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1. Contrast Buddhism's influence on India's government with Confucianism's influence on China's government.
Buddhism is a religion that teaches peace to all, so when King Asoka of the Mauryan Empire began practicing Buddhism, he ceased expanding the empire. Instead the government diverted its efforts towards creating a road system and building sculptures. Confucianism was based on the teachings of Confucius who preached the practice of “reverence [respect], generosity, truthfulness, diligence [industriousness], and kindness.” Because Wudi wanted his government employees to embody these qualities, Wudi set up schools that would teach these and had examinations for students for students based on these principles. This placed people of wealth
Since the introduction of Buddhism into China, it was not well received by the population as its foreign beliefs clashed with pre-existent principals of Confucianism and Taoism. On top of that, it was alienated by the Confucianism-based government in the late Han Dynasty. All in all, Buddhism was not a common nor a popular religion throughout China at first. Nevertheless, this all changed after the rise of the Tang Dynasty. There is no doubt that Buddhism and the Tang administration under Wu’s reign formed a critical symbiotic relationship with one another. Buddhism played a pivotal role in justifying Empress Wu’s rule. She enthroned herself as the monarch of China, an extraordinarily difficult achievement for a woman in a male-dominant society, by associating herself with Buddhism: proclaiming herself as the Maitreya and that she will bring an utopian era for the Chinese. (Smarr, 17 Feb. 2012) At the same time, Buddhism benefitted handsomely from government support, as monasteries are exempted from tax and that they are financially supported by the state, as seen in A Pilgrim’s Visit to the Five Terraces Mountains, which ultimately resulted in the substantial growth in attraction of Buddhist converts and Buddhism itself. Wu’s extensive support of the religion with ostentatious gifts and donations contributed to the rapid proliferation of Buddhism. Evidently, the mutually benefitting relationship between Buddhism and the state are crucial to each other’s survival during Wu’s sovereignty, but to what extent did her financial support (donations to monasteries) of Buddhism bettered the government overall?
There is no simple answer to this question, especially with the convoluted and entwining relationship between Buddhism and Wu, so we focus on how the religion assisted Wu in grasping power and its indispensable role in the Chinese economy. The close connection between government and religion is not a new concept to the Tang era as it has been well-established prior to its time, and it even survived long after. In the case of Buddhism and Empress Wu, the religion played a pivotal role in justifying her rule, which could explain her special interest in it. Among the Buddhists followers, she was identified as the bodhisattva Maitreya, which helped her gain a sense of legitimacy to her reign, especially in a male-dominant society (Smarr Feb. 17 2012). The association of Buddhism with Wu helped spur Wu’s benevolent policies towards the religion, who benefitted handsome...
Buddhism and Christianity were each founded by one person, and then eventually grew into two of the largest religions in the world. Each religion had different reasons
It has been proven that knowledge is an essential element every community should master. The more information and culture people have, the better they can work and subsidize to their commonality. People would be tutored in every single area, from how to cultivate to the different philosophies. In addition, with their new understanding and their own opinions, they can find other ways to improve these thoughts. Also, Confucianists believed that castigation would not get a society anywhere. As Confucius, the founder of this concept, said that with strict laws people “will avoid wrongdoing but will not be good people”. This means that though they will not break the law, they will still be bad. Also, he thought that “lead[ing] them with virtue and sett[ing] a good example” will make people differ from what is good and what is wrong. Adding onto this, Confucius created a test that would determine if people had what they needed in order to be a leader. This examination was called the Civil Service Exam, and it was open to the public so everyone would be able to take it, since now everyone would have an education and could apply the concepts grasped to make the Empire they lived in a better place. This gave the citizens an opportunity to
Asoka’s conversion to Buddhism, affected with the help of his own teacher, Upragupta, was gradual. Even though he did little to change the system of government he inherited, he introduced a novel and powerful moral idealism, which was a moral rule or way of life in the Buddhist sense, as he understood it. He called this the “Law of Piety.” This law, though following the tenets of the Buddha, was distinct from them and peculiar to Asoka. It was to become one of the great turning points of the civilization of the East, having profound effects throughout the neighboring kingdoms, not least in
Regarding religion, Chinese culture saw the emergence of Confucianism and Buddhism as the major influence. Confucianism stressed filial piety which meant respecting elders and superiors, ruling righteously, and obeying commands and orders. Confucianism was introduced by the Chinese thinker Confucius. Buddhism was brought to China, but originated in India and was founded by Siddhartha Gautama. Followers of Buddhism worshipped Buddh...
