Chinese Buddhism: A Syncretic Blend of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism
It is often said that the Chinese have three religions. What they really have, however, is a single religion that is a syncretic blend of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. This blending began during the first century with the introduction of Indian Buddhism to China. The translations of the Buddhist teachers of India provided important themes to the Chinese philosophy, and in combining with Taoism and Confucianism it profoundly affected Chinese thought. Because China already possessed a high level of civilization when Buddhism was introduced, the Chinese were not overwhelmed by this new religion. In fact, over time, the basic personality and national character of the Chinese manifested itself. Buddhism became the sum total of their cultural traits and personal beliefs. In addition, it was through this manifestation that the Chinese were able to choose ideas from the Indian religion and modify them to fit the Chinese situation. Therefore, through the continued efforts of Chinese Buddhists, their religion adapted to combine both Confucian and Taoist aspects.
How could a religion so far removed from the normal tendencies of the Chinese spirit manage to penetrate and plant itself in the minds of the people? Before this can be answered, there must first be an understanding of the three religions in question. When Confucianism rose in China in the sixth century B.C., it was quickly accepted by the state as the ultimate ideology. This religion centers on political orthodoxy and an ethical philosophy to guide the "superior man" (Clennell 1917: 45). The key feature to Confucianism is filial piety. It is because of this that the family is considered to be the most important social relationship. In addition, Confucianism places great importance on the ordered ways of a settled society, as it cultivates the amenities and elegances of a cultured life (47). Confucianism is a religious ideology that was accepted by the state and filtered down to the masses. While it is true that the peasants of China readily accepted parts of this ideology, most Chinese were already practicing Taoism.
Taoism deals more freely with the mysteries of nature and of the soul. It places emphasis on the emotions of wonder and quietism, and the philosophies of the yin-yang and five elements cosmology. In addition, Taoism centers on the concept of the enduring Tao at the root of the cycles of change (Maspero 1981: 266). In order to have a measure of control over these cycles of change, practitioners often use methods of divination, meditation, alchemy and ritual. Unlike Confucianism, where the emperor is an exemplary model of his people, Taoism sees non-striving as the natural way of the ruler. While this inaction was seen as the ideal, Taoists also place a high priority on the search for longevity and immortality (268). There are many similarities between Taoism and Confucianism. Both agree in assuming responsibility for personal life and advancement. Moreover, both religions proclaim that the gratification of personal wishes is an acceptable pursuit. Nevertheless, while Confucianism and Taoism did provide for many of the desires of the Chinese people, they still found something lacking in their lives. In order to fill their needs, many Chinese added a third set of beliefs.
While Confucianism and Taoism gave permission for the search for happiness in life, Buddhism filled a need in the Chinese soul that yearned to forget desires and worldly things. In Buddhism the focus is on self-perfection through moral behavior, mental discipline, and the search for wisdom (278). Buddhist followers pay special attention to the five moral precepts, and the act of merit making to improve one's karma. The goal of Buddhism is to end delusion through the search for enlightenment, which will result in a final rebirth in nirvana (280). It would seem that Buddhism and Taoism are opposed on many fundamental points. Taoism seeks the survival of the human personality, whereas Buddhism has no ego. Taoism claims to make the body last indefinitely and render it immortal, whereas in Buddhism the body is essentially impermanent. Similarly, Confucianism and Buddhism appear to be polar opposites. The Confucian system is centered on the family and a peaceful society through duties controlled by the state. Buddhism, on the other hand, centers around the individual's search for salvation in nirvana, a goal that is attainable usually by leaving both household life and state control. How then, could religions so different merge together in the hearts of the peasants of China?
Buddhism entered China in the first century and found a foothold after the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220 AD. Almost all of the Buddhism that has passed over into Chinese religion came in during this period. Buddhism was brought by missionaries from India and Central Asia, as well as by an array of merchants, envoys, monks and travelers (40). Hinayana Buddhism supplied China with new forms of meditation, and the themes of practical morality. Mahayana Buddhism supplied metaphysical theses that first astonished and then enchanted the Chinese. The fundamental thesis that spread in China was as follows:
...every man is right now actually in the condition of the perfectly accomplished Buddha, a condition which he had no need to attain since he had never left it; but he does not know this and through his ignorance he creates for himself the evil conditions of the simple world, pure illusion which the knowledge of the Buddha dispels (252).
