Ap World History Dbq Research Paper

(4, 6, 7) Particularly during its largest period of influence (The Era of Division), they largely welcomed Buddhism, as it offered a type of refuge from the turmoil and war of that time period (ADD EV). Buddhism was very flexible, and as Zong Mi pointed out, was fairly flexible to the needs of the individual worshipper (Document 6). It disregarded previous social structures, and accepted people regardless of social status or education, as displayed in the records of Buddhist teachings transcribed by disciples (Document 4). Though, documents such as this one aren’t fully credible, as the events written about are transcribed by loyal, and heavily biased, disciples (SOURCE). But, around the 840s, the government’s view on Buddhism began to shift. Many confucian administrators claimed that the lack of taxes on the religion caused an economic deficit, feeding state fears and leading to restrictions, and later the open persecution of the religion by Emperor Wuzong (Doc 7). Monasteries either heavily taxed or destroyed, monks/nuns were forced to renounce their religion, and previously Buddhist lands were parceled out to landlords. (ADD EV). So despite the inclusiveness and flexibility of the religion with peasants, the ultimate persecution of worshippers affected buddhist members of the Chinese peasant class

This exception is the religion of Buddhism, which transformed the Post-Classical era and the history of China. Islam spread like wildfire, which was surprising due to the popularity of other Chinese religions at this time, such as Confucianism and Daoism. Trade routes began and facilitated the spread of it and were influential in spreading things other than just goods (Strayer). The diffusion of Buddhism into China is extremely important to Chinese people and Chinese history. Buddhist monasteries sprang up in cities and trade routes, and many people were converted just by immersion in the religion and by just following the crowd. Buddhism was very big for merchants and they had a big role in the spread of Buddhism to less populous villages and towns. While China was leading a massive Buddhist revival, an effort to revive Confucian values was also spreading. This effort was called Neo-Confucianism, which means new Confucianism. This new religious belief system combined Confucian values with Buddhist and Daoist influences. This new way of thinking was popular, and even slowed the Buddhist movement, but Buddhism eventually won, amassing hundreds of thousands of

1. Sinification is the Chinese influence in other regions. Chinese culture is adopted into another country and is spread widely. Sinification was common in Japan and Korea, but a little less common in Vietnam. 2.

Between 1607 and 1718 the Spanish, French, and English governments attempted to expand their power through exploration in order to acquire land and provide economic growth. All three countries colonized portions of North America for the purpose of utilizing their newly acquired land’s natural resources in order to transport valuable goods unavailable in Europe. While all the colonization methods focused on establishing relationships with natives, the ways in which natives were treated varies to extremes. The Spanish treated natives with contempt and tried to eradicate their culture. The English used natives as slaves to do the hard labor that agriculture required. In contrast, the French created an alliance with the natives, which allowed them to trade with Indian tribes in their region.

Empress Wu, the only female to ever rule China, was a devout Daoist. Also, as the Tang Empire expanded eastward, contact with India increased and Buddhist influence reached its height. Many people traveled to India. Monks like Xuanzang went to India, brought back many sutras, literary compositions based on the teachings of Buddha, and translated them into Chinese. Seeing the rise of Daoism and Buddhism and the fading of Confucianism, Tang scholars set out to defend Confucianism. Han Yu, an essayist, vehemently argued against Buddhism and asked the Chinese to go back to their roots by studying and interpreting the Confucian Classics. His main argument against Buddhism was that the foreign religion preached equality among all and didn’t place proper importance between the five relationships (ruler vs. the ruled, father vs. son, husband vs. wife, older brother vs. younger brother, and older friend vs. younger friend) necessary for social tranquility. He urged that this was destroying social order. Nonetheless Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism all coexisted as the "three teachings" under the Tang.

Buddhism was seen as practiced by the “barbarians” (document 4). Han Yu ridicules Buddhism by emphasizing that Confucianism is the truth while Buddhism contains only lies.. It is not surprising that Han Yu is opposed to Buddhism because of his position in the Imperial court. He was of a higher class and many people in the higher class tended to reject Buddhism, partly because of the religion’s teaching of equality. He could greatly influence the Emperor; however, many peasants may have disagreed because of their differences of class. Furthermore, in document 6, Wu, the Tang Emperor, denounces Buddhism by blaming it for social injustices such as people leaving their religion, “injuring humankind” and destroying the law. It is expected that the emperor of the Tang dynasty would give such an edict because many of Buddhism’s teachings such as the equality of classes and genders go against a great deal of what the empire is built on. The Tang dynasty also had a great deal of inner conflict when it came to accepting or rejecting Buddhism. This edict was given in 854 CE after the imperial structure of the government was

