Discuss the absorption and also repression of Buddhism in China. What was the impact of these two trends in Asian history?
What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER:
Students should be able to discuss both the benefits of Buddhist ideas and teachings to China and the violent anti-Buddhist backlash that erupted at the end of the Tang era. The Tang adopted many Buddhist ideas, and many of the Tang regions had Buddhist populations. Buddhism played an important political function, giving kings and emperors the spiritual function of creating a harmonious Buddhist society. Buddhist monks counseled and prayed for leaders and also contributed money to them. As the Tang political and military decline became reality, however, there was a strong backlash against Buddhism. Tang elites blamed Buddhism for undermining Confucian ideas of the family as the model for the state. Han Yu's "Memorial on the Bone of Buddha" in 819 was a strong statement criticizing Buddhism. In 840 the government moved to crush the monasteries; 4,600 temples were destroyed, and 26,500 monks and nuns were converted to workers. This was a huge loss to China's cultural heritage.
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