Buddhism in China

Buddhism in China

Between the third and ninth centuries C.E. China underwent a number of changes

in its cultural makeup. Foremost amongst them was the adoption of Buddhist religious

practices. I must stress that this was not a formal or universal change in religion but a

slow integration of a system that permitted adaptation of its own form to promote

acceptance as long as the fundamental theories and practices remained the same, unlike

most religions. Buddhism worked its way into the court and decision makers of the

Chinese state and that was the major sticking point for the religion in China. For

Buddhism to be accepted the Emperor would have to condone it and at least offer his

acceptance of it. Without imperial approval the religion was doomed to failure in such a

regimented and centrally controlled state, of course some would practice it under threat of

legal action because of faith but as a whole it would not prosper. To understand the level

of acceptance of Buddhism within China, one must look at each class individually and see

how widely practised it was by each class. This is due to the emphasis there was on class

and how any single act, religion included, could be restricted to a single class as its base

of power. This was the case with Buddhism to start as it came into China by way of the

merchant traffic that continued to increase in the first half of the first millennium C.E.

These merchants being of a middle class on average were well situated by class and

occupation to promote the spread of Buddhism rapidly to a large and diverse collection of

individuals. As such, after its initial entrance into China Buddhism was not a single class

phenomenon, it was widespread and hierarchicall...

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...nough to

make people listen to the story and thereby increase the spread of belief structure

subversively. The main argument for peasant acceptance of Buddhism over Confucism is

that Buddhism was a self directed and introspective religion that required enlightenment

through a process of self guided and mentor based spiritual adventures or training

activities. Confucism however, was focused upon the development of the state through

the betterment of each individual through learning and education. It is this education that

causes a problem for most peasants as the funds to pay for it are not present in their style

of life and position in society.

Collectively these groups of people make up China. So if we have shown that the

individual groups were Buddhist or were accepting of Buddhism then the claim that

China was a Buddhist country can be defended.