Chapter 16: Early Buddhism in China
(reminder that he’s using Pinyin but adding Wade-Giles in parentheses where pertinent)
reminder that Buddhism originated in northern India, migrated throughout the subcontinent (esp. taking hold in Sri Lanka), and eventually migrated outside the subcontinent, largely via the Silk Road, which brought it to China/East Asia
(Buddhism also took particularly strong hold in Tibet, and Tibetan Buddhism AKA a form of Mahayana called Vajrayana continues to go strong; that’s not what they’re talking about in this chapter, tho)
but basically Buddhist monks, books, and ideas followed the Silk Road to wherever it took them, which brought Buddhism to China (also technically to Europe, but their dicks were too hard for Christianity to be interested in Buddhism (and the rise of Islam in the 7th century CE in parts of Eurasia closer to India was an even more difficult wall for Buddhism to penetrate), so that isn’t really of as much historical importance/interest as its spread eastward)
was fully integrated into Chinese life/culture, but “there was a very interesting intermediate step that most people in the modern world have never heard about” between its arrival and integration (p. 385)…
Buddhism in the Tarim Basin
Tarim Basin is just north of Tibet and houses the Takla Makan [desert] today. the mountains surrounding the desert today were covered with glaciers during the last Ice Age, but ~10k years ago, the ice thawed and turned the basin into a lake, which then morphed into a desert over the millennia. at the time that Mahayana originated, it was already mostly a desert, but the very highest peaks of the surrounding mountains were still glacial and still melting, which created a buncha rivers that flowed out of the mountains and into the desert (where they then just kinda petered out).
thus, at the base of the mountains, there was a bit of land that was well-watered and fertile, and there were a buncha towns (some quite large) in that radius! those towns accumulated wealth from travellers passing through the Takla Makan region on the Silk Road (which had a northern route going above the desert and a southern route going below, which converged in the extreme west of the Takla Makan in the city of Kashgar, a major trade center whose bazaars at one point rivalled those of Istanbul)
meanwhile, near the eastern side of the Tarim Basin was the Chinese city of Dunhuang, which was China’s westernmost outpost. it was located near the famous Mugao Grottoes, “actually a series of hand-chiseled caves [that] line the face of a cliff that fronts on a now-dried-up watercourse. The walls and ceilings of the caves are decorated with beautiful paintings of Buddhist themes that derive from the earliest period of Buddhism in China” (p. 386). at the time, the capital city of China was Changan (now Xian), which was some 1000 miles away from the remote Dunhuang.
“the original character of Dunhuang has disappeared entirely. So too have the glaciers and the rich life of the towns and cities they nourished around the perimeter of the Takla Makan. But in those days when the water poured from the mountains, and the trade goods moved on the caravan routes, Buddhism became established in this area and flourished for several centuries” (p. 387). monasteries popped up in the area, including parts of the desert that still had water at the time (but no longer do), and those monasteries were important centres of Buddhist art, scholarship, and hundreds of monks.
the end of the era was due to a combination of the water drying up and of Mongol invasions from the north and later Islamic invasions from the west. the monasteries died one by one, were gradually covered in sand, and remain pretty much forgotten today, having largely vanished by the end of the 8th century CE. only in 19th century Europe with the advent of archaeology were they really rediscovered, but at that point, there was no regulation, so obvs all those entitled White assholes just went and plundered everything they could find (including some incredibly well-preserved Buddhist manuscripts), and now a lot of it lives scattered across Eurowestern museums. only in 1920 did China finally put some protections in place for these sites, and now what’s left is the subject of careful archaeological study.
