddhism during this time, preferably in a graph, would be useful in determining whether or not the worries of the authors in documents against Buddhism were grounded. For a few centuries after arriving in China, Chinese defended and supported Buddhism. Zhi Dun praised Buddhism as providing a path to nirvana, though as an upper class scholar who probably did not personally feel threatened by invading nomads, his testimony does not necessarily reflect the danger lower classes likely felt.
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.
Following the fall of the Han dynasty came the decline of practicers of the Confucian philosophy because of the downfall of the elite class and a centralized government. Buddhism, a religion with it’s roots from north India, has found its presence in China during the time when trade, along the silk roads, was crucial in all parts of Eurasia. Although the spread of Buddhism in China was greeted with devotion from new converts who supported the religion by spreading it and combining their cultures with the religion, it also was rejected by the ruling elite who opposed the spread of the religion that impacted China for the next following centuries.
To begin with, as stated before Buddhism was quite popular amongst the people of China. This is evident in the caves at Longmen, near Luoyang
Buddhism is an ancient religion that originated from India and gradually traveled to China through cultural diffusion . Many of the Chinese people liked Buddhism, which was also referred to as a “barbaric religion” according to the traditionalist. The Chinese saw their society as sophisticated and superior to any of the new ideas coming from the advance trade routes throughout their country known as the Silk roads. Due to the fall of the Han Dynasty and it’s chaos that it created, Buddhism was a peaceful distraction that gave people optimism when their government failed because of corruption and political disunity. Before Buddhism religions such as Daoism and Confucianism were popular in China, because of Buddhism, followers of the traditional
Buddhism, since it is a foreign religion can never match the true beauty and value of a religion such as Confucianism that is a classic in Chinese culture. An anonymous Chinese scholar once argued about how “If Buddhism is the greatest and most venerable of ways, why did the great sages of the past and Confucius not practice it? In the Confucian Classics no one mentions it” (Doc 3). Not only did the anonymous Chinese scholar consider Buddhism as “outlandish”, but he makes an argument stating that if it was so great, why were the principles of Buddhism not incorporated into Confucianism, a religion that has been around much longer and has had greater influence. Buddhism also did not bode well with the reemergence of the imperial authority as jealousy arose among the elites since Buddhist monasteries were able to evade taxes, but continue to gain funds and riches.
Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism are all religious systems held at a high value in East Asian culture and their practices tend to be blended together. All of these religions also highly value our earth as living beings, the only difference is that Daoism and Confucianism sees them as deities and Buddhism does not worship the elements of the earth (Fisher p.189,192). Daoism also values great mental and physical discipline like the Buddhist religion; thus they have similar practices to the Buddhist ones that practice Zen. Through meditation they are able to maintain a mental and physical state of health and find some inner peace. Daoism also practices detachment from people and objects so that they can have a clear, realistic mindset.
World religion such as Christianity and Buddhism contain a figure respectively that is spiritually supernatural and greater than human. Comparing Confucianism to Daoism, Daoism did not go through so much controversy as there are Daoist priest and Shaman stated explicitly in the doctrine of Daoism. Moreover, Kang Youwei who started this controversy advocated the worshipping of Confucius and he believed that the Confucian teachings are based on the Mandate of Heaven (Chen, 2012). Ren Jiyu recognized Confucius as its religious founder and proposed that Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism which is the transformed form of Confucianism worshipped tian (天), di (地), jun (君), qin (亲), shi (师) which are heaven, earth, emperors, ancestors and teachers (Chen, 2012).
Introduction Daoism and Buddhism are two different religions that guide people how to live a good life. They also teach the important values of life to people. They have similar beliefs as both of them believe in the life after death and cycle of life never end. However, Daoism and Buddhism have different views and beliefs about the life after death. In Buddhism, it aims to obtain the enlightenment and releases from the cycle of rebirth and death.
Daoism and Confucianism are very different philosophies. The thought of the two ruling together is very hard and unrealistic to imagine, but not impossible. Both believe in very basic morals such as, not stealing, cheating, lying, or killing. They also believe in treating people well. Daoism strongly believes every living thing including bugs are equal.
While the Daoist purpose as the pro creator of the cosmos and everything in it to recognize the universal importance of the human body, physical
1 Daoism and Confucianism are both widely misunderstood in the Western culture. People who practice and follow Daoism are called Daoists; while, people who practice and follow Confucianism are called Confucians. The word “Dao” is equivalent to the word of way, path, and road. In which, the significance of the meaning refers to the Daoist’s religion of the natural way of life. On the other hand Confucianism originated as a Western term, in which it focuses on ethics and education.
Similarities and Differences between Confucianism and Daoism Doaism and Confucianism are the top two ancient styles of living in China, where they both originated in 550 B.C.E (before common era). I believe that Daoism and Confucianism are both the top religions/styles of living in Ancient China, while they have some similarities they are much more different than they are similar. Both are not only ways of living but, they are a way of life. Confucianism is the belief in setting good examples for other people to follow. They are based off of the five key relationships of the ancient chinese society.
Although China held great spiritual appreciation for the gods of nature its most powerful, and divine of the spirits were those of deceased ancestors who they believed rested in heaven and served as a link between earth and heaven. This relationship of believing in many gods was expressed through worshiping ancestors, and sacrificial rituals for the many
