First, the absorption stage, from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. During this period, China basically absorbed Indian Buddhist culture, and most Buddhist classics were translated during this period.
The second stage is the Buddhist stage in China. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the formation and development of Tiantai, Huayan and especially Zen Buddhism show that Buddhism has its own characteristics in China, and has gradually embarked on the road of independent development and become an important part of China's national culture.
Sui and Tang Dynasties were the turning points of these two stages. During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, when Master Xuanzang returned from studying in India, the level of Buddhism in China was beyond the scope of Indian studies.
This is an important sign that the long historical process of China's learning from Indian Buddhist culture has come to an end. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, two small sects and eight major sects were formed. These two small sects belong to Shicheng Buddhism and Jiashe Buddhism of Hinayana Buddhism respectively, and in fact they belong to Mahayana Buddhism in China.
The eight Mahayana schools are Tiantai Sect, Sanlun Sect, Zhixue Sect, Huayan Sect, Zen Sect, Legalist Sect, Pure Land Sect and Tantric Sect. Legend has it that Zen originated in Qiliang, and the 28th Indian founder Dharma introduced Sakyamuni's "authentic flower picking" into China, but the real founder should be Huineng, the sixth ancestor.
Zen stood out from the grand occasion of refuting religion by analyzing its names and images, set up the banner of "teaching everything outside", advocated "independent biography", put all the "four out and four in" of Buddhism into the heart, got rid of the shackles of all dogmas, became one with life, and experienced the true meaning of physical and mental life and the life universe from life. Mentoring is carried out in daily activities, such as starting from the heart, laughing and scolding, singing and playing, inspiring and pointing, killing and seizing, etc.
So Zen has become like religion instead of religion, like philosophy instead of philosophy, like art instead of art, which is not only revolutionary to Buddhism, but also creates a unique ideological system for those who want to get rid of it.
Some scholars regard Zen as a typical Buddhism in China, and even think that the advantages of Zen are inherent in Confucianism, while some Confucian ideas are lacking in Zen. As a matter of fact, many features of Zen have the thoughts of China culture, such as Confucianism or Taoism.
But the fundamental purpose of Zen is to prove "unbearable". This is the essence of Indian Buddhism, which is not found in China culture.
This is saturated with Zen, so there is no doubt that only by accepting Buddhist ideas can such brilliant flowers bloom. Buddhism talks about the origin, which is an important content of the origin law.
In this way, Zen, Tiantai and Huayan are all products of China's cultural development, and they are the flowers that bloom after the Chinese nation digested and absorbed Indian culture. If you don't understand Zen (including Tiantai and Huayan), you can't deeply understand the culture of China from the Tang Dynasty to the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties is Confucianism on the surface, but Zen in its bones. Its formation and development are greatly influenced by Zen consciously or unconsciously. If Zen elements are extracted from Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties will be eclipsed.
In this way, the history of China's thoughts and the history of China's philosophy can't go on. In addition, after the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, Zen became the mainstream and core of Buddhism in China, and Zen represented Buddhism in China at that time.
Therefore, Zen is a special topic in the cultural history of China. If you don't understand Zen, you are not qualified to understand China culture. An in-depth study of the history of Buddhism in China reveals that without Zen Buddhism, Buddhism in China would be hard to bear the blow of the Tang Wuzong Buddhist Movement.
In that national campaign to exterminate Buddhism, all sects in China were exterminated except Zen. These sects can hardly survive without the support of temples, temple economy and classic culture (as well as Buddhism in late India).
This is also the case. Only knowledge, three theories, Tiantai, Huayan, Legalism and Tantric Sect collapsed after that attack, and some of them disappeared forever. Only Zen, initiated by the master of six ancestors, not only escaped this disaster, but also developed like mushrooms after rain, spreading all over the country in the decades after the extermination of Teacher Tai, which made Buddhism a dominant position in China.
Therefore, if there is no Zen Buddhism, whether the life of Buddhism can continue in China becomes a problem. History itself shows that the development of Buddhism in China has been mainly the development of Zen Buddhism (excluding Tibetan Buddhism) for more than 1000 years since it was abolished at the end of the Tang Dynasty.
