The Spread of Buddhism in China

The Real Journey to the West

Buddhism was spread to China from India in the Han Dynasty, and as of now, over 2,000 years have passed. Numerous people had made contributions to the development of Buddhism in China. The best-known personage should be Xuanzang, a senior monk of the Tang Dynasty. Because of “Journey to the West” by Wu Cheng’en, this icon in Buddhism became widely known in China. But in reality, Xuanzang had a harder time on the way westward to obtain Buddhism scriptures than what’s described in the novel. He walked alone for over 25,000 kilograms, got through many difficulties, like getting lost, having no food and being robbed. After traveling through over 100 countries, he finally took Buddhism scriptures back from India.

Ever since Buddhism was spread to China in the late Han Dynasty, people had been translating the classic texts of Buddhism bit by bit. During the translation process, monks and people who study Buddhism held different opinions on some names and appearances in Buddhism. So many problems appeared. Xuanzang once looked up in many classic texts and found entirely different opinions. So he was thinking about how he could obtain a relatively correct answer.

Just at that time, a monk from India arrived. This person came from Nalanda. He introduced the situation of Indian Buddhism at that time to many Chinese monks. He told them that there were many eminent monks in Nalanda with a variety of theories on Buddhism dharma. This become a motive that made him decide to travel to India to obtain sacred Buddha texts.

According to the description of many novels, Xuanzang went to the west with the approval of Emperor Taizong of Tang. He even saw Xuanzang off. But that’s not true actually. Back then, China’s relationship with the border areas was rather tense. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty forbade people to go through the passes at will. So Xuanzang fled out secretly. Without official recognition, he secretly disguised as a refugee to go out of the pass. He went through lots of hardships along the way.

As we know, the Tang Monk experienced 81 hardships in the novel, “Journey to the West.” In reality, Xuanzang endured much more difficulties and setbacks. He went to the Buddhist country India and even visited Nalanda.

The Debate Conference of Qunü City

At that time, Xuanzang already gave a quite good academic performance in China before traveling to India. As people all know, he became a monk at Jingtu Monastery in Luoyang at the age of 13. Back then, there were many sects. So he received a very good education there. His life there laid a solid foundation for his travels and achievements afterwards. Moreover, after he traveled to India, he learned from the proficient Jiexian Abhidhammika who had amassed profound knowledge in Nalanda. Also, before Xuanzang went to Nalanda for study, he had started to give lectures.

Xuanzang’s experience shows that even compared to all monks in India at that time, Xuanzang was rather highly learned. He was very outstanding. If you go to the Buddhism temple in Tibet today, you’ll find that people often hold Buddhist debates. Someone stands in the middle with many people standing around. Then once you say something, everybody will ask you questions. There was a similar tradition in India back then. When Xuanzang was there, he participated one such debate organized by the King of Harsha. It’s the famous Debate Conference of Qunü City as recorded in historical materials.

As for the scale of the debate back then, there were thousands of people from the Theravada Buddhism and sects, thousands of people from the Mahayana Buddhism, thousands of people from other religions and philosophy sects according to the record of historical materials. It was a debate conference with tens of thousands of people. At that time, Xuanzang wrote the opinions from his famous works including “Theory of Huizong” and “Theory of Zhi’ejian” at the debate conference. He hung these opinions at the hall of the debate conference.

The debate conference continued for 18 days. Someone who proposed a different view on the opinions could challenge Xuanzang by debating with him. During the 18 days, nobody could argue him down. So later, the Mahayana Buddhism believers at that time gave him a top honorary title. To put it in today’s words, it’s Mahayanadeva. Besides, the Theravada Buddhism believers gave him the title of Moska-deva. Put in modern words, the two honorary titles were the top honorary titles in the Indian Buddhism circle back then. And Xuanzang won the two titles.

Xuanzang participated in the splendid religious assembly which was held in India back then. His victory, the respect he received and his interpretation of Buddhism helped the Buddhism believers in India to have a better understanding of Buddhism. He understood and interpreted these Buddhist principles in accordance with his attainment. He communicated with the eminent Indian monks regarding the understanding of Buddhism dharma. During this communication process, he won recognition, which was why he won the honorary titles.

