Tang And Song Dynasties Essay

Confucian scholars and the emperor attacked Buddhism as an outlandish, barbaric belief. “The Memorial of Buddhism” written by Han Yu, a Confucian scholar, opposes Buddhism when the emperor decides to bring “the finger bone of Buddha” into the Chinese palace. He shows the unjust actions of the emperor by referring back to Confucian teachings such as keeping “[ghosts and spirits] at a distance”. The scholar also describes how Buddhism is barbaric because it does not conform to any Chinese laws or Confucian teachings (Doc. 4). As a Confucian scholar, he favored the relationship between “sovereign and subject” and traditional dress. He did not want

Emperor of China; Self Portrait of K’ang-hsi should not be read as a textbook or as a completely true historical

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

Following the collapse of the Han Dynasty that collapsed due to the civil war; China started a period of disunity until the Sui Dynasty reunited China. The Sui Dynasty was the overthrown by the Tang Dynasty (Pillalamarri, 2015). The Tang Dynasty ruled China from 618-907 CE. In China the Tang was considered to be the most urban of all the dynasties that allowed for China to be hugely influenced by foreign countries. For that reason the Tang Dynasty is considered to hold the strongest power in history.

Wu Zhao, the first female emperor of China, rose to power during the Tang Dynasty and her active role with Buddhism fabricated a perpetual impact in the Chinese society as a whole. There is no doubt that Buddhism and the Tang administration, under Wu’s reign, formed a symbiotic relationship with one another. She is considered to be one of the most prominent advocators of the religion during the era. Her efforts to spread of Buddhism and the monetary support help Buddhism to expand throughout the people significantly, which provide the religion another source of financial income to spread even further. Regardless of Empress Wu’s intention, she has furnished the religion in numerous ways, but what did she receive in return? This proposes

when the imperial structure was restored and the Tang dynasty was established, the responses towards Buddhism turned negative and harsh. Han Yu, an official at the Tang imperial court, shamed the teachings of Buddhism and Buddhism’s rejection of social hierarchies, while favoring Confucianism and its government policies to provide an explanation for class structures. He viewed Buddhism as a wicked religion and claimed that Buddha was a barbarian. As a Confucian scholar and official at the Tang imperial court, Han Yu depended on Confucianism remaining the most significant ideology in China. His response towards Buddhism was hostile, because he would have been curtailed from his high social position if Buddhism became the prominent ideology in China considering that Buddhism denounces class systems. For the same reason, Tang Emperor Wu brutally chastised the Buddhist

The responses to the spread of Buddhism in China were positive, negative, and acknowledged the differences between Buddhism and other religions. Buddhism reached China around the first century C.E., but Buddhist influence did not largely spread until the fall of the Han Dynasty. China was deeply Confucian in the first century, and resisted the presence of Buddhism due to the many differences between the basic beliefs of each religion. The Chinese population reacted differently to Buddhism depending on personal beliefs, which led to disagreement and conflict.

Not long after she became a member of the harem where she was given the rank “Cairen” which meant talented in chinese, the fifth rank on the list inner officials. Any lady that the emperor or empress decides to recruit will be given a rank out of eight at the time being. Wu Zhao was immediately noticed by Emperor Taizong due to her beauty but most importantly because of her understanding of the chinese literature. Therefore, she would be placed to work in the imperial study. To others this may not be such a valuable experience, but to Wu Zhao it was a valuable educational experience which later would become an undeniable tool for her successful reign of one of the largest empire at the time of history. After spending twelve years working but mostly studying at the Imperial Study, Wu was more educated than before she was recruited to the palace and comparing to other inner officials. But most importantly, she learned the finer essence of the official documents, policy and foreign affairs. As being one of Emperor Taizong’s favorite concubine at the time, he granted her a new name “Wu Meiniang”, the charming

In conclusion, foreign influences caused problems in the Tang China. Economically they drained commerce because Buddhist monks and nuns did neither work nor pay taxes. Socially, families

Empress Wu was married to an emperor named Emperor Gaozong of Tang, who got very sick, and died. Although she had many sons after that, she thought that they were unworthy of the throne, and killed most of her sons(mostly her oldest sons). This widow had a secret police force look-out for anyone to question her. If they did, they would risk jail time, or even death. This Iron fist style of ruling was not well liked, but it did help the tang dynasty drastically improve. She was also the first female empress in Chinese history, and also one of the first to chose advisors based on ability or merit, rather than their rank. Because she was the first important women, she tried to make a new dynasty composing of women, and men equally mixed in a government

A Chinese monk named Xuan Zang spent his years translating the Buddhist documents. He promoted his faith in Buddhism. People were attracted to this religion because of its morals and teachings causing it to spread throughout the region. Leaders made Buddhism a big part of everyone’s life. They encouraged Buddhism by sending money to monasteries, collecting Buddhist texts, and building Buddhist statues across the region. Through traders and merchants traveling along the silk road many of them heard about Buddhism and spread it throughout the region. In China Buddhist monasteries loaned farmers money and people put their money in the monasteries for safe keeping. Buddhist temples and monasteries provided medical care, charity, ran schools and

After the disintegration of the Han Dynasty, there was a period of conflict in China. This conflict ended in the division of the country until “Yang Jian, a member of the aristocratic family in northern China,” eventually reunified it. The Sui Dynasty then began its era of rule upon China. This dynasty, along with the next two after it, made drastic changes to the political and economic systems of China. During the Sui Dynasty, there were political advances such as the adaptation of Daoism and Buddhism as the state religion, which was analogous to the doctrine of State Confucianism in the Han Empire.

Born in 625, Wu’s father was a member of a renowned Shanxi aristocratic family, and her mother was a member of the former Sui imperial family. Her noble upbringing gave her access to education, so was taught to play music, write, and read the Chinese classics. By thirteen years of age she was known for her wit, intelligence, and beauty, and was recruited to the court of Emperor Taizong, becoming his favorite. In 649, Taizong died, and, as was customary for concubines, Wu Meiniang had to leave the imperial palace and enter a Buddhist nunnery where she had her hair shaved. Not long afterwards she was reintegrated into the imperial palace again by Taizong’s son, Emperor Gaozong, who was also captured by her beauty.

From the beginning of the fifth century to around the sixth century northern and the southern came up with separate ruler’s. When buddhism came to china and entered, many chinese thought it to be a variation of taoism.Buddhism is very alike to diosm, same process,calmness,sanctity, way of living.But buddhism had twist and buddhism had a different god.In the northern china except for two short periods of prescription.Buddhism flourished under the royal protange of the ruler’s who favored the religion.By the later half of the sixth century,monks were even employed in government posts.During this period buddhism arts flourished especially in caves.Many buddha images were carved out of rocks .

Although it may not seem evident initially, even the Chinese Buddhist Association and therefore the Chinese sangha ultimately remain under the control of the communist government. These goals ultimately help the government have a say in Buddhist affairs because the Chinese Buddhist Association cannot exist without the government in the first place. For example, the Chinese Buddhist Association and the samgha completed the “socialization of monasteries” under the name of promoting Buddhism (Welch 1961, 7). Under the Land Reform Act of 1960, monks and nuns received the same amount of land as farmers. After land distribution, the number of monks in the monasteries continues to decrease as many of them return to the laity (Welch 1961, 1). “One monastery, for example, which had 800 monks before land