RELIGST 3UU3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Lotus Sutra, Jataka Tales, Stra

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Religious Studies
• Course: RELIGST 3UU3
• Professor: Joe Larose

Document Summary

China already had an idea (had discussions on) of how a state should operate: ex/ confucianism. To understand the chinese context at the time when buddhism spread to china. To understand the formation of the earliest schools of buddhism in china. To understand the chinese reaction to the arrival of buddhism. Religion thought of something that is spread throughout society: western world secularism product of modernity, most of world history, no secularism. Chinese state had power to say what a religion can and cannot do: strong central state idea came out of the warring period and influenced the qin and han dynasties. Qin dynasty, 221-207 bce first geographically large and centrally run state. Geographically larger: reaches edges of western dessert. It is a mercantile route: also carries ideas, cultural practices. Important to the spread of buddhism: more or less the edges "meet" han dynasty. Buddhism survives through patronage: need local politicians, people etc, had the empire"s support at state level.