It is precisely because of the combination of Zen and the reality of China culture that it has the ability to develop and spread to Europe and the United States for such a long and brilliant time. What are the reasons for the depression of various factions and the prosperity of Zen? As we all know, the banner of Zen Buddhism is "teach people not to preach, not to write words, to point directly at people's hearts, and to see nature become Buddha."
Because there were no temples in Zen at that time, and there was no burden of temple economy and classical literature, Tang Wuzong destroyed almost all the temples and documents in the country, but he didn't hurt a finger on Zen. At the same time, the method of Zen is simple and feasible, which does not contradict the traditional Confucianism and Taoism, can penetrate and deepen Confucianism and Taoism, is easily accepted by scholars and has universality; In addition, Zen itself contains all the essence of Buddhism and has strong vitality. A meditator is a seed that can take root, sprout, blossom and bear fruit in any environment. These characteristics of Zen Buddhism have incomparable advantages over other sects, making it the mainstream and main body of Buddhism in China for more than a thousand years.
When it comes to Zen, you can't help but talk about the Tanjing. Master Huineng, the sixth ancestor, is the true founder and source of Zen, but the founders of the above five generations do not have such significance. We'll talk about this later.
Secondly, the Tanjing is rich, vivid, profound and simple, involving the middle view, rooftop, knowledge-only, elegance and purity in the Tang Dynasty. This makes it easy to compare and analyze the major sects and observe their similarities and differences, from which we can see the status and characteristics of Zen in Buddhism.
Third, the altar sutra is a record, and its words are concise and easy to read, unlike the later cases, which are obscure and difficult for outsiders to start with. The Tanjing was handed down by the Zen master of the Sixth Ancestor and recorded by disciple Fahai.
Why is it named "Tanjing"? This is because the Sixth Ancestor was ordained in Guangxiao Temple in Guangzhou, where there is a ring altar. This ring altar is said to be one of the Southern Dynasties during the Liu and Song Dynasties.
2. What is the development of Buddhism in China? Development of Buddhism in China (Dengfeng, China) 2007-01-KLOC-0/409: 24 1. The development of Buddhism in China and Buddhism in China can be divided into two stages in history.
First, the absorption stage, from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. During this period, China basically absorbed Indian Buddhist culture, and most Buddhist classics were translated during this period.
The second stage is the Buddhist stage in China. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the formation and development of Tiantai, Huayan and especially Zen Buddhism show that Buddhism has its own characteristics in China, and has gradually embarked on the road of independent development and become an important part of China's national culture.
Sui and Tang Dynasties were the turning points of these two stages. During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, when Master Xuanzang returned from studying in India, the level of Buddhism in China was beyond the scope of Indian studies.
This is an important sign that the long historical process of China's learning from Indian Buddhist culture has come to an end. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, two small sects and eight major sects were formed. These two small sects belong to Shicheng Buddhism and Jiashe Buddhism of Hinayana Buddhism respectively, and in fact they belong to Mahayana Buddhism in China.
The eight Mahayana schools are Tiantai Sect, Sanlun Sect, Zhixue Sect, Huayan Sect, Zen Sect, Legalist Sect, Pure Land Sect and Tantric Sect. Legend has it that Zen originated in Qiliang, and the 28th Indian founder Dharma introduced Sakyamuni's "authentic flower picking" into China, but the real founder should be Huineng, the sixth ancestor.
Zen stood out from the grand occasion of refuting religion by analyzing its names and images, set up the banner of "teaching everything outside", advocated "independent biography", put all the "four out and four in" of Buddhism into the heart, got rid of the shackles of all dogmas, became one with life, and experienced the true meaning of physical and mental life and the life universe from life. Mentoring is carried out in daily activities, such as starting from the heart, laughing and scolding, singing and playing, inspiring and pointing, killing and seizing, etc.
So Zen has become like religion instead of religion, like philosophy instead of philosophy, like art instead of art, which is not only revolutionary to Buddhism, but also creates a unique ideological system for those who want to get rid of it.
Some scholars regard Zen as a typical Buddhism in China, and even think that the advantages of Zen are inherent in Confucianism, while some Confucian ideas are lacking in Zen. As a matter of fact, many features of Zen have the thoughts of China culture, such as Confucianism or Taoism.
