Origin of the World in the Kingdom of India (Han Buddhism and Folk Customs)

Author: Li Lin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: The history of the spread of Indian Buddhism in China is both the history of its integration with Chinese culture and the history of its "Sinicization." "Sinicization of Buddhism" refers to the absorption, rejection, and transformation of Buddhist culture by traditional Chinese culture, as well as the simultaneous changes and transformations Buddhism underwent under the influence of Chinese culture. In many chapters of this book, we can see: the influence of Chan Buddhism on folk customs, and the various changes in Buddhism itself due to the "counter-influence" of Chinese folk culture, which generally underwent a transformative shift during the Song Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty, Chinese Chan Buddhism no longer, like in the Tang Dynasty, steadfastly upheld a certain order of meaning to guide the faith direction of the entire society. It merely passively adapted to the existing social order, serving as a supplement to Confucian governance and Daoist self-cultivation. This supplement, stripped of a saving spirit and left with mere form, only sought a fleeting solace between ambiguous reality and illusory ideals.