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Buddhism in Chinese History
One of the great themes in the history of Eastern Asia is the transformation of Chinese culture by Buddhism. This process can be traced across nearly two millennia and can be seen at work in almost every aspect of Chinese life and thought. This study was undertaken with the object of showing how Buddhism has influenced Chinese culture, and in the hope that it may provide some insight into the role of the religion as a carrier of elements from one great civilization into another. It also deals with the interesting question of the nature of Buddhism as a world religion, and of the ways in which it resembles or differs from the other great faiths.
166 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1959
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About the author
Arthur F. Wright
16 books2 followersArthur Frederick Wright was an American sinologist and academic. He taught at Yale University for many years, and became the Charles Seymour Professor of History in 1961. His primary area of specialisation was pre-modern Chinese social and intellectual history.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 20, 2020
If you have interest in both the development of Buddhist thought and the long arc of Chinese history this book is written for you. A series of six lectures published in 1959, it provides a high altitude view, allowing some things to appear clearer than they would in a different format.
‘The distrust of words, the rich store of concrete metaphor and analogy, the love of paradox, the bibliophobia, the belief in the direct, person-to-person, and often wordless communication of insight, the feeling that life led in close communion with nature is conducive to enlightenment - all these are colored with Taoism. Indeed Ch’an may be regarded as the reaction of a powerful tradition of Chinese thought against the verbosity, the scholasticism, the tedious logical demonstrations, of the Indian Buddhist texts. And, in its subitist branch, which became dominant, it asserts an ideal of salvation that echoes the persistent Chinese belief - alien to caste-bound India - that a man may, in his lifetime, rise to the heights through his own efforts.’
‘The distrust of words, the rich store of concrete metaphor and analogy, the love of paradox, the bibliophobia, the belief in the direct, person-to-person, and often wordless communication of insight, the feeling that life led in close communion with nature is conducive to enlightenment - all these are colored with Taoism. Indeed Ch’an may be regarded as the reaction of a powerful tradition of Chinese thought against the verbosity, the scholasticism, the tedious logical demonstrations, of the Indian Buddhist texts. And, in its subitist branch, which became dominant, it asserts an ideal of salvation that echoes the persistent Chinese belief - alien to caste-bound India - that a man may, in his lifetime, rise to the heights through his own efforts.’
August 27, 2022
Somewhat interesting, but I found the organization meandering and believe the historical treatment has not aged particularly well. The language can be pedantic and opaque.
Good points: relatively concise and provided a satisfactory overview of how Buddhism gained a foothold and developed in relation to China’s political evolution.
A map and a timeline of Chinese dynasties, and possibly a glossary of historical figures would have been very helpful. Quite a number of references and even acronyms are never explained. The footnotes do little to clarify, as they only cite other texts.
Good points: relatively concise and provided a satisfactory overview of how Buddhism gained a foothold and developed in relation to China’s political evolution.
A map and a timeline of Chinese dynasties, and possibly a glossary of historical figures would have been very helpful. Quite a number of references and even acronyms are never explained. The footnotes do little to clarify, as they only cite other texts.
October 29, 2023
Factually unsound, Han was not a completely Confucian state, Taoism was a stronger influence for periods of time. Taoism may not a completely homegrown.
What was interest is how Buddhism was leveraged by sui and tang as a psychological salve for soldiers on the battlefield. Especially high Confucian soldiers who believed preserving the body intact unpin death and having a proper burial is of prime importance.
What was interest is how Buddhism was leveraged by sui and tang as a psychological salve for soldiers on the battlefield. Especially high Confucian soldiers who believed preserving the body intact unpin death and having a proper burial is of prime importance.
June 1, 2024
In one word, succinct. Doesn't really delve into the philosophical basis of Chinese Buddhist syncretism, but that's not the purpose of this work. Ultimately, it's a readable, surface level overview, touching on philosophy, history, and themes of culture through comparison and contrast.
September 17, 2017
A great history of Buddhism in China for scholars and history buffs alike. An easy and informative read.
January 16, 2019
Easy to read framework for thinking about its topic in more depth; it doesn't provide that depth, of course. But the framework is valuable.
