Chinese Papercuts - Artistic Creations from Nimble Fingers

Chinese Zodiac Papercut

Paper cutting is a traditional art that has evolved through-out the course of Chinese cultural development. Its origin should be closely connected with the invention of paper during the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-221 A.D.). As paper was highly precious in the early days, the art of paper cutting first became popular in the royal palaces and houses of nobility as a favorite pastime among court ladies. Later, during the 7th through 13th centuries, paper cutting was immensely popular during folk festivals and celebrations. By the 14th century, the art had spread to the Middle East and Europe; and by the 15th century onward, paper cut art works had become and integral part of the everyday life of the people. However, the art of paper cutting was on the verge of dying out during the past century as old China experienced successive years of the disaster of war brought on by domestic turmoil and foreign invasion. Amidst a myriad of changes in their lives, most people had no leisure time to engage in the study of the art of paper cutting.

The Republic of China on Taiwan has been actively promoting the renaissance of Chinese culture since the 1980s. The art of paper cutting has again received a great deal of attention because of heavy publicity, resulting in even more innovative artwork.

The influence of paper cutting on continental Europe and Asia can be traced back to the seventh century. It spread to Japan and then to the Middle East and Europe via the Silk Road, thus leading to the development of many diverse styles. Today, many valuable ancient paper cutouts are kept in the national museums of these countries.

The art of paper cutting has remained unfading in China through the ages principally because its devotees used the skills of knife and scissors to dynamically depict splendid Chinese culture and folk festivals in all its many facets--in a most interesting and likable way that is felt to be more and more precious with the passage of time.


Fish and Lotus


For example, noble ladies in ancient times would often use paper cutting to practice their art during their leisure, while social calls by ordinary folk involved giving paper cuts as gifts and using paper cut fancy likenesses for pretty adornment to signify auspiciousness. Subsequently, mutual emulation and minute study led to a superb level of technique. By later generations, paper cut art ranged from clipping complicated patterns using a tiny pair of scissors to often making cutouts into window decorations, clothes-making stencils, or embroidery patterns for shoes.

As the art has been passed down through the generations, the mainstream techniques developed many diverse forms, but the themes of the subject matter have primarily remained folk motifs, with two-dimensional illustrations as the primary form. The technique they display consists of a combination of trimming with scissors and carving with a knife. The rendering of their visual appearance involves such methods as applying multiple layers of color, folding symmetrically, individually pasting, or uniquely engraving. These diversified cutting methods could be said to be quite beautiful, but manifestation of the unique, lively beauty of paper cut art still depends on the artistic mastery of every paper cut artisan.

Generally speaking, animated artistic creation is extraordinary because of the artist, time, place, environment, and disposition. Carved reproductions of paper cuttings for commercial purposes can only remain at the level of mere handicrafts.

In recent years, Mrs. Linda Pu-fei Sun Yeh has revived the art of traditional Chinese paper cutting through her diligent study and uniquely creative style. As a result of her uncanny cutting skill, the art has undergone a metamorphosis from ordinary folk handicraft to works of a sophisticated, cultural art standard. Every one of her paper cut art pieces is an animated, vivid, and fascinating image that seems to be three-dimensional. She has held many personal exhibitions in renowned museums and cultural centers in Taiwan and around the world. The worldwide acclaim has gained her greater respect and recognition in the international art arena.

Nonetheless, Mrs. Yeh feels that Chinese paper cutting art can seek future development in the following directions that she also intends to strive for. First, she calls on the public to accord due respect for the traditional classic and elegant style rather than cut reproductions and imitations with a knife. Second, she advises artists to capture the sense of rhythm in the folk art and explore new themes rather than being confined to the conventional Chinese folk festivals. Third, she has hopes that the art of paper cutting may blend the romantic charm of traditional Chinese painting, the fineness of embroidery, and the form in Western sculpture in order to create a realistic sense of three-dimensional imagery and revitalizing and animating the art form.

Aside from all this, engaging in the mastery and study of paper cutting is a delightful recreation that nourishes the mind. It cultivates patience and concentration among young people, and diminishes loneliness for the middle-aged and elderly. The art of paper cutting also contributes to close friendship among associates, resulting in a sharing of experience and wisdom. As a beneficial exercise for both the eyes and the hands, this decorative art is a recreation that transcends age limits.

