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.
Government officials in China rebuked Buddhism as corrupting the Confucian belief system that was in place, after the imperial structure was restored in 570 C.E. These Chinese officials responded hostilely to Buddhism’s spread throughout China as Han Yu, a leading Confucian scholar ridiculed Buddhism as “no more than a cult of barbarian peoples spread to China.” (Doc 4) Due to Han Yu’s position as an official in the Tang imperial court, his belief of Buddhism being a barbarian religion suggests that this idea was an
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Zong Mi, a leading Buddhist scholar defends Buddhism by praising it as it was established “according to the demands of the age and the needs of various beings” during a time of need. (Doc 5) Also, in Zong Mi’s defense of Buddhism he is careful not to criticize Confucianism or Daoism as to avoid angering Emperor Wu after his revival of the imperial structure, instead he calls the founder’s of these religions “perfect sages.” (Doc 5) On the other hand, the Buddha simply lays out the basic principles of how to achieve nirvana in the Buddhist tradition of “The Four Noble Truths.” These traditions come straight from the Buddha’s sacred texts, so it suggests that all followers of the Buddha would share these same beliefs. In addition, this document does not explicitly encourage the spread of Buddhism or advise against its opposing religion of Confucianism. In fact, these two documents remain pretty indifferent towards Buddhism’s spread into China, only defending it when