IRJMSH Vol 10 Issue 2 [Year 2019] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Culture Dr. Jagbir Singh Assistant Professor, Department of History, Satyawati College (Evening) (University of Delhi), Ashok Vihar, Delhi – 110052 Email: jagbir2006@gmail.com The introduction of Buddhism in first century CE is one of the most important events in Chinese history. Since then, it has been a major factor in Chinese civilization. It has influenced Chinese religion, philosophy, art, literature, Science etc. Buddhism gave a new way of life to the Chinese people and for over a thousand years the Chinese mind was dominated mainly by Buddhism. Even after the decline of Buddhism in China during the last few centuries we can trace the strong and deep influenced of Buddhism on Chinese culture in many ways. Although being a strong and self-confident civilization, China accommodated Buddhist ideas into her own texture of life. In other words, Buddhist elements have been ‘digested’, they have been absorbed into the mainstream of Chinese culture and almost lost their specific Buddhist nature in the process. The impact of Buddhism on Chinese culture can be observed in practically every aspect of Chinese cultural life but we will study only the key areas through the following headings: Religion and Religious Life It is in the religious life that Buddhism had its greatest influence on Chinese people. Through its pantheon of compassionate Buddhas and bodhisattvas who offered refuge to those in need, its promise of salvation to all, its emphasis on piety and—silent meditation, the colorful pageantry of its rituals and festivals, its restraint of the passions, its universality and its tolerance, the religious life of the Chinese people got enriched, deepened, broadened, and made more meaningful in terms of human sympathy, love, and compassion for all living creatures. The thoughts and teachings of Buddhism encouraged the Chinese to establish the charitable institutions such as hospitals, orphanages, dispensaries, rest houses, or homes for the aged. Neo-Confucianism: It is the most outstanding product of the cultural mingling between Buddhism and Chinese thought. It was a kind of a renaissance for Confucianism under impact of Buddhism in the Sung and Ming dynasties. A new change came in the field of idealism, now Confucian scholarship became socially conscience. Influenced with the element of ethical universalism of Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, Confucian scholar was first worrying about the world's troubles and last in enjoying his pleasures. Buddhism became so intimate a part of the intellectual minds of the Chinese people and it was impossible for the Sung thinkers to escape from Buddhism entirely. Neo-Confucianists interpreted terms used in the Confucian classics in the light of the dominant Buddhist atmosphere, and it can be said that the Neo-Confucian system was well familiar with the prevailing Buddhist ideas of the age. For example, the idea of Chang International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 249 IRJMSH Vol 10 Issue 2 [Year 2019] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) Tsai’s extension of the meaning of jen to embrace all under heaven was taken from the idea of all-compassionate bodhisattva, ever ready to save all sentient beings, played a role. NeoConfucianists also appear to have been influenced by the Buddhists for their idea of concentration of mind as Buddhist mental discipline emphasizes, among other things, mindfulness, meditation, and equanimity. This Confucian idea of sagehood was also probably a response to the Buddhist emphasis on the attainment of bodhisattvahood. Sung philosopher, Shao Yung (1011-1077) in his cosmological speculations had a theory that at the end of an epoch, which he said spanned 129,600 years, the present world system would come to an end to be replaced by another. Such an idea was alien to the Chinese and was undoubtedly influenced by the well-known Indian concept of aeons and recurring world systems. Buddhist influence on Taoism: Not only Neo Confucianism Buddhism but the other major sect of China, Taoism also got influenced from Buddhism. When Buddhism reached on Chinese soil it took help of Taoism (with borrowing from it) to spread the ideas, but in later centuries it was the Taoism that borrowed from Buddhism. The Taoists never had any idea of their system as a religion and therefore lacking of any literature. Only after Buddhism had reached in China and gained widespread acceptance, Taoists took over the idea of a religion from the Buddhists. Having done so, they decided to imitate the Buddhist example. When Buddhism reached in China in Han period, it was feared that it would be swallowed up by Taoism but just opposite happened later as the Taoists were themselves overwhelmed by the Buddhists. They borrowed their views on cosmology from Buddhism, well as their pantheon, their literature, and their doctrines. Taoist term, “indefinable Tao” is very close to the indeterminate “thusness” of Buddhism. This is also notable fact that the Taoists themselves admitted that they borrowed the practice of making statues images on the Buddha. It is in the field of literature that the Buddhist contribution to Taoism is most obvious. From the fifth century on, Taoists started copying the Buddhist sutras. So hasty and slipshod was this wholesale copying that the Taoists left behind