Buddhism Dbq Analysis

An Indian prince named Gautama who was born in 563 BCE felt as if he suffered in the world so he spent time meditating to sort out his troubles and originally founded the philosophy of Buddhism. He then determined that suffering was the punishment of human desire so he went to spread his beliefs. He then became know as the “enlightened one.” The philosophy soon became a religion that opposed the caste system and encouraged followers to find their divine essence. Buddhism was spread into China by the Silk Road Trade Route in 265 CE and it began its teachings there on. When Buddhism was spread to China in 265 BCE, many nomadic and lower class groups took condolence in the religion’s beliefs while in contrary, many Confucianist leaders/emperors
In Document 4, Han Yu leading Confucian scholar and official of the Tang imperial court regards Buddhism in a negative way stating how the Buddhist ways do not conform to Chinese laws and that they culture is entirely different. He saw it as a threat to the Chinese ways that were previously kept. The POV of Han Yu was biased because as someone who is strongly educated on Confucianism, he is going to strongly fight for it to be preserved and primarily focused on in China. Historically, during this time period around 845 CE the Tang emperor did full-scale persecutions of Buddhists. Many temples and shrines were destroyed. During this time period, many Confucianists felt as if it was a threat leading to the complete wipe out of Buddhism in China and promotion of Neoconfucianism. An additional document needed is a merchant or artisan discussing how Buddhism has made their lives better in terms of trade and how it was compared to strict Confucian discipline. In Document 6, Tang Emperor Wu discusses how Buddhism is destroying China’s economy because people are not fulfilling their duties and are becoming monks instead. He states that, “this evil should be eradicated.” The POV of Tang Emperor Wu is biased because as a head figure of China, he wants Confucianism to remain put because it is the essence of China’s success and culture. Because he is an emperor, he wants the traditional philosophy’s to remain so that he can stay in power. Historically, during this year, all Buddhists were persecuted and all temples and shrines were destroyed in order to wipe out believers of Buddhism. This is why he states that the evil should be eradicated. An additional document needed is a graph of the percentage of society who followed Buddhism over the percentage that strictly wanted Confucianism beliefs. This is so that it will not biased since it is coming from a