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Chapter Two Some Aspects of Buddhism in China and Central Asia

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Chapter Two Some Aspects of Buddhism in China and Central Asia Chapter Two Some Aspects of Buddhism in China and Central Asia Chapter - II Some Aspects of Buddhism in China and Central Asia 2.1. Ancient Central Asia Buddhism Buddhism reached central Asia through royal emissaries, individual scholars and also through the traders and merchants. The zeal and curiosity of the original inhabitants in those countries contributed in the expansion of Buddhism there. Central Asia played an important role in the translation of the Buddhist sacred texts into Chinese and other languages of the countries where Buddhism was adopted. The early history of Central Asia is closely related to the movement of its peoples sharply divided and concentrated in two regions, named after their traits—the nomadic and the sedentary. The former comprises North Steppes from South Russia to Manchuria, while the region to the south includes the oases of Turkestan occupied by the sedentary peoples. The nomadic region itself is further divided into two: one from south Russia to the valley of the Yenisei occupied in the past by the nomadic hordes of Aryan stock called Scythians and the other one in the east including outer and Inner Mongolia, Manchuria and further east occupied by Turco-Mongol hordes. In the south the land between the Jaxartes (Syr) and the Oxus (Amu) was occupied by the peoples of Iranian origin, while the eastern Turkestan from the Pamirs up to the frontiers of China was occupied by the Aryan speaking people of different affiliations. The movements of the nomads of the steppes either on the west or the east affected the sedentary life in the south through the centuries. It is really the history of this southern region with the movements of different peoples affected by the onslaught of foreigners or the nomads of Central Asian origin that needs to be told on the basis of the available evidence, however scanty, whether archaeological or accounts of travelers or second-hand source material.'*^ One feature of special interest in the history of the Tarim is that it was in touch with Bactria and the regions conquered by Alexander and through them with western art and thought. Another is that its inhabitants included not only Iranian tribes but the speakers of an Aryan language hitherto unknown, whose presence so far east may oblige us to revise our views about the history of the Aryan race. A third characteristic is that from the dawn of history to the middle age warlike nomads were continually passing through the country. All these people, whether we call them Iranians, Turks or Mongols had the same peculiarity: they had little culture of their own but they picked up and transported the ideas of others. The most remarkable example of this is the introduction of Islam into Europe and India. Nothing quite so striking happened in earlier ages, yet tribes similar to the Turks brought Manichaeism and Nestorian Christianity into China and played no small part in the introduction of Buddhism."^^ The history of Buddhism in Central Asia is related to the political history in different regions of central Asia and also to the influence of different political powers of the Chinese, Tibetans and Vighurs. The Languages of these people also play an important role in the history of Buddhism in Central Asia. Many Sanskrit writings have ""^ -B.N. Puri, "Buddhism in Central Asia", P-30 '*'' - Sir Charles Eliot, "Hinduism and Buddhism an Historical Sketch",V01. Ill, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt.Ltd., P-189 been found, dealing with religious or quasi-religious subjects like medicine and grammar. Relatively modem Mahayanist literature is abundant. Two new languages written in Central Asia Gupta script provide translations of Mahayanist literature. As the Tibetans were the dominating powers in the Tarim Basin from middle of 8 until the middle of 9* century, Tibetan manuscripts of Buddhist translations were found in the regions of Khotan, Miran and Tun-huang. At that time. Buddhism seems to have shared the allegiance of the Tibetans with the Ban religion. It is probable that they are approximately coeval with the Kushan dynasty in India and the use of an Indian vernacular as well as of Sanskrit in Central Asia shows that the connection between the two countnes was not due merely to the mtroduction of Buddhism. Mahayanist literature (for instance the Suvamaprabhasa, Vajracchedika and Aparimitayus Sutras) were made into it and it appears to have been spoken principally in the southern part of the Tarim basin. It was also a literary language and among the many translations discovered are versions in it of the Dharmapada and Vinaya. 