But the fundamental purpose of Zen is to prove "unbearable". This is the essence of Indian Buddhism, which is not found in China culture.
This is saturated with Zen, so there is no doubt that only by accepting Buddhist ideas can such brilliant flowers bloom. Buddhism talks about the origin, which is an important content of the origin law.
In this way, Zen, Tiantai and Huayan are all products of China's cultural development, and they are the flowers that bloom after the Chinese nation digested and absorbed Indian culture. If you don't understand Zen (including Tiantai and Huayan), you can't deeply understand the culture of China from the Tang Dynasty to the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties is Confucianism on the surface, but Zen in its bones. Its formation and development are greatly influenced by Zen consciously or unconsciously. If Zen elements are extracted from Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties will be eclipsed.
In this way, the history of China's thoughts and the history of China's philosophy can't go on. In addition, after the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, Zen became the mainstream and core of Buddhism in China, and Zen represented Buddhism in China at that time.
Therefore, Zen is a special topic in the cultural history of China. If you don't understand Zen, you are not qualified to understand China culture. An in-depth study of the history of Buddhism in China reveals that without Zen Buddhism, Buddhism in China would be hard to bear the blow of the Tang Wuzong Buddhist Movement.
In that national campaign to exterminate Buddhism, all sects in China were exterminated except Zen. These sects can hardly survive without the support of temples, temple economy and classic culture (as well as Buddhism in late India).
This is also the case. Only knowledge, three theories, Tiantai, Huayan, Legalism and Tantric Sect collapsed after that attack, and some of them disappeared forever. Only Zen, initiated by the master of six ancestors, not only escaped this disaster, but also developed like mushrooms after rain, spreading all over the country in the decades after the extermination of Teacher Tai, which made Buddhism a dominant position in China.
Therefore, if there is no Zen Buddhism, whether the life of Buddhism can continue in China becomes a problem. History itself shows that the development of Buddhism in China has been mainly the development of Zen Buddhism (excluding Tibetan Buddhism) for more than 1000 years since it was abolished at the end of the Tang Dynasty.
It is precisely because of the combination of Zen and the reality of China culture that it has the ability to develop and spread to Europe and the United States for such a long and brilliant time. What are the reasons for the depression of various factions and the prosperity of Zen? As we all know, the banner of Zen Buddhism is "teach people not to preach, not to write words, to point directly at people's hearts, and to see nature become Buddha."
Because there were no temples in Zen at that time, and the burden of temple economy and classical literature, Tang Wuzong destroyed almost all the temples and literature in the country, but did not hurt Zen. At the same time, the method of Zen is simple and feasible, which does not contradict the traditional Confucianism and Taoism, can penetrate and deepen Confucianism and Taoism, is easily accepted by scholars and has universality; In addition, Zen itself contains all the essence of Buddhism and has strong vitality. A meditator is a seed that can take root, sprout, blossom and bear fruit in any environment. These characteristics of Zen Buddhism have incomparable advantages over other sects, making it the mainstream and main body of Buddhism in China for more than a thousand years.
When it comes to Zen, you can't help but talk about the Tanjing. Master Huineng, the sixth ancestor, is the true founder and source of Zen, but the founders of the above five generations do not have such significance. We'll talk about this later.
Secondly, the Tanjing is rich, vivid, profound and simple, involving the middle view, rooftop, knowledge-only, elegance and purity in the Tang Dynasty. In this way, it is convenient to compare and analyze the major sects and observe their similarities and differences, from which we can see the status and characteristics of Zen in Buddhism.
Third, the altar sutra is a record, and its words are concise and easy to read, unlike the later cases, which are obscure and difficult for outsiders to start with. The Tanjing was handed down by the Zen master of the Sixth Ancestor and recorded by disciple Fahai.
Why is it named "Tanjing"? This is because of six.
3. What influence does Buddhism have on the history and culture of China? Buddhism was introduced into China from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After more than a thousand years of dissemination and integration, it had a far-reaching impact on the traditional culture of China.
On the one hand, Buddhism, as a foreign culture, has its own independence; On the other hand, it interacted with China traditional culture, changed the connotation of China culture, and had a far-reaching impact on China's traditional philosophy, literature, language, art and folk customs. 1, the influence of Buddhism on China's philosophy Buddhism is a religion and a culture, which contains profound philosophical thoughts.
