The ancient Chinese period of the barbarian states was witness to the rise and fall of approximately 41 separate states and, along with them, the powerful strategists playing the game of power. In a gallery full of pictures, Shi Le is the Mona Lisa. In the short period of 59 years, in which he lived, Shi Le managed to salvage and drastically transform the social and physical boundaries of all Northern China evident even hitherto.
In 330 AD, Shi Le assumed the title of “emperor”, after successfully re-unifying northern china under the name of (Later) Zhao (chancellor Fang Xuanling, 648, volume 105).
The physical unification of northern china had been established, however the people were still divided and warring factions weakened the state. The Later Zhao Empire faced the challenge of legitimizing the rule of the perceived center of the civilized world, by a people whom its inhabitants had previously considered to be foreign, uncultured, and inferior. To achieve peace and stability within Later Zhou, the cultural integration and acceptance of the various ethnic groups was critical. Shi Le focused much of his effort attaining …show more content…
In 312, Shi Le had adopted the Buddhist religion from a renowned Indian monk, Buddhojinga, who had come to Luoyang (the capital of Later Zhao) in 310 (Corradini, 2006, p.188). Sinologist Arthur Wright has proposed the mostly likely reason for the rapid growth of Buddhism. He stated that: “its ethic was universalistic, applicable to men of all races, times, and cultures; it thus seemed the very thing to close some of the social fissures that plagued these regimes and to contribute to the building of a unified and pliable body social” (Yang, n.d, p.30). Due to the patronage of Shi Le, Buddhist monasteries were established in China for the first time (Corradini, 2006,
In 330 AD, Shi Le assumed the title of “emperor”, after successfully re-unifying northern china under the name of (Later) Zhao (chancellor Fang Xuanling, 648, volume 105).
The physical unification of northern china had been established, however the people were still divided and warring factions weakened the state. The Later Zhao Empire faced the challenge of legitimizing the rule of the perceived center of the civilized world, by a people whom its inhabitants had previously considered to be foreign, uncultured, and inferior. To achieve peace and stability within Later Zhou, the cultural integration and acceptance of the various ethnic groups was critical. Shi Le focused much of his effort attaining …show more content…
In 312, Shi Le had adopted the Buddhist religion from a renowned Indian monk, Buddhojinga, who had come to Luoyang (the capital of Later Zhao) in 310 (Corradini, 2006, p.188). Sinologist Arthur Wright has proposed the mostly likely reason for the rapid growth of Buddhism. He stated that: “its ethic was universalistic, applicable to men of all races, times, and cultures; it thus seemed the very thing to close some of the social fissures that plagued these regimes and to contribute to the building of a unified and pliable body social” (Yang, n.d, p.30). Due to the patronage of Shi Le, Buddhist monasteries were established in China for the first time (Corradini, 2006,