BUDDHISM UNDER ATTACK
Written by: Jacquelyn Zinchuk, Junior Writer
During the reign of the Tang Dynasty, 618-907 AD, Buddhism was carried to China continuously and spread using the Silk Road. Empress Wu encouraged the growth of Buddhism to weaken her Taoist enemies. Instead of focusing on life itself, like most religions and ideologies, Buddhism taught that life was suffering and in order to achieve a better afterlife, one must act morally and just. It offered support to people who were suffering, believing they could escape it in the afterlife. Devoted followers were named monks and nuns and lived in monasteries. They secluded themselves from others and lived a monastic life, arousing suspicion from Confucians. Confucianism focused primarily on materialistic guidelines. Society, behavior, family, education, and politics were important to them, not spirituality, thus created many gaps between the two groups. In order to be monastic, one's family name, hair, and earthly desires must be sacrificed. In the Tang Dynasty, temples and shrines were an abundance. Common people donated to them in order to receive earthly and spiritual rewards.
By the end of the Tang Dynasty, a persecution of Buddhism had been brought upon the prosperous empire. Threatened by its growing influence, Confucian officials began to vocally oppose it. They spread word that it was a threat to the common people and a burden to the Tang Dynasty. In AD 842, Emperor Wuzong launched a persecution of foreign religions. More than 4,600 monasteries and 40,000 temples and shrines were destroyed. Nuns and monks were forced to withdraw from their monastic life and return to living under Confucianism, otherwise, they were slaughtered. It has been stated that this oppression was for economical purposes. The metal from the shrines and temples were melted down and used as silver coins. When monks and nuns were returned to the common life, they were forced to pay the general tax base. The persecution was also because Buddhism was becoming too powerful. Emperor Wuzong was a Taoist, and much like Empress Wu, used the differences in the two ideologies to support his cause, especially since Confucians did not fancy Buddhism either. The Taoist emperor was devotedly religious and believed a way to spread his beloved Taoism was to oppress Buddhism so it could not overshadow it.
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| Persecution of Buddhism http://www.crimesofwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Persecution-on-Political-Racial-or-Religious-Grounds-300x225.jpg |
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