Since Buddhism was introduced into China, China's traditional ideas, such as world outlook, outlook on life and morality, have been constantly influenced by Buddhism. Some concepts, consciousness, theory, mode of thinking and value system of Buddhism have gradually entered the minds of China people.
After a long period of conflict and running-in, it gradually merged with China's original thoughts and became a part of China's ideological culture. For example, China's traditional philosophy pays attention to the demonstration of ethical principles based on paternalistic consanguinity and the investigation of the relationship between man and nature based on governing the country and safeguarding the people. Although it also involves the origin of human beings and all life and the universe itself, the argument is not in-depth and unified.
Although we attach importance to the worship of God, the sacrifice of ancestors and the teaching of Shinto, we lack theological proof of the soul and the world after death. He put forward the theory of human nature, such as good nature and evil nature, and preached from everything to the most holy, but his analysis and demonstration of psychology was rough.
The introduction of Buddhism, with its complicated religious doctrines and philosophical theories, greatly inspired the development of China's philosophy and provided rich materials and argumentation methods. From a big perspective, the infinite time and space, the combination of body and function, the pure dyeing of heart (good and evil), the careful analysis of heart and the demonstration of the decisive role of heart in liberation and sanctification have greatly enriched and developed China's philosophy. Buddhism put forward the concept of "reason" which connects the universe noumenon (truth, reality and legalism) and the mind (Buddha's nature and truth consciousness). The liberation theory of Zen Buddhism's "mind is Buddha" and "knowing one's heart and seeing one's nature" directly promoted the formation and development of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties.
The theory of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties about the unity of heaven and man, the nature of death and the nature of temperament, and the method of self-cultivation that pays attention to quietness and respect are directly influenced by Buddhism. 2. The influence of Buddhism on China literature The influence of Buddhism on China literature goes deep into all fields of literature.
From literary theory to specific creative skills, from genre style to specific creative content, it can be seen everywhere. First of all, many Buddhist scriptures are great literary works, such as Vimalakīrti Sutra, which has high literary value. Secondly, Buddhism has an important influence on China's poetry.
For example, there are more than 50,000 Tang poems, and one out of every ten poems is about Buddhism, especially Zen. Among them, there are traces of Buddhism in the poems of Wang Wei, Wei, Wei Yuan and He.
Take Wang Wei as an example. Wang Wei's word "Mo" comes from classics.
As an idyllic poet, there are paintings and poems in his poems, and he uses a lot of "emptiness" because everything in Buddhism is empty. For example, the poem "After the rain, the mountain is empty, and the autumn dusk stands", "How many sad things have happened in my life, and I don't want to sell it to an empty door", "There seems to be no one on the empty mountain, but I think I hear a voice", "When people are idle, the osmanthus falls, the night is quiet and the spring mountain is empty" and "It's cold and cloudy and autumn is quiet"; Thirdly, Buddhism has a great influence on China's novels.
For example, in the Journey to the West in the four classical novels, there are Buddhist ideas: the Monkey King even claimed to be the Great Sage of Qi Tian, and no matter whether he went to heaven or went to sea, he could not escape from the palm of his hand; There are bodhisattvas, reincarnation, regions and hungry ghosts in the world. Another example is the dialogue between a monk and a Taoist at the beginning of A Dream of Red Mansions. Jia Baoyu finally became a monk and everything was empty. In addition, a source of logical thinking research comes from Buddhism.
3. The influence of Buddhism on the language of China Buddhism also directly affects the development of the language of China. On the one hand, it is manifested in Chinese vocabulary: one third of Chinese vocabulary comes from or is influenced by Buddhism.
Like some words from Buddhism, for example, nowadays, in Buddhism, the original meaning is when people have bad ideas; World, the original meaning of Buddhism is that the past, present and future are called "world", and all directions become "boundaries"; Speculation refers to Siddhartha Gautama's teaching method, which has been convinced by everyone, even the stubborn stone nodded; The blind touch the elephant, Buddhism means that all beings are blocked by ignorance and don't understand the truth of the universe; Throwing oneself to the ground is a Buddhist etiquette. Similar words are too numerous to mention.
