Buddhism in China (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Subject Date Buddhism in China Introduction Religion in ancient China was regarded as a contentious issue that revolves around a number of factors such as religion and cultural beliefs. Buddhism is a faith grouping that believes in the values of Siddhartha Gautama. They believe that their leader lived several millenniums ago in Nepal and northeastern part of India. Throughout Buddha's life, the religion multiplied in Asia and became a leading religion in the continent. The religion has spread across many parts of the world due to migration of the Asian people in different parts of the globe. Buddhism religion is believed to uphold practical values. As a result, Buddhists do not use theological teachings, no worship of a god and adoration of the Buddha. Buddhism in China can be traced from the Qin and Han dynasties. Over the years, the religion has played a significant role in molding the ideals of the Chinese in areas such as art, philosophy and literature. The nature of the religious beliefs complemented the traditional beliefs of Chinese, which a crucial part in its rapid spread within the country. Buddhism is among the common religious ideologies in China and has overtaken Christianity, which is one the earliest religions to establish roots in China. Factors Influencing the Rapid Spread of Buddhism in China The nature of Chinese literature led to the recognition of various legends concerning the spread of Hinduism in the country. Emperor Ming, for instance, is largely considered to have contributed to the introduction the Buddhism beliefs in China. This is despite his earlier conversion to Christianity. Moreover, the Buddhist beliefs were modified to suit the local values in China (Hodus 24). Scholars argue that the religion never jeopardized the traditional beliefs and practices. In fact, the Chinese welcomed them thinking they part of the native Taoist tradition. Buddhism and Taoism had common practices, where they upheld the concept of ‘emptiness’. It is important to note that during its spread to other parts of the world, there was no loss of life or bloodshed experienced. The religion is known to hold peaceful behaviors among its adherents and to the other religions. Buddhism faith educates its believers that there are only temporary vessels of the body, sensation, feelings, tendencies, and knowledge in the life cycle. They suppose that there is no place for self-worth when in the world. Moreover, they believe that main objective in life is to break the phases in birth and demise. The ultimate purpose of Buddhists is to realize self-determination from the phase of re-embodiment and achieve “nirvana”, which is the Buddhists name for heaven. The religion’s peaceful and diplomatic nature gained admiration from the leaders and the citizens (Ling, Liu and Xie 17). This motivated the majority of the Chinese nationals to embrace Buddhism compared to Christianity. The Buddhism leaders did not develop an overall structure for all nations. Instead, they created a country’s own structure with their own spiritual head. Dalai Lama is one of the respected head of Buddhism in China. By 400 CE, the Chinese had accepted the religion as their spiritual ritual with spiritual heads and masters. According to Buddhism, man is a superlative being and is his/her own master. In this regard, any person can become a Buddha since nobody stands in his way to achieve his destiny (Ling, Liu and Xie 33). The liberation of a man depends on his understanding of truth and not through dependence of another natural super being. Buddha allowed the freedom of thought and tolerance among the believers. Qin dynasty, for instance, practiced tolerance through accepting and supporting other forms of religions in the empire. The idea of understanding and tolerance has been one of the profound culture and practice among the Buddhists. The dynasties in the country largely supported the construction of temples, which aided in further spread of Buddhism...