Challenges Of Buddhism In China

After imperial structure was restored, the Chinese began to disapprove of Buddhism (docs 4, 6). Chinese government authorities increasingly saw Buddhism as a threat to their political power and moved to discredit it. Imperial Tang advisor Han Yu saw Buddhism as evil, anti-Confucian, and illegal (doc 4). Han Yu’s position and livelihood greatly depends on Confucianism remaining dominant, especially due to the civil service system, which provided him with his government job. Due to this, he is not a very reliable source on how the average citizen and even the Chinese emperor felt about Confucianism remaining dominate (doc 4, POV).

Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism each have their own ideal practitioners described in their teachings. These ideal practitioners provide a role-model and an ideal path for their followers. They also help followers and outsiders understand the important values of each tradition.

Religions have existed for millenniums, cultivation and sculpting the old world into what it is today. Each religion is unique in its own sense, meaning that each religion is its own mix, it’s own jam. Every one of these jams, or religions, have been spread across nations. Some jams are smooth like butter, finding easy acceptance and even easier assimilation, whereas some jams are chunky and laden with difficulties. Buddhism’s jam was one of interesting circumstance, containing a vary of smooth and chunky consistency. Ultimately, the response to the spread of Buddhism in China was mainly positive acceptance, but at certain times, negative.

“Communication is the key to a successful relationship, attentiveness, and consistency. Without it, there is no relationship,” (Bleau). The Joy Luck Club is a novel written by Amy Tan. Set in the twentieth century, this novel depicts the life of four Chinese immigrant women escaping their past and their American-grown daughters. The novel reveals the mothers’ hardship-filled past and motivations alongside with the daughters’ inner conflicts and struggles. Throughout the entire novel, the mothers and daughters face inner struggles, family conflict, and societal collision. The divergence of cultures produces tension and miscommunication, which effectively causes the collision of American morals, beliefs, and priorities with Chinese culture which

From 1450 to 1750, global networks began to expand. Though not every part of the world was involved in these expanding global networks, countries like China were. This was the time period of the Ming and the Qing Dynasties. There were changes and continuities with China’s participation in the global networks around this time period. During the time period between 1450 and 1750, China limited outside influence and their participation in the Silk Road Trading remained constant in global network trading, while there were significant changes in China’s participation in global networks such as Chinese converts to the Christian religion and China’s demand for an alternative medium of exchange.

As Buddhism spread from India to China at the beginning of the first century C.E., it was received with differing opinions ranging from advocating to discouraging its spread from opposing social classes within China, ranging from government officials, Buddhist scholars, and Confucian scholars.

Some Chinese scholars and officials praised Buddhism for its focus on peace, enlightenment and the curbing of the desires in an effort to reduce suffering in the world. Zhi Dun, a scholar, author and confidant of high-ranking Chinese aristocrats and officials, firmly asserted this view in Document 2, going as far as to say that the Chinese who rigorously practice the Buddhist faith will enter Nirvana and meet the Buddha face-to-face. This suggests that many were firm believers

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. (Doc #2) Over time other scholars felt the need to create logical “instruction manuals for how to defend Buddhism against illogical

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.

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.

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. There was even more criticism especially from Confucian scholar, Han Yu “to greet the finger bone of Buddha…there will be those in the crowd who will cut off their arms and mutilate their flesh in offering to Buddha” (Doc 4). Yu criticized Buddhism with it being a disgrace to their tradition because before Buddhism, one would never imagine bringing something as unholy as dead body part

Buddhism arose in India, and eventually spread to and influenced China after the fall of the Han Dynasty. Political instability also arrived somewhat after the arrival of Buddhism in China, but that stability was reestablished after 570 C.E. China, at the time of their instability, was under a Legalist structure enforced by Qin Shihuangdi, and after the fall of the Qin, it was under the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty arose in 206 B.C.E, unifying China and ruling under a Confucian structure. The responses to the spread of Buddhism in China between 500 B.C.E to the 9th century C.E varied in the author’s outlook as to how Buddhism changed the lifestyle, effected Chinese tradition, and caused a division of political structure.

The fall of Rome was mainly because of plagues wiping out most of the population. The fall of the Han dynasty began from decentralized rule. However, outside invasions had an effect on the fall of both classical civilizations.

The Chinese practice and exercise of Falun Gong has a short history. But it plays an important role in China for political reasons. The history of Falun Gong is only ten years old. But the ideas and practices is based on a tradition throughout the entire history of the Chinese civilization. The practice is a different form of qigong. The cultivation of qi or the energy that flows throughout the human body and the universe, has been a theory in many different practices of Chinese culture. Even the traditional Chinese medicine is partially based on the theory of qi. During the ten years history, Falun Gong has developed millions of participants and followers. It also got a lot of attention from many others including the Chinese government. However

The traditional Chinese cultures have a development process for thousand years, now we are creating another kind of traditional culture especially under the wave of globalization. Although the form of expressing or performing the culture experienced some changes but the basic idea and belief behind rarely changed. To promote Chinese culture we would refer to the essence of Chinese wisdom so the following is actual practicing of different dimensions of Chinese traditions which show the beauty of China.