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Spread Of Buddhism Dbq Essay

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The introduction of Buddhism to China started off well, most openly accepted the foreign religion and it continued to thrive for centuries. Until the lack of an empire and laws plagued individuals minds. Other religions with a strong imperial structure, such as Confucianism, rose to support the growing number of negative minds. Buddhism was spread by Buddhist missionaries from India into China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). It was, at first, confined to only the higher status individuals, like aristocrats and Chinese royalty. Other religions such as Islam and Confucianism were flourishing around this time as well. Buddhism arriving in China resulted in various responses, some were positive and accepted the religion, but after a while …show more content…

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. (Doc. …show more content…

The Anonymous Chinese Scholar defended Buddhism even with his possibly high status in society, due to his obvious literacy. (Doc. 3) He was trying to encourage religions to coexist with one another. The document suggests Buddhist’s were put under more pressure to present evidence that they’re worthy enough to coexist with Confucianism or Islam.He most likely kept his identity a secret, due to fear of persecution. This document was written in 500 CE, between the Han and Sui Dynasties, when there was no dynasty set in tact. The scholar was trying to encourage religions to coexist with one another. Zong Mi was a Buddhist scholar who was arguing for Buddhism and the equality of religions. He states ‘All three teachings lead to the creation of an orderly society’. (Doc. 5) He recognizes that all religions or philosophies (including Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism) should be accepted together and that people who practice Buddhism don’t bring harm to anyone. Similar to document 5, document 3 supports Buddhism while acknowledging the increasing hostility towards Buddhism in the Chinese society.
Zhi Dun created this document during the times of war and political uncertainty. (Doc. 2) Most political leaders could not be trusted, due to no definite dynasty at this time, so people relied on certainty in their culture. Zhi Dun was a very trusted upperclass

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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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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.

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Others tried to lift Buddha to the other ideas of Chinese philosophers so they could all rule China. Examples of people who sided with Buddhism are documents 2 and 3. Document 2 talks about the advantages of converting to Buddhism. When someone of this religion dies, the will be inputted into Nirvana, a heaven

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In Doc. 4, Han Yu, a Confucian scholar, discussed the idea of having a procession into the palace in which the finger bone of Buddha, retrieved from India, was to be displayed to the people. He saw this as ludicrous and disgusting, recalling that The Buddha was foreign, did not mention Chinese thinkers or kings and did not honor the central Confucian concept of the hierarchy and the family. Han Yu believed that, if The Buddha were alive, he would be sent away and unable to “delude”, or trick and deceive, the Chinese people. This account is hateful, calling Buddhism an “evil”. This shows that some scholars felt threatened by the foreign ideas flowing from India and believed that Buddhism was in no way beneficial to China.

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From the collapse of Han Dynasty in 220 CE to the Tang Dynasty in 907 CE the spread of Buddhism had varying positive and negative responses. From positive responses like economic and political sponsoring from rulers during different periods to negative responses as social dislike and disregard as Buddhism was considered to go against Confucianism ideals and believes and screw with proper Chinese society. Buddhism first entered China during the Han dynasty, before this Buddhism had not spread far from its country of origin India and was unknown to Chinese this can be seen when Emperor Wu himself says “We have Heard the Buddha was never spoken of before the Han dynasty; from then on the religions of idols gradually came to prominence.”(Doc 7)

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By calling Buddhist followers Barbarians in an angry tone, it challenges the ideas taught by Buddha, Confucianism protects their culture (Document 5). The emperor of China, Emperor Wu in the year 845 CE would address the people of China showing how the Mandate of Heaven would incorporate Confucian ideas showing these were better for China. Angrily he challenges Buddhism and he orders the people of China to follow the ideologies of the emperor. In China, Buddha was never spoken of before the Han dynasty so because of this no one should follow Buddhist ideals, because it will continue to ruin the Chinese country (Document 7). Buddhism during the Tang Dynasty was seen as a threat to the traditional lifestyle of the Chinese society, and thus receive constant attacks from the emperor and