The Chinese were entranced with Mahayana Buddhism. Nonetheless, before they could accept Buddhism, they had to transform it and make it their own. Therefore, almost immediately after Buddhism was introduced to them, the Chinese began to slowly alter it in order to represent their own national personality. The approach the Chinese took, was to combine Buddhism with the pre-existing Taoist and Confucian practices.
In the fifth century, a Taoist sage named T'an-luan, met with a Buddhist monk and asked him how Buddhism could possibly compare with the benefits of Taoist immortality. The sage was told that "even if he could obtain youth in old age and never die, he would still be within samsara; but if he were to study Buddhism he would obtain liberation" (Corless 1987: 36). This statement had a profound impact on T'an-luan, and he began the first systematic treatise on Chinese Pure Land Buddhism: the Wang-Sheng-lun-chu. T'an-luan included many Taoist elements in his Buddhist treatise because he saw this as a means of reaching the Chinese people. For example, T'an-luan placed emphasis on the Taoist concept of immortality. Just as a Taoist might seek either longevity or immortality, his fabricated Buddhist text explained that by reaching liberation and becoming a Buddha, an individual would become immortal. Specifically, T'an-luan discussed the concept of sukhavati, as compared to the Buddhist notion of samsara. While samsara consists of the triple world, sukhavati is outside of all three worlds. Sukhavati fulfills none of the conditions for any of the phenomenal realms. Instead, it is the "Pure Land", and immortality in such a place is "without comparison to the maintenance of youth during old age" (38). T'an-luan added this Taoist concept of immortality to Buddhism in order to make the religion more acceptable to the Chinese people.
The Wang-Sheng-lun-chu also linked Buddhism and Taoism through the practice of meditation. T'an-luan included the Taoist method of visualization to the Buddhist practices of meditation and contemplation. In Taoism, accurate visualization of the immortals was essential for ultimate transference to the mysterious regions, and union with the Tao. In the lun-chu, the visualizations that are described for meditation, are Taoist inspired but Buddhist in content. For instance, common visualizations described in the text contain images of the Buddha (40). Similarly, T'an-luan compares casting Taoist spells, to the invocation of the Buddha through chanting. He explains that by invoking the Buddha's name, an individual will be brought physical health and good luck. Moreover, this will also bring one closer to enlightenment. By adding the Taoist use of spells to Buddhism, T'an-luan succeeded in making Buddhism more appealing to the Chinese. It is clear from these examples that T'an-luan went to great detail in combining Buddhist insight and Taoist principles. In doing so, he helped Buddhism become a representation of the people it was teaching.
Just as T'an-luan's Wang-Sheng-lun-chu added Taoist elements to Buddhism, Confucianism was combined to add another dynamic to the Chinese version of Buddhism. Because this ideology revolved around filial piety and the importance of duty, Confucianism had allied itself intimately with the state. Nevertheless, Confucianism did not become the mental and moral atmosphere of the masses. The ideology slowly regained influence during a time when Buddhism was influencing the lives of the peasants, who were in turn guiding their acts by the advice of Taoist mystics. The notion of adding Confucianism to their belief system did not seem to be incongruous or inconsistent to the Chinese. In fact, in order to accommodate all three beliefs under the heading of Buddhism, a group of monks created a fabricated sutra. The sutra was the T'i-wei Po-li Ching (Lai 1987: 11). This sutra was the first known attempt to align the five Buddhist precepts, with the five Confucian virtues and the five Taoist elements.
The T'i-wei Po-li Ching was a didactic treatise for Chinese Buddhists and their peasant students. To quote from the Prologue of the Basic Teachings:
When tathagata attained the Tao under the bodhi tree, for seven days no one new that he had so attained the highest mystical state...except for the two gentry devotees...who were versed in the yin-yang...tortoise shell divination, the I Ching...and fortune telling...the Buddha preached to them the law of rebirth in the various paths of existence (21).
It is clear from this passage that this fabricated sutra added mention of Taoist concepts to the enlightenment story of the Buddha. This is one of many examples of religious synthesis in this text. For instance, when the sutra refers to the five precepts, they are linked to the five Confucian virtues and the five Taoist elements. Not to kill is "paired with the east, the direction of wood, because wood represents humanity and humanity nurtures life"(22). Despite these concessions, the T'i-wei Po-li Ching remained faithful to the most important Buddhist concepts. The most essential teachings of the dharma were left untouched. The social impact of this sutra on the lives of the Chinese was profound. Precept-conscious laymen were passing on the teachings, and the pious were building stupas and temples throughout Southern China (30).
