Buddhism in Tang Dynasty - Term Paper Example

Buddhism in Tang Dynasty Introduction Buddhism refers to a religion, as well as philosophy that focus on the doctrines of the Buddha (Jacques, p. 16). Buddhism spread through Asia, arriving in China at the beginning of the 1st Century. The initial point of entry for Buddhism in Asia was India, and later spread throughout the entire continent through the Silk Road. Buddhism was official inaugurated in China in the year 67 following the arrival of two monks namely Moton and Chufarlan. Currently, Buddhism is one of the major religions of the world, with the Asian continent accounting for more than 360 million followers of the Buddha doctrines. Buddhism appealed to all classes of the Chinese nation. This includes both the nation’s peasantry, as well as the aristocrats. This is primarily because Buddhism offered hope for salvation, which the people of China required, but was not offered by the previous religious settings under Taoism and Confucianism (Orzech, p. 219). This paper will examine the effects of Buddhism on Tang Dynasty’s political standing, describing reasons why emperor Taizong favored Buddhism to Confucian religion. Buddhism has had major impacts on the Asian continent, with Japan and China being the most affected cultures by the religion. The effects of Buddhism are apparent in different areas of different cultures and countries, which entail political, social, as well as cultural influences. The Tang Dynasty of China is perhaps the most interesting history phase of China’s history. The Tang Dynasty, which was under the leadership of the Tang Dynasty, was founded in 618 and culminated in 907. The Tang Dynasty was quite flourishing with regard to power and wealth and became the most powerful country in the entire world. During the Tang Dynasty, the region achieved significant might with regard to the economy, culture, military and politics levels. Buddhism had substantial effects on China’s, especially the Tang Dynasty (Mikael, p. 36). However, it is paramount to note that Buddhism’s incorporation into the Chinese society took a relatively long time owing to the people’s difficulty to translate Buddhist text into the Chinese language. This paper will answer the question of how Buddhism was able to stabilize imperial power in political ways during the life of Tang Dynasty. It is undisputed that Buddhism had a huge impact in developing the social, economic, cultural and political environments of China’s Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism brought about major changes in the Chinese political front, especially with regard to stabilizing imperial power of the political aspects of the nation. During the rule of the Tang Dynasty, Buddhist clergy gained massive favor in the royal court of the ruling elite. They even played a role in the control of bureaucratic power. The aristocrats of the Tang Dynasty were charmed by Buddhism doctrines. This is because the model character exemplified by Buddhist doctrines appealed to the political class of the Tang Dynasty, pushing them to adopt the characteristics of the so called model character as defined by Buddhist beliefs. The Buddhist doctrines appealed to the aristocrats of the Tang Dynasty because unlike the Taoist sage, Buddhism allowed for wealth acquisition by the ruling class. An example of such doctrine includes Buddhist beliefs that while a leader should be self disciplined, respectable and critical in his thinking, the leader should not limit his acquisition of wealth or enjoyment of luxuries. This means that Buddhism presented a new model for world-bound life for the aristocrats. However, this gave leeway for aristocrats to acquire massive amounts of wealth, sometimes at the expense of the populace, which remained poor for the most part. The government of Emperor Taizong preferred Buddhism to Confucian because the latter did not approve some of the actions of the aristocrats. For instance, Confucian disallowed the acquisition of luxurious property as it termed it as improper use of power, especially by the emperor and his close allies. Buddhism, on the other hand, did not condemn luxurious living and allowed for government officials to make appointments in exchange for payment. These kind of underhanded dealings were admonished under Confucian doctrines. Because the aristocrats were immensely enthusiastic for Buddhism and its unique doctrines, Buddhist clergy received a lot of favors and benefits from the wealthy and powerful leaders. The political elite of the Tang Dynasty set up Buddhist monasteries, which served as a public relations regiment to endear the dynasty to the nation’s populace. Buddhism was, therefore, used as a tool by the political leaders to acquire the people’s favor and admiration. The leaders were, however, primarily interested in establishing great things under their names, as well as that of the dynasty. This shift in the political elite’s mindset became even more profound as more people adopted Buddhism as a religion. It is, hence apparent that Buddhism brought significant shifts in the spending and utilization of national resources within the Tang Dynasty. This subjected the common people to the mercy of the emperor (Taizong). This is because the labor utilized in the establishment of great buildings came directly from the common people of the dynasty. The imperial rulers decreed that Buddhist clergy should not do any work or labor to produce goods, but rather live off the work of the common people. This resulted in a far-reaching depletion of the state’s resources (Woo, p. 207). The government was not particularly fond of the idea of the church being incorporated in the governance of the nation, therefore, emperor after emperor, the Tang Dynasty sought to ensure that the clergy remained politically docile. For this reason, the government was uninviting towards any control by Buddhist clergy towards the nation’s political affairs. Following the government’s displeasure towards allowing the church into the nation’s leadership, the government amended the penal code to encompass the