earliest remaining Chinese Buddhist text is generally considered a fragment of the Pali Canon that was translated into Chinese in the mid-2nd century CE by a scholar called An Shigao; that said, there’s archaeological evidence to suggest Buddhist monks had already been proselytizing in China for at least a century before that, so we generally say Buddhism entered China during the Han Empire (which, recall, was a very strong and centralized empire rivalling their Roman contemporary)
at the time, Confucians pretty much held all the important government posts, and they initially resisted Buddhism quite a bit, meaning Buddhism grew slowly at first, largely only practiced among expat traders in major Chinese cities. “But the Han Empire, like the Roman Empire, was destined to fall. The Great Wall had kept the barbarous hordes of the north at bay for centuries, but by the later days of Han, the area of the northern frontier had become a highly complex mix of differing population groups, some of them tribal people from the northern Mongol lands who were allowed to settle south of the wall. Such groups had become more or less ‘sinicized’ (acquired the rudiments of Chinese culture), but nevertheless the general picture was one of turbulence and uncertainty on both sides of the Great Wall” (p. 388).
of particular importance were the most numerous northern tribe, who the Chinese called the Hu and who English-speakers call the Huns. in the 3rd century CE, 2 centuries before they invaded the Roman Empire, they rampaged China, causing the Han government to dissolve (officially in 220 CE) and China to be thrown into anarchy. in the aftermath, Buddhism actually grew quite quickly.
broadly speaking, China is geographically divided into a northern part centred on the basin of the Yellow River, and a southern part centred on the Yangtze River; this is noteworthy because the Huns generally only rampaged the northern part, so a lotta ppl (especially upper-class ppl) fled south, where Chinese culture was thus preserved (if not its government).
still, for the next 3 centuries, China didn’t experience peace even in the south, with most of that era defined by near-constant warfare and shifting boundaries as China gradually won back more and more of the northern lands (with a full reunion only achieved in 581 with the establishment of the Sui dynasty).
so then, in that span of 300 years, Buddhism took root in China for several reasons, such as that Confucian thinkers obviously lost their seats in government when the government was toppled and thus couldn’t effectively combat it anymore; and that the Huns in the north were drawn to Buddhism specifically because it wasn’t a native Chinese religion.
even in the south, though, where Daoism and Confucianism still flourished, Buddhism took hold as the former two grew more and more curious about this foreign religion and gradually warmed up to it (with folk particularly receptive to meditation).
in large part, this was because Buddhism didn’t actually conflict with these philosophies—and actually complemented them in many profound ways, eg the “‘rejection of the duality between being and non-being’” and the “‘emphasis on the ineffability of reality’” (p. 389, quoting Dumoulin). basically, Buddhism helped “to bring out and give a clearer form to attitudes that were already inherent in Chinese philosophy” (p. 389).
eventually, the Buddhist scriptures were painstakingly translated into Chinese, in some cases in government-sponsored Translation Bureaus. Daoism was considered the most closely-related philosophy, so lotta translations used Daoist terms, which introduced a distinctly Daoist tradition into Chinese Buddhism(s).
particularly important translator is a dude we know as Kumarajiva, who was born in 344 CE; say he studied Theravada at a monastery in Kashmir for many years before he was swept up in the Mahayana movement, relocated to Kashgar on the other side of the mountains, and gradually gained renown for his translation; he eventually moved to Changan after his name spread to China. there, he headed a major Translation Bureau, where he translated the Mahayana sutras into Chinese. of particular note is his translation of the Prajnaparamita and Nagarjuna’s works, which had a massive impact on Chinese Buddhism (and which Bresnan claims is a large reason why Mahayana was so heavily preferred over Theravada in China, as Mahayana teachings corresponded particularly well with Chinese philosophy/teaching). Kumarajiva died in 409 at age 63, but by that time, Mahayana “was well on the way to becoming an established part of the culture in all parts of China” (p. 390), and from these newly translated texts, several branches of Chinese Buddhism grew. we’ll now turn our attention to some of the most well-known and influential of these branches.
