Buddhism in China

Buddhism in China saw over 40,000 temples and shrines destroyed, Buddha statue owners just five jin away from a death threat, and groups of Buddhists slaughtered across the Guanzhong region. Who is accredited for the power and success of the spread of the Buddhist community? And why did this result in its regulation and persecution?

Fig. 1 Buddhism in China Illustration

Buddhism in Ancient China

When Buddhism was first introduced to China, many people who first adopted it did so because of the similarities the religion held to Taoism. Taoism is a philosophy and a religion that focuses on the idea that all beings should live in harmony with each other and the universe.

Fig. 2 Taoist Triad Drawing

While Buddhism and Taoism are not the same things, many monks would use Taoist principles to explain the concepts of Buddhism, and many found the two ways of thinking worked in great harmony. However, preference for one or the other also created competition between the two and raised the profile of both religions in early Chinese society.

The biggest schools of Buddhism that have emerged in China since its initial introduction are:

• The Chan School of Buddhism

• Pure Land Buddhism

• The Tiantai School of Buddhism

• The Huayan School of Buddhism

Buddhism in China Timeline

Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty and has since grown to be one of the most practiced religions in the country.

Buddhism and its influence in China reached its peak between 618 and 907 within the T'ang Dynasty. Buddhist monasteries became very powerful and rich, and their arts spread across the nation. In 845 during the third persecution of Buddhism in China, Buddhism saw more than 40,000 temples and shrines destroyed. During the 15^th century, Tibetan Buddhism developed into its own tradition throughout China after centuries of deriving its religious teachers and texts from India. This occurred through the Gelugpa sect of Buddhism and the Chinese Patronage of Buddhist temporal and religious power in Tibet.

Fig. 3 Tsong Khapa Artwork

Origins of Buddhism in China

Subhakarasimha, Vajrabohi, and Amoghavajra are three main characters who are said to have introduced the early form of Esoteric Buddhism throughout China starting in 716 CE. Most historians agree that Buddhism arrived in China geographically across the Silk Roads by Indian monks, introducing Mahayana Buddhism and many others over the years.

Persecution of Buddhism in China

Historian Antonello Palumbo discusses how the elite would often use Buddhism to "buttress their authority" and how the treatment of the Buddhist community was "unforgiving".

First Persecution of Buddhism

The first persecution of Buddhism in China, also recognized as the First Disaster of Wu, began in 446. A Devout Taoist, Emperor Taiwu was in conflict against Xiongnu rebel Gai Wu.

1. Whilst campaigning against Xiongnu rebel Gai Wu, Emperor Taiwu's forces discovered that weapons were being stored in Buddhist temples.
2. Emperor Taiwu believed that this was evidence of the Buddhist community being against him.
3. Buddhists in the Guanzhong region were slaughtered as this was the hive of Gai Wu's rebellion and Buddhism was banned and put under a penalty of death.

Fig. 5 Temple of Heaven, the three religions of China: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism

Second Persecution of Buddhism

Compared to the Disaster of Wu, the second persecution of Buddhism in China was more of an economic and power conflict that began in 567 rather than the military conflict that led to much bloodshed during the first in 446.

1. Wei Yuansong, a former Buddhist priest, put forward a memorial that called for the "abolition of Buddhism" to Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou dynasty in 567.
2. Over the next ten years, Emperor Wu made two attempts to squash the spread of Buddhism by destroying any imagery of Buddhism and Taoist practices possible. These took place in 574 and 577 and forced the clergy of the Buddhists and Taoist churches into a life of hiding.
3. Emperor Wu took the Buddhist temples and their land and gave these to his soldiers instead in an attempt to limit Buddhist power and wealth.
4. Emperor Xuan and his beginning on the throne in 578 is often marked as the end of this persecution.

Third Persecution of Buddhism

The third persecution of Buddhism in China started in 845 by Taoist Emperor Wuzong.

1. Emperor Wuzong began the 'Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution'.
2. Wuzong started this persecution because he needed finances for the war effort, and his solution to this was to strip the Buddhist community of its riches and place it within the military funds.
3. Driving 'foreign' influences out of China was another purpose of this persecution.
4. Wuzong placed a ban on Buddhism except for two Buddhist temples that were 20 monks each.
5. The consequences of this persecution meant that nuns were required to return to their past civilian lives and Buddhist clergy were forced into lay life.
6. Over 4,600 Buddhist temples were demolished, and around 260,000 Buddhist clergies such as monks and nuns were demoted to civilians.
7. A policy of tolerance put forward by Emperor Zuanzong in 846 ended this persecution.

What was causing the mass persecution of Buddhism?

• The accumulated riches that the monasteries now held were seen as a threatening opposition to royalty.
• During the song dynasty, the Buddhist community was given an escape from tax duty or military service. This pushed people to join the Buddhist community for the wrong reasons. This not only meant that the community grew significantly and became a larger threat but also that it was viewed as corrupted by those not involved.
• Manifests against foreign religions were written by Neo-Confucians during this time, detailing that Buddhism and its philosophies would eventually destroy the social system of duty in China and eradicate the rights of the upper and lower classes.
• A financial burden was placed on the state as Buddhism and its community of nuns, priests and temples grew significantly, resulting in the regulation of the size of Buddhism.

Fourth Persecution of Buddhism

Historical accounts of the four persecutions of Buddhism agree on a lack of evidence of Buddhists targeting massacres and debate whether the suppression was of Buddhist practice and church beliefs.

Fig. 6 Emperor Shizong

1. In 955, the fourth persecution of Buddhism began in the Zhou dynasty as Emperor Shizong called for the destruction of Buddha statues.
2. The emperor issued this order as the state needed copper to mint coins.
3. If a statue possessed over five jin, around 2.5 kilograms of copper, Emperor Shizong's edict called for a threat of death of the owner.

Sima Guang in Zizhi Tongjian² and Xiu Ouyang³ in the New History of the Five Dynasties both suggest a lack of doctrine and practicing religion suppression, but Ouyang documents how people who had dependents were removed from a monk or nun status.

In comparison to this, Xue Juzheng⁴ indicated within the Old History of the Five Dynasties that the destruction of temples and the large population of monks and nuns that were forced to return to a civilian lifestyle is evidence of doctrine suppression. Soka Gakkai⁵ supports these suggestions as they state that Emperor Shizong had 3,336 Buddhist temples destroyed, totaling over half of China's 6,030 Buddhist temples.

Buddhism in China Today

Today, Buddhism is one of five recognized religions in China, alongside Catholicism, Taoism, Islam, and Protestantism. Although religion is allowed, there are still strict rules regarding religious practices in the country. There are limits on religious education and celebrations, as well as limits on permitted donation amounts. Buddhism, along with other religions, is constantly monitored, and the exact rules about what is and isn't allowed is often left up to governmental interpretation.

Buddhism and Taoism tend to be more tolerated than the other religions, by the staunchly atheist communist party, mainly because of their folk beginnings and traditions and less rigid rules than say Catholicism. However, attitudes between religion and the Chinese government can change swiftly, so there's no guarantee that this relatively amicable relationship will remain so. China has an extremely high number of religious prisoners, and many Tibetan Buddhists are counted among that number, being the most persecuted Buddhists in the nation.