numerous traces of their unethical practice. In general it seemed that what the Taoist did was to take over a Buddhist sutra and then substitute Lao-tzu for the word Buddha whenever it appeared, but very often the copyist was not attentive enough to make all the changes. The Buddhist concepts of karma and rebirth were also accepted by the Taoists, in contrast with the earlier Taoist doctrine of the transmission of burden. The Buddhist concept of the three worlds--the world of desire, the world of forms, and the formless world---was taken over in toto by the Taoists. Literature In the field of literature, Buddhism made Chinese writings more systematized, lucid, and logical. Indian hetuvidya, methodology, and Buddhist translation, written both in prose and verse, a literary form unknown in China at the time, led to a new era in literature. When Buddhism reached with its treasure of literature, the Chinese started giving freedom to their imagination. International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 250 IRJMSH Vol 10 Issue 2 [Year 2019] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) Chinese learned the art of story-telling from the Indians. The best example of this imagination can be found in the novels Hsi-yu-chi (Record of a Trip to the West) and the Feng-shen-chuan (Annals of the Investiture of Deities), both of the Ming Dynasty. This kind of freedom of the Chinese mind under the influence of Mahayana literature enabled the Chinese scholars to produce the rich, romantic, and imaginative literature such as the novels and short stories of the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties. There was neither epic poetry nor short story form until the Tang period; no recorded dramas until the Mongol period; and no development of the novel until the Ming period. In a recent study, a Chinese scholar, Lai Ming, says that a significant feature in the development of Chinese literature has been “the immense influence of Buddhist literature on the development of every sphere of Chinese literature since the Eastern Chin period (317 A.D.). We can say that without this the Chinese literature would have remained static and only poetry and prose been its principal literary forms, but we can safely say that it certainly would have been different from what it is today.” The literary masterpieces of the Buddhist poet Asvagosa, Buddhacharita-kavya, translated into Chinese by Dharmaraksha, influenced not only Chinese Buddhism but Chinese literature as well. The long Chinese poems, A Heroine of the Molan and the Peacock Flying towards the Southeast, reflect the style of Buddhist literature. The novels and dramas of the Yuan and Ming dynasties were also influenced by Buddhism, either directly or indirectly. Buddhist influence on the rise of story-telling can be seen in the collections of tales published in the period of the Northern Southern dynasties : for example, Yuan Hun Chi (Accounts of Avenging Spirits) by Yen Chih-tui, and Ming Hsiang Chi (Records of Mysterious Manifestations) by Wang Yen. The stories found in the Buddhist sutras were changed into Chinese scenes and characters and passed of possibly unconsciously, as Chinese stories. For example, the story A Scholar of Yang Hsien", included in the Sequel to Teles of Chi-hsieh, is a replica of Buddhist story found in the Samyuktavadana Sutra. A Chinese style of essay writing called san wen or pien-wen, consisting of short prose which combines straight narration, rhymed verses, descriptive prose, and allegories, is also of Buddhist origin. Buddhist monks used to explain the often obscure meaning of Buddhist sutras by telling anecdotes with a moral in order to arouse and hold the interest of the people to propagate Buddhism. This method of expounding the sutras in story-telling form proved very effective and popular, and gradually gave rise to the pien wen style of writing. Drama Chinese drama adopted Indian features in three stages: First, they borrowed the story, characters, and technique all from India: Secondly, Indian technique gave way to Chinese, and finally the story was modified and the characters became Chinese. There are many dimensions to Chinese drama, and it is not easy to place them accurately in history. However, the twelfth century provides the first known record of the performance of a play. It a Buddhist miracle-play called Mu-lien Rescues his Mother, based on an episode in the Indian epic Mahabharata. International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 251 IRJMSH Vol 10 Issue 2 [Year 2019] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) Art and Architecture Indian art reached China through central Asian and sea routes. Monks and traders brought Buddha statues, models of temples, and other objects of art to China. Chinese pilgrims also collected works of art on their travels. Fa-hsien made drawings of images while at Tamralipti, Hsuan-tsang returned with him several golden and sandal wood figures of the Buddha and Huilun with a model of the Nalanda Mahavihara. Wang Hsuan-tse, who went to India several times, collected many drawings of Buddhist images, including a copy of the Buddha Image at Bodhgaya. However, with the time, this influx of Indian art was absorbed by Chinese art, which had a strong tradition of its own. This combination resulted in a Buddhist art of exceptional beauty. Art: Three main centres of Buddhist art developed in China—Tun-huang, Yun