Tiantai Buddhism
named after Mount Tiantai in Zhejiang province in SE China; there, in the 6th century CE, a monk called Zhiyi founded the Gouqing monastery, where Tiantai Buddhism developed into the first Chinese Buddhist branch
eventually migrated into Japan as Tendai Buddhism in the 9th century
Zhiyi didn’t necessarily “found” Tiantai so much as he pulled together a buncha extant currents of Buddhism that had been developing across China for centuries, figured out how to compromise between all of them, and presented all the teachings in a single, cohesive form; thus, Tiantai Buddhism is a kinda syncretistic school designed to allow all the various elements of Buddhist teachings to coexist peacefully while still being a cohesive thing.
early on, there was a lotta debate about the “right” way to interpret new Chinese translation of Buddhist texts, esp since so much material seemed inconsistent and at times even self-contradictory (and because of the great divide between Theravada and Mahayana); Zhiyi, then, solved this problem by proclaiming that all teachings were true, and that differences were not due to contradictions but rather because different teachings originated at different points in Buddha’s educational journey. he split Buddha’s teachings into 5 discrete periods:
#1: first 3 weeks after Buddha’s awakening; immortalized in Avatamsaka Sutra, which deals with the Oneness of everything; Buddha found it was too deep for most of his disciples, though
#2: next 12 years; responding to his disciples’ confusion, Buddha then taught the bare-bones fundamentals (eg, Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path), which are found in the Theravada sutras
#3: next 8 years; taught the basics of Mahayana, esp the “superior worth” of bodhisattva (p. 391)
#4: next 22 years; proclaimed the “wisdom teachings” found in the Prajnaparamita Sutra, during which time he was working out the Doctrine of Emptiness and its practical implications
#5: final 8 years of Buddha’s life; taught the material in the Lotus Sutra, which brought everything together and resolved the seeming inconsistencies in earlier teachings
in this ^ way, Tiantai erases the need to debate whether Theravada or Mahayana is “the correct one,” and since Theravada was barely a thing in China, it didn’t really matter that he implied their teachings were the most immature of them all akjsgkjdalgkjs so like. it wasn’t about uniting Theravada and Mahayana, it was just about uniting the Pali Canon with the rest of the Buddhist texts.
and, based on the above, the Lotus Sutra became the most pivotal text in Tiantai Buddhism
still, the point of Buddhism was still to live a Buddhist life(style); as such, Zhiyi’s chief concern was how to structure his monastery. central guide were the monastic precepts (paramitas), of which he considered “acceptance” particularly important; thus his main thing was nurturing compassion and vanquishing hatred and anger.
unsurprisingly, he turned to meditation in this endeavour; however, he was notably open about what meditation looked like for a person, and though he encouraged seated meditation, he was basically like, “meh, whatever works best for you.” also open about the method of meditation (which is partially why he’s considered a forefather of Pure Land and Chan/Zen Buddhism, too).
debate about sudden (li) vs gradual (shih) enlightenment was also a thing; Zhiyi generally encouraged shih, which emphasizes object meditation and visualization, but also made space for li (insight meditation) despite its relative rareness.
united the two in One Practice Samadhi, wherein “the meditator would sit alone in a small bare cell for ninety days” (p. 392), perhaps walking around the room from time to time but mostly just sitting and focusing on “the purity of mind, the simple fact of existence” (p. 392); also encouraged nien-fo during that time, “the ceaselessly repeated invocation of the Buddha’s name” (p. 392).
“Tiantai held that all is the Buddha-nature, and therefore Awakening is not something to be acquired; rather, it is to be uncovered by removing the impediments (attachments) that prevent one from knowing it. Easier said than done. But that’s what the monastic life is all about. And Tiantai—under the guiding hand of its founder, Zhiyi—was destined to be a strong influence on all that followed” (p. 392).
Huayan Buddhism (Hua-Yen)
also developed ~6th century CE
very similar to Tiantai in many ways; eg, agreed that Buddha’s teachings unfolded in 5 distinct periods (though defined them slightly differently). however, though both centred on a single Buddhist text, Huayan chose Avatamsaka Sutra (which Mahayana considered Buddha’s first sutra), while, ofc, Tiantai chose Lotus Sutra (considered his last).
“Huayan” is the Chinese translation of “Avatamsaka,” literally meaning “flower garland” in Chinese and Sanskrit, respectively.
both Tiantai and Huayan were deeply concerned with the nature of reality, but Huayan was focused much more directly on “the relationships within the world of phenomenal reality” (p. 393), specifically the interrelatedness (and thus equality and interdependence) of everything in the world. basically, everything is the Buddha-nature.
