Buddhism has had a great impact on Chinese culture and has left a splendid Buddhist cultural heritage in Chinese history. For example, the most preserved ancient buildings in my country are Buddhist temple pagodas, the existing brick pagodas of Songyue Temple in Songshan Mountain, Henan Province, the Tang Dynasty wooden buildings of Nanchan Temple and Foguang Temple in Wutai Mountain, Shanxi Province, the large wooden pagoda in Yingxian County, the stone east and west pagodas of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, etc. , are precious objects for studying the history of ancient Chinese architecture. Many Buddhist buildings have become prominent symbols of the landscape contours across our country. Among the lush greenery, there are red walls, green tiles, and palaces and pavilions. The exquisite Buddhist architecture adds infinite spring beauty to the beautiful scenery of thousands of miles. The Dunhuang, Yungang, Longmen and other grottoes are world-famous as treasure houses of ancient sculpture art. They absorbed the characteristics of Gandhara and India and developed into a sculpture art with Chinese national style. It is a great cultural heritage of our country.
Buddhism has also brought new artistic conceptions, new styles, and new methods of wording to Chinese culture. Thousands of volumes of scriptures translated from Sanskrit are great and magnificent works of literature in themselves. Ma Ming's "Praise to the Deeds of the Buddha" brought a model of long narrative poetry; the "Lotus", "Vimalakirti" and "Hundred Yus" inspired the creation of novels in the Jin and Tang Dynasties; Prajna and Zen thoughts influenced Tao Yuanming, Wang The poems of Wei Wei, Bai Juyi and Su Shi. Bianwen, popular lectures and Zen masters' quotations all have a deep relationship with Chinese popular literature.
Moving stories in Buddhist scriptures often become the subject matter of artists' paintings. Cao Buxing, Gu Kaizhi, Zhang Sengyao, Zhan Ziqian, Yan Liben, Wu Daozi and other famous painters of the past dynasties are all good at Buddhist paintings. In Chinese painting, it developed from the literati paintings of Wang Wei's school to the freehand paintings that became popular after the Song and Yuan Dynasties, which are related to Zen thought. This shows the role that Buddhism plays in the art of painting. As for music, in the third century AD, Fanbai became popular in China. The music of the Tang Dynasty also absorbed music from Buddhist countries such as Tianzhu music, Qiuci music, and Anguo music. A small part of the music of the Tang Dynasty is still preserved in some Buddhist temples.
Accompanying Buddhism are the transmission of astronomy, medicine and other science and technology. The eminent monks of the Tang Dynasty created the Dayan Calendar and determined the meridian, making outstanding contributions to astronomy. There are more than ten kinds of medical books and prescriptions translated from India recorded in the history books of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Tibetan Buddhism also has the science of medical prescriptions. Buddhist sutra engraving promoted the development of printing in my country. Almost all of the oldest engravings in the world that have been preserved today contain images of Buddhist sutras.
Buddhist philosophy contains profound wisdom. It has profound and unique insights into the universe and life, reflection on human rationality, and analysis of concepts. In "Dialectics of Nature", Engels praised Buddhists for being at a higher stage of development of human dialectical thinking. In terms of world view, Buddhism denies the existence of a supreme "god" and believes that things are in an infinite network of cause and effect without beginning or end. In terms of outlook on life, Buddhism emphasizes the subject's consciousness and links one's own liberation with the salvation of mankind. The interactive influence between Buddhism and Chinese classical philosophy has promoted philosophy to propose new propositions and new methods. With its unique way of thinking and lifestyle, it gives people new inspiration, enables them to liberate their minds, get rid of Confucian dogma, and pushes people's spiritual life into a new world.
