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Buddhist Countries |
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Buddhist Countries of the World |
Buddhism
in china
Planning a trip to explore Buddhism in China? Looking for
information that will help you understand both the basic of
Buddhism in China as well as the important attractions in
the country? Well, you are at the right place for here we
offer you both. Have a look at the text below to understand
how Buddhism made entry in China and how it developed later
on. The links just below this paragraph introduce you to the
most renowned and visited Buddhist attractions of the country.
Together, the text and the links will help you enhance your
knowledge of Buddhism and Buddhist attractions in China.
Buddhist Tourism in China
- Buddhist Temples
- Tanzhe Temple
- Lama Temple
- Guanghua Temple
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- Buddhist Caves
- Yungang Caves
- Longmen caves
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History
- Early History : Buddhism made
entry into China in the 2nd century BCE with the opening
of the Silk Road. This was the time when China first
came into contact with the Central Asia. Though there
are no historical records, still there are ample suggestions
that indicate the seventh king of the Han dynasty, Han
Wudi, received Buddhist statues from Central Asias embassies
during this period. Hon Hanshu, the Book of later Han
and the official Chinese historical work complied in
the 5th century, also mentions the dissemination of
Buddhist sutras by Central Asian people during this
period.
Later, Chinese emmisaries visited Central Asian countries
and rerturned alongwith two missionnaries named Dharmaraksa
and Kasyapa Matanga. They also carried back sutras written
with 600,000 Sanskrit words. The two emmisaries wrote
the "The Sutra of forty-two sections spoken by
the Buddha" so as to offer a guidance on the ideas
of Buddhism and conducts of monks. This is widely regarded
as the first Buddhist text in Chinese language though
there are recording of this.
The emissaries arrived in China in 67 CE and with this
Buddhism made an official entry into China. By the middle
of the 1st century, Buddhism established itself in the
areas lying north of the Huai river.
In 148 CE, the first documented translation of Buddhist
scroptures took place with the arrival of the Parthian
missionary An Shih Kao in China. An Shih Kao laid the
foundation of Buddhist temples in Loyang.
When Buddhism came into China Confucianism and Taoism
were the dominant religion. The ideologies of Buddhism
had to be moulded in order to make it acceptable to
the people. For example, the concept of monasticism
and individual spiritual enlightenment (that directly
contradicted with the Confucian principles of family
and emperor ) was highlighted as the means by which
society and family could be benefited.
- Fall of Han Dynasty in 3rd Century And Buddhism
Till 6th Century : With the fall of the
Han dynasty in 220 AD, a period of chaos hit China.
This was the period when Confucianism and Taoism gradually
gave way to the rise of Buddhism. This period also witnessed
two major groups following Buddhism in their own way.
The first of these comprised the sophisticated gentry
that focussed on philosophical and mystical aspects
of Buddhism while the second one dominated by villagers
wirked out its own simple and superstitous way of spreading
the religion to masses.
Also, during this period, a number of Buddhis scholars
and monks came down to China to propogate Buddhism to
Chinese people. In this way, Buddhism became quiet popular
with masses in China by 6th century.
- The Rise and Fall of Buddhism Between 6th
and 10th Century : From 6th century Ad
to 10th century AD, the Sui and T'ang dynasties held
powers in China. During their reign, Buddhism reached
its zenith and many new schools of Buddhism were founded.
Each of the Buddhist School was based on some ancient
Buddhist text or doctrine and contributed to spread
the religion to other countries like Korea and Japan.
However, the decline of the great religion also started
in the era, during the reign of. Buddhist monasteries
paid more attention to farming, trade and money lending
thereby ignoring the religious and spiritual obligations.
The Chinese Emperor Wu-Tsung, noticing this, ordered
the destruction of all Buddhist establishments. This
was a big blow to Buddhism in China and marked the started
its decline.
- From 11th Century Onwards : The
11th century saw the re emergence of Confucianism and
other traditional religion. Also, the decline of Buddhism
in Indian subcontinent had a great effect on the popularity
of Buddhism in China. The standard for recruiting monks
declined in monasteries and also some decadant schools
of Buddhism emerged. One example of this is the Pu-Tai,
or the Laughing Buddha who was catapulted to the position
of highliy respected Maitreya Buddha.
In the 13th century, the Yuan dynasty came into power
and adopted the Tibetan form of Buddhism, Lamaism as
the state religion.
Buddhism gradually lost its initial effect on the people
later on but continued to develop till the advent of
Communism. With the rise of Communism, Buddhism suffered
the ultimate setback. The Communist government proved
successfull in drawing curtains to practice of religion
by abolishing all forms of public worship and closing
down all the monasteries.
- Buddhism Today : Buddhism, today,
is one of the minor religion in China alongwith Confucianism
and Taoism.
Schools of Chinese Buddhism
There are 10 principles schools of Buddhism that flourished
in China. Actaully, there can be 13 schools of Buddhism,
however, the rest three have been absorbed in the 10 schools
itself. The 10 schools of Chinese Buddhism are :
1. The Vinaya School (Lu-tsung)
2. The Realistic School (Chu-she)
3. The Three Treatises School (San-lun)
4.The Idealist School (Fa-hsiang)
5. The Mantra or Tantric School (Mi-tsung or Chen-yen)
6. The Avatamsaka or Flower Adornment School (Hua-yen)
7. The T'ien-t'ai or White Lotus School (Fa-hua)
8. The Pure Land School (Ching t'u)
9. The Dhyana School (Ch'an)
10. Satysiddhi School (Cheng-se) School.
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