The sense of fulfillment in mastering a pair of scissors, the sense of being uplifted in both the traditional and creative realms, and the satisfaction of achieving the lofty ideals of truth, beauty and goodness, fill the heart of an artist with indescribable joy.

Source:www.chinavoc.com

The chinese pantheon (popular deities of chinese buddhism)

Amitabha: the Buddha of Boundless Light.

According to Mahayana Buddhist sutras he was a king in the remote period of time. Renouncing his kingdom, he became a monk and was named Dharmakara, which means 'Treasury of Dharma'. Inspired by the teachings of the then Buddha of that time, Lokesvaraja Buddha, who taught him the way to supreme enlightenment many aeons ago, he made forty eight great vows for the saving of the sentient beings. The Eighteenth Vow, which is the basis of the Pure Land, ran like this: 'If upon the attainment of Buddhahood all sentient beings in the ten quarters who aspire in sincerity and faith to be reborn in my land, recite my name up to ten times and fail to be born there, then may I not attain the Perfect Enlightenment…'

Since then, the Bodhisattva Dharmakara, after five aeons of self-cultivation, finally attained the Supreme Enlightenment and became the Buddha Amitabha. This means that his grand and infinitely compassionate vow is now a reality, the paradise known as Pure Land or Sukhavati has been established, suffering beings must and will be delivered if only they will have the full faith to call upon his name.

Calling the Buddha's name with full faith is known to the Chinese as 'NIEN-FWO' meaning 'Prayer-recitation'. The Japanese term for this practice is known as 'Nembutsu'. In this practice three important qualities must be present in the mind: Sincerity, Faith and Aspiration to be reborn in the Pure Land. The simple prayer or formula that one needs to repeat is:

"NAMO O-MI-TO FWO"

One may repeat it in Sanskrit 'Namo Amitabha Buddha' which literally mans 'Homage to the Amitabha Buddha ' or 'I seek refuge in the Amitabha Buddha'.


Yao Shih Fwo, Bhaisajyaguru: the Medicine Buddha.

Yao Shih Fwo, one of the three foremost Buddhas of the Chinese Pantheon, is a Buddha of the past era. Better known to the people as the Buddha of Medicine or the Master of Healing, he is dear to the hearts of many, for they have indeed received his blessings in the forms of miraculous cures of all kinds of illness. The Buddha's efficacy in preventing calamities and granting prosperity besides curing illness has attracted a steady number of believers and devotees since the time of the Eastern Chin Dynasty (AD 317-420) to the present day. The Sutra of the Buddha of Medicine (Bhaisajyaraja Sutra) was also translated into Chinese at that period of time which provided a full account on the peerless Buddha, his Paradise and his Twelve Great Vows. However the later translation made by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Tsang, the famous monk of the Tang Dynasty, known as The Sutra of the Master of Healing (Bhaisajyaguru - Vaidurya - Prabhasa Tathagata), is the more popular Sutra which is widely read by most people today.

The title 'Master of Healing', is a literal translation of his Sanskrit name 'Bhaisajyaguru', the Buddha who favours worshippers with relief from the troubles of the world. Apart from curing illness, warding such calamities as famine, drought and plague, granting longevity and assisting the dead, Yao Shih Fwo is known to have dispensed all kinds of mundane benefits to those who pray to him. Despite his great popularity, temples dedicated to him are very scarce so that those who wish to worship him may do so at temples where his images can be found. He is often found in a triad with Sakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha, and his symbols are either the medicine bowl or the pagoda. When depicted alone, he holds his symbol with his left hand and he is normally attended to by his prominent disciples, the Great Bodhisattvas 'Radiance of the Sun' and the 'Radiance of the Moon'.


to be continued

Source:www.buddhanet.net

Qixi -- the Chinese Valentine's Day

If it rains heavily on Thursday night, some elderly Chinese will say it is because Zhinu, or the Weaving Maid, is crying on the day she met her husband Niulang, or the Cowherd, on the Milky Way.