kang (in the north of Shansi), and Lung-men (near Loyang). Tun-huang is located on the north-western frontier of China near an oasis known as Yumen, or the Jade Gate, where the northern and southern routes from central Asia converged. For travellers to China it marked the last stage of an arduous journey, and became a thriving center for Buddhist activities. These travellers, including monks contributed to Tun-huang's importance as a center of Buddhist learning. Buddhist Monks and devotees carried the task of carving images, painting different pictures and other activities in these three centers. From the T'ang period onwards, Indian art was increasingly absorbed by Chinese art traditions. Indeed, the faces of all the Buddhist deities became Chinese in appearance. In the Tun-huang caves, one can see how the distinct Indian figures of the Wei period went through physiognomical changes to become Chinese by the Sung period. Painting: Chinese painting also influenced by the Indian painting styles, works of some Indian painters was much esteemed in China. We have come across the names of three Indian paintersSakyabuddha, Buddhakirti, and Kumarabodhi. Xiche (Sie Ho), an artist who lived under the Qi (Ts'i) dynasty of the south (An 479-501), is said to have formulated the following six great principles of painting which were inspired from the sadanga or the six essential things relating to painting as described in the ancient Indian literature. By the time of the Tang period Indian influence appears to have found a dominant place in Chinese painting. For example, the Tang deal of feminine beauty in a more pointed face and rounded figure (compared to the slender elegance of previous periods), with hair collected around and above the head, and an air of cheerful health, was the result of this influence. The most splendid paintings of the T'ang period were of Buddhist inspiration, such as those by Wei-chih I-seng, Yen Li-pen, and the greatest of all Chinese painter, Wu Tao-tzu. Chan, A remarkable school of painting, directly connected with Indian thought, was inspired by Dhyana Buddhism. The Ch’an doctrine holds that Buddhahood or the spiritual essence of things may be found in man, animal, plant, flower, mountain, stream, and so on. The voice of Buddha International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 252 IRJMSH Vol 10 Issue 2 [Year 2019] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) may speak in the songs of birds, the silence of the mountains, the crashing of waterfalls, or the whisper of trees in the wind. The landscape artist spent his time in silent meditation on various aspects of nature, hoping to find the spiritual essence of things hidden under the cloak of outward forms. If the vision of this spiritual essence were to be recorded in paintings, it had to be done in the shortest time possible. By the thirteenth century, Indian influence in painting waned, although images of the Buddha continued to be made in the traditional manner. With the decline of Buddhism in China, Buddhist art also declined. Architecture: Buddhist architecture in China also got some Indian influence. It is believed by that the pagoda type of the temples with superimposed storeys was carried from India to the Far East. One of the oldest Buddhist temples of this type, probably a temple in the Indian style, built in China was probably the Yongningsi at Luo-yang constructed in AD 516 under the Wei. It was an enormous Buddhist temple in nine storeys, more than 90 chang height. In fact, a special type of architecture was known in the Song period as the Indian style which was different from the T’ang style of architecture. This style of architecture was not officially recognized in China but was in private use. It was much in vogue in Shanxi where the Indian influence was much more dominant than elsewhere in China. Language In Chinese language also, Buddhist influence can be traced. Buddhists coined many new terms gradually which found their way into the Chinese vocabulary, and gradually accepted by the Chinese, who never suspected that they originated from some foreign language. These terms can be divided into two categories: First comprises those which are translations of Buddhist concepts like k’u-hai, sea of misery; hsi-,t’ien, the Western Paradise; wu-ming, ignorance; chung-sheng, sentient beings; yin-yuan, karma; ch’u-chia, leaving the household life, Second category comprises those terms which are transliterations of Sanskrit words like ch’a-no, an instant, from kshana; t’a, pagoda, from thupa, which is a Pali word; p’u-sa, from bodhisattva; lo-han, from arhat or arahan; mo-li, jasmine, from mallika; seng, a monk, from sangha. Buddhist scholars enriched the Chinese vocabulary by more than thirty-five thousand words. Even today words of Buddhist origin are widely used in China from the folklore of peasants to the formal language of the intelligentsia. Phonology: Phonological studies also influenced with the introduction of the Sanskrit alphabet into China. Fan-ch’ieh system or the using of two characters was introduced to indicate the pronunciation of the third character. Earlier the Chinese had attempted to indicate the pronunciation of a character by the use of homonyms, but in the fan-ch’ieh system the initial sound of the first character is combined with the final sound of the second to give the pronunciation. This method was undoubtedly influenced by the Chinese experience with the Sanskrit alphabet. Another innovation of great importance in phonology was the formulation of the thirty tzu-mu or phonetic radicals by the monk Shou-wen during the latter half of the Tang Dynasty. The thirty radicals were divided into the following categories: labials, languals, International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 253 IRJMSH Vol 10 Issue 2 [Year 2019] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) gutturals, dentals, and glottals. Such a division could have been possible only if the monk was familiar with the different divisions of the Sanskrit alphabet. There is still another phonological contribution of Buddhism is the reconstruction of Chinese pronunciations of the past. While the pronunciations of the Chinese phonetic transcriptions have changed during the thousand or so years since the Tang Dynasty, the pronunciation of the Sanskrit has not, since it is a phonetic language. By comparing the Chinese transcriptions with the original Sanskrit text, valuable data is derived to reconstruct the Chinese pronunciations of the Tang Dynasty. In 489 AD a new theory, called the “Theory of four tones”, was established to differentiate between the Chinese language for reading Buddhist sutras and for chanting the verses: ping or “soft” tone, and three “hard” tones, shang or acute tone, chu or grave tone, and ju or abrupt tone. Astronomy and Mathematics Like India, Astronomy and astrology played a very important part in ancient Chinese culture. It was believed in both countries that the planets influence and guide the destiny of men. There is some evidence that works on Indian astronomy were in circulation in China well before the T’ang period. In the annals of the Sui dynasty numerous Chinese translations of Indian mathematical and astronomical works are mentioned, such as the Po-lo-men Suan fa (The Hindu Arithmetical Rules), and Po-lo-men Suan King. Imperial bureau in China took the services of Indian astronomers to prepare accurate calendars. There were three Indian, astronomical schools at Changan in T’ang period: Gautama (Chhuthan), Kasyapa (Chiayeh), and Kumara (Chumolo). In AD 684 a member of the Gautama school named Luo presented a new calendar, ‘Guong Zi’ to Empress Wu which was in use for three years. In 718, another member of the school, Hsi-ta (Siddhartha), presented to the emperor a calendar, Chiu-che-le, which was almost a direct translation of an Indian calendar, Navagraha Siddhanta of Varahamihira, and which is still preserved in the T'ang period collection. It contained a calculation of the moon's course and the eclipses. In AD 721 the Buddhist monk Yixing adopted a new method of calculation evidently based on Indian sources which he had studied well. He undertook the compilation of a calendar named Da-yan-li. Yixing died in AD 727 before the work could be completed. By the imperial order the work was continued and completed in AD 729. The work was not without the influence of Indian astronomy as it introduced in the Indian fashion nine planets, the sun, the moon, the five planets, and two new ones, the Rahu and the Ketu, by which the Indian astronomers presented the ascending and the descending nodes of the moon. This is to be noted that Sui period and the Tang period Indian astronomers were serving in the official astronomical bureau and that Indian astronomy and mathematics were esteemed in China. Medicine and Surgery Buddhism stressed the great importance of health and paid a good deal of attention to the prevention and cure of maladies. Buddha was the great healer whose teachings were a therapy for the ills of the world, and one of the important Buddhas in the pantheon was Bhaishajyaguru, the master of medicine. Among the Buddhist monks in China there were a number noted for their proficiency in medicine. We can see the evidences of Indian influence on Chinese medicine with International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 254 IRJMSH Vol 10 Issue 2 [Year 2019] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) more definite examples. The Indian theory of the balance of four great elements (earth, water, fire, and air) was introduced to China and adopted by the Chinese. The most eminent Taoist Tang physicians, Sun Ssu-miao (nicknamed “New Vimalakirti), was interested in Buddhism. In his medical treatise Ch’ien-chin yao-fang (Book of Prescriptions worth a Thousand Gold) there is a passage showing that he fully subscribed to the Indian theory of the four elements. More interesting, in the introduction he wrote that in order to be a great physician one must not only read the Confucian and Taoist works but also the medical literature of the Buddhists. The T’ang emperors patronized Indian thaumaturges (Tantric Yogis) who were believed to possess secret methods of rejuvenation. Wang Hsuan-chao, who returned to India after the death of Harsha, had been charged by the Chinese emperor in 664 to bring back Indian medicine and physicians. A number of medical treatises, of a purely Buddhist character, are found in the Chinese Buddhist collection. Ravana Kumaratantra treatise on the method of treatment of children's disease by spell as well as by fumigation was translated in the eleventh century from Sanskrit. Another small text (a fragment of a well-known Ayurvedic compendium called Kashayasamhita) on the treatment of pregnant women's disease was translated in