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Buddhism has influenced China significantly, Buddhism originated in India in the sixth century B.C.E. which progressively moved to China after the fall of the Han dynasty in two-hundred and twenty C.E. During the beginning of the

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The Chinese counterpart, Buddhism, was also able to gain some political power as they were accepted into the court of Kubilai Khan, along with

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Buddhism, being founded by Buddha, spread through many trade routes religious missionaries sent by Ashoka. Through these Missionaries, Buddhism was able to reach many places, with one of these places being China. When Buddhism first arrived to China, it was met with mixed reactions which soon define Buddhism rough transition and diffusion into Chinese custom. Buddhism's advancement into China was a direct result of Buddhist monks emphasizing the spiritual benefits of Buddhism. In response to this; Buddhism was accepted by some while Confucian scholars and other high officials rejected it because they believed it was detrimental to China.

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In document #6, Tang Emperor Wu (845 A.D) expresses his dislike for Buddhist saying “ We have heard the Buddha was never spoken of before the Han Dynasty; from then on the religion of idols gradually came to prominence.” (Doc 6, Wu) The purpose of his writings was to expose Buddhism's faults, and the belief of China being better before the Han dynasty fell and Buddhism took shape. Traditionalist, who read pieces such as the 819 Confucian scholar Han Yu would agree that Buddhism ruined China’s sophisticated ways. Being an official of the Tang imperial court, Han Yu was very influential. “ The Buddha’s sayings contain nothing about our ancient kings and the Buddha’s manner of dress did not conform to our laws” (Doc 4, Yu)

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As stated in “Document 19”, five religions that are legally protected and allowed to practice in China are Buddhism, Daoism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam (Overmyer, 2003). China, the origin of Confucianism has never questioned to recognize it as a religion throughout the Chinese history until late sixteenth century. Kang Youwei as one of the representatives of the Hundred Day’s Reform movement in the late Qing dynasty first proposed that Confucianism should be a state religion (Chan, 1954). However, his intention was only to counteract the influence of western culture and protect their Chinese cultural identity. Approximately 100 years later, the controversy was started again proposed by Ren Jiyu who has emphasized the significance

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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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Primary Source Unit Three Yan Zhitui came from a Buddhism devoted family; it was traditional in his family to turn to Buddhism and not reject it. He strongly believed that a Confucian scholar could also be a committed Buddhist and anyone who rejected Buddhism but believed in Confucius was foolish. Although Confucianism and Buddhism eventually became distinct from “each other in depth and shallowness”(blah 185); they still were essentially the same. Buddhism carried five prohibitions that were similar to the “humanity, justice, propriety, wisdom and sincerity of the Confucianism scriptures” (blah 185).

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In China, Christian missionaries downplayed their mission to convert and were at pains to be respectful of Chinese culture, pointing out parallels between Confucianism and Christianity rather than portraying Christianity as something new and foreign. • Chinese conversions occurred primarily among those elite scholars who were interested in Western science and who were attracted by the personal lives of the missionaries and by the moral certainty that Christianity offered. While their primary goal was elite conversions, missionaries also attracted a small following among members of the general population who were attracted by tales of miracles attributed to the Christian God. However, there was only limited acceptance of Christianity in China

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There were different practices within different schools of Mahayana and this allowed for the Chinese to pick and choose which parts of Buddhism they enjoyed and wanted to practice. The Mahayana doctrines are not seen as a set of beliefs but rather, a medicine for specific spiritual ills. The lack of a concrete scripture led to important Chan ideologies like mind-only, which pose beliefs like the mind being the creator of all things and nothing else exists but thoughts. It was possible to retain original meaning of the Buddhist teachings because everything was written down. The Chinese were curious to know if Buddhism could help them add to their knowledge of elixirs and practices (Intro to Buddhism, 421).

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