So does Buddhism still have a role to play in the process of developing a new socialist national culture? The development of human culture is a continuous process, and traditional culture and modern culture cannot be completely severed. We must absorb all valuable essence from traditional culture to enrich and develop a new socialist national culture. Chinese traditional culture also includes Buddhist culture. Nowadays, there is a prejudice that when it comes to traditional Chinese culture, it seems that it is only Confucian culture, which completely obliterates the status of Buddhist culture in traditional Chinese culture and the contribution of Buddhists to Chinese culture. In fact, the traditional Chinese culture since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is no longer pure Confucian culture, but a cultural form formed by the convergence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
The study of Chinese history, especially the history of Chinese culture, is inseparable from the study of Buddhism. In fact, it started when An Shigao came to the East to translate the scriptures in 148 AD, from Zhu Shi’s journey to the west to seek scriptures in 260 AD, to the meeting between Zhu Xi and Lu Xiangshan in Ehu in 1175 AD (the former marked the beginning of a new cultural movement—Buddhism, and the later This marked another new cultural movement - the founding of Neo-Confucianism). These more than a thousand years were a glorious period of Chinese national culture, which was also known as the Wei, Jin, Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang cultures by Chinese and foreign scholars. The Five Dynasties and Northern Song Dynasty were the remaining waves. It was precisely during this period that Buddhism became the mainstream of Chinese philosophical thought. Its long period, great momentum, and wide influence (spread abroad) are far beyond the comparison of Confucian classics of the Han Dynasty and Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties. So Hu Shi stopped writing "History of Chinese Philosophy" halfway because he didn't understand Buddhism at the time and couldn't continue writing. There is also a famous contemporary historian in my country who adopted a nihilistic attitude towards Buddhist culture in his early years. However, in his later years, he began to systematically study Buddhist scriptures and expressed that he needed to make up for his mistakes. The historian told people that Buddhism and culture have such a deep relationship in Chinese history. If you don’t understand Buddhism, you won’t understand Chinese culture. But now people still don't pay attention to the study of Buddhism and regard it as a vulgar religious superstition. For example, Xuan Zhong, a great translator, traveler, linguist and Buddhist master in Chinese history, has left his due chapter in the world history works of Western scholars. His name is even more well-known in India. Former Indian Prime Minister Nehru regarded him as one of the four great men in history.
But in China, people only know Tang Monk in "Journey to the West" and don't know the mysterious prize in the history of Chinese culture. What's more, some people regard Buddhist culture, this precious cultural heritage, simply as a way to make money, and many things that should not happen have happened, giving people the excuse that China does not respect culture. Although many people now deny that Buddhism is part of Chinese culture, their words actually contain elements of Buddhism. Language is the most universal and direct form of culture! Many popular terms in our daily life, such as world, reality, actuality, equality, current situation, moment, clear rules and precepts, relative, absolute, etc., all come from Buddhist vocabulary. If they really want to completely abandon Buddhist culture, I'm afraid they can't even explain it thoroughly.
China has the largest number of Buddhist classics and Buddhist cultural historical materials with the most complete content in the world. Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures and writings have been since It has increased from generation to generation since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are many editions of the Tibetan Tripitaka, which were printed many times. According to statistics from the Derge edition, the book contains 4,569 Buddhist classics. In addition to Buddhist scriptures, there are also works on astronomy, calendars, medicine, crafts, grammar, poetry, art, logic and other aspects. It is a vast collection of Buddhist texts. Classics are an important part of Chinese culture and important documents for the study of Buddhism and other related subjects in ancient times.
Buddhism itself has rich philosophical content, but because it originated in India, its philosophical content has an obvious Indian philosophy. As an integral part of today's traditional Chinese philosophy, Buddhist philosophy has roughly gone through three stages in the process of communication or penetration with China's inherent philosophy: the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the Song and Ming Dynasties. When Indian Buddhist philosophy became Chinese Buddhist philosophy, Western learning began to have an impact on traditional Chinese culture, which led to new developments in Buddhist philosophy in modern philosophy and modern philosophy. ?
The philosophical infiltration and integration of Buddhism and Chinese inherent philosophy began in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, which was the first stage of the Sinicization of Buddhist philosophy. In this stage, the penetration of metaphysics and Buddhist philosophy first appeared. Metaphysics is a new sect in Chinese philosophy during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. It starts philosophical exploration from the ontology of nothingness. Emptiness in Buddhist philosophy has, to a certain extent, been compared with metaphysics by some Buddhist theorists, and there has been a phenomenon of mutual penetration of Buddhist emptiness theory and metaphysics. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a debate between the theory of immortality of gods and the theory of gods’ destruction. The Buddhist community's insistence on the theory of the immortality of gods shows that Buddhism has been influenced by the concept of ghosts and gods in Chinese philosophy, and Buddhism has taken the first substantial step towards sinicization. The economic prosperity of the Sui and Tang Dynasties laid the material foundation for the development of Buddhism, and also brought the development of Buddhist philosophy in China to its peak. The establishment of the major Buddhist sects in China takes the Huayan philosophy system created by the Huayan Sect as the peak of the development of Chinese Buddhist philosophy in terms of Buddhist doctrine; and in the practice of Buddhism, the Zen system created by the Zen Buddhism is the peak of the development of the practical philosophy of Chinese Buddhism. Buddhist philosophy has completed the self-selection of Sinicization in theory and practice, laying the foundation for the peak development of Chinese inherent philosophy. The pinnacle of the development of China's inherent philosophy was the emergence of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties. Neo-Confucianism was composed of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and Lu-Wang Xin Xue. Huayan philosophy had an important influence on the establishment of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism; Zen philosophy also played an important role in the establishment of Luwang Xinxue. The peak period of traditional Chinese philosophy was the confluence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The emergence of this pattern was the response of Chinese inherent philosophy to Buddhist philosophy. In this process, Buddhist philosophy played a promoting and catalytic role. ?
