Buddhism In China Dbq

From 300 to 900 CE China went from a period of chaos to a period of prosperity, from the Era of Division to the great empires of the Tang and Song. Buddhism rose with the chaos of the Era of Division and went into decline when peace and prosperity returned. Buddhism provided the people something to hold onto during chaos(Context). The spread of Buddhism to China from 300 to 900 CE produced many changes within China; it allowed Buddhists to gained power, it caused government support of Buddhism, and it caused backlash from Confucianists and Daoists. During the Era of Division Buddhists grew in power and retained it until about the very end of the period.(Doc 1,4,6). For a majority of the period the government was not taxing Buddhist lands and

Zhi Dun praise Buddhism in the first document. The likely reason this was written was to get people to convert to Buddhism and weaken the Confucianists. Due to the fact that Zhi Dun was an Aristocrat, the weakening of the scholar gentry class(Confucianists) would be beneficial to his power(the aristocracy)(Source 1). The fourth document is the teachings of Huineng, a Patriarch of Chen Buddhism, in the document he brags about his humble beginnings and how impressed the monk was with him. This is taking place around the high of Buddhism in China. The audience of this are likely the students of Huineng, for this reason it is likely he is exaggerating his humble beginnings and how intelligent he was. This would earn him respect from his students and in the long run, more power(Source 4). The document written by the Buddhist scholar Zong Mi compares Confucius, Laozi, and the Buddha and says that they were all great, but they were also made of their times. The reason for this comparison and exalting of these figures is due to the time period this was written in. During the late ninth century there was an anti-buddhist movement. Due to this he was likely trying to improve the view of the court on Buddhism and remain in power(Source 6). Another example of Buddhists in power was the Empress Wu. With her support buddhism grew and her power grew(Add