Buddhism in China

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Buddhism came to China and what the main problems of assimilation associated with its introduction into the country were. More specifically, the paper looks at Buddhism's assimilation into the country taking into account the rulers of the time, the people and their beliefs and the other religions that already existed in China at the time that Buddhism was introduced.

From the Paper:

"As a result a series of dictatorships ruled after the Han dynasty while Confucianism was discredited by the collapse of the old order. Confucianism failed to save the Empire from shattering into the pieces. Its prescribed relationship between the ruler and the subjects proved to be unsuccessful. It did not protect the gentry and scholars whose lives were dependent on the old monarchy. Additionally, as it was the official state doctrine of the Han dynasty it was strongly connected with the old regime that failed and new dynasties could not easily be persuaded to accept it as their doctrine. The elite was however, not too happy with Taoism either, and although present, Buddhism was "still in the process of being translated and adapted" (Wright, 7). This was because until the 4th century the Han Emperors permitted only foreigners to build monasteries and enter the new religion (Ch'en, 45) and because the early interpretation of the religion were closely tied with Taoism and done using Taoism terminology."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Andreasen, Esben. Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion and Culture. Richmond: Japan Library, 1998.
• Ch'en, Kenneth K. S. Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964.
• Soothill, W. E. Three Religions of China. London: Oxford University Press, 1923.
• Wright, Arthur F. Studies in Chinese Buddhism. Robert M. Somers (ed.) New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990.
• Zurcher, E. The Buddhist Conquest of China. Vol. 1. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1972

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• Comparison Essay # 41620 : "Buddhism in China and Japan."

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