2.1.1. Spread Buddhism must have reached Afghanistan by the middle of 3'^' century B.C., due to the effort of King Asoka. By the year A.D. 148 it has reached and spread in the Parthian region. The study of Buddhism in Central Asia is recorded on the basis of records of Chinese Pilgrims who passed this vast region. They recorded the number of monasteries and that of monks. We get a lot of information about the lines and ^^ -Ibid, P-190 activities of the Buddhist savants in Central Asia from the Chinese source material. These savants went to china to translate sacred texts. The archaeological finds of stupas and sculptures and also paintings indicate the flourishing state of Buddhism, both Mahayana and Hinayana. It is inferred that there were two streams of Buddhism and there were running contacts between India and the Oxus region. The actual colonization from the two quarters is pointed out by the use of Prakrit and of various Iranian idioms. A Chinese pilgrim says that Shan- Shan, Turfan and Khotan were Mahayanist. 2.1.2 Interaction among the ancient religions Besides Buddhism with its two most important schools that of the Hinayana and Mahayana, there are traces of other religions and cultures mingling in the Tarim basin and the lands of the Oxus. It is quite likely that besides Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity as also Manichaeism not only flourished but also interacted with their impact on Buddhism. The available evidence sheds light on the co-existence of these as also the mutual impact of Buddhism and Hinduism and of the former with the other two. Hinduism-in its two facets-Vaisnavism and Saivism with its gods and goddesses also came to be known in Central Asia quite early."*'^ It is clear that there was constant intercourse with India and the Oxus region. The use of Prakrit and of various Iranian idioms points to actual colonization fi-om these two quarters and it is probable that there were two streams of Buddhism, for the Chinese pilgrims agree that Shan-shan, Turfan, Kucha and Kashgar were Hinayanist, whereas Yarkand and Khotan were Mahayanist. "^^ - B.N. Puri, "Buddhism in Central Asia". P-130 2.2. Ancient Chinese Buddhism In Ancient Asia two great cultures were established, namely, Indian culture and Chinese culture. These two cultures geographically shared same Asian region and were connected by land but there was no communication because they were divided by the Tibet plateaus and the Himalaya Mountain. Therefore, India and China formed totally different cultures from each other. Ancient Chinese Buddhism was brought from Central Asia by a natural transition which had conquered that region in the first century B.C. and kept it until the end of the Han dynasty (A.D. 220). The beginnings are said to go back to somewhere between 70 - 50 B.C., and Buddhism slowly spread under Han dynasty. But at first it was a foreign religion of the non-Chinese populations in China's outlying marches. As a doctrine, Buddhism was bound to meet with the disapproval of the Confucian elite, who maintained that the basic ideals of human existence are to be realized in this life, and that these doctrines must be appreciated according to their practical applicability and sociopolitical effectiveness rather than for their metaphysical qualities. In general, the quest for purely individual salvation was rejected as narrow-minded and selfish: man can perfect himself only within society. To a large extent, these attitudes also characterize the major non-Confucian indigenous tradition of religious and philosophical thought in China, that of Taoism: there, too, the goals are concrete and tangible—harmony with the forces of nature and the prolongation of bodily existence. In view of these concepts and attitudes, it goes without saying that Buddhism, once it was transplanted into Chinese soil, was subjected to heavy pressures. Its rejection of all existence as illusory and its belief in ideas like rebirth, the retribution of all acts (Karman), and the pursuit of metaphysical aims, such as enlightenment and nirvana, that in India had been universally accepted both within and outside Buddhist circles, in China became outlandish novelties that ran counter to the teachings of China's most revered sages. And the non-Chinese origin of the doctrine was in itself sufficient to condemn Buddhism as "Barbarian," and therefore unfit to be propagated in the Middle Kingdom, the only region of true order and civilization.^^ 2.2.1. Buddhism stepped in China There is a Chinese record which tells of the entrance of Buddhism into that country as early as the years 217 B.C. The first messengers of the new faith were put in prison by the Emperor. Supernatural intervention set them at liberty. It is probable that these legends contain the record of some weak, individual efforts to carry the teaching of the Buddha into the Chinese Empire at that time. Such attempts cannot have had any serious results. But we can guess many people had already believed in the Buddhism before the commonly accepted date of the real entrance of Buddhism into China, during the reign of Emperor Ming-ti ("i^S A.D.58- 76).
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