The pinnacle of traditional Chinese philosophy heralds the beginning of modern Chinese philosophy. When traditional Chinese philosophy reached its peak, Western learning had already begun to impact China. The unfortunate experiences of modern Chinese society have forced a large number of intellectuals to consciously seek a way out of Chinese society from philosophical theory. In establishing their philosophical system, Buddhism was used as a positive factor in advocating revolution. Reformists such as Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and Tan Si used Buddhist philosophy as a theoretical tool for constitutional reform. Zhang Taiyan's revolutionary faction used Buddhist philosophy to awaken the people to establish a democratic republic. Since then, Buddhist philosophy has been in contact with Western philosophy, and some intellectuals have begun to compare and integrate Western philosophy with Buddhist philosophy, allowing Buddhist philosophy to incorporate elements of Western philosophy. After entering modern society, Chinese philosophy has shown a diversified pattern, among which modern Confucianism has a profound influence. Many philosophers in modern Confucianism have once again absorbed useful parts from Consciousness Only and Zen to establish their philosophical systems. Liang Huanming integrated Western life philosophy and consciousness-only learning into one, and created the "theory of will" in the ontological sense. After integrating the three philosophies of China, the West, and India, Xiong Shili transformed the Consciousness-Only Theory and founded the "New Consciousness-Only Theory". Feng Youlan developed the "realm theory" based on the Zen philosophy of life's principle of "excellence and moderation".
The development of Chinese Buddhist philosophy in modern China is different from the philosophy of Buddhist sects in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Instead, it appeared in the form of Chinese intellectuals finding a way out for Chinese society and constructing a philosophical system. It has obvious historical characteristics. meaning and practical significance. ?
The attitude of Chinese philosophy towards foreign philosophy has basically followed a development trend from one that is not very aware of and concerned until it finally melts and responds. The fate of Buddhist philosophy in China follows this development trend. The reason that prompted Chinese inherent philosophy to take a serious look at Buddhist philosophy was that due to the war in society at that time, when people could not find the answer in Confucianism, they had to find a way out in Buddhism.
The practical problem during this historical period is that there were more than 400 years from the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Although there was a brief period of more than ten years of unification, wars were the main events during this period. The war led to frequent changes in dynastic regimes. Due to the dangerous situation, the status and life of the upper-class royals, ministers and nobles are at risk. The oppressed common people, on the other hand, had no food and clothing, and suffered greatly from the war. People can't help but ask, where did this endless war start, where does this endless suffering begin, where is the end, and where is a safe place. These questions are precisely what Chinese Confucianism and Taoism cannot answer. People found the answer and the way out in Buddhism, the Indian cultural trend spread to the east. ?②In this way, Buddhist philosophy solved the practical problems of Chinese society at that time, although it only pointed out a path to people that was not realized in reality. As a result, Buddhist philosophy gained a mass base in China. At the same time, the response of Chinese philosophy to Buddhist philosophy also began. The prosperity of the feudal economy that emerged in the Sui and Tang Dynasties gave the development of Buddhism in China a deeper material foundation. It was also during this period that Buddhist philosophy completed the process of Sinicization. In this way, Buddhist philosophy and Confucian philosophy confront each other, forming a situation in which the three philosophies of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism stand side by side. Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties was precisely to save the situation where Confucian philosophy only occupied a place, and thus completed the response of Chinese philosophy to Buddhist philosophy. The introduction and sinicization of Buddhist philosophy exposed the shortcomings of Confucian philosophy in thinking about the natural philosophy of the universe. It was precisely in order to make up for this shortcoming of Confucian philosophy that Neo-Confucianism took over the philosophical position held by Buddhist philosophy.
On the surface, Neo-Confucianism became the official philosophy of the Song and Ming dynasties, and its impact on modern society was a victory for Confucian philosophy. But in fact, Neo-Confucianism is the product of Chinese philosophy's response to Buddhist philosophy, thus confirming the status of Buddhist philosophy in traditional Chinese philosophy. The impact of Buddhist philosophy on Chinese philosophy since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was completed nearly a thousand years later in the Song and Ming dynasties. The emergence of the completed response is a new development of Chinese philosophy. In the two thousand-year history of ancient Chinese philosophy, Buddhist philosophy has become one of the Chinese foreign philosophical trends.