the same period Chinese are also indebted of Buddhism in Certain surgical techniques, such as laparotomy or removal of abdominal walls, trepanation or surgery of the skull, removal of cataracts, and inoculation for smallpox. These all were influenced by Indian methods. Jivaka’s surgical accomplishments became known to Buddhism through the translations of An Shih-kao in the second century. Music The Chinese did not regard music as an art to be cultivated outside temples and theatres and it was almost exclusively confined to temple worship, religious rites, and court ceremonies. When Buddhism reached in China, Buddhist monks brought the practice of chanting sacred texts during religious rites. Hence, Indian melody was introduced into Chinese music which was rather static and restrained. There was no well-organized class of professional music teachers, no accomplished amateur musicians practicing music purely for aesthetic satisfaction, and ballads and folk-singing were not very common. The Chinese annals tell us that music was cultivated in their country in a Brahmanical family called Cao (Ts'ao) and the representative of that family, Miaoda went to China in the period AD 550-77. In the sixth century, Indian music became so popular in China that the Chinese Emperor Gaozu (Kao-tsu) (581-595AD) tried to proscribe it by a decree, but without any effect. His successor Yang Di was so fond of this music that he got a number of airs composed in this style. By the end of the sixth century Indian music had been given state recognition. During the T'ang period, Indian music was quite popular, especially the famous Rainbow Garment Dance melody. There were Indian, central Asian, and southeast Asian orchestras at the T'ang court, and each year the emperor invited musical parties from abroad. The earliest known opera of China, po-tow (The Wedge), is reported to have been introduced from India. By the end of the period of the Northern and Southern dynasties, many musical International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 255 IRJMSH Vol 10 Issue 2 [Year 2019] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) instruments were introduced into China through central Asia. Many foreign instruments also came during the T'ang period, ya-cheng (a stringed instrument) played by rubbing the strings with a slip of bamboo, came through Tibet, of the time, the kiung-hou (A popular stringed musical instrument), came from India during the Han period. The Chinese hu-ch’in, a foreign importation, is exactly like the two-stringed sitara of India. The Chinese guitar, pi p’a also possibly came from India during the Han and Tang dynasties. Science A major Buddhist influence on Chinese science was in scientific thought itself. Buddhist concepts, like infinity of space and time, the plurality of worlds and of time-cycles or kalpas (chieh), stimulated Chinese inquiry, broadened the Chinese outlook and equipped it to investigate scientific problems. The Indian doctrine of karma (tso-yeh) or metempsychosis influenced Chinese scientific thought on the process of biological change involving both phylogeny and ontogeny. Buddhist Iconography was also having a biological element. Buddhism also introduced a highly developed theory of logic, both formal and dialectical, and of epistemology. Sports The famous Shaolin style of boxing is attributed to Indian influence. Bodhidharma, who believed in the theory of a sound mind in a sound body, taught the monks in the Shaolin temple this style of boxing for self-defence and for rejuvenating the body after exacting meditation and mental concentration. Indian racing games also reached China in the first millennium. Karl Himly (expert on the history of Chinese games), by quoting a passage from the Hun Tsun Su (a work of the Sung period), suggests that the Chinese game T’shu-p’u Show was invented in western India and spread to China in the time of the Wei dynasty (220-265). T’shu-pu is in fact the Chinese adaptation of the Indian chatush-pada (modern chaupur). Chess was also introduced from India to China through the ancient trade route from Kashmir. Cubical dice game (ch’u-p’I or yu-p’i), although found in ancient Egypt as well as in India, is generally believed to have reached China from India. Arthur Waley is of the opinion that the prominence of the number six in the Book of Changes was derived from the six sides of the cubical dice. Concluding Remarks Now the question arises, why Buddhism was able to make so many contributions to so many different facets of Chinese life? Actually, after its introduction and spread in China, it gradually became more and more Sinicized or adjusted itself to the Chinese environment. The example of such change and adaptation might be seen in the establishment of such schools like the Tien-t'ai, Pure Land, and Ch’an. The Buddhist sangha in China also transformed significantly. During the Tang and Sung Dynasties the monasteries through their ownership of land and their commercial and industrial installations participated closely in the economic life of the country, and thus played a similar role to that of the native landlords and the aristocratic families. Buddhist temples (organized and supported by the state) also, performed religious ceremonies for the welfare of the ruling house and the state, and as such might be considered as a sort of International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 256