It is prevalent that the spread of Buddhism collectively affected the government in 300-900 CE (Doc’s 1,7). Many people working in the government were impacted by Buddhism’s arrival in China such as emperors, aristocrats, and other higher ranking scholars (Doc’s 1, 7). Another way Buddhism was affecting government was Buddhism was skewing the reasoning and view of economy as shown according to Emperor Wu, Buddhism harmed the government by convincing them to give up farming, resulting in reducing tax revenue as an effect of the spread of Buddhism (Doc 7). Because the author is an emperor then they would write the the information to influence people not to be Buddhist which would lead them to state why being a Buddhist is not good and over exaggerate the other information about Buddhism; this helps support the claim that the spread of Buddhism definitely influenced the working of the government. Additionally the most popular religion of China at the time would almost always find

There were some in the civilization that did not support, nor reject Buddhism but simply tolerated it. In document 3, the anonymous Chinese scholar answer questions about Buddhism that you can assume were frequently asked questions in China during the time period. He defends Buddhism to an extent, yet does not support it. He believes that neither Confucianism nor Buddhism has all the answers. Document 5 tries to make amends with all three religions saying they are the same at the basis. He is attempting to create a compromise so that all three religions can live in peace in China. Zong Mi seems very unbiased at first, however he is a Buddhist scholar so he might be trying to defend Buddhism by saying all these religions do the same things in different ways so just let everyone do their own thing. An additional document to help more effectively analyze the responses to the spread of

“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

I will be discussing the contact between various civilizations between 800 AD to 1400 AD. I will be looking closely at documents one, two, four and five. Document one discusses the trade in East Africa and the tribe the Zanj that live there. In Document four it discusses the trade goods in Gujarat India. Document two discusses the Jewish merchants. Document five is written by a Muslim traveler and he is talking about the journey from Zaya to Maqdasha. All of these documents talk about travel and trade between various civilizations between 800 AD to 1400 AD.

Different classical civilizations often stressed similar values and issues. Classical civilizations were all constantly trying to unify their people to form a shared culture. They also tried to expand their empires. They would try to unify people through politics, religion, and philosophy. They promoted a common language and social structures for people to follow. Classical civilizations used many methods involving integration and expansion in their empire.

Prior to 600 CE, the unique civilizations discussed exerted their power in many different ways. Some of them, like India and the Chinese Qin Dynasty, enforced their rule using religion, while others, like Rome, Chinese Han Dynasty, and Greece sought to rule using more legal or philosophical methods.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, Buddhism changed in a way for other beliefs and practices to be involved in. The importation of Buddhist ideas influenced Chinese culture by having schools of Buddhism, borrowing Chinese cultural traditions, and building temples. Monks and scholars coordinated several

Buddhism for centuries, has long been influencing the population all over the world, specifically in China . Buddhism first came to China as a result of merchant traders from India. From there it spread within the merchant community. It mainly expanded because it gave people a sense of hope and faith with the chaos they were experiencing from the collapse of the Han Dynasty. It also spread because it covered what Confucianism lacked; a more spiritual and emotional approach that appealed to many people of different classes. It is because of this that Buddhism spread and was able to influence and greatly affect China during the period of 300-900 CE. Buddhism influenced philosophy and moral teachings, kept the Chinese society peaceful and orderly, as well as affecting the overall economy. Buddhism had strong religious teachings that appealed to the lower class with the idea of afterlife and nirvana as well as an emphasis on following your own path that transformed Chinese beliefs causing a large portion of the population to convert (doc’s 1,4). Buddhism kept the Chinese society orderly by reminding all of Buddha’s life and teachings with statues and the influence it had on monks to spread charity and missionary work (doc’s 2,3,6). Buddhism also had an effect on the economy of China. As it spread from other regions, it caused more farmers and silk producers to convert and spread the religion as monks and nuns. (doc 7,5).

The emperor Taizong gave money to monasteries, sent for more Buddhist books, and created art and statues honoring the Buddhist religion. The empress Wu compose the ultimate dedication to the new faith. She not only created more Buddhist artifacts, but she gave monk more political and social power and requested different scholars to come and teach more of this religion. Wu also injected a law which made Buddhism supersede any other beliefs. So based on the information presented in this paragraph, you can clearly see the political influence on Buddhism and China. Now let’s go over some social effects that helped with the continuous spread of Buddhism through China and central Asia.