Pure Land Buddhism (AKA Amitabha Buddhism)
though it grew out of Mahayana, it’s arguably the farthest-removed school; that said, it’s also the numerically largest Buddhist sect, thus warranting particular attention
recall from ch12 that, in most Mahayana branches, Shakyamuni is considered but one of many Buddhas, each with their own celestial Buddha-realm/Pure Land/Jingtu (Chinese)/Jodo (Japanese). the realms are identified with cardinal directions: south is Pure Land of Buddha Ratnaketu, north is Buddha Dundubhishvara, east is Buddha Akshobhya, and west is Buddha Amitabha (Amida in Japanese). the latter is by far the most popular, called Sukhavati, and is said to be a paradise located a fuckin enormous distance from earth.
philosophical Buddhists throughout the ages have interpreted the Pure Land as metaphor, with each representing a different aspect of enlightenment; this idea is often represented via mandala, with each Buddha located in their proper direction and with Buddha Vairochana (representing dharmakaya) in the centre
meanwhile, more spiritual Buddhists interpret this literally and believe in the possibility of rebirth into the Pure Land so long as you live a good Buddhist life
both these ^ potentials exist within Mahayana, and it’s Pure Land that takes the latter to its most extreme
Pure Land’s origins are uncertain—not even sure if it originated in India or not, as there’s no evidence it never existed in “a definite form” there (p. 394), but the original seeds of thought could’ve, especially as there are some noteworthy commonalities between Pure Land and India’s northern neighbours’, the Persians’, Zoroastrian tradition.
regardless, Pure Land was first systematically organised by the Chinese monk Hui Yuan, who founded the White Lotus Society, a Buddhist org, in 402 CE. purpose was to organize a community of both monks and laypeople who were dedicated to being reborn in Sukhavati. the org’s central teachings came from various sutras, but especially the Sukhavati-vyuha (which is actually 2 sutras, one larger, one smaller).
as with all Buddhist sutras, the bottom line is achieving awakening; the Sukhavati-vyuha, however, takes a unique approach, arguing that everyone can be awakened, right here, right now, at the end of this lifetime, regardless of how good or bad of a person one was earlier in life. the path to awakening was generally considered to be long and difficult, as “one has to slowly overcome the enormous burden of negative karma that has accumulated over time” (p. 394); however, “Hui Yuan and those who followed him taught that there is another way, a faster and easier way. Incredible though it may seem, it is possible, even for the worst of sinners, to be rescued from the ignorance and depravity of this life, and at the time of death be reborn in the Pure Land of Buddha Amitabha, where the fullness of Awakening is assured. Thus, reverence of Buddha Amitabha did become the central concern of Pure Land Buddhism” (pp. 394-5), to the point that “Buddha” in Pure Land doesn’t even refer to Shakyamuni, whose only role is considered to be his delivery of the sutras, and instead refers to Buddha Amitabha :0
legend goes that Amitabha “began his career toward Buddhahood immeasurable ages ago when he lived on Earth as a king” (p. 395). supposedly lived at the same time as another Buddha, Lokesvara-raja, and he gave up his kingdom to become a monk (and changed his name to Dharmakara) when he heard one of that Buddha’s sermons. Dharmakara became a true bodhisattva, was reborn numerous times, and finally achieved Awakening eventually, after which he was called Buddha Amitabha (“infinite light”). his realm is Sukhavati in the west, and he’s overseen his followers there ever since.
of particular note is a special vow Dharmakara took—though all bodhisattva take many vows, he was unusual in that his 18th vow was that “he would not become fully awakened unless he were to make good on a promise to welcome into his Buddha-realm all beings who trusted themselves to him with sincere devotion” (p. 395), thus the devotional elements of Pure Land.
so then, Pure Land says ppl can’t ~purify~ themselves to make themselves ~worthy~ of Sukhavati (through jiriki, “self-power”), but Buddha Amitabha can by “compassionately sharing his infinite source of merit, built up over eons of time” (through tariki, “other-power;” p. 395); thus, in order to get into the cool kids’ club, you simply had to “c[o]me to him with a sincere heart” (p. 395).
