SPREAD OF BUDDHISM TO CHINA

From India, Buddhism made its way to China by following the trade routes, such as the Silk Road that provided a route for the northern and eastern expansion of the religion through central Asia into China, where merchants, envoys, and immigrants helped to introduce the religion into China from the first century BCE to the middle of the first century CE. During its early history in China, Buddhism was the religion of the immigrant community spread over a wide area, and it slowly gained adherents among indigenous Chinese. Gradually, Chi¬nese monks returned to India to collect and translate texts and to take them back to their homeland. The Buddhist monk Lokaks.ema arrived in China between 168 to 188 CE, and he was credited with translating the Prajnaparamita Sutra in Eight Thousand Lines. At a later period, Dharmaraks.a, a monk of Indo-Scythian heritage, arrived in China to translate works.

After the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 CE, Buddhism spread more rapidly in China, penetrating the upper class gentry in north China around 300 CE, because people sought answers to their problems and the unstable time period. With the division of China into two king- doms—north and south of the Yangtze River—Buddhism assumed a different character with its northern version being more practice orien-tated and its southern school being more textually orientated. This dif-ference was partly explained by the closer proximity of

northern Bud-dhism to India and its meditation teachers. Northern Buddhism was also shaped by the control of non-Chinese rulers from the fourth to the sixth century because these outsiders favored Buddhism, which assumed a more political character when monks became advisors to rulers. This period is marked by the cataloguing of texts and translation efforts of Tao-an (313-385), who was followed eventually by even more immi-nent figures like Kumirajiva (344-409/413), Buddhabhadra (359-429), a famous meditation master renowned

for his miraculous powers, Seng-chao (384-414), a brilliant disciple of Kumirajiva, and Tao-sheng (ca. 360-434), another capable follower of Kumirajiva who composed commentaries on numerous Mahayana texts. Kumaraj iva's work on Madhyamika texts led to the establishment of the San-lun (Three Trea-tise) school, and the Buddhist texts and teachings led to cross influence with Taoist notions. Tao-sheng discussed the Buddha germ that grows in all living beings. He was of the opinion that people bound to sensual desire could attain salvation, which was a controversial position for this period of Buddhist history.

During the two kingdoms period, Tao-sheng worked as a textual scholar, while Lu-shan Hui-yuan (344-416) and T'an-luan (416-542) established the Pure Land school. Meanwhile, Yogacara texts were translated by Paramartha (409-569), which enhanced the creation of the Fa-hsiang school.

Buddhism did not dominate Chinese culture like it did in such coun-tries as Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, and Thailand because China had already been shaped for centuries by Confucian and Taoist philosophies. Since Buddhism, unlike the indigenous Confucian and Tao¬ist traditions, was a foreign religious import, it had to struggle to secure a position in Chinese culture and to ward off attacks by the predominant traditions. What complicated matters even more for the Buddhists were its internal structure and the

external structure of Chinese culture. On the one hand, Buddhist monks did not feel obligated to pay homage to a ruler because the monastic community was a separate entity apart from the prevailing society. Furthermore, the monks insisted on their own laws and self-governance. These attitudes stood in potential conflict with Chinese culture, where there was no recognized separation of religion and state. In fact, any religious organization had to be subordinate to the state bureau¬cracy. The Buddhists adapted to their situation by integrating themselves into the structure of the state by establishing chapels, for instance, in the imperial palace where monks recited texts (sutras) for the welfare and protection of the state. After subordinating themselves to the state, the monks became involved in its political fortunes. In response to this help¬ful attitude and subordination, the state built and financially supported national monasteries, although during the T'ang dynasty (618-906) the state even assumed control of ordination to the profession of monk that placed them further under the control of the state.

The reunification of China by the Sui dynasty in 581 CE set the stage for the T'ang dynasty in 618, which endured for almost 300 years. Bud-dhism experienced setbacks and success during the T'ang dynasty. On the positive side, Chih-I (538-597) founded the T'ien-t'ai school and Fa-tsang (643-712) shaped the Hua-yen school, while Ch'an became a separate school. During this period, Hsuan-tsang (596-664) journeyed to India and translated texts that he discovered into Chinese. These posi¬tive developments were interrupted by the persecution of Buddhism in 845. Temples and monasteries were razed, monks forced to return to lay life, and texts and images were destroyed. This persecution especially affected the T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen schools, whereas Pure Land and Ch'an were not as adversely affected, subsequently becoming the two most dominant schools, because they were not as closely associated with or dependent on the royal court and its patronage.

