Buddhism

Buddhism Although Buddhism was a major influence on both Chinese and Japanese history, key political and social circumstances led to the rise and rapid decline of Buddhism in China, while it remained a dominant religion in Japan. There are many political and social reasons that help explain why the period of history in China between 500 and 1200 was not compatible with Buddhism influences on Japan. In China, the periods of the Sui and Tang dynasties allowed for the “Golden Age” of Buddhism to flourish, while the period of the Song Dynasty led to Buddhism’s rapid fall. Buddhism was able to come to China because at that point of time in history during the Sui, China was not unified. “The new faith spread slowly at first, but then began to appeal more widely as the political order disintegrated and Chinese, with their traditional distaste for chaos, turned to Buddhism’s otherworldly message and its doctrine that the real, observable world of human affairs was illusory and insignificant (Murphey, 76).” The people liked the idea of rebirth rather than one’s next life being of lesser value. During the Tang Dynasty, popularity of Buddhism increased even greater due buddhism, japan, china, murphey, because, political, social, religion, new, chinese, tang, shinto, period, people, over, much, led, history, fact, decline, brought, woman, while, towards, time, throne, sui, reason, next, japanese, influence, ideas, however, due, confucianism