Buddhism had begun as a sixth-century b.c.e. reform movement against the rigid rules and caste hierarchy of developing Hindu India. Buddhism accepted the basic teachings of earlier Hindu scriptures regarding ritual and social order and the explanation of life and death. The Upanishads explained that a divine essence was the source of all existence and that human souls were created from this essence. Humans were expected to behave in morally pure ways, and if they did not—if they sinned—then they were subject to reincarnation. Reincarnation is rebirth in another human or animal form in the next lifetime, and countless deaths and rebirths occurred until the individual soul was cleansed of sin. Purity finally led to salvation, which allowed the soul to become one with the divine.
Buddhism, based in the teachings of the Buddha, the historical Gautama Siddhartha (b. 563 b.c.e.), rejected the notion that only those who held elite positions in society or only males could gain salvation. Buddhism taught that moral thoughts and moral actions were sufficient in themselves. Buddhists criticized the Hindu scriptural emphasis on rituals and detached meditation as also being elitist and beyond the means of hard-working commoners. In the Buddhist “Middle Way,” the key to salvation was rejection of self-serving material desires in favor of being a better member of society. Through the initiative of enterprising monks, Buddhism spread in China following the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 c.e. Much like the West following the fall of Rome, China entered an era of despair after four centuries of relative peace and stability. Like the West’s acceptance of Christianity as a religious answer in difficult times, the Chinese turned to Buddhism as a logical solution to their troubles. Chinese found Buddhism appealing because it reinforced both the Confucian stress on living a moral life and Daoist respect for the simplicity and ultimate reality of the natural realm.
Above all, Buddhism provided details on life after death in ways the previous Chinese religions did not. By the seventh century China’s rulers had accepted Buddhism as an official Chinese religion, albeit mainly as a source of rituals and philosophy appropriate to birth, death, and the afterlife, while Confucianism’s humanistic creed remained at the base of everyday earthbound existence. Similarly, Buddhism’s ability to fit with prior animistic religious practices and its doctrine of ethnic and gender equity allowed it spread to Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan, where it was a central force in the founding of the Japanese imperial state.
In contrast to the early southern Asian literary tradition, which addressed religious issues, China’s Confucian literary tradition was concerned with secular existence, and especially addressed the necessary conditions for successful governance. Early Confucian tradition dictated that Chinese literary expression conform to rigid standards and have some secular value. Under the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties Chinese literary expression flowered in a wide range of Neo-Confucian writings that attempted to blend the Confucian and Buddhist traditions. Buddhism advocated literary creativity as an appropriate exploration of the human mind, an idea that reinforced the traditional Confucian expectation of human self-discipline. The perfected individual might then be a more productive member of society. Scholars, popular writers, and poets debated whether there should be a limit on government leadership. They stressed the need to believe once again in the moral capacities of humanity, and thus argued for a less regimented society as the means to inspire human creativity.
Medieval-era Chinese and Indian religious texts became the basis of oral recitations, theatrical performances, paintings, and temple and court iconography. The variety of these presentations engaged audiences in China, India, and neighboring Asian lands. Indirectly they provided lessons in Chinese and Indian history and ethics and allowed their diverse spectators to formulate a set of shared values. These values were essential to the creation of a sense of belonging to a common Asian community.
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