The Relationship Between Confucianism And Buddhism Essay -- Confuciani

It is often said that, aside from the impact of Marxism on twentieth-century China, the all 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 response 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 Buddhism would find a niche, it was in fact the combination of Confucianism and Daoism that laid a foundation at least just about receptive toward this new faith from India. This paper will focus mainly on the interaction between Buddhism and Confucian ism. Buddhism made it to China over land in the first century C.E. from the northwest and by sea in the second century C.E. The main influence, however, came from the northwest via the Silk Road (Zuercher 415). In fact, Buddhisms main avenue of refinement was along trade routes throughout Asia. According to Jason Neelis, trade as a vehicle for the expansion of Buddhism is reflected in the fact that the religion spread in an occasional pattern unlike typical diffusion (Neelis 7). It was the Theravada branch in particular that has been associated with trade. Mahayana, on the other hand focused on the more settled, agricultural lifestyle. ironically it is this branch that took hold in China. Once trade brought the religion within Chinas bor... ...Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2012. Web. 6 October. 2012. LaFleur, William R. Buddhism A Cultural Perspective. Ed. Robert S. Ellwood. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice Hall, 1988. Neelis, Jason. Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks Mo bility and Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia. Leiden Brill, 2011. Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. 2nd ed. Ithaca, NY Snow Lion, 2007. Saunders, Kenneth J. Buddhism in China A Historical Sketch. The Journal of Religion 3 (1923) 157-69. Shien, Gi-Ming. The Epistemology of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Philosophy 28 (1953) 260-264. Zuercher, Erik. Buddhism in China. In The Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Mircea Eliade, vol. 2, 414-21. New York MacMillan, 1987.