Xuanzang’s Contributions

Although he received such a high reputation in India, Xuanzang chose to return to China. After returning to his homeland, he received a highly courteous reception. He promoted the spread of Buddhism in China to a new stage. After years of hard work, he sorted out and translated the classics he had brought back from India. In total, he translated 76 Buddhist scriptures, which had over 1,300 volumes. Translating so many scriptures required painstaking efforts. Take “Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra” for example. It contains 600 volumes and has millions of characters. The workload was very heavy. It was a grand project. He was still working on it in his last days. He started a new era of Buddhist scripture translation. And since he had gone to Nalanda to study, he could understand Sanskrit at an unprecedented level and degree.

Because of his diligence and unrelenting spirit, the original texts of Buddhist scriptures have been presented in a better way. He had solved the doubts of many people. Xuanzang not only worked to spread and translate Buddhist scriptures but also strived to promote the exchange between Chinese and Indian cultures. He translated some famous Chinese works such as “Tao Te Ching” by Laozi into Sanskrit of India. Therefore, he was a pioneer in the cultural exchanges between China and India at an early stage. Meanwhile, after he returned to China, at the request of Emperor Taizong of Tang, he started to write down his experience in India and created the book “Great Tang Records on the Western Regions.”

In this book, he recorded what he saw and heard in the countries along his journey, including their natural conditions and social customs. Therefore, this book can be regarded as an essential material for people to research the history and geography of the Western Regions. Some Indian historians even said that without the book ”Great Tang Records on the Western Regions” by Xuanzang, it would be almost impossible to restore the history of the Western Regions and even Ancient India.

Many archaeological discoveries today have proved the correctness of the record in “Great Tang Records on the Western Regions” by Xuanzang at that time. For example, the excavation of the site of Nalanda was conducted according to his record. People were looking for the site by the characters left by Xuanzang. For example, the stone pillar of Ashoka has been built in some places in China today. There are some characters on the stone pillar, which are coordinated with those that Master Xuanzang saw in India in those years.

Some people think that due to the archaeological discoveries in modern and contemporary times, people gradually found that the “Great Tang Records on the Western Regions” by Xuanzang was an immortal and historically important book. Therefore, Xuanzang not only made a significant contribution to the translation of Buddhist classics but also became the commissioner for the cultural exchange between China and foreign countries.

Due to the foreign aggression against the Indians in modern times, many Buddhist scriptures in India got lost, and they couldn’t find them. So the books translated by Chinese monks, including Xuanzang and others, became valuable books for Indian people to study ancient India. Therefore, Indian people are grateful to those great Chinese monks.

Other Visitors to the West

According to the investigation results, there were at least hundreds of people, about 300 people, in ancient China who once traveled to India. Some people achieved their goals, and some failed. Some reached there but failed to return or just passed away there. There are mainly three people who went to the west and managed to return with great influence that has been recorded in historical materials. There was Faxian before Xuanzang and Yijing after Xuanzang. They brought back many classic scriptures. And the classic books they brought back were translated afterward. The three people exerted the greatest influence on the spread of Buddhism in China.

The Development of Buddhism in China

Buddhism came from an exotic culture, so how did it grew and became popular in the Central Plain back then? The process of Buddhism spreading to China was rather complicated and fascinating. The core and essential theories of Buddhism are in line with many traditional values, especially those of Confucian theories in Chinese culture. For example, the Confucianism of China emphasized the importance of becoming sages and men of virtues. If those who believed in Confucianism want to become sages and men of virtue, they had to work hard to cultivate their characters. They couldn’t rely on any external force or anything but themselves.

Buddha established Buddhism to emphasize that one should improve himself by himself. The Buddha has repeatedly told: “I can’t help you to make improvements. You improve yourselves with your efforts. You’ve surpassed yourselves and reached the realm of consciousness.” If you behave and do something like a Buddha, you’re a Buddha. Buddha is in you. Buddha is just in our world. This theory exhibits internal conformity with Chinese culture.

Some believe that this conformity with Chinese culture facilitated the development of Buddhism in China. However, there are many differences and conflicts between Buddhism and Chinese culture. As was understood by the Chinese people back then, Buddhism required people to leave their homes, wives, and children to become monks without taking care of their parents. In particular, if one was the only child in the family, he couldn’t become a monk. As far as the Chinese people are concerned, there are three situations in which a person is deemed unfilial. Having no sons is the worst. So this is greatly contradictory with the filial duty of the Chinese Confucianism.

