Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Buddhism
Although not an indigenous faith, Buddhism (Fo Jiao) is the religion most
deeply associated with China, Tibet and Chinatowns abroad. Many Chinese
may not be regular temple-goers but they possess an interest in Buddhism;
they may merely be 'cultural Buddhists', with a fondness for Buddhist civilisa-
tion.
Buddhism in China
Like other faiths such as Christianity,
Nestorianism, Islam and Judaism,
Buddhism originally reached China via
the Silk Road. The earliest recorded
Buddhist temple in China proper dates
back to the 1st century AD at Luoyang
but it was not until the 4th century when
a period of warlordism coupled with no-
madic invasions plunged the country in-
to disarray, that Buddhism gained mass
appeal. Buddhism's sudden growth dur-
ing this period is often attributed to its
sophisticated ideas concerning the after-
life (such as karma and reincarnation), a
dimension unaddressed by either Con-
fucianism or Taoism. At a time when ex-
istence was especially precarious, spir-
itual transcendence was understandably
popular.
As Buddhism converged with Taoist
philosophy (through terminology used in
translation) and popular religion
(through practice), it went on to develop
into something distinct from the original
Indian tradition. The most famous ex-
ample is the esoteric Chan school (Zen in Japanese), which originated some-
Buddhist Temples
1 LAMA TEMPLE (
CLICK HERE
)
3 PUNING TEMPLE (
CLICK HERE
)
6 PUTUOZONGCHENG TEMPLE
(
CLICK HERE
)