Buddhist legislations that touched on Buddhist nuns and monks. These laws were outlined in the Vinya, which allowed for the defrocking of nuns and monks who broke the law. Nuns and monks regarded such defrocking as the harshest form of punishment for crimes committed. The effects of Buddhism were also felt with regard to legislations on punishment for crimes within the boundaries of China. While Buddhism advocated for relatively lenient punishment strategies, the government made these punishments stricter. This was perhaps done as a retaliatory measure towards Buddhism’s proposed influence on the nation’s punishment module. Buddhism pushed the government stricter laws that affected the people of the Tang Dynasty (Woo, p. 213). The rulers of the Tang Dynasty borrowed a lot from Buddhist doctrines with regard to perceptions of right and wrong. For instance, Buddhist doctrines denounce acts such as fornication, adultery, murder, theft and pretence in terms of enlightenment. The political elite of China, therefore, established strict rules prohibiting the aforementioned actions, terming them as punishable crimes or the parajika offences. In addition, because Buddhism abhors the wearing of silk, fortune telling and drunken brawling, the Tang Dynasty emperor borrowed from this doctrine and included the wearing silk, drunken brawling and fortune telling to the list of punishable crimes. Buddhist clergy played a key role in the political affairs of the Tang Dynasty as they coerced the elite to offer privileges such as no payment of taxes by the Buddhist clergy. This means that the imperial rulers regarded Buddhist clergymen as people of higher worth than common people hence establishing the problem of favoritism in the dynasty. These regulations that afforded privileges to a few persons in society led to the emergence of dishonest people who rose to monastic life for the sheer purpose of being exempt from payment of taxes. The idea behind the exemption from taxes rule was Buddhist laws that do not allow the clergy were not allowed to have ownership of material things thus they could not be mandated to pay taxes on what they did not possess. Because of the provisions of Buddhism, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty offered numerous benefits to a selected few within the nation. For instance, the Buddhist clergy were given certificates to exempt them from impositions such as taxes. Buddhist clergymen brought shifts in imperial rule of the Tang Dynasty as the emperor conferred upon the Buddhist clergy an assortment of titles of appendages and nobility. Buddhist clergy, therefore, became part and parcel of the noble class for the sheer reason that they belonged to a higher standard of moral standing compared to the common people of the dynasty. A number of conflicts within the Tang Dynasty can also be attributed to Buddhism. For instance, the law exempting Buddhist monks and nuns from bowing their heads when paying homage to either the throne or their parents brought serious conflict within the Tang Dynasty (Ch’en, p. 393). The conflict pushed the clergy to present their views to the emperor who agreed with the common people that the clergy should also bow their heads when showing respect. However, the emperor restricted the clergy’s bowing of heads to showing respect to their parents, but the emperor later rescinded this rule. It is, therefore, apparent that the Buddhist clergy had a major influence on the emperor’s decisions. This is implicit of the overall influence exerted on China’s imperial rulers by the Buddhist clergy and their doctrines during the Tang Dynasty. However, a rebuttal emerges with regard to the impact of Buddhism on the imperial rule of the Tang Dynasty. For instance, it is clear that Buddhism is not the only religion that had effects on politics in China in the 1st Century. Ideologies of Taoism and Confucianism also had major impacts on the nation’s political environment. For instance, through the establishment of legislations that required all persons to pay taxes to the dynasty. Moreover, the impact of Buddhist ideologies on the political life of the Tang Dynasty was kept minimal by the lack of involvement of the clergy in daily affairs of the nation by the emperor (Mikael, p. 154). The effect of Buddhism on the governance Tang Dynasty did not entail direct control or even control of the imperial court. These counter arguments quite trivial when compared to the aforementioned impacts of Buddhism on Tang Dynasty’s political rule. However, the question of what effects Buddhism had on the Tang Dynasty is of paramount importance in appreciating the history of China, its laws and political environment. Conclusion The establishment of Buddhism in China brought major shifts in the social, political and economic standards of the nation. While the Buddhist nuns and monks formed a minimal population of the overall nation’s population, the clergy received substantial benefits, which were conferred upon them by the emperor. These benefits are attributable to the control or influence held by Buddhist clergy and doctrines in the control of the dynasty. Buddhist clergy enjoyed benefits such as exemption from labor and taxes and government funding for construction of monasteries. Buddhist clergy persons also received nobility statuses owing to their higher moral standing in society. It is, hence clear that Buddhism played a significant role in the development of the political environment of the Tang Dynasty of China. Works Cited Ch’en, K. S. The Chinese Transformation of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973. Print. Kenneth, S. J. "Buddhism in China: A Historical Sketch", The Journal of Religion 3.2 (1993):157–169. Print. Orzech, C. Politics & Transcendent Wisdom (Hermeneutics, Studies in the History of Religions). Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998. Print. Woo, X. L. Empress Wu the Great: Tang Dynasty China. Baltimore: Algora Publishing, 2008. Print. Wright, A. F.“Buddhism and Chinese Culture: Phases of Interaction” Journal of Asian Studies 21.1(1957). 27. Print. Read More