Topics:
Nomads and Empires
China after the Han Dynasty
Period from 200-700 CE
Questions:
What effect did nomads have on Chinese civilization?
What effect did Chinese civilization have on nomads?
How and when does Buddhism spread to China?
How has Buddhism changed by that time?
Lecture 14:The “Period of Division” and Buddhism in China
Han Empire Steppe nomads
Non-Chinese agriculturalists
Roman Empire: East/West&
Han China: North/South
Nomad problems
sinicization =assimilation to Chinese culture
220 CE - Han Empire collapses
Period of Division (220-581 CE)
North South
overextended militarilystate power declines
incompetence & intrigue at courtinfluence of provincial landowners increases
urban economy contracts
less urbanized and commerciallocal Han aristocracy dominates
military reliance on nomads nomads dominate
sedentarysinicized
non-sedentarynot sinicized
“Six Dynasties”
after 220 - rulers relied heavily on mixed armies, esp. semi-sedentary nomads
ca. 300 - political, economic, administrative chaos + nomad rebellions
Chinese elites move south
304-439 - “Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Barbarians”
blend traditional nomadic social organization with Chinese culture
understand rule as continuation of traditional Chinese dynasties
intermarry and sinicize
Northern China
“Barbarians” took advantage of internal instability
439 CE - tiny kingdom of Toba conquers all of N. China
progressively assimilate:
more sedentary
sinicize
taste for luxury
nomadic customs decline
471-99 CE - ruler decrees sinicization of Tabgatch elite (dress, names, language)
by 494 CE - move capital from borderland to heartland (Luoyang on Yellow River)
Toba = Tabgatch = Northern Wei
Buddhists
Buddhism in China
Pagoda
from mid-1st century CE
TRANSLATION
Mahayana = “Greater Vehicle” (“Greater Ox-Cart”)vs. Hinayana (“Lesser Vehicle”) = Theravada Buddhism
more attuned to laypeople
Scriptures = final teachings of the Buddha
Buddhahood (bodhi) attainable
Gradations of Buddhahood
Bodhisattvas (“being of wisdom”)originally: previous lives of the Buddha
Buddha who stays behind to help others
Multiple BuddhasInfinite Buddhas
Sakyamuni - Buddha of the Present AgeMaitreya - Buddha of the Future
Buddha as manifestation of universal, spiritual beingSakyamuni and Many Treasures Buddha (Lotus Sutra)
Mahayana Buddhism
Guanyin = Bodhisattva of Mercy“Perceiver of the World’s Sounds”
... “If there are living beings in the land who need someone in the body of a Buddha to be saved, Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds immediately manifests himself in a Buddha body and preaches the Law for them... If they need a voice-hearer to be saved, immediately he becomes a voice-hearer and preaches the Law for them.”
Lotus Sutra
The Buddha said to Bodhisattva Inexhaustible intent: “Good man, suppose there are immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of living beings who are undergoing various trials and suffering. If they hear of this bohisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds and single-mindedly call his name, then at once he will perceive the sound of their voices and they will all gain deliverance from their trials.”
If someone, holding fast to the name of Boddhisattva Perceiver of World’s Sounds, should enter a great fire, the first could not burn him. This would come about because of this boddhisattva’s authority and supernatural power. If one were washed away by a great flood and called upon his name, one would immediately find himself in a shallow place.”
Cave chapel complexes
Royal Patronage of Buddhism
(Buddhism vs. Confucianism)
Colossal Buddha,Yungang chapels
Chinese statuetteof Sakyamuni
Monasteries
Elite Chinese Culture flourishes in the South
Painting
Calligraphy
Economy Revives in both North & Southby end 5th c. CE
Lacquer