One of the primary reasons that Buddhism was able to gain such a wide following among the Chinese, was this ability to adapt to local ethical practices and beliefs. For example, Buddhism and Confucianism had strictly opposing morals, yet they were able to mutually exist in the hearts of the Chinese. When Buddhism was introduced to Confucian officials, it was attacked as being unfilial. In response, however, Chinese Buddhists sought to make their religion more acceptable to the state. Numerous sutras were fabricated to emphasize filial piety as a central theme (Ch'en 1973: 55). The Buddhists also emphasized the similarities between Confucian mourning rites and Buddhist memorial services. The goal of the former was to express the gratitude and piety of children, for the love bestowed by their parents. The purpose of latter, on the other hand, was to help guide the soul of a loved-one into a better mode of existence (56). Nevertheless, while their specific goals where different, the Buddhists were able to argue that they were being filial to their ancestors, since they were concerned about their after-life state.
These small concessions often turned into larger ones through the actions of Chinese Buddhists. For instance, in their continued effort to adapt their religion to the will of the masses, Buddhist monks agreed to a significant change in policy. In the early seventh century, the Chinese Buddhist sangha agreed to abandon its claim to rights as an independent group, and submitted itself to the authority of the state. In India, the Buddhist sangha considered itself to be a community beyond the authority of the secular rulers (65). When the sangha developed in China, however, it was met with an entirely different political atmosphere. The Chinese political system was based on a strong central authority, assisted by a complex network of bureaucratic organs in the capitals and provinces (67). There had never before existed a community of monks as a separate and special social group. After some struggle, the Buddhist sangha in China agreed to adapt to this Confucian ideology of the supremacy of the state over religious life (69).
It is because of such adaptations that China never became Buddhist in the sense of rejecting other creeds in favor of its own exclusive acceptance. Instead, it combined with the existing systems, even when they held ideals that appeared to be far apart. The Chinese combined Buddhism and Taoism in many ways, each borrowing or imitating countless features from the other so their borderline became blurred. With the addition of Confucianism, Buddhists made an even larger concession through the loss of their independent sangha. These three religions may be regarded as schools or tendencies of thought, or they may even be regarded as moods of the Chinese mind. Such moods could be manifested in the same individual at different times or on different occasions. An individual may have been attracted to one teaching more then another, or may have deemed one to be more truthful or more helpful. The Chinese have simply never had the same sense of a sudden break with the past, or the condemnation of earlier beliefs, that characterizes religious evolution in the west.
The history of Chinese religion is a continuous development from antiquity to our own day, and new ideas were introduced gradually enough to be integrated into the existing framework without shattering it. The introduction of Buddhism was no different. At the very moment when it seemed that Taoism would triumph and become the national religion, Buddhism was introduced and adapted to the culture of the Chinese people. Through the fabrication of sutras and the conscious effort of amalgamation, a single syncretic popular religion was created in China. When the great Ch'an master Hui-hai was asked if Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were separate teachings, his insightful reply was:
Employed by men of great capacity they are the same. As understood by men of limited intellect, they differ. All of them spring forth from the functioning of the one self-nature whether a man remains deluded or gains illumination depends upon himself, not upon differences or similarity of doctrine (Dalia 1987: 150).
References
Ch'en, Kenneth K.S. The Chinese Transformation of Buddhism. New Jersey: Princeton UP, 1973.
Clennell, W.J. The Historical Development of Religion in China. New York: Dutton and Company, 1917.
Corless, Roger J. "T'an-luan: Taoist Sage and Buddhist Bodhisattva". In Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval Chinese Society. Ed. David W. Chappell. Hawaii: Hawaii UP, 1987. 36-48.
Dalia, Albert A. "The Political Career of the Buddhist Historian Tsan-ning". In Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval Chinese Society. Ed. David W.Chappell. Hawaii: Hawaii UP, 1987. 146-180.
Lai, Whalen W. "The Earliest Folk Buddhist Religion in China: T'i-wei Po-li Ching and Its Historical Significance". In Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval Chinese Society. Ed. David W. Chappell. Hawaii: Hawaii UP, 1987. 11- 35.
Maspero, Henri. Taoism and Chinese Religion. Amherst: Massachusetts UP, 1981.