Tang Dynasty Dbq

After the fall of the Han Dynasty, China was in a state of political fragmentation. Several centuries later, a new, short-lived dynasty called the Sui took power before it fell leading to the more successful Tang Dynasty. From the fall of the Han Dynasty, 200 CE, to the formalization of the Tang Dynasty, 900 CE, the acceptance of Buddhism varied greatly over time. The Han Dynasty was in favor of a Confucian government and society, while the Sui Dynasty fostered both Confucianism and Buddhism. Like the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty approved and encouraged Buddhism in the early stages of their rule, however, Buddhism was soon alienated because of the disapproval of anything foreign and soon turned back to Confucianism. The Han Dynasty was …show more content…
Not only was Buddhism spread throughout the Tang Dynasty, two versions of it did as well. The most prominent type of Buddhism that spread in China was Mahayana, which went above Theravada in popularity according to document 1. As Zhi Dun, a Chinese scholar in 350 CE, says, Buddhism was appealing to people in China because people who followed its teachings would have an enlightened spirit and would enter nirvana (document 2). Zhi Dun was a confidant of Chinese aristocrats when Buddhism was widely accepted. Because of this, he would obviously have an inclination to promote Buddhism which would make this document less reliable. However, since he talks about a summary of Buddhism, rather than his opinion about it, it causes his statement s to be valuable. This was one of the ways Buddhism was accepted into the Tang Dynasty, but over time, the liking of Buddhism swayed away from a sense of spirituality to one of political advancements. Many of the political leaders in the Tang Dynasty claimed that they were bodhisattvas which helped them to gain legitimacy. Despite the people, such as Zong Mi, who believed that Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism all worked well by creating societies that fit specific time periods, was still liked more by the people in the Tang Dynasty (document 6). This was because Buddhism was working efficiently in the Tang Dynasty, so people didn’t feel the need to get …show more content…
There was some skepticism before this time period however. In 500 CE, an anonymous Chinese scholar is being questioned on how Buddhism is greater than Confucianism as shown in document 4. Confucianism was a philosophy that focused on respecting elders, producing children, and admiring but not getting close to spirits. Buddhism denied all of these things making it almost the complete opposite of Confucianism. This interview at the time showed the point at which people were starting to question Buddhism, while still having others believe in its benefits. Another one of the questions the interviewer brought up was how Buddhism could be so great if it was not practiced earlier on. This same argument id brought up by Han Yu, who was a Confucian scholar, instead of a Buddhist scholar like Zong Mi was. He also mentions that Buddhism was brought to China by barbarians (document 5). Han Yu mentions this in 819 CE, a time period where Buddhism was seen as the enemy. This was because the Tibetans and Turkic Uighurs invaded China. Due to the fact that they were foreign invaders, the Chinese began to create a negative image of all things foreign, including Buddhism. This was the major turning point for Buddhism. People started to turn back to Confucianism. A popular argument used was how