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Response To Buddhism Dbq Essay

795 Words4 Pages

Although Buddhism originated in the sixth century B.C.E, it quickly spread to China by the first century C.E. Buddhism was both accepted and adopted by many, but also opposed by just as many at the same time. Still some Chinese citizens chose to neither fully adopt or fully oppose the religion, but rather incorporated unique Chinese traditions into Buddhism and also created new traditions from it. Buddhism’s spread in China was met with many different responses. However, the mix of responses could be due to the fact that Buddhism’s arrival fell in the middle of a period of instability for China. Documents 2 and 3 are both in favor of Buddhism. Document 2, written by Zhi Dun, speaks of the actions one must take to truly be a follower of the …show more content…

Documents 1 and 5 do not directly show support or contempt for Buddhism, but rather give another perspective of the religion. Document 1 comes from a sermon preached by the Buddha himself. “The Four Noble Truths” shows us the basic guidelines of the religion. This information is vital because many people who just simply chose a side of the fight for or against Buddhism may not actually know what the religion represents. By reading the sermon, the Chinese citizens could form a better understanding of Buddhism. Document 5 is from the writings of Zong Mi, a Buddhist scholar. Zong Mi compares the Buddha to other sages such as Confucius and Laozi. He does this because although someone may support one sage, they could disagree with another. He says however, that all three teachings should be observed the same. An additional document that could be helpful in the analyzation of the question would perhaps be a simple account of Buddhism from a lower class citizens point of view. Although the documents all analyzed Buddhism to a great extent, they were all from Chinese scholars or emperors. A low class citizen could tell us whether or not Buddhism affects the impoverished in positive or negative

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999 Words | 4 Pages

Before Buddhism’s rise to popularity, Han China focused on distinctive practices, such as the Confucian way. This raises the question, how did Buddhism affect the role of women in China after the popularity of the Confucian practices in the Han Dynasty? Ban Zhao’s Lessons for a Woman explain how based on the Confucian doctrines, a woman’s fundamental duty was to serve others by putting others before herself, and this is observed even from their birth, all the way to their duties as a wife. In contrast, Buddhism, would change women’s role positively because they were regarded as equals to men, and they had agency, as illustrated in the Buddhist Doctrines and Practices by Wei Shou et al. However, some scholars may argue that Buddhism did not

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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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530 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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1154 Words | 5 Pages

The next document, given by Tang Emperor Wu, is an edict that was sent out concerning Buddhism, likely the same one that resulted in the destruction of numerous Buddhist temples and that mandated that many monks and nuns to reenter the workforce. Using a furious tone, the account again cites the fact that Buddhism was not completely aligned with Confucianism and Chinese tradition as a reason for eliminating the faith. Wu called Buddhism a bane on society, reasoning that it weakened families and caused

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1143 Words | 5 Pages

Buddhism gained the endorsement of a series of emperor, plus the Buddhist mentality and response to negativity allowed Buddhism to spread in Chinese society. A great examples of how monks would react was when a monk was asked why Buddha was not mentioned in the great Confucian classic and so the monk answered “All written works need not necessarily be the words of Confucius. To compare the sages to Buddha would be like comparing deer to a unicorn.. ”(Doc 4) here you can clearly see the tone of relaxation and understanding that the monk uses to respectfully answer the question of the Confucian scholar with utmost respect, at no moment does the monk feels hate because his faith is being questioned and at no moment does he demonstrate hate in his response toward the scholar. The Buddhist peaceful and humble nature on top of teaching that promised happiness and prosperity made it so Buddhist were not disliked by everybody in China.

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641 Words | 3 Pages

Buddhism offered a comforting and stable option for all including aristocrats and upper-class citizens in times of

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1137 Words | 5 Pages

The spread of Buddhism in East Asia had great success when the region became a center of learning for monks and scholars. Merchants in Central Asia came to the region for trade, and as they learned about Buddhism, they accepted this cultural adaptation. When the Chinese had their first contact with Buddhism through people from central Asia, who were already Buddhist, this religion expanded itself through the Chinese empire. As an interest was established for Buddhism in China, monastic orders were established causing political disputes between the emperor and Buddhists for the centuries to come. During the Han Dynasty, Buddhism enjoyed a great state support; however, after the collapse of the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty influences

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497 Words | 2 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.

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1732 Words | 7 Pages

Buddhism, initially widely accepted in China over the centuries has been criticized. Rather than having a positive effect, Buddhism has been condemned due to its “barbaric” nature in comparison to Confucianism. Buddhism was a faith that has been deemed as an outcast due to it only being recently adopted in China. Before Buddhism, Confucianism was the religion that dominated from 206-220 BC, originating in China by a Chinese philosopher known as Confucius. Buddhism is a universal religion that originated during the 6th century BC in India and was practiced in various regions, and came to prevail in China due to the fall of the Han Dynasty; China, lacking political structure, turned towards Buddhism.

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346 Words | 2 Pages

The response of the spread of Buddhism in China was met with a variety of attitudes. Many Confucianists took offense to the introduction of a new way of life and questioned the validity of the religion. In The Disposition of Error, Chinese Buddhists were met with a barrage of difficult questions, including, “why did… Confucius not practice it?… no one mentions

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1344 Words | 6 Pages

In 1939, World War II began in Europe between the Allied powers and the Axis powers. The Second World War started as a result of residual anger and frustration from the Germans left over from the Great War. The Great War was the first time advanced technology such as the airplane, machine gun, tank, and submarine, was seen or even used in warfare. From the end of the Great War to the end of World War II, technology had progressed at an extraordinary rate. (ontextualization statement).

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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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479 Words | 2 Pages

Since the descriptiveness in The Buddha in the Attic is rare to find in any writing at all, I feel a textbook author’s biases and moral judgements could come in the way of the

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267 Words | 2 Pages

Buddhism has the four noble

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1258 Words | 6 Pages

It can be said that opposites attract as well as complement each other. Within the religions of Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto lay harmony, respect, and ethical behavior towards nature, ancestors, oneself, and others. Although Daoism and Confucianism are native to China and Shinto to Japan, East Asian cultures integrate these religions and practices with openness and acceptance. They are the light and dark without reference to good or bad as the opposites necessitate one another. (Fisher, 2014, 201) Instead the interwoven religions of Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto compliment each other in addition to having distinct differences.

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