Confucianism is a philosophy and way of life formed in China by Confucius, an early Chinese philosopher. It began as a simple concept with ideals of personal virtue, simple filial piety, and basic gender distinctions and social inequalities. But, over time with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism it began to transform into a way of life that was degrading towards women with certain hostilities towards rivaling religions. In its early period, from around 500 B.C.E to the Common Era, Confucianism changed in that it became the leading belief system and a major part of Chinese tradition. From the transition into the Common Era to the end of the Classical time period, Confucianism was altered because of a loss of popularity following the collapse of the Han dynasty and the corruption in the governing political system. In its ending period, the post-classical era, Confucianism underwent perhaps its biggest adjustments with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism. The ideas and virtues presented in the “rebirth of Confucian philosophies” of intolerance of foreign religions and extreme filial piety...
Asoka did not force anyone to adopt Buddhism as his or her faith. Rather, he spread the principles in the hope that people would choose to follow them on their own and lead an ethical life. After Asoka’s death the Mauryan Empire gradually declined (Molloy 138). His Empire may not have survived, but Asoka is known today as one of the greatest rulers of ancient India and the most important figure in Buddhism after the Buddha himself. Buddhism may not be the dominant religion in India today, but there are millions of Buddhism followers worldwide today because of Asoka’s influence. If not for Asoka, Buddhism may have remained an entirely Indian religion. It is due to his influence that Buddhism is practiced worldwide today. His memory will always live on in the Buddhist community.
The well being of people in Ancient China were affected by the philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. According to the graphic organizer, “Confucius taught people to be kind and love mankind. Taoism teaches you to live in harmony and leave nature alone.” This excerpt shows that you should help yourself before others, and live in harmony with nature. The people of India we also affected by the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha, or Siddhartha Gautama, taught that one should live life to a medium, and live on the middle path, a path not
He needed rulers to be good examples for all people and unite individuals as opposed to isolating them into various positions which was a major issue at the time. The Analects passed on Confucius lessons on morals and the social ideas he proposed. Confucius put forward another ethical system focusing on customs duty and dedication to the family. He believed that everyone has a role in society and high status and leadership roles should be given to anyone from any background with education, qualities, and good moral character. This would be no need for social and birth hierarchy but a hierarchy which is based on the person’s character and education. This would also change how the government is run and the way people are treated in the case of caste systems, laws, and punishments. “Confucian thought builds on the fundamental Chinese world view of this time (that there is a universal order and it is moral, that men must find, preserve, and promote this order and rulers rule with the “Mandate of Heaven” to preserve it)” Confucious teachings have to do with the same ideas that the Zhou Dynasty believed in which was the permission to rule
Confucianism is based on the teachings of Kong Fuzi. These teachings became a set of writings called the school of the learned or Ru jia. The government is the most important social institution in Confucianism, similar to Legalism, the most important relationship was between the ruler and subject. Unlike Legalism, however Confucian beliefs are that a ruler who is fair and just, would have control of his subjects (Verrill, n.d.). In other words, leading by example rather than by show of force is the preferred Confucius way of
Buddhism has grown to become one of the leading religions of the world because of its adherents, geographical distribution and social and cultural influence. Initially originated in Asia, the non-theistic religion had the capacity to influence many different cultures, civilisations and societies, which has absorbed to over 370 million people around the world today.
Xuanzang was a highly educated Buddhist monk from China, who in 629 C.E. made the long and treacherous journey along the Silk Road to India. His main objectives in his sixteen years away from home were fundamentally religious; he only wanted to study more complete scriptures to answer questions he had, which he deemed unsolvable in his own country. It is important to understand Xuanzang’s own position within the Chinese society and the type of situation it was in: Chinese Buddhists had many disagreements
Religion in the world today serves as a unifying force to help people unite and come together. One such example of how religion unifies a society is through Ashoka and his unification of the Mauryan Empire through Buddhism. Although the Mauryan dynasty was founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 320 BC, the most famous king of the Mauryan empire was Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya. After he fought a brutal war and conquered Kalinga, which left over 100,000 dead, he had a revelation and converted to Buddhism (Violatti, “Ashoka”).
For many centuries, Confucianism has been widely revered by the Chinese for its emphasis on morality. Confucius, who lived from 551 to 479 BCE, is different to most philosophers in that he showed no interest questioning his existence, the possibility of a God, or the reality that he seemed to live in; instead he focused on the human relations side of philosophy as it was his belief that people should “give (themselves) earnestly to the duties due to men … (and) keep aloof from (spiritual beings)” (Confucius 195). By negating the metaphysical side of philosophy, he was able to devote himself to mold his disciples into ideal gentleman who were morally righteous, and were able to benefit society. He believed in the importance of individuals who knew their roles in an well-structured society, that was a feudal system. In his opinion, the ideal gentleman should be obedient to his elders, have humanness and be morally righteous. Through his teachings, he was able to reform an entire country; the Chinese found Confucianism to embody practices of humaneness that they could apply in their daily lives through his religion.