Most Chinese remember being told this romantic tragedy when they were children on Qixi, or the Seventh Night Festival, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which is usually in early August.
As the story goes, once there was a cowherd, Niulang, who lived with his elder brother and sister-in-law. But she disliked and abused him, and the boy was forced to leave home with only an old cow for company.

The cow, however, was a former god who had violated imperial rules and was sent to earth in bovine form.

One day the cow led Niulang to a lake where fairies took a bath on earth. Among them was Zhinu, the most beautiful fairy and a skilled seamstress.

The two fell in love at first sight and were soon married. They had a son and daughter and their happy life was held up as an example for hundreds of years in China.

Yet in the eyes of the Jade Emperor, the Supreme Deity in Taoism, marriage between a mortal and fairy was strictly forbidden. He sent the empress to fetch Zhinu.

Niulang grew desperate when he discovered Zhinu had been taken back to heaven. Driven by Niulang's misery, the cow told him to turn its hide into a pair of shoes after it died.

The magic shoes whisked Niulang, who carried his two children in baskets strung from a shoulder pole, off on a chase after the empress.

The pursuit enraged the empress, who took her hairpin and slashed it across the sky creating the Milky Way which separated husband from wife.

But all was not lost as magpies, moved by their love and devotion, formed a bridge across the Milky Way to reunite the family.

Even the Jade Emperor was touched, and allowed Niulang and Zhinu to meet once a year on the seventh night of the seventh month.

This is how Qixi came to be. The festival can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

Traditionally, people would look up at the sky and find a bright star in the constellation Aquila as well as the star Vega, which are identified as Niulang and Zhinu.

The two stars shine on opposite sides of the Milky Way.

Traditional celebrations

In bygone days, Qixi was not only a special day for lovers, but also for girls. It is also known as the "Begging for Skills Festival" or "Daughters' Festival."

In the past, girls would conduct a ceremony to beg Zhinu for wisdom, dexterity and a satisfying marriage in the future.

This was not the case all over China, as the festival varied from region to region.

In some parts of Shandong Province, young women offered fruit and pastries to pray for a bright mind. If spiders were seen to weave webs on sacrificial objects, it was believed the Waving Girl was offering positive feedback.

In other regions, seven close friends would gather to make dumplings. They put into three separate dumplings a needle, a copper coin and a red date, which represented perfect needlework skills, good fortune and an early marriage.

Girls also held weaving and needlework competitions to see who had the best hands and the brightest mind, both prerequisites for making a good wife and mother in ancient China.

Young women in southern China used to weave small handicrafts with colored paper, grass and thread.

Afterwards, they competed to pass a thread through the eyes of seven needles in a single breath.

Tradition transformed



The love story of Niulang and Zhinu, and the Qixi Festival have been handed down for generations. Yet these ancient traditions and customs are slowly dying out.

Many modern Chinese, particularly youngsters, seem to know more about St Valentine's Day on February 14, characterized by bouquets of roses, chocolates and romantic candlelight dinners, than they do about their home-grown day for lovers.

Even Qixi is nowadays referred to as the "Chinese Valentine's Day."

Fewer people than ever will gaze at the heavens on Thursday to pick out the two stars shining bright on either side of the Milky Way, that is, if people even know on which day Qixi falls.

There are ready reminders dotted about, in the form of big ads saying "Sales on Chinese Valentine's Day!" in shops, hotels and restaurants.

But few young women will mark the festival with their boyfriends, or take part in traditional activities to pray for cleverness.

"I really have no idea about the 'Begging for Skills Festival.' I thought Qixi was only connected to the fairytale," said Wang Yilin, 24, a young woman working for a website in Beijing.

Wang's lack of awareness about Qixi's cultural implications is common among young Chinese women.

In modern society, a girl is no longer required to excel at weaving or needlework, so praying for dexterous hands holds no special meaning.

But this is not to say the interest in needlework is dead and buried, as the skill sets of some young women have evolved from mending clothes and sewing buttons to making unique handicrafts.



Wang Yilin is actually quite handy with a needle and thread, herself.

"I think my earliest creation was a hat. It was quite easy as I just tied a knot in every corner of my handkerchief," she said laughing.

She tried tailoring a skirt for her doll by sewing pieces of cloth together, but found it a hard task.