There are also many words influenced by Buddhism. For example, the word "liberation" first came from Historical Records, originally intended to reduce and excuse. Later, with the introduction of Buddhism, it was injected with a new meaning, that is, getting rid of distress and getting comfortable.
On the other hand, in Chinese phonology, we can also see the influence of Buddhism. Buddhist culture is one of the sources of China culture, which promotes the change of China's language methodology.
In the Southern Dynasties, under the influence of Brahma Buddhism, people divided the tone of characters into four tones, which were used in metrical poems, which promoted the development of phonology and the production of metrical poems. In the way of phonetic notation, ancient scholars changed the shun tone which was popular since the Eastern Han Dynasty into the reverse tone, which may also be related to the influence of Sanskrit Pinyin.
4. The Influence of Buddhism on China Art In the long history of China, the influence of Buddhism is undeniable. Whether it is architecture, painting, sculpture, music, dance and drama, it is permeated with the influence of Buddhism.
For example, in architecture, the introduction of Buddhism greatly increased the brilliance of China's architectural art. According to the Records of the Later Han Dynasty, Xiang Kaizhuan, in nine years (166), Xiang Kaijian said to Emperor Huan, "Wen Gong is the shrine of the Yellow Tower."
This is the earliest temple record in China. Since then, the architectural style of our country has joined the architectural style of India.
From the poem "480 temples in Southern Dynasties" written by Du Mu, a poet in Tang Dynasty, we can know that there were as many as 480 temples in Jinling at that time. Besides monks, emperors and individuals built temples.
The reasons for building temples are to pray for the people, to build temples for emperors, and to use temples as living places. We can also get a glimpse of the splendor of Yongning Temple from the magnificent scenery recorded in Luoyang Galand.
In terms of painting, the introduction of Indian Buddhist painting has had a certain impact on the content and form of Chinese painting, and expanded the performance of figure painting in China.
4. Buddhism and China culture Buddhism have exerted great influence and function on China culture, leaving a splendid Buddhist cultural heritage in the history of China.
For example, the most well-preserved ancient buildings in China include the Buddhist Temple Pagoda, the existing brick pagodas of Song Yue Temple in Songshan, Henan, the Tang Dynasty wooden buildings of nanzenji and Beiju in Wutai Mountain, the Damu Pagoda in Yingxian County, and the stone pagodas of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, all of which are precious objects for studying the history of ancient Chinese architecture. Many Buddhist buildings have become prominent signs of landscape contours in various parts of China.
In a lush, red-walled and blue-tiled hall and Qiongge. Exquisite Buddhist architecture adds infinite spring scenery to the magnificent scenery of Wan Li.
Dunhuang, Yungang, Longmen and other grottoes are world-renowned as treasures of ancient sculpture. They have absorbed the characteristics of Gandhara and Indian, and developed into sculpture art with China national style, which is a great cultural heritage of our country. Buddhism has also brought new artistic conception, new style and new wording methods to China culture.
Thousands of classics translated from Sanskrit are great and rich literary works in themselves. A?vagho?a's Ode to the Zen Forest brings a model of long narrative poems; Fahua, the late Wei Dynasty and White were the sources of inspiration for novels in Jin and Tang Dynasties. Prajna and Zen thoughts influenced the poems of Tao Yuanming, Wang Wei, Bai Juyi and Su Shi.
Bianwen, folk stories and Jackson's quotations all have a deep relationship with Chinese popular literature. The touching stories in Buddhist scriptures often become the subject matter of artists' paintings. Cao Buxing, Gu Kaizhi, Zhang Sengyou, Zhan Ziqian, Yan, Wu Daozi and other famous painters of past dynasties have been handed down from generation to generation for their good paintings of Buddhism.
The development of Chinese painting from Wang Wei's literati painting to popular freehand brushwork painting after Song and Yuan Dynasties is related to Zen thought. This shows the role of Buddhism in painting art.
As for music, Brahma was popular in China in the 3rd century. The music of the Tang Dynasty also absorbed the music of Buddhist countries such as Tianzhu Music, Qiuci Music and Anguo Music, and a small part of the music of the Tang Dynasty was preserved in some Buddhist temples.
Buddhism is accompanied by the spread of astronomy, medicine and other technologies. In the Tang Dynasty, a group of eminent monks created the Dayan calendar and measured the meridian, which made outstanding contributions to astronomy.
There are more than ten kinds of medical books and prescriptions translated from India recorded in the history books of Sui and Tang Dynasties. Tibetan is the language of Buddhism, and it has the knowledge of doctors. The engraving of Buddhist scriptures promoted the development of printing in China, and almost all the oldest printed versions in the world have been preserved so far.
Buddhist philosophy contains profound wisdom and has profound and unique views on the life of the universe, the introspection of human reason and the analysis of concepts. Engels praised Buddhists in Dialectics of Nature as an advanced stage in the development of human dialectical thinking.
In the world view, Buddhism denies that there is a supreme "God" and thinks that things are in a causal network with no beginning and no end. In the outlook on life, Buddhism emphasizes the subjective consciousness and links its own liberation with the salvation of mankind.
The interaction between Buddhism and China's classical philosophy promoted philosophy to put forward new propositions and methods. With its unique way of thinking and life style, it gives people new inspiration, emancipates people's minds, gets rid of Confucian dogma and pushes people's spiritual life to another new world.
So does Buddhism still play a role in the process of developing new socialist national culture? The development of human culture is a continuous process, and traditional culture and modern culture cannot be completely separated. We should absorb all the valuable essence of traditional culture to enrich and develop the new socialist national culture.
China's traditional culture also includes Buddhist culture. There is a prejudice that the reference to China traditional culture seems to be only Confucian culture, which completely obliterates the position of Buddhist culture in China traditional culture and the contribution of Buddhists to China culture.
In fact, the traditional culture of China since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is no longer a pure Confucian culture, but a cultural form formed by the confluence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Studying the history of China, especially the cultural history of China, is inseparable from the study of Buddhism.
In fact, from A.D. 148, the translation of Anshi Gaodongdu Buddhist Scriptures, to 260, when Zhu Shixing went to the West to learn from the scriptures, and then to A.D. 1 175, when Zhu and Lu Xiangshan met in Hubei (the former marked the beginning of a new cultural movement-Buddhism, and the latter marked the establishment of another new cultural movement-Neo-Confucianism). The Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty were the aftermath.
It was during this period that Buddhism became the mainstream of China's philosophy. Its long duration, great momentum and wide influence (spread abroad) are far from being comparable to Confucian classics in Han Dynasty and Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties.
So when Hu Shi wrote The History of China Philosophy, he stopped writing because he didn't understand Buddhism at that time. There is also a famous contemporary historian in China who held a nihilistic attitude towards Buddhist culture in his early years, but began to systematically study Buddhist scriptures in his later years, saying that he needed to make up lessons.
The historian told people that in the history of China, the relationship between Buddhism and culture is so deep that if you don't know Buddhism, you won't know China culture. But now people still do not attach importance to the study of Buddhism and regard it as vulgar religious superstition.
For example, the great translator, traveler, linguist and Buddhist master in China's history declared the prize, which left his due chapter in the works of world history of western scholars. His name is a household name in India, and former Indian Prime Minister Nehru honored him as one of the four great men in history.
But in China, people only know the Tang Priest in the Journey to the West, but they don't know the Xuanzang Prize in the cultural history of China. What's more, some people simply regard the precious cultural heritage of Buddhism as a way to make money, and many things that shouldn't happen give people an excuse that China doesn't respect culture.
Nowadays, many people deny that Buddhism is a part of China culture, but when he opens his mouth, it actually contains Buddhist elements. Language is one of the most common and direct cultures. Many popular expressions in our daily life, such as the world, truth, reality, equality, the present, the moment, discipline, relative, absolute and so on, all come from Buddhist vocabulary.
If we really want to completely abandon Buddhist culture, I'm afraid they can't even speak well. China has the largest and most complete number of Buddhist classics and historical materials of Buddhist culture in the world. Since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the number of Buddhist scriptures and writings translated into Chinese has increased from generation to generation. The Tibetan version of the Tripitaka is very large.
5. What are the merits and demerits of Buddhism in the historical development of China? Buddhism is an integral part of China culture and naturally plays an important role in the revival of traditional culture in China.
Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are the mainstream of traditional culture in China. In fact, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and other cultures influence each other and become a whole, which requires us to inherit organically. If the traditional culture needed in life is compared to a house, then Confucianism is the door of this house, and the other hundred schools are windows, two of which are Taoism and Buddhism.
Without windows, the house will look boring; Without the gate, there is no "road" in and out. These different ideologies and cultures have formed a system, which is the traditional culture that influences China people's thoughts.
However, China people can always distinguish between master and slave. Ceng Zi said: "I save three times a day-is it cheating on people?" Don't believe in making friends? Can't you learn? " Until now, China still evaluates a person by "three provinces".
In ancient times, scholars were called Confucian scholars. I never thought that this "Confucian scholar" meant only knowing Confucianism and reading Confucian books, but reading a lot of books and reading all over the house. For example, people who are educated by Confucianism will naturally use military strategists' thoughts in shopping malls and battlefields, while adhering to the spirit of Buddhism and Taoism in their lives, which is a very normal and common phenomenon in China.
Sticking to Confucianism, even a small part of pedantic Confucianism is a narrow and incomplete view of Confucianism. Confucius said that "the benevolent loves the people" and "loves the people". Some people corrected that "the people" and "the people" refer to the words of scholars.
In fact, the basic spirit of Confucianism is "benevolence", but this "benevolence" and "benevolence" are not without difference. This is seeking truth from facts, and it is impossible for people to treat everyone equally. Therefore, the difference between courtesy and affection is objective and will never change.
Therefore, from many viewpoints of Confucianism, Confucianism is a philosophy of life, a philosophy of life and a philosophy of human social relations, rather than a metaphysical and very abstract philosophy divorced from human life. People live between heaven and earth and in society, and Confucianism will still be very instructive.
This guide may be inaccurate in every detail, but there is nothing wrong with the general direction. After Buddhism was introduced into China, it supplemented Confucianism and absorbed its basic ideas.
Filial piety, for example, is a factor in Indian Buddhism. It has feelings for parents, but it is not prominent. In addition, early Buddhism paid attention to "destroying wisdom with ashes" and did not emphasize family relations. Being a monk after entering China is filial piety, and being filial at home is filial piety.
Becoming a monk is a great achievement, and it is a broad spiritual leap for parents who have lived in all dynasties, even for parents who take all beings as their parents. In a sense, this has expanded the benevolence spirit of Confucianism.
If Confucianism says that everyone is equal, "everyone can be obedient", everyone has the possibility of being holy, while Buddhism extends to the equality of all beings, not only people are equal, but also people are equal to all beings, so we should cherish every life. This expansion has created the generous and loving character of China people.
Although the concept of "environmental protection" was not mentioned in ancient times, China people cherish birds, animals and creatures. Some Buddhist ideas were once considered superstitious and backward. In my opinion, it is wrong to criticize history blindly and be divorced from historical conditions with the development of science and technology in a certain period.
For example, the idea of reincarnation has its positive significance. Before the introduction of Buddhism, China paid attention to "good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil".
"If there is a good house, there will be Qing Yu, and if there is a bad house, there will be more disasters", but this is not the case in real life. When it cannot be realized, people's confidence in good deeds may be shaken. Buddhism put forward the concept of causal reincarnation, which is different from the previous thought: everyone's fate is triggered and caused by their past actions, and they bear it themselves.
The good things of parents' generation will be answered by parents in the afterlife, and the consequences brought by children are "bad" and have nothing to do with parents. In this way, from the common responsibility of a whole family, it comes down to everyone's responsibility to society.
The concept of reincarnation has two positive meanings. One aspect is that people have the confidence to be a good person, and what they can't finish in this life can continue their unfinished business in the afterlife. This is "death".
So Buddhism has brought people expectations in history. Even in the most difficult times, there are expectations for the future, especially for people with lofty ideals. On the other hand, the concept of reincarnation plays a great role in preventing people from doing bad things, just like an invisible policeman asking people to be self-disciplined.
Apart from moral preaching and education, the most effective self-discipline in ancient China was brought by the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. To be responsible for evil is to be punished, which makes some people's souls tremble.
Buddhism teaches people to make positive progress with a peaceful mind, get good results with good causes, and get corresponding blessings through their own efforts. This idea is of positive significance to society.