Therefore, many people try to resolve this contradiction. And the Buddhists try to interpret this theoretically. Many Chinese monks have repeatedly said that it’s not that Buddhism doesn’t advocate filial duty. Instead, it advocates great filial duty. Monks dedicated themselves to the masses. It didn’t just advocate performing filial duty towards one’s parents. It was a filial duty in a wider scope. This opinion was acceptable to Chinese people because the Chinese people prioritize their country over small families. They think that being loyal to the country is very important. So the concept was developed from filial duty to loyalty. Loyalty was a general concept of filial duty which was valued by the Chinese people. One can’t perform loyalty and filial duty at the same time.

Filial Duty in Buddhism

On the other hand, Buddhism believers strived to discover those events and stories about them performing the filial duty. Of all the stories, “Mulian Rescues His Mother” was of the greatest influence in China. Mulian, the protagonist of the story, was one of the eldest Buddhist disciples. After practicing Taoism, Mulian had magic power and could go to the Six Realms for observation.

On that day, he went to the Hungry Ghost Realm and found her mother there. His mother had done many evil deeds while alive, so she fell into the Hungry Ghost Realm to be bullied upon by the hungry ghosts, feeling extremely painful. Seeing that his birth mother was being tortured, Mulian tried to save his mother. So when he returned after visiting the Six Realms, he told the Buddha about it. The Buddha asked him to find one day to entertain the hungry ghosts to redeem his mother’s sins and relieve his mother’s pains. Therefore, there was a holiday called Yu Lan Jie, i.e. the Ghost Festival. When it was spread to China, it became Zhong Yuan Jie, the 15th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar.

Such a story enjoyed popular support in China. It showed that the disciples of the Buddha were all filial sons and could do anything for their parents. This story greatly influenced many Chinese people’s attitude towards Buddhism. There’s one more point. In the later period when Buddhism was adjusted after being spread to China, it included the teaching of supporting ones’ parents and perform filial duty. According to the ideas of Buddhism, making ones’ parents happy does not necessarily require material things.

For example, there are many empty nest elderlies in China now. Many people who work outside the hometown thought that their parents would feel relieved as long as they remitted some money home. In fact, what parents need most is not money. Emotional support from their sons and daughters and the time spent together with them are more important.

After Buddhism had been introduced to China, it gradually emphasized that after one becomes a monk, he will dedicate all his time and energy to the parents of all people in the world. And besides guaranteeing the material life of his parents, he’ll also help them to have a better understanding of life and enjoy the time they still have with their loved ones. According to the Buddhist scriptures, if you only solve the material life problems for your parents, it’s not enough. With the passage of time, Chinese people gradually accepted the idea that Buddhism also values family, which resolved a major contradiction between Buddhism and Chinese culture.

Sayings and Idioms Related to Buddhism

The Buddhist culture has made great contributions to the local, traditional Chinese culture. So nowadays, Buddhism has become an organic part of the Chinese culture. Many of the sayings that people use nowadays came into being after Buddhism was introduced into China. Before that, there were no such phrases. For example, today’s people may think “shijie” is an ordinary concept. It refers to time and space. “shi” means time, such as “sanshi” (three lives); “jie” means space, such as “sanjie” (three realms). “shijie” is originally a Buddhist phrase that refers to time and space. Before that, Chinese people use the word “yuzhou” to refer to time and space. “Yu” means all directions; “Zhou” means throughout the ages. “Yuzhou” was originally a Chinese phrase, and “shijie” was introduced from Buddhism.

Many idioms also come from Buddhism, such as “kongzhonglouge” (castle in the air) and “Mangrenmoxiang” (blind people touch an elephant to size it up). As the story goes, a person had a three-story house built. After completion, he invited people to celebrate. After seeing the building, a guest thought the third floor was the most beautiful. Then he asked the architect whether the latter could build the third floor for him. That was impossible because a building must have a foundation, and it can’t be in the air.

Some of the phrases from Buddhist scripture were directly used in daily life, but the meanings of some were changed. For example, the phrase “cunsibugua” means a person is naked nowadays. It’s very embarrassing. But in Buddhism, it is not the case. There is a story behind this phrase.

There was once a bhikkuni, a female monastic. This bhikkhuni was called Xuanji. When she was alive, there was a well-known monk of the Tang Dynasty called Master Xuefeng. Master Xuefeng was a senior monk of Chan Buddhism. One day the bhikkhuni called Xuanji paid a visit to him because he was a senior monk. She wanted to learn from him. In the past, most masters of Chan Buddhism inspired their disciples rather than imparted knowledge to them. They inspired their disciples in an ask-and-answer manner. The disciple had to figure out the meaning behind it themselves.

