Trev Lovell
Mrs. Fjell
History AP
11/13/11
Buddhism DBQ
Buddhism is one of the most popular religions in Asia and around the world today. It first started in India. Over time it started to spread out as it gained more followers. Today, China is one of the places where Buddhism flourishes, even though there are some who oppose it. Back around the start of Buddhism, when it was reaching China, there was an action similar to this. The people of China either welcomed Buddhism, opposed it, or just agreed to having both Buddhism and Confucianism. First were the people who felt Buddhism was a good thing. These were mainly people who felt Buddhism and its teachings were correct. It gave them a way to try and get away from the suffering in the world as stated in document 1. It also gave people a chance that if they gave their life to the dedication of Buddhism, they could reach Nirvana, which in sense meant reaching Heaven. For these reasons Buddhism eventually gained more followers, and eventually it took over China. Next, there were a lot of people who disagreed with Buddhism coming in to China. One reason they disagreed with it was Confucianism had a solid grasp on most people in China. The ideas of it were similar in some ways to Buddhism, but most people didn’t look at it that way because the differences were apparently too much. One thing that bothered people who favored Confucianism was how Buddha was worshiped anywhere and everywhere even though he was dead. A quote from Confucius put it perfectly, “Respect ghosts and spirits, but keep them at a distance”(4). Another reason Buddhism was opposed was that if someone wanted to dedicate their lives to following it, they’d have to give up everything in their lives. This bothered the non-believers because those followers would have to give up their jobs, and if the job was being a farmer, eventually people would go hungry if every
