Question

3) How did Buddhism find its way to China? Why do you think this outside belief was so readily accepted into Chinese society? How was Buddhism integrated into China?

There is no Histrory Subject choice.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Around 207 BC, there was a famous trade route known as the “silk road.” This was a trade route that connected China, India, the Middle East and even southern Europe. It is known as the “silk” road simply because it was silk that was extensively traded along this route.

Along with trade, these countries even exchanged several aspects of each other’s cultures. In a similar way, Buddhism spread to China when officials from China were graciously invited to meet the emperor of the late Han dynasty. It is said that the emperor took to Buddhism because he had a vision of Buddha when fortuitously, two Buddhist monks found their way to China with a picture of Buddha.

The emperor recognised the man from the picture as the man from his vision and took to Buddhism. Whether or not this is a myth, the fact that the authority figure, in this case, the emperor took to a religion, may have been the reason it was popular in China.

The monks who made it to China were sent by an Indian king named Ashoka who was a proselyte into Buddhism. His attempt to spread the religion was clearly successful in China.

Buddhism is all about finding salvation by ridding oneself of possession. China is a communist nation, where the property belongs not to a single capital sector, but rather the public. It may have been that the Buddhist belief of ridding oneself of possessions is reflected in the politics of the nation.