By subordinating and integrating itself into the state apparatus, Bud-dhism raised the suspicions of those already entrenched in powerful and influential positions and eager to maintain their status. The Confucians leveled four general charges at the Buddhists. Firstly, the activities of Buddhism were detrimental to the authority of the government and to the stability and prosperity of the state. This political and economic ar¬gument presupposed that it was the emperor that made life possible for all of his subjects by performing rituals for the benefit of the people and nation and personified himself the creative powers of nature. From the Chinese perspective, withdrawal from society as mandated by the Bud¬dhist lifestyle was illegal, asocial, and a blasphemous act. Moreover, withdrawal from society entailed a loss to the state of tax-payers and laborers. The Buddhists offered a counter argument to the effect that monks were not disloyal, even if they are not subject to the power of the state. In fact, Buddhism helped to ensure lasting peace and prosperity in the country.

The Confucians also charged that the Buddhist monastic life was useless and unproductive. The Buddhists countered this utilitarian argu-ment by stating that monastic life was not useless because its benefits were not yielded within this world. Thirdly, the Confucians argued that Buddhism was a foreign barbarian creed that was not mentioned in the records of the past, and it made extravagant and unverifiable claims. In order to counter this argument based on cultural superiority, the Bud-dhists claimed that its foreign origin was not a good reason for reject¬ing it. In fact, China often borrowed things from abroad with excellent results. Moreover, Buddhists argued that their religion was not innova-tiv\

and it was mentioned by ancient authorities long before Confucius. Because China was converted to Buddhism under King Asoka, this made Confucius and Lao Tzu either disciples or manifestations of the Buddha, making Chinese critics short-sighted, narrow-minded, and pedestrian. Finally, the Confucians charged that Buddhism was an un-natural violation of the sacred canons of social behavior, implying that Buddhism was asocial and highly immoral because it did not practice filial piety, a fundamental virtue. The Buddhists responded to this moral argument by claiming that filial piety could also be discovered in Bud-dhist scriptures, and they forged a body of apocryphal literature that emphasized the virtue.

These various charges did not stop Buddhism from becoming an economic and educational force in China. Because of donations by lay people to Buddhist monasteries, they accumulated large tracts of land, which was considered an act of merit by wealthy donors. The state also granted land to monks and nuns in a procedure called the equal-field system, and monasteries purchased land. The land was cultivated by temple slaves, who were criminals freed by the state to work on the land, people attached to the land when it was donated

to the monastery, and unemployed peasants who mortgaged themselves to the monastery. Also, a group of tenant farmers called pure people (ching-jen) farmed the land, handled gold and silver, and traded in goods, activities that spared monks from such impure actions. Buddhist monasteries were also involved in industrial enterprises by sponsoring water-power mills to produce flour, operating oil presses for oil used for cooking and fuel, and engaging in commercial goods transactions, which were called inexhaustible wealth because the goods could be used indefinitely and continuously earned interest. In addition, monasteries functioned as hostels for traveling state officials and candidates on their way to civil service exams in provincial or national capitals. Functioning as educa-tors, itinerant monks preached Buddhist texts to lay people, and popular lectures were modified versions of the texts with a mixture of prose, poetry, and fanciful embellishments.

The charges made against Buddhism were periodically translated into state persecution of the religion. The persecution of 845 under the impe¬tus of Emperor Wu-tsung (841-846), a fanatical Taoist adherent, sought to expunge Buddhism from China. The hostile measure began in 842 with the returning of monks and nuns to lay life and the confiscation of Buddhist properties. A second phase of imperial decrees in the fall of 844 attempted to destroy the religion by dissolving small monastic communities and forcing monks to pay taxes. Because of their loca¬tion in the south of China and more remote areas, Ch'an monasteries escaped much of the harm inflicted on Buddhist institutions. The Ch'an monasteries did a good job of remaining obscure and removed from the attention of the central government.

