Question

How did Buddhists and Confucianists understand and compete with popular religion. Be as historically specific as possible.

Answer 1

The history of two of the most important Eastern faiths and the profound impacts they have made on each other.

Confucianism:

Confucianism’s hearth is in China and it is in the region of Southeast and Eastern Asia. Confucianism diffused through relocation and hierarchical diffusion, which will be explained in later slides. Confucianists believe that people make their own fate and that there is not a higher power interested in their lives. Confucianism is based on the philosophies of Confucius and how to live a correct life. Confucianism is an ethnic religion and has not traveled very far from its hearth in China.(Located in china)

Buddhism:

Buddhism’s hearth is in Northern India and is in the region of Southeast Asia. It diffused hierarchically, which will be explained in the coming slides. It is also neither polytheistic or monotheistic, but Buddhists believe that their salvation comes from within. Buddhism is a universalizing religion, meaning that it is open to anyone from anywhere, it does not require any cultural background.(Located mainly in China,Japan,Korea and Southeast Asia)  

Confucius was born in the Chinese province of Lu in the year 551 and Siddhartha Gautama was also born in the 6th century BCE in Lumbini, Nepal. Therefore, the hearth of Confucianism became China, Lu specifically, and the heart of Buddhism became Northern India. Both founders then traveled around their homes to spread their ideas. Their ideas diffused because their relocation, making the beginning diffusion of both of these religions relocation. Later in time, leaders dynasties, such as the Tang and Ming dynasties, adopted Confucianism, diffusing it hierarchically. The Magadha Empire was responsible for most of Buddhism’s hierarchical diffusion. This took place between 273 and 276 B.C. and Emperor Asoka decided to send missionaries to neighboring areas of the Empire, in India. Later, his son send missionaries to modern day Sri Lanka, where they now claim to be the country that has continually followed Buddhism for the longest amount of time (Rubenstein, The Cultural Landscape, 201). Buddhism also used the Silk Road to diffuse through trade and relocation.

The Four Noble Truths

1. Dukkha: Suffering exists: (Suffering is real and almost universal. Suffering has many causes: loss, sickness, pain, failure, the impermanence of pleasure.)

2. Samudaya: There is a cause for suffering. (It is the desire to have and control things. It can take many forms: craving of sensual pleasures; the desire for fame; the desire to avoid unpleasant sensations, like fear, anger or jealousy.)

3. Nirodha: There is an end to suffering. (Suffering ceases with the final liberation of Nirvana (a.k.a. Nibbana). The mind experiences complete freedom, liberation and non-attachment. It lets go of any desire or craving.)

4. Magga : In order to end suffering, you must follow the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path:

1) Samma ditthi Right Understanding of the Four Noble Truths
2) Samma sankappa Right thinking; following the right path in life

3) Samma vaca Right speech: no lying, criticism, condemning, gossip, harsh language

4) Samma kammanta Right conduct by following the Five Precepts
5) Samma ajiva: Right livelihood; support yourself without harming others
6) Samma vayama Right Effort: promote good thoughts; conquer evil thoughts
7) Samma sati Right Mindfulness: Become aware of your body, mind and feelings
8) Samma samadhi Right Concentration: Meditate to achieve a higher state of consciousness” (Buddhism’s core beliefs).

Confucianism:

Confucianism is based on the social teachings of Confucius. The main beliefs and customs are mercy, social order, and fulfillment of responsibilities. Confucius wrote Analects, which is what most of the religion is based on. Many Chinese social customs can be attributed to Confucianism. In Confucianism, the goal of the afterlife is to be worshipped by ones descendents. The core beliefs have more to do with acting correctly for oneself, not to please a higher power.

Interaction on the Silk Road:

Buddhist monks, merchants, and priests built shrines and temples on the Silk Road. This aided the contagious diffusion of Buddhism because the priests and monks would convert the other merchants and would preach to those around them. The monks and priests were able to preach to a large amount of people in a short amount of time due to the Silk Road. Buddhist universalizing beliefs made its diffusion simple because, as a faithful, people will be quick to agree with Buddhist ideals. By the first century B.C. , Buddhism had spread into modern day Pakistan and Afghanistan. Halfway into the first century, China officially documented Buddhism in China through the Silk Road. Missionaries translated important Buddhist holy books into Chinese. Buddhism and Confucianism had a strong symbiotic relationship until the fall of the Tang Dynasty in the ninth century (Belief systems along the Silk Road).