After the bhikkhuni Xuanji met Master Xuefeng, Master Xuefeng asked where she was from. Xuanji answered that she was from Mount Dari. She implied something. The senior monk was known as Xuefeng (literally snow-capped peak), and she was from Mount Dari (literally the great sun). Snow would melt after the sun comes out. She challenged him. After thinking of the bhikkhuni’s name, Master Xuefeng asked: “Your name is Xanji (literally a kind of machine)? How much cloth do you weave every day?” Xuanji answered, “Cunsibugua.” It means that she didn’t even weave a piece of thread. In Buddhism, this meant that she had freed herself from these things, and she didn’t care about them. A saying goes like this, “there isn’t a platform of the bright mirror” and “there is no way to be stained.”

She said she didn’t care about these. But in fact, Xuanji didn’t reach the realm. She turned around and left. As she was leaving, Master Xuefeng walked behind her to send her out, and said: “The hemline of your kasaya is on the ground.” Then she turned around her head and looked. Master Xuefeng said: “didn’t you say that you didn’t care about these? Why do you care about the hemline of your kasaya on the ground?”

The idiom “yisibugua” or “cunsibugua’ originally meant that a person reaches the level of cultivation that he or she cares about nothing. But nowadays, meaning is greatly different.

Taoism and Buddhism

In China, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism coexist. Taoism and Buddhism share many similarities. For example, they both advocate the teaching of letting go of things. But there are also many differences between Taoism and Buddhism. In Buddhism, the cause is emphasized. In Buddhism, all things are created because of something and through some process. As various conditions and elements work together, some things come into being. In Buddhism, the cause, the necessary internal relations between the cause and the result, and between things are emphasized. In Taoism, however, the concept of natural products is advocated. All things come into being naturally “As the qi in the heaven and earth gathers things come into being voluntary.” As the qi in the heaven and earth gathers, things are created. It emphasizes that the result is a contingency. Things come into being unexpected.

After Buddhism was introduced into China, Buddhism and Taoism had some disputes. Taoism doubted the necessary relations between things. In “On the Annihilation of the Soul,” Fan Zhen proposed a question. As he said, the wind blows, and flowers on a tree fall off. Should the wind be considered as a cause? After the wind blows, do all the flowers fall to one place? No, some fall to the smelly toilet, but some drop to the beauty’s room that smells so nice. There are different results.

The disputes didn’t stop in the Tang Dynasty. A disciple of Shenhui asked a question: “Master, monk often mention the cause, but Taoists emphasize the natural process. The two groups of people would quarrel when seeing each other. Why?” Shenhui replied: “monks that often mention the cause are stupid, and Taoists that conclude things with the natural process are also stupid.” Obviously, according to Shenhui, these two concepts shouldn’t be opposed. He thought these two concepts should be combined with Chinese people. By combining these two concepts, Chinese people can come up with the most acceptable and scientific cosmology, because all things in the universe are accidentally or necessarily related. These two concepts can only be combined in Chinese culture.

As Buddhism was introduced from India to the Central Plains of China, some changes occurred to it. And then it was spread to countries to the east of China.

Jianzhen

After Buddhism was spread to China, it was combined with local Chinese culture, and the Buddhist culture with Chinese features was formed. Then it was spread to countries in Northeast Asia. It was spread to the Korean Peninsula, and then to Japan. In the meantime, it was also spread to the southeastern part of Asia including our neighbor Vietnam. After it was spread to Japan, the Japanese dispatched envoys to Tang China to study Buddhism, and the Tang Dynasty dispatched monks to spread Buddhism in Japan. The best-known Chinese monk who had traveled to Japan at that time is Jianzhen.

Jianzhen has a major influence on Japan. He not only spread Buddhism there but also introduced many other parts of the Chinese culture, like lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy. Back then Jianzhen overcame many difficulties. He tried six times before he finally made it to Japan. After he got there, he lost his eyesight. In his first attempt, before he set out, one of his disciples discussed it with another monk, and this monk had some misunderstanding. Then he went to report it to the government and said that Jianzhen and his disciples built the ship to rebel against the government. Therefore, the government arrested Jianzhen.

