CCCH9059
Encounters between
China and the West
W 12:30-14:20 @ CPD-LG10
Let’s Get
Organized, again…
Week 6 Fieldtrip (October 9)
• Week 6 during the regular class time (Wednesday, October 9,
12:30-2:20pm), we have arranged guided tours to the Fung Ping
Shan Library and the University Museum & Art Gallery.
• Please sign up for a group for the 20-30 minutes guided tour and
arrive early. After the tour, you may choose to stay to view other
collections or to leave.
• Optional reflective paper: you may write an optional short
paper to earn extra tutorial marks.
Weeks 8 & 10: Group Presentations
• Please find your group members and sign up for the group
presentations on Moodle course site. Every group only needs to
sign up for one group presentation. Reading assignments are
online.
• Week 8: Macartney’s 1792-94 Embassy to Qianlong’s China
• Week 10: Essays about the Chinese impressions of America, 1840s1980s.
• Week 8 presentations: First symmarize the events and point out
why the two civilizations clashed. Read in between the lines and
offer your interpretations of what were going on. Use examples to
strengthen your point.
• Week 10 presentations: First, briefly introduce the author of the
essay you are presenting, and then summarize and comment on
the author’s attitudes toward America (you may agree or disagree
with the author). Use examples to support your point.
Weeks 12 & 13: Poster Presentations (I) & (2)
• Both Week 12 (November 20) and Week 13 (November 27) will be
for individual poster presentations.
• Before your poster presentation, please upload the text of your
poster (500-700 words) in a pdf or doc. file to Moodle. Use about
1-2 minutes to present your poster in class.
• Contents: an informative title, text, and images or graphics. Be
efficient with your text – explain why the topic is significant - no
cliches!
A Buddhist Miracle?
• News from last weeks: a Thai
fisherman fell into the sea and was
rescued after drifting in the sea for
two days.
• As he started to lose his strength and
will, he prayed and vowed to become
a monk for seven days if he survived.
The Introduction of Buddhism into China
I.
The Introduction of
Buddhism into China
II. The Teaching, Practice,
and Community
III. Buddhism in Chinese
Culture
I. The Introduction of Buddhism into China
• The introduction of Buddhism into China via the early Silk Roads,
since 1st c. BCE
• The expansion of Buddhism in medieval China (3rd – 7th c. CE).
Faxian’s Pilgrimage Routes
Pilgrimage: A pilgrim's journey.
Dates: 399, 412
The Buddhist expansion in Asia
Right:
Pagoda in the Guangxiao Temple
(Guangzhou, China)
II. The Teaching, the Practice, and the Community
• Universal religion: the teachings of equality, suffering, karma and
samsara, compassion, and nirvana (enlightenment)
• Clericalism and lay practice: merit, wisdom, and liberation
• Local resistance: Anti-Buddhist sentiments and anti-clericalism
karma
• Saṃsāra (cyclical change of the
world):
Consisted of two connected ideas: 因
緣 (hetu) and 業報 (karma). The
message: All actions in the cosmos
generate karmic effects.
• hetu:
A direct cause that may generate
certain corresponding results. To use
an analogy, a seed is a direct cause to
a plant, while sunshine, earth, and
water are auxiliary (environmental)
causes.
The Concept of Hell
• The pre-Buddhist Chinese idea about
life and death is not cyclical. The
character “ghost” ( 鬼 gui), originally
meant “to return.” Returning to
where? Probably the Yellow Springs,
the realm of the underworld where
the dead went to.
• The concept of Hell was introduced
into Chinese beliefs from the
Buddhist teaching.
lay practice and community
building
• The lay Buddhists are required to observe
the five commandments: do not kill, steal,
lie, commit adultery, and drink alcohol.
• Moreover, one needs to acquire merit to be
reborn in a good state of existence. Ways
of acquiring merit include reciting and
copying sutra, sponsoring or financing
rituals, statues, or temples, etc.
enlightenment
• Emptiness (Śūnyatā): the illusions of all worldly
phenomena and consciousnesses.
• Realizing the emptiness of all worldly
phenomena and even consciousnesses is the first
step of not growing attached to them.
• Nirvana (blow-out, extinction): ultimate spiritual
goal in Buddhism that enables one to be released
from the sufferings of samsara (cycles of rebirth);
the liberation from mundane senses and
consciousnesses.
III. Buddhist Influence on Material Culture
• Food: Tea culture
• Architecture: Temples, monasteries,
and statues.
• Festivals: Yulanpen festival, Buddha’s
birthday, etc.
• Textual and writing culture: spells,
manuscripts, calligraphy, etc.
Mulian Story and the Yulanpen Festival
The
Transformations
of Avalokitesvara
Left:
Avalokitesvara
India, Ajanta Caves.
Middle:
Avalokitesvara, Sri Lanka, 8th c.
Right:
Guanyin, China, 11th c.
A Qing dynasty Guanyin statue
(19th c.)
Discussion
• How do you interpret the Buddhist teaching on life and death as
shown in the documentary (Qin 2001)?
• The Buddhist ideas have changed the Chinese views on life and
death. Can you think of the aspects of change and explain how
they achieved them?
Next Week—
Early Modern Contacts