“This approach to Awakening might seem to involve a very basic change in the teaching of Buddhism, perhaps even a contradiction. From the beginning, Buddhism had taught that one is capable of transforming himself or herself on the road to Awakening; no outside supernatural help is necessary. Shakyamuni himself said that. […] But now, advocates of Pure Land Buddhism were proclaiming that no amount of self-directed effort can ever be sufficient. There will always be an inescapable taint of ego in everything we do. Many people continue for a long time to have confidence that they can do it on their own. But Pure Land Buddhism holds that they are fooling themselves. Eventually, each person will reach the point, like someone who is drowning, where [one] will realize that one’s own efforts are simply not enough. When that point is reached, the person will finally be willing to give up the struggle and appeal to the compassionate Buddha for help. Buddha—and Buddha alone—can save us/ Buddha can, and will, pluck us out of the water—but we have to ask for help. We have to have faith in Buddha” (p. 396).
(because of this teaching, Pure Land is often compared to early Protestants; eg, Martin Luther argued much the same thing, saying humans were awful by nature, no amount of “good deeds” would save us, and faith in God was our only source of salvation, as only God can lovingly gift it to us.)
most important demonstration of devotion is aforementioned nien-fo, more commonly referred to by its Japanese name nembutsu (in the context of Pure Land). basically, just repeating “Amitabha” (or “Amida” in Japanese context) over and over again. supposedly “an operative agent in bringing about salvation in the Pure Land” (p. 396), because when Amitabha achieved awakening, “’he compressed all the merit he had acquired through the spiritual discipline [...] into this one phrase. […] For this reason when this one phrase… is recited with singleness of purpose and with all the intensity of feeling, all the merit contained in it is miraculously transferred into the soul of the devotee, and [they are] at once embraced into the light of [Amitabha]” (p. 396).
“It would be inaccurate to think of nembutsu as some sort of magical device […]. Nembutsu is an external manifestation of what comes from within, the power of faith. A sincere loving faith is what it’s all about. But nembutsu, the external expression of that faith, plays an important role” (p. 397).
another important external is “visualization,” specifically trying to visualize Buddha Amitabha or his Pure Land when chanting his name in order to “deepen the devotion, and thus the bond between oneself and Buddha Amitabha. If a person experiences a spontaneous vision of Amitabha, it is taken as evidence that that person is certain to be free of terror at the time of death and will be reborn in Sukhavati. According to the traditional belief, when death occurs, Amitabha’s companion, the much-loved bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, will come to ward off fear and guide the spirit of the deceased to its splendid rebirth in the Pure Land” (p. 397).
Pure Land is said to be basically paradise/heaven, a happy place with no suffering; often portrayed in art in Buddhist temples. noteworthy, though, is that there are no women there, as all women who make it in are transformed into men before entry 🤨 but then he immediately says “that’s not entirely accurate. The traditional view holds that in the Pure Land, all beings are transcendent beings (referred to as ‘golden-bodied’). They have risen above the practical considerations of gender; there is no need for sexual difference; it would be meaningless! Everyone is a perfected being in every way, including the physical. Given the prevailing attitude of that day, a perfected being would naturally exhibit male characteristics if there’s a choice between male and female. This probably seemed perfectly reasonable in the early days of Pure Land, but it has caused problems throughout the ages” (p. 397) wtf
the bottom line in any case is still awakening, it’s just that in this branch, awakening is considered to be the rebirth into this Pure Land (and might be sent back to earth after that as a bodhisattva to help others). that said, in many devotees, the whole point of awakening is largely forgotten, and it’s the desire for basically heaven that reigns supreme :/
but not all Pure Land Buddhists interpret things this way. “The great popularity of Pure Land may indeed have been anchored in the common folk from the beginning, but there are also followers of Pure Land who in no way would be described as naive. In a somewhat surprising way, it’s true to say that Pure Land has always had a strong appeal for some of the most sophisticated among Buddhists. Pure Land is not likely to attract the strongly rational and philosophically minded, but it is pure enchantment for the person of a more mystical frame of mind. Pure Land represents the more emotional, artistic, ‘spiritual’ side of Buddhism” (p. 398). those who don’t interpret its teachings as a literal heaven instead see it as “‘an inner illumination which has a miraculous power to transform or rather transfigure every object it touches into that of the Pure Land… Wherever its historical development may be traced, the Pure Land is not a world existing in space-time but an idealistic world of enlightenment, or, to use the phraseology of the Pure Land sutras, a world illuminated by the eternal light of Amida and subsisting in it. In one sense, it has nothing to do with this world of dualistic limitations and defilements, but in another sense it is right here with us and has reality as we read in the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra that “Wherever your hearts are pure there is a Pure Land”’” (p. 398).
