RE251 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Huineng, Bhikkhuni, Zhiyi
Document Summary
Along the silk road (khotan civilization; gandhara) Phase one: period of contact and explication (during eastern han dynasty around 100bce- 221 ce) via merchants, monks, nuns, travelers, and ethnic minority groups. Emperor ming(cid:495)s dream of large golden figure, 61ce. 67ce arrival of two indian monks in luoyang. 148ce monk an shih-kao opened a translation bureau in luoyang. Until end of han dynasty (220ce) slow acceptance of buddhism among general population (xenophobia; contrast to confucianism and taoism) Phase two: period of penetration: roughly corresponds with period of disunity (220-589ce), Buddhism attains firm position in chinese society as china divided into northern wei dynasty (420-557ce; under mongolians/non-chinese) and ascendancy of buddhism through. Mongolian patronage used as political tool to control and influence han population through faith and salvation of buddhas & bodhisattvas, expansion of temples (e. g. dunhaung). Region of south of yangtze (under native chinese rulers) continued to emphasize buddhism(cid:495)s identity as a (cid:498)foreign religion(cid:499) undermining traditional authority of confucianism and taoism.
