The Adaptation of Buddhism in China
Mahayana: Chinese Buddhism and the Influences of Pre-Existing Chinese Culture.
As many of the Eastern countries of its kind, China has found itself introduced to Buddhism in approximately 1000 BC (Ikeda 1976: 6). This world religion has a variety of teachings and practices. Buddhism found itself syncretised by Chinese traditions, ideologies and already existing religions. Three of the main teachings of Buddhism include Theravada, Vajrayana, and Mahayana (Ikeda 1976: 3-4). In China we can observe the likes of Mahayana as the principle teaching of Buddhism. It can be understood the religious domain of china pre-Buddhist involvement, the sociocultural background, the primary rituals and practices, key functions of Mahayana and what makes it so well adapted; these factors will essentially help aid the understanding of the Buddhist movement and establishment in China. Indeed, Mahayana became the primary form of Buddhism in China because it permitted the incorporation of indigenous folk practices.
Primary indigenous folk practices in China pre-Buddhism included ancestor veneration and nature worship. Various traditions make up the culture of China, and because of this, many little traditions constitute Chinese Buddhism and its Mahayana teachings. It is said to believe that “the religion in China has usually been described as the beginning in ancestor worship, but this is only particularly true” (Morton 2005: 29). This ancestor veneration shows an appeal to underlying anxieties of man as it relates to the fear of the unknown; the fear of death. This practice of ritual gives these people a sense of security; security that if they are to be remembered their spiritual/personal soul will go on, as their animal soul will decompose with the physical body (Mooney 2014).
Before Buddhism permeated into China, the nation was saturated in the ideological and philosophical teachings of Confucianism and Taoism. Both these traditions developed in China at approximately
As many of the Eastern countries of its kind, China has found itself introduced to Buddhism in approximately 1000 BC (Ikeda 1976: 6). This world religion has a variety of teachings and practices. Buddhism found itself syncretised by Chinese traditions, ideologies and already existing religions. Three of the main teachings of Buddhism include Theravada, Vajrayana, and Mahayana (Ikeda 1976: 3-4). In China we can observe the likes of Mahayana as the principle teaching of Buddhism. It can be understood the religious domain of china pre-Buddhist involvement, the sociocultural background, the primary rituals and practices, key functions of Mahayana and what makes it so well adapted; these factors will essentially help aid the understanding of the Buddhist movement and establishment in China. Indeed, Mahayana became the primary form of Buddhism in China because it permitted the incorporation of indigenous folk practices.
Primary indigenous folk practices in China pre-Buddhism included ancestor veneration and nature worship. Various traditions make up the culture of China, and because of this, many little traditions constitute Chinese Buddhism and its Mahayana teachings. It is said to believe that “the religion in China has usually been described as the beginning in ancestor worship, but this is only particularly true” (Morton 2005: 29). This ancestor veneration shows an appeal to underlying anxieties of man as it relates to the fear of the unknown; the fear of death. This practice of ritual gives these people a sense of security; security that if they are to be remembered their spiritual/personal soul will go on, as their animal soul will decompose with the physical body (Mooney 2014).
Before Buddhism permeated into China, the nation was saturated in the ideological and philosophical teachings of Confucianism and Taoism. Both these traditions developed in China at approximately
References: Cited Daisaku, Ikeda (1976) The Flower Of Chinese Buddhism, New York and Tokyo: John Weatherhill, Inc. Book. Darlington, Susan M. (2013) The Ordination of a Tree: The Buddhist Ecology Movement in Thailand, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion, Ninth Edition. Pp. 437-446. Article. Hope, Jane & Van Loop, Borin. (2005) The Bodhisattva, Introducing Buddha. 4th edition. Pp 56. Article. Morton, W. Scott, Lewis, Charlton M. (2005) China : Its History and Culture, New York: McGraw-Hill. eBook. Jiyu, Ren. (2011) The Characteristics of Chinese Buddhism, Contemporary Chinese Though, vol 41. Pp. 38-46. Article. Paracka Jr., Daniel J. (2012) China’s Three Teachings and the Relationship of Heaven, Earth and Humanity, Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture & Ecology. 2012, Vol. 16 Issue 1, p73-98. 26p. Article.