The challenges Buddhism faced as it arrived in China were mainly linguistic challenges, different philosophical context, diverse conceptions of the ideal perfect being, and the core differences in social values. In order to overcome these challenges, there were translations made, and efforts put into searching for links between Buddhist and Chinese beliefs at that time. Moreover, there were cultural differences between the North and the South, which lead to a different process of Buddhism’s arrival within China. The first challenge Buddhism faced was the language barrier. Buddhism was based on Sanskrit, so it was necessary to translate the teachings and dialogues from Sanskrit to Chinese. In regards to a language barrier, when the language it different, the culture that is expressed through the language is different. Therefore, the attitudes of the individual, or the philosophical context of the two cultures were different.
This is related the differences in social values. For example, time and space conceptions different, also death and rebirth, the theme of family versus the individual, this world versus the other world, the monastic life, and the role of women. To exemplify such philosophical differences, it can be seen that there
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In the North, religion was closely intertwined with political power. Therefore, many powerful monasteries were built, and a bureaucratic, organized clergy developed. There were entrepreneurial monasteries that handled the land and cash, and protected itself from the attacks by the religions with contradicting views, such as the Daoists and Confucians. On the other hand, South China was not as geographically concentrated and skillful clergies won over cynical scholars though open debates. Buddhism was more of a tool to spread Chinese culture southward and compete against southern cults, instead of being more political like
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.
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.
DBQ 2004: Responses to Buddhism in China In Tang China, Buddhism was seen by some as a peaceful and honorable religion that would improve China, while others met it with scorn, denouncing it as an evil faith that threatened traditional Chinese or Confucianism values. 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.
Ultimately, the response to the spread of Buddhism in China was mainly positive acceptance, but at certain times, negative. As Documents 1 and 2 discuss, one response to the spread of Buddhism was large acceptance. Document 1 explains ‘The Four Noble Truths’ and their significance to the Buddhist way. The main idea is that through ‘The Four Noble Truths’ one can put a stop to their suffering.
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.
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
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.
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.
Religions of the Han and Yuan Dynasties The Religion of the Han and Yuan Dynasties were Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. The religions of these dynasties affected the government and society greatly. During the Han Dynasty the major religion was Confucianism. Buddhism and Daoism were the main religions in the Yuan Dynasty. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism all affected the Chinese government.
(Tan 84). Peoples' communicating leads to the spread of different ideas. Language connects societies figuratively and literally. Culture and language influence people extensively which allow people to be susceptible to miscommunication when a barrier is too vast. Familial relationships disrupt from language barriers.
There are various sources with conflicting information about Bodhidharma arrival in China. The Further Biographies of Eminent Monks is more detailed on the origin in Bodhidharma in that it claims that he traveled to Nanyue (now modern day northern Vietnam and Chinese Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan) during the Liu Song Dynasty. The Liu Song Dynasty ruled from the years 420-479. The Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices claims that Bodhidharma, after giving up his royal life in India, “Put aside his white layman’s robe for the black robe of a monk… and subsequently crossed distant mountains and sea, traveling about and propagating the teaching in Han and Wei.” Han and Wei probably refers to the states of Cao Wei
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
Currently, Japan is often known for having a very distinct culture, cultivated due to their relative isolation as an Island country. Indeed, many people reference the Tokugawa Edicts as the reason for this perception. However, while Japanese civilization is certainly a highly distinctive society, it also has strong ties to Chinese culture that began long before the Tokugawa era. In fact, as early as the first century A.D., the people of Japan were sending missions to China; they established a trade and tribute based relationship. This initial relationship gave way to the later Chinese influence that would shape Japan.
The advent of Buddhism in parts of India took place with the arrival of Xuanzang during the 7th century, a highly educated Buddhist monk who decided to travel all the way through the rugged landscapes and hard, unfavoring climate to the land west of his country, with an aim of collecting information he thought was missing from the local Buddhist manuscriptures, and answers to his questions he thought would only get from the land where Buddha lived and the religion itself originated. “I regretted the teachings [of Buddhism] were not complete, and the scriptures deficient in my own country. I have doubts in my mind, but I could find no one to solve them. That is why I decided to travel through the West”. Xuanzang set out for his journey with one of his most dedicated
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. The family concept is the essence of Chinese culture.