Invisible Buddhism in China - Essay Example

?Insert Invisible Buddhism in China Generally, Chinese Buddhism involves the different learning facilities of Buddhism that have historically existed in China since time immemorial. Buddhism has immensely contributed to shaping the religious ideology of the Chinese society, influencing their art, politics, literature, beliefs, and healthcare. During the era of the Tang Dynasty, Chinese Buddhism molded several spiritual masters. Academicians categorized Chinese Buddhism into almost a dozen schools. But later on, Buddhism became superimposed in the Chinese civilization, perhaps due to the ‘emptiness’ philosophy (Adler 23-29). Chinese Buddhist schools differ on the precise description of the righteous path to liberty, the significance of the norms of various knowledge and scriptures, and particularly their exact practices. This paper explores how an invisible Buddhism survived within the Chinese society. History of Buddhism According to Buddha teaching, the religion is one of the top three spiritual organizations in the world (Adler 5-9). The origins of Buddhism can be traced to India, before it spread to China. Buddhism was initially brought to China during the first throughout the second centuries via the Silk Road. Buddhists from India took the road, spreading Buddha teachings as well as new items from the other continents of the world. In light of these activities, the Silk Road served an important role in transporting the goods and exchanging the unique cultural values between communities in the Middle East, and Asia (Adler 3-11). As a result, the religion shaped Chinese life and values in the later eras. Nonetheless, Confucianism played an important role in dictating the course of Buddhism in the country. Owing to the philosophical differences between Buddhism and Confucianism, Buddha had to become ‘invisible’ following lots of hindrances in its style of growth. In the meantime, Taoism, another primary religion in the Chinese society, also presented some differences and challenges to Buddhism. For instance, while Taoism advocated peace with nature, Buddhism sought to manage the inner society. Therefore, in order to develop in China, Buddhism transformed itself to the local way of life, by incorporating the worship of fore-furthers and showing high level of respect to China’s political system. The timely transformation made Buddha religion an ‘invisible’ but invincible religious organization across the society. The invisibility of Buddhism According to Adler, the classical translators of Buddhism experienced some challenges in getting the exact expressions to elaborate Buddhist philosophies in Chinese, so they preferred to use Taoist language in their texts (41-57). This made the religion ‘invisible’ as the original Buddhism terms were increasingly abandoned for the local ones. As a result, people began to associate Buddhism with the existing Taoist tradition. It took the Chinese society several decades to fully appreciate the scriptures and teachings of Buddha. After the regime of the Han Dynasty caved in the beginning of the third century, the society faced a myriad of political challenges and social disunity. Regardless of the challenges, the translations of the religion texts continued, though silently. During this period, both alien and local monks were aggressively involved in setting up monasteries and spreading the Buddhist philosophies. Among the local Chinese religious leaders, Dao-an who spent the better part of his life in the fourth century, stood out among the crowd. Though he was prompted to adopt a ‘nomadic’ life in the wake of political disunity, he wrote extensively and gave many lectures on Buddha religious practices and values. He also established the first literary catalogues of the work he was doing. The extensive expansion of the religion, despite the fact that the society was concerned with the unfolding political events was in itself another case of ‘invisible’ spread of the religion. Dao-an had invited Kumarajiva, a celebrated translator from Kucha, to help him with the translation work. Notably, with the help of Do-an's key followers, Kumarjiva extensively translated important Buddhist texts, and updated the earlier Chinese scriptures. His meticulous translated texts have been used for many centuries now (Adler 41-49). Due to the political instability, Kumarkiva's disciples were deployed across the country and this contributed to the spread of the religion to other parts, where the religion had not reached. From early years of the fifth century to the sunset years of the sixth century, China’s society was divided into two separate kingdoms; the northern and southern regions. The south was administered by native dynasties whereas the north was under the control of foreign rulers. The southern China Buddhism maintained the translation of the Buddhist scripts and constant lectures as well as voicing opinions on the primary texts. The ‘invisible’ way of spreading Buddhist teachings significantly yielded fruits as their rulers increasingly became devout Buddhists. The rulers would later authorize the putting up of several places of worship, and take part in Buddhist festivals. Courtesy of the rulers, public discussions on Buddhism were organized. In northern Chinese society, Adler indicates that Buddhism thrived under the able hands of royals who preferred the religion (81-93). The ‘invisible’ integration of Buddhist philosophies into policies saw monks being recruited to serve in government during the sixth century. Buddhism also ‘invisibly’ infiltrated the Chinese art. The religion’s art thrived, more so in the Dun-huang caves, among other places. In the Dun-huang caves, for example, Buddhist paintings were hung all over the walls. Thousands of statues recognized by the religion were also kept in these caves. Additionally, at Yun-gan and Long-men caves housed many Buddha painting and carvings of different sizes. All these developments were a clear indication of the strong and ‘invisible’ growth of Buddhism in the society China during this time. Buddha Schools With the coming to power of the Tang Dynasty in the early seventh century, the religion sought to expand to the greater Chinese society. It later became inexorably related to the Chinese civilization and had substantial impact on Chinese art, writings, sculpture, ideology and architecture of that era. By then there were extensive Chinese translations of the religion’s scripts (Adler 78-89). The Buddhist religion was now facing the challenge of how to implement their ideals. As a result, Buddha set up several learning facilities, with each center concentrating on particular lines of scriptures for their learning and practice. The Tian-tai facility, for example, was based on a system of instruction and practice, premised upon the Lotus Sutra. Other schools also stood out to spread the different Buddhist texts within the society. In a nutshell, Buddhism in China was largely ‘invisible,’ because the religion had transformed into a local spiritual organization, complete with local cultural practices and terms. Conclusion Generally, China’s society has resisted foreign influence for many centuries. In light of this, Buddhist religion transformed from its unique nature to a local spiritual organization that appreciates the Chinese cultural practices and administrative structures. Regardless, the religion retained its uniqueness by setting up Buddhist schools, which specialized in the learning and spread of the Buddhist philosophies. The religion was invisible because it incorporated into its translated texts, some Taoist terms. Additionally, Buddhism gradually influenced the Chinese literature, art, and architecture, among other important cultural values, at a time when the society was busy grappling with political instability and other social challenges. Works Cited Adler, Joseph Alan. Chinese Religious Traditions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. Read More