Topics:

Nomads and Empires

China after the Han Dynasty

Period from 200-700 CE

Questions:

What effect did nomads have on Chinese civilization?

What effect did Chinese civilization have on nomads?

How and when does Buddhism spread to China?

How has Buddhism changed by that time?

Lecture 14:The “Period of Division” and Buddhism in China

Han Empire Steppe nomads

Non-Chinese agriculturalists

Roman Empire: East/West&

Han China: North/South

Nomad problems

sinicization =assimilation to Chinese culture

220 CE - Han Empire collapses

Period of Division (220-581 CE)

North South

overextended militarilystate power declines

incompetence & intrigue at courtinfluence of provincial landowners increases

urban economy contracts

less urbanized and commerciallocal Han aristocracy dominates

military reliance on nomads nomads dominate

sedentarysinicized

non-sedentarynot sinicized

“Six Dynasties”

after 220 - rulers relied heavily on mixed armies, esp. semi-sedentary nomads

ca. 300 - political, economic, administrative chaos + nomad rebellions

Chinese elites move south

304-439 - “Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Barbarians”

blend traditional nomadic social organization with Chinese culture

understand rule as continuation of traditional Chinese dynasties

intermarry and sinicize

Northern China

“Barbarians” took advantage of internal instability

439 CE - tiny kingdom of Toba conquers all of N. China

progressively assimilate:

more sedentary

sinicize

taste for luxury

nomadic customs decline

471-99 CE - ruler decrees sinicization of Tabgatch elite (dress, names, language)

by 494 CE - move capital from borderland to heartland (Luoyang on Yellow River)

Toba = Tabgatch = Northern Wei

Buddhists

Buddhism in China

Pagoda

from mid-1st century CE

TRANSLATION

Mahayana = “Greater Vehicle” (“Greater Ox-Cart”)vs. Hinayana (“Lesser Vehicle”) = Theravada Buddhism

more attuned to laypeople

Scriptures = final teachings of the Buddha

Buddhahood (bodhi) attainable

Gradations of Buddhahood

Bodhisattvas (“being of wisdom”)originally: previous lives of the Buddha

Buddha who stays behind to help others

Multiple BuddhasInfinite Buddhas

Sakyamuni - Buddha of the Present AgeMaitreya - Buddha of the Future

Buddha as manifestation of universal, spiritual beingSakyamuni and Many Treasures Buddha (Lotus Sutra)

Mahayana Buddhism

Guanyin = Bodhisattva of Mercy“Perceiver of the World’s Sounds”

... “If there are living beings in the land who need someone in the body of a Buddha to be saved, Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds immediately manifests himself in a Buddha body and preaches the Law for them... If they need a voice-hearer to be saved, immediately he becomes a voice-hearer and preaches the Law for them.”

Lotus Sutra

The Buddha said to Bodhisattva Inexhaustible intent: “Good man, suppose there are immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of living beings who are undergoing various trials and suffering. If they hear of this bohisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds and single-mindedly call his name, then at once he will perceive the sound of their voices and they will all gain deliverance from their trials.”

If someone, holding fast to the name of Boddhisattva Perceiver of World’s Sounds, should enter a great fire, the first could not burn him. This would come about because of this boddhisattva’s authority and supernatural power. If one were washed away by a great flood and called upon his name, one would immediately find himself in a shallow place.”

Cave chapel complexes

Royal Patronage of Buddhism

(Buddhism vs. Confucianism)

Colossal Buddha,Yungang chapels

Chinese statuetteof Sakyamuni

Monasteries

Elite Chinese Culture flourishes in the South

Painting

Calligraphy

Economy Revives in both North & Southby end 5th c. CE

Lacquer