Compared with the disasters suffered by China's modern society, the situation is more complicated than the war that lasted for four hundred years starting in the 2nd century. During the 400 years of war, Chinese intellectuals faced tough nomads, but in modern times they faced Western powers with strong ships and powerful artillery. The reflection on the way out of Chinese philosophy in the ideological circles is not just the current philosophical content, but the entire history of Chinese philosophy for more than two thousand years. The impact of Western philosophy on Chinese philosophy has also exposed the shortcomings of Chinese philosophy, which is the underdevelopment of epistemology and the lack of logical and rational thinking. This philosophical shortcoming is particularly obvious in Confucian philosophy. As a result, a large number of philosophers devoted themselves to research in this area to make up for this shortcoming of Chinese philosophy. But just as the development of Buddhism in China must have a material foundation and a mass foundation, the Western philosophy that Chinese intellectuals seek as truth must also solve the practical problems of Chinese society at that time before it can be Sinicized.
To solve the practical problems of Chinese society, we must achieve China’s independence. The real solution to this practical problem was accomplished under the guidance of Marxism, and thus Marxism has undergone a process of sinicization. There are indeed similarities in the development of Chinese philosophy and history. After Buddhism played a role in solving practical problems in ancient Chinese society, it completed the process of Sinicization and promoted the new development of Chinese philosophy. The cultural movement of Western learning spreading eastward in modern times has not yet ended. The future of Chinese philosophy has always been of concern to experts and scholars. I believe that the future of Chinese philosophy is similar to the emergence of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties, that is, the future of Chinese philosophy is a response to Western philosophy. We draw this conclusion precisely based on the development of Buddhist philosophy in China. This is also the inspiration of Buddhist philosophy to Chinese philosophy in the future. ?
Nowadays, scholars at home and abroad all hold the view of "the third phase of development of Confucianism"?③. But I believe that the development of Chinese philosophy is not limited to the response of Confucianism to modern civilization, but should be the response of various schools of traditional Chinese philosophy with Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism as the main body. As far as the response from Buddhist philosophy is concerned, I think we should pay attention to the following issues. ?
First, in the context of the times, the Buddhist community is required to produce philosophers like Zhiyi, Xuanzang, and Fazang in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, who can combine Buddhism and Western learning and point out the similarities between Buddhism and Western learning. to construct a new Buddhist ideological system. Modern Buddhists have made efforts, but from a philosophical point of view, the results of philosophical research achieved by such efforts are not ideal. The reason is that the research of Buddhist scholars has not completely reconstructed Buddhist philosophy from a philosophical perspective. Therefore, Buddhist philosophy has not developed much in modern China. Buddhist philosophers in the true sense, especially those in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Such Buddhist philosophers did not arise. In this way, we are required to integrate ancient philosophy and modern philosophy in a deeper philosophical sense, examine it from the perspective of Buddhist philosophy, and propose a new theory of Buddhist philosophy with the characteristics of the times. This task has fallen to contemporary Chinese Buddhist monks and on lay people and scholars. ?
Second, from the perspective of the development of Buddhist philosophy, it has experienced a process from simple philosophy of the universe and philosophy of life to complex ontology, epistemology, and methodology.
In this $? process, Indian Buddhist philosophy changed from Hinayana Buddhist philosophy to Mahayana Madhyamaka philosophy and only philosophy. The Tiantai philosophy, Sanlun philosophy, Faxiang philosophy, Huayan philosophy, and Zen philosophy that emerged from Chinese Buddhist philosophy are all new developments in Buddhist philosophy. However, Buddhist philosophy was interrupted when Indian Buddhism developed into the Esoteric Buddhism stage. After the confluence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism emerged in Chinese Buddhist philosophy, no new theoretical system emerged. Analyzing the reasons for the development of Indian Buddhist philosophy and Chinese Buddhist philosophy, on the one hand, Buddhist philosophers had to integrate internal and external learning in order to save the status of Buddhist philosophy in their own philosophy. On the other hand, Buddhist philosophers were able to seize opportunities and actively absorb foreign trends of thought, thereby constructing a new Buddhist philosophical system. This is also the case today. If Buddhist philosophy wants to modernize as part of traditional Chinese philosophy, it must seek to construct a new theoretical system. This requires people in the Buddhist community to extensively study Eastern and Western philosophy and take the initiative to integrate Western philosophy. More importantly, people in the Buddhist community should adopt the attitude of working hard for the development of Chinese philosophy in the 21st century, and start from this attitude to construct the foundation of Buddhist philosophy. Only a new system can give new vitality to Buddhist philosophy and even Chinese philosophy. ?
Third, in the construction of a new system of Buddhist philosophy, the tasks of Buddhist philosophers and non-Buddhist philosophers should be distinguished. For Buddhist philosophers, the starting point for constructing a new theoretical system is based on the continued development of Buddhism in human culture. Therefore, on the basis that there are no principled wrong remarks, Buddhist philosophers should maintain their identity as religious philosophers and construct a new system of Buddhist philosophy with an attitude of seeking survival and salvation.