Chinese Buddhism developed a number of schools, such as Hua-yen, T'ien-t'ai, Pure Land, and Ch'an. From the Hua-yen perspective, all things (dharmas) within the self-creating and self-maintaining cosmos were empty and thus lacking of self-nature. Because things did not ex¬ist in their own right, everything existed only interdependently in the cosmos. If you examined a particular thing like an apple, you would discover that it possessed both a static aspect and a dynamic aspect, respectively its principle (li) and phenomenon (shih). When an apple was identical to other apples this pointed to its static nature, whereas its dynamic nature referred to the way that it interpenetrated other things, such as other types of fruits, vegetables, people, the store where it was sold, and the community in which it could be found.

By itself, the static principle was without form, while being at the same time clear, pure, perfect, and brilliant, like the gold of a statue of a lion. Because the gold was devoid of form, it assumed any form that conditions assigned to it. The gold was also the primary cause of the lion because it was the factor that made the production of the lion possible. Representing the realm of things, the figure, which was a sec-ondary and contributing cause, symbolized the dynamic phenomenon that was represented by the work of the artisan who shaped the gold. This famous image of the golden lion was created by the founder of the school Fa-tsang (643-712) to illustrate his philosophical point that principle and phenomenon were interfused, suggesting that all events and things of the phenomenal world arose through a combination of these two sets of causes. Moreover, each individual thing embraced all other individual things, making all phenomena mutually identical to each other. This suggested that all dynamic phenomena were manifesta-tions of static noumenon. A good example of this interrelationship was the waves of the ocean. The ocean (noumenon) was one, but its waves (phenomena) were many.

Similar to the Hua-yen school, the T'ien-t'ai school stressed the emp-tiness of things, the interconnectedness of all things, and the unity of the universe. In addition to these points, the T'ien-t'ai school's notion of chih-kuan (concentrated insight) influenced Ch'an to some extent. Concentration (chih) represented the process of emptying the mind of all deluded thoughts, passions, and other obstacles to clear understand-ing, whereas insight (kuan) was insight into the genuine features of reality. They formed together a harmonious tension in which reality was correctly understood and Buddhahood attained, which occurred simultaneously. It was analogous to being able to see the bottom of a pond when the water was still.

With the emphasis on the family, ancestors, and lineage in Chinese culture, it was not surprising that Ch'an Buddhism would not also be influenced by these types of cultural values. Ch'an schools were conceived as families and it traced its lineage all the way back to the historical Buddha in India. It was a Ch'an conviction that there had been a single transmission from the enlightened mind of the Buddha to the present. Thus, anyone achieving enlightenment in the present possessed the identical enlightened mind of the Buddha in ancient India. Some five major chronicles preserved traditions about this mind to mind transmission throughout the centuries that it often referred to as the Record of

the Lamp, an obvious symbolic reference to enlightenment. In these texts, one could find references to a list of 28 Indian Ch'an patriarchs. Although it formed an essential part of the movement's self-understanding, such a list was without historical credibility. None-theless, included on the list was an Indian of the Brahmin caste named Bodhidharma from southern India who allegedly reached China during the early part of the reign of Emperor Wu (502-550 CE). Bodhidharma passed the tradition to a former student of Taoism named Hui-k'o, who failed to get the attention of the meditating master until the master took compassion on the inquirer standing in the fast-falling snowstorm. To presumably prove his sincerity, Hui-k'o cut off his left arm at the elbow and presented to the Bodhidharma. Now that he was convinced of the aspirant's seriousness, Bodhidharma accepted him as a student, and he eventually became patriarch of the tradition. The fourth patriarch was Tao-hsin (580-651), who passed on the transmission of the mind to his disciple the fifth patriarch Hung-jen (601-674), who moved his resi-dence to the East Mountain or Mount P'ing-jung and marked the end of the early formative period.