Later he set out from Yangzhou, and he traveled on the sea for several days, but the ship ended up in Hainan Island. He met with storms and big waves. Ordinary people might retreat on such an occasion, but Jianzhen didn’t do that. The last time, it seemed that everything was fine. But before he left, a bird stood on the bow of his ship. Some people took it as an omen of disaster. But Jianzhen thought that since there was a forest near the ship’s route, this bird might fly there. However, some people insisted that it was an omen of disaster, and he shouldn’t leave. On his way to Japan, he lost his eyesight. But he introduced Risshu, an important school of Buddhism in China, to Japan and he had Toshodai-ji built there.

Chan Buddhism

After Buddhism was introduced into the countries in Northeast Asia, it has a significant influence on their daily life. Buddhism has various effects on real life. It should be said that Buddhism is a kind of culture and a kind of philosophy. The Kodo and ikebana of Japan are closely related to Zen, a school of Buddhism. A very important feature in Buddhism is tea Zen or Zen tea. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a monk called Congshen. He was known as the Monk of Zhao Prefecture. He taught people to practice Chan Buddhism.

Some people asked him: “Master, how can I practice Chan Buddhism?” He replied: “Have tea.” Some people that had stayed in the temple for a long time also asked him for advice: “Master, I came here, but I don’t know how to practice Chan Buddhism. Could you please give me some advice?” He replied: “Have tea.” Then an attendant standing by him asked: “ You told newcomers to have tea, and you also told people that have stayed here for a long time to have tea. “why?” The Monk of Zhao Prefecture still answered, “Have tea.” Whatever they asked, he just answered, “Have tea.” What did he mean?

The reason is that it was an ordinary thing for people to have tea in temples at that time. Through tea, he wanted to tell others that practicing Chan Buddhism is just as ordinary as having tea, and there is nothing special about it, and no advice can be given. That’s how the saying of understanding Chan Buddhism through tea came into being. It’s said that this saying was later brought to Japan by a Japanese named Eisai.

Many things were introduced from China to Japan and had a profound influence on Japanese people’s thinking, life, and artistic states. The Japanese tea ceremony originated from China, so did many sayings that are often mentioned in Japanese tea ceremony performances. These sayings include “having tea,” “it’s nothingness,” and “every day is good.” All these reflect the thoughts of Chan Buddhism. These ideas were infiltrated in the tea ceremony which sublimed a kind of internal realm. For instance, today in the Japanese temples, people can still see the so-called Japanese rock gardens. Simplicity is the humanitarian spirit of Chan Buddhism. So through some concrete measures, it has conveyed a kind of authentic internal spirit. This kind of spirit, as a matter of fact, was inherited in integrity from Chan Buddhism or the cultures of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

Practicing Chan Buddhism is taken as a kind of psychotherapy. The concept and method have attracted wide attention, and it’s used to solve many mental problems. Chinese Buddhism, to some extent, is more associated with life. India Buddhism, be it in the early stage or later stage, is more or less unworldly. It aims to relieve all living creatures of difficulties, but it rather prefers the cultivation away from the city, or away from the crowd. After Buddhism was introduced to China, it had always been closely related to our real daily life.

A Buddhist Doctrine

According to Buddhist culture, people should let go of troubles and be free. They are told not to look for troubles. However, in people’s lives, they face many problems, ranging from losing a job and being disappointed in love, to being suddenly diagnosed with an incurable disease like cancer or facing a family passing away. Under these circumstances, people can’t help feeling distressed. Buddhism believes that whether these things are troubles depends on how people think. If they take them seriously, they can’t let them go; but if they take them as trivial matters, they can let them go. Death isn’t a serious thing at all. Even if people do not suffer cancer or any other kind of incurable disease, people still have to die. If people make full use of the time every day and devote themselves to the service of others, they can die at any time. Living a meaningful life is much important than living a long life. Even if people live a brief but meaningful life, they will always be remembered by the public.

Wang Bi, a scholar of the Three Kingdoms period, only lived for 23 years, but he left two treasures, i.e., annotations of the “Book of Changes” and annotations of “Tao Te Ching” by Laozi. Nowadays, people that study “Tao Te Ching” and “Book of Changes” must read the annotations. Therefore, Wang Bi lived a meaningful life. He is still alive. It’s repeatedly mentioned in Buddhism that humans should have a clear mind, and have no troubles. Troubles are external, and humans have trouble because they look for them.