How Did Buddhism Affect The Economy

Buddhist ideal. Because of this enthusiasm for Buddhism among the wealthy and powerful, Buddhist clergy enjoyed many benefits. Buddhism also appealed greatly to the peasantry of early China. Buddhism gave the common people hope for salvation when Taoism could not. Across China, Buddhism was a part of people’s daily lives and began to shape China in many ways.
One of Buddhism’s most profound influences in China was on the Chinese economy. The economy was changed in both good and bad ways by different aspects of Buddhism’s social role. One of the influences was the change in economy due to the government’s creation of Buddhist monasteries. Most of the emperors of the fifth and sixth centuries spent large amounts of time, money and resources to building monasteries. The emperors were more interested in building things in their names than they were with the way their spending would affect the economy. Excessive …show more content…
The resource that suffered most of all was precious metal stores. The Chin-ko monastery, built under Emperor Tai-tsung, was tiled with gold-plated copper. However, the majority of precious metals used for the benefit of Buddhism were not used in the construction of monasteries but in the casting of ritual objects such as statues and bells. When the amount of precious metals grew dangerously low in the late sixth century as well as the mid ninth century, the government made Buddhist monasteries turn over a portion of their metal ornaments to be melted down and minted as coins. The Buddhist needs persistently used up the recourses of the state. Since Buddhist clergy did not labor and produce any goods, they were living off the work of others, and China’s economy suffered for it. However, the effects that Buddhism had on the economy were not all negative. Buddhism also prompted a rise in commercialism. Buddhist statues and other religious objects became popular items. The people of China were affected by the stressed