Probably more than any other single figure of the Chinese Ch'an tradi¬tion, the sixth patriarch, named Hui-neng, functioned as a pivotal histori¬cal figure. It would be incorrect to view him, however, as a single figure who inaugurated a new era in Ch'an; it is probably more accurate to view his life as a symbol for a complex historical process extending over a period of time. The status of the sixth patriarch was promoted after his death by his chosen successor, Shen-hui (684-758), in conjunction with the latter's attack on the northern school of Ch'an and in particular over contentions about the transmission of authority to Shen-hsiu (600-706) and his emphasis on gradually reaching enlightenment,

whereas the southern school stressed the suddenness of gaining enlightenment. In ad¬dition to the differences with regard to the nature of enlightenment and identity of the rightful patriarch, Shen-hui also argued that the northern school, which was actually founded by a disciple of Hui-neng named Fa- ju (638-689), deviated from the true teachings of Bodhidharma, who in¬troduced a special method of meditation, did not ground his teachings on texts, was apolitical, critical of devotional practices, and engaged in false practices. In spite of this attack and subsequent greater historical success by the southern school, the northern school remained a religious force for several centuries in China. After Hui-neng and the establishment of the southern school, Ch'an spread across China and gained support among peasants in a broad process of enculturation.

For some scholars of Buddhism, the T'ang period represented the golden age of Ch'an. This claim was made because of the outstand¬ing personalities that this period produced. Such a claim is mislead¬ing because, although there certainly were numerous important and influential Ch'an religious leaders, it was not a unified and lucidly articulated movement. Being a widely diverse movement during the T'ang period, Ch'an did not arrive at a well-defined identity until the Sung period (960-1279). What the T'ang period did have was a series of contending lineages vying for leadership and acceptance of its own claims of authority and authenticity. It was more accurate to view the T'ang period as a beginning of a process that was completed in the Sung period. Other schools of Mahayana Buddhism, such as Hua-yen, T'ien-t'ai, and Pure Land, reached maturity and became fully sincized by its culture and simultaneously transformed Chinese culture, even though the historical reality was a long process of development along uneven trajectories in the northern and southern areas of the country.

Representing the third generation after the life of the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng, the T'ang period witnessed a number of teachers of great stature like Ma-tsu (709-788), Pai-chang, Huang-po (d. 850), and Lin-chi (d. 866). The historical period also witnessed the birth of five houses of Ch'an associated with these and other figures. These houses represented a kind of internal sectarianism that served as regional ver-sions of Ch'an that manifested significant differences of emphasis and teaching style. Although there was a rivalry between the houses, there did not appear to be any genuine animosity.

The Sung dynasty was a period divided into two parts called the Northern Sung (960-1126) and the Southern Sung (1127-1279), repre-senting a renaissance for Chinese culture with a flowering of literature, art, and the rise of Neo-Confucianism as the predominant intellectual movement, whereas the later phase of this period was marked by social and cultural decay. Important welfare projects were established during this time that included the building of hospitals for the indigent, public graveyards, and a national school system. During this period, Ch'an Buddhism was involved in political affairs similar to other Buddhist schools and formed a focal point for social and cultural life in China, although no new traditions of Buddhism developed during the Sung. It was mostly a time of continued evolution of the Buddhist schools. It has been common to view the T'ang period as the golden age of Ch'an Buddhism, but this is misleading because the Sung completes a process of development begun in the T'ang period rather than a decline.

The Sung conception of Ch'an lineage was shaped by the efforts of Tsung-mi (780-841). He was the first person to recognize and iden¬tify the different Ch'an groups as extended clans with their roots in Bodhidharma. And he did not accept the opinion that the Buddhism of Bodhidharma represented a different form of Buddhism from that of the Mahayana texts. Even though different traditions of Ch'an placed importance on diverse principles, Tsung-mi wanted to reconcile the dif-ferent traditions. His synthetic method viewed the various traditions as wrong in making their respective positions absolute, but the whole of the various traditions were valid. Overall, the Sung dynasty represented an eclipse of Buddhism by Neo-Confucianism.

During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) there were efforts to revive the Ch'an and Pure Land schools. A period of stagnation marked Bud¬dhism during the historical period of the Ming and Ch'ing (1644-1912) dynasties with an attempt to revive Buddhism at the end of the 19th century. The revival of Buddhism ceased with the Communist victory in 1949. During the 1950s, the Chinese Buddhist Association proved useful for the Communist government for promoting its foreign policy. The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s was a catastrophe for Buddhism, which was similar to the persecution of 845. The death of Mao Tse-tung, Communist leader, in 1976 was marked by more tolerance by the government. By 1980, monks were no longer banned from being ordained, and the Chinese Buddhist Academy was opened to provide monastic training. A major problem was the lack of qualified teachers because of the previous persecution of the religion.