The Relationship Between Confucianism And Buddhism

2938 Words6 Pages

“It is often said that, aside from the impact of Marxism on twentieth-century China, the only other time when the Chinese looked beyond their own borders for intellectual sustenance was during the period when Buddhism was absorbed from India” (LaFleur 23). Why did this religion appeal to the Chinese when they disregarded so many other external influences? After all, being tied to the rest of the world by the Silk Road meant they were constantly inundated with novel concepts from far and wide. The answer must lie in how Buddhism interacted with the other faiths already established in the country, namely Confucianism and Daoism (sometimes spelled Taoism). While at first glance it may appear that Confucian China would be the last place Buddhism would find a niche, it was in fact the combination of Confucianism and Daoism that laid a foundation at least slightly receptive toward this new faith from India. This paper will focus mainly on the interaction between Buddhism and Confucianism.

Buddhism made it to China over land in the first century C.E. from the northwest and by

sea in the second century C.E. The main influence, however, came from the northwest via the

Silk Road (Zuercher 415). In fact, Buddhism's main avenue of expansion was along trade routes

throughout Asia. According to Jason Neelis, trade as a vehicle for the expansion of Buddhism is

reflected in the fact that the religion spread in an irregular pattern unlike typical diffusion (Neelis

7). It was the Theravada branch in particular that has been associated with trade. Mahayana, on

the other hand focused on the more settled, agricultural lifestyle. Ironically it is this branch that

took hold in China. Once trade brought the religion within China’s bor...

... middle of paper ...

...Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2012. Web. 6 October. 2012.

LaFleur, William R. Buddhism: A Cultural Perspective. Ed. Robert S. Ellwood. Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988.

Neelis, Jason. Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia. Leiden: Brill, 2011.

Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. 2nd ed. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 2007.

Saunders, Kenneth J. “Buddhism in China – A Historical Sketch.” The Journal of Religion 3

(1923): 157-69.

Shien, Gi-Ming. “The Epistemology of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.” Philosophy 28

(1953): 260-264.

Zuercher, Erik. “Buddhism in China.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Mircea

Eliade, vol. 2, 414-21. New York: MacMillan, 1987.

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