Bunjikat

Kings of the Kedu plain in central Java, in Indonesia, and they were responsible for the construction of the world’s largest Buddhist monument, borobudur, between 780 and 830. In Vietnam, the huge temple complex of dong DUONG was constructed in the late ninth century in the CHAM CIVILIZATION kingdom of Amaravati. Here MAHAYANA BUDDHISM was preferred, and numerous fine statues have survived.

BUDDHISM IN CHINA

Buddhism was introduced into China through two avenues. There was contact along the silk road, and from the second or third century C. E., from Southeast Asia, by what has come to be known as the southern or maritime Silk Road. The earliest evidence for Buddhism in China dates to the later HAN dynasty of the first two centuries C. E., and one of the earliest depictions of the Buddha in China has been found in a rock-cut tomb at MA HAO in Sichuan. The first historic record relates that in 65 C. E. Liu Ying, king of Chu and half-brother of Emperor mingdi, followed certain Buddhist rituals. Buddhism initially made little headway in the face of the long-established and centralizing Confucian ethic, and it was only during the period of instability and lack of a firm central government, between the fourth and fifth centuries, that it secured a firm foothold. The basic problem faced by early Buddhism in China was that its doctrines of rebirth, enlightenment, and nirvana ran counter to the centralizing imperial administration. A strange sect whose adherents did not work, contributed no labor or taxes, and begged for their sustenance did not transplant readily into a society where agriculture, the soil, and hard work linked with ancestor worship had predominated for millennia. Buddhism was officially tolerated under the later Han, but without any enthusiasm.

Having obtained a foothold, however, the faith did grow. There was a constant flow of new ideas and adherents along the Asiatic Silk Road. Thus in 148 c. E. An Shi-gao, a Buddhist missionary, from parthia arrived at the court of LUOYANG in China. He was joined by other parthians, as well as Sogdians and Indians, to form a small community whose members addressed the difficult task of translating specialized esoteric texts into an alien language without the necessary words to express their concepts. The Monastery of the white Horse at Chang’an was founded by at least the third century C. E. The name originated in an apocryphal story of the Han emperor Mingdi (58-75), who dreamed that he was visited by a god in the form of a golden man. His soothsayers said that this must have been the Buddha, and he sent envoys to India to learn more. The envoys returned with two Buddhist monks, a white horse, and Buddhist religious texts. During the political upheavals following the end of the Han dynasty, Buddhism strengthened its foothold. Dharmsaksa, a missionary from dunhuang, made many conversions in northern China, while the first of a number of Chinese monks, Chu Shixing, traveled on a pilgrimage to hotan in northwest China in about 260 C. E. to search for information and holy texts.

BUDDHISM IN JAPAN

In Japan the nihongi chronicle of 720 C. E. relates that King Syong Myong of paekche in Korea sent a gilded image of the Buddha along with sacred texts to the Japanese emperor Kinmei-Tenno in the hope of securing an alliance with him against his rivals. Consultations followed in the Japanese court, and the new image, against much local opposition, was tentatively accepted and placed in a temple. The temple and the image, however, were soon destroyed when a plague afflicted Japan and the new god was blamed for the misfortune. However, the emperor subsequently had new images made, and Buddhism secured a foothold. This adoption was part of a wider movement, favored by the influential Soga clan, of absorbing aspects of mainland culture, such as the Chinese writing system. It was from its acceptance by the court that this new religion spread more widely in Japan. Under prince shotuku (574-622), Buddhism became the official court religion. Shotuku allegedly founded the HORYUJI temple in Nara, thought to be the world’s oldest surviving wooden building. This was not the only major Buddhist temple, for the popularity of this new religion at court led to rivalry among the elite families to construct religious foundations. It is recorded that at the prince’s death, there were 46 Buddhist temples and 816 monks in Japan.

See also confucius.

Further reading: Bechert, H., and Gombrich, R., eds. The World of Buddhism. London: Thames and Hudson, 1984; Bhikkhu Nanamoli. The Life of the Buddha: According to the Pali Canon. Seattle: BPS Pariyatti Editions, 2001; Hallade, M. The Gandhara Style and the Evolution of Buddhist Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 1968.

Bunjikat See kala-i kahkaha.