March 29, 2022
旁徵博引的通論著作。雖然內容比較淺顯，在今天看來內容也比較陳舊，但是確實是照顧到了佛教在中國的許多不同面向。
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October 7, 2025Read for Imperial Chinese History class.
December 28, 2014
Three transcendent ideas are developed through the example of Chinese Buddhism in Arthur Wright's book. First, that the state tends to mold religion to its own purposes, which has both positive and negative effects on that religion's popularity and truth claims. Under some dynasties, state sponsorship meant tax-exempt status and state funding of temple structures,and Buddhism flourished. Conversely, Japanese Pan-Buddhism was a serious blow to Buddhism in China.
Second, that people as individuals tend to emphasize the parts of religion that are consonant with their previously held beliefs. Wright shows how early translators transformed Buddhist texts that were culturally dissonant to make them more acceptable. "'Husband supports wife' became 'The husband controls his wife.'"This textual issue reminded me of similar issues in my own Christianity.
Third, that religion often affects society in subtle and unconscious but pervasive ways.I particularly enjoyed the remarks about Sanskrit's effect on Chinese via Buddhism, and Buddhism's effect on visual art in China.
Wright's work is enjoyable and captures the big picture trends of religion in Chinese history. Of necessity there is a good deal in this book as well about the changes which occurred to Confucianism over the years, as Confucianism and Buddhism enjoyed an often symbiotic relationship in Chinese culture. He also proactively tackles some of the prejudices and biases of his Western readers. For instance,he directly refutes the belief that the Chinese "were consistently ethnocentric, rational, and humanistic." While he succeeds in refuting this stereotype, there were times in his own book when I wondered whether Wright saw religion through any other lens than that of rationalism. I would be curious to see a Buddhist critique of this book for this reason. Is religion and conversion merely a cause-effect of predictable natural scenarios, or is there something more complex, emotional, even spiritual, in individual people, that defies scientific explanation? In Wright's defense, he is trying to paint with a very big brush on a very small canvas.
My two chief criticisms of the book are that it is dated, especially when dealing with the Twentieth Century (Chiang Kai-shek was only a decade banished in 1959), and that it is TOO brief. There were many places I would have loved more particulars. If you want a book to give you a very
brief glimpse of religion in China over two millenia in a quick read, this is the book for you.
Second, that people as individuals tend to emphasize the parts of religion that are consonant with their previously held beliefs. Wright shows how early translators transformed Buddhist texts that were culturally dissonant to make them more acceptable. "'Husband supports wife' became 'The husband controls his wife.'"This textual issue reminded me of similar issues in my own Christianity.
Third, that religion often affects society in subtle and unconscious but pervasive ways.I particularly enjoyed the remarks about Sanskrit's effect on Chinese via Buddhism, and Buddhism's effect on visual art in China.
Wright's work is enjoyable and captures the big picture trends of religion in Chinese history. Of necessity there is a good deal in this book as well about the changes which occurred to Confucianism over the years, as Confucianism and Buddhism enjoyed an often symbiotic relationship in Chinese culture. He also proactively tackles some of the prejudices and biases of his Western readers. For instance,he directly refutes the belief that the Chinese "were consistently ethnocentric, rational, and humanistic." While he succeeds in refuting this stereotype, there were times in his own book when I wondered whether Wright saw religion through any other lens than that of rationalism. I would be curious to see a Buddhist critique of this book for this reason. Is religion and conversion merely a cause-effect of predictable natural scenarios, or is there something more complex, emotional, even spiritual, in individual people, that defies scientific explanation? In Wright's defense, he is trying to paint with a very big brush on a very small canvas.
My two chief criticisms of the book are that it is dated, especially when dealing with the Twentieth Century (Chiang Kai-shek was only a decade banished in 1959), and that it is TOO brief. There were many places I would have loved more particulars. If you want a book to give you a very
brief glimpse of religion in China over two millenia in a quick read, this is the book for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2008
A very good little book about, well, Buddhism in Chinese history. Every scholarly journal review that I read about it before reading it had uncommonly high praise for the book as an overview piece. A very quick and pleasant read.
November 2, 2007
Brief and lovely.
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February 17, 2017read for school.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews