Published by While there were multiple responses to the spread of Buddhism in China, most of the documents supported this religion, were
written by scholars and influential people in authority, and blended religious and political values.
Based on these documents, Buddhism received a lot of support. Most of this support came from the first three documents; all
of them said good things about the religion and how it was better than other religions of the time. This can tell us that Buddhism was
gaining popularity from around 480 B.C.E to around the early 9th century C.E. A reason for Buddhism’s rise in popularity among the
people was because it lead to the stopping of sorrow and living a better life (Document 1). Being able to enter Nirvana (no more
sorrow, desire, and individual consciousness) was also another reason Buddhism was supported (Document 2). Buddhism ended up
Gaining the hearts and minds of the Chinese people and became a very popular religion.
These responses to the spread of Buddhism in China were also all written by scholars and influential people in authority. This pretty
much meant that these documents all came from a political and social standpoint of higher class people in China. Many of these
people had very different opinions of Buddhism. Most of the documents written by Buddhist and Chinese scholars all supported
Buddhism and wanted it to spread and dominate. Because Buddhism appealed to all the people equally, it was probably not favored by
higher class people during the Tang Dynasty such as the emperor Wu and the Confucian scholar Han Yu. They called Buddhism a
Barbaric religion and did not wanted it to be allowed into China.
Buddhism also blended religious and political values in China. This helped Buddhism gain a lot of support from many people all
over China. Most of these documents summed up that Buddhism had many good teachings such as to encourage goodness and punish
wickedness. These were all reasons that led to the making of an orderly society (Document 5). In Buddhist societies, people showed
respect towards one another, violence was stopped and peace prevailed. According to document 6, Buddhism was blamed for
poisoning the customs of China. Emperor Wu saw that this new religion was blending religious and political values, but in a bad way; in a
way that would cause people to abandon their normal daily routines and go out and pray and live peacefully and work less.
All in all, there were many responses to the spread of Buddhism in China. Overall, most of the documents agreed that Buddhism
was a good religion and supported it. They were all written by scholars and other influential people in authority. Last but not least, Buddhism
blended religious and political values both in good and bad ways.