persecution and recovery
2 largest Buddhist branches in China are Pure Land, and Chan Buddhism (AKA Zen Buddhism, per its Japanese name). the latter “is the product of a tradition that matured in China and then continued to develop in Japan. In modern times, it has spread out of Japan and taken root in many parts of the world” (p. 399). the story of this evolution is the subject of ch18+19.
for the first few hundred years, Buddhism was mostly a success in China—it gained acceptance in all social classes and prospered in all geographic regions; monastic communities were plentiful by the mid-5th century, and many grew quite wealthy (esp in land); numerous sects flourished; etc.
however, not everyone was down with Buddhism, especially a subsect of Confucians and Daoists who “feared and hated the intrusion of this powerful new institution” and blamed the era’s disharmony on it (p. 399). they especially hated the monasteries, as many went to a great effort to separate themselves and organize themselves as separate entities; some refused to recognize the imperial government, pay taxes, or do military service; and some made their own emblems and calendars. worse yet, they were threatening Chinese families by luring their sons (and a few daughters) into the parasitic and celibate monastic lifestyle.
this tension came to a head in Northern Wei state (at that time, encompassing most of northern China) in 445, when the emperor “was persuaded to order an attack on the monasteries that was clearly intended to be a total annihilation. All monks were to be slaughtered, and all traces of Buddhism erased from the soil of Wei. It was hoped that the movement would spread from there to the rest of China. Thus, the first [of multiple] great persecution of Buddhism in China commenced” (p. 399).
“The extremely violent nature of the program provoked repulsion in all classes of society, and as a result, the persecution was short-lived. After only three years, a change of leadership not only put an end to the persecution, but did a complete about-face, For the time being, the enemies of Buddhism were defeated. The friends of Buddhism wished to repair the damage that had been done and reestablish Buddhism in China on a new and higher level than ever before. In the state of Northern Wei, the imperial government, far from being an adversary of Buddhism, became its protector and benefactor. New monasteries were sponsored, new Translation Bureaus were established, interchange between China and India was encouraged, and Buddhist works of art were commissioned for public places” (pp. 399-400).
of particular note are some 100k+ statues of Buddhas of various sizes carved into the rocks of caves (or into bas-reliefs placed in caves) around Longmen and Yungang in the 5th century, the largest of which is 56 feet tall; also pagodas chiselled out of the natural rock in the area surrounding the >1k caves in the area (which are, like, all carved the fuck up). carvings that have survived the test of time also indicate that these were sponsored not only by the imperial government but also by donors from all ranks of society.
also interesting is event known as “Enshrinement of the Relics of Buddha”: shortly after the rise of the Sui dynasty, the emperor wanted to symbolically, spiritually unite the country, and he (supposedly) had 30 relics of Shakyamuni Buddha’s in the imperial treasury, so he had 30 stupas created in 30 different regional capitals, then commissioned 30 different Buddhist delegations to deliver the relics to those stupas. all on the same day (which was declared a national holiday), in those 30 places and at the royal court, the relics were to be buried, followed by a ceremony. thus, Buddhism was decided to be the ideology that would unite all of China.
so then, in this era, “Indian and Central Asian Buddhists of all kinds were travelling and teaching in various parts of China” (p. 401). of particular importance to Mahayana tradition was a dude called Bodhidharma, who will be the subject of ch18.