"I used to cover all buttons with beautiful cloth, and knitted colorful wool into different shapes to put them on my key ring," she added.

The need to operate sewing machines and knit has dwindled in recent years as there is a glut of quality clothing available in shops and on the Internet, which is a change from the time of their mothers and grandmothers for whom knitting was an essential tool in times of shortage.

Some young women have, however, fallen in love with knitting woollen scarves in recent years.

"My roommate at university knitted a white scarf for her boyfriend, and then gradually all the girls in our department joined in," Wang said.

Dong Yijun, 23, an office worker from Shanghai, is another scarf knitter.

"It is simple to knit a scarf. And it feels satisfying to wear a homemade scarf," she said.

A new form of needlework is now making waves the cross-stitch.

Imported from Europe, the cross-stitch is a popular form of counted-thread embroidery, in which X-shaped stitches are used to form a picture.

But this trend didn't sit well with Dong Yijun.

"It causes too much trouble. I don't think I am patient enough," she said.

Lin Yun, a 17-year-old high school student, is a spectator when her classmates spend time after class knitting and stitching.

"Years ago we really enjoyed weaving bracelets. Soon we all got tired of it. Now there are new fashions. But we are too busy with homework. And after all, we girls prefer shopping and listening to pop music," she said.

"Compared to the cross-stitch, I prefer traditional Chinese embroidery. Maybe one day I will take courses on it," Wang Yilin said.

"I hope to make all kinds of embroidery patterns on hebao (a silk pocket used in ancient China). That soft cloth and colorful thread always make me excited."

Source:www.china.org.cn

The Development of Characters 字体发展

Understanding that the notion of pictographic or ideographic characters is no more than a myth, there must be some explanation for Chinese characters. What exactly are they if not pictures or alphabet? A more accurate word in English for the Chinese type character is “logograph” or “logogram,” which means a sign (graph) that represents a word (logos).

Many people see Chinese characters and are reminded of Egyptian Hieroglyphics, 象形文字 xiang4xing2wen2zi4. Unlike Chinese characters, Hieroglyphics are not all logographs that represent spoken words. Some Hieroglyphics are purely phonetic symbols, like an alphabet; some are logographic, like Chinese; and some are determinative--words that specify the meaning of other graphs. While the two orthographies are not related in any way—Chinese developed independently—their histories do bear certain similarities.

Proto-Writing


In archaeological work done in both Egypt and China, artifacts have been unearthed that bear stylized drawings or proto-writing. In China, the earliest artifacts of this type were discovered in Shandong (山东) province, which lies between Beijing and Shanghai. These artifacts include shards of pottery that have been dated to approximately 2000 BCE. The pictures on these pieces are definitely not writing. They are a defined set of fairly realistic images that may have been used for ritual purposes, but were essentially decoration. The earliest Egyptian relics, which date to around 4000 BCE, are also considered decorative proto-writing.

Chinese tradition says that Chinese characters were created by a minister of the Yellow Emperor, 黄帝 huang2di4, named Cangjie, 仓颉. According to legend, he discovered the secret of writing by looking at animal tracks in the earth and stars in the sky. This discovery shook the confidence of the gods on high because writing was a powerful tool unknown to mankind. In similar mythological fashion, the Egyptians honored the deities Thoth and Isis for the gift of writing.

It is generally accepted that no one could have invented the entire writing system. However, if Cangjie was a real historical figure, then he may have played a role in stylizing and standardizing the proto-writing, and turning the ancient pictures into a true writing system.

Oracle Bones 甲骨



The earliest examples of actual Chinese writing are found on Oracle Bones, 甲骨 jia3gu3. Oracle Bones are pieces of tortoise shell or cow bone that were used for divination in the Shang Dynasty, 商朝 shang1chao2 (1766-1122 BCE). In comparison, the earliest Egyptian writing has been dated to the time of the Second Dynasty, which occurred during the third Century BCE.

In fact, many experts now believe that the Oracle Bone script is too refined to be China's original writing system. Counting many years of development prior to the Shang dynasty, it is is possible that Chinese started keeping written records at the same time as the Egyptians. As far as the Chinese are concerned, they have been keeping records in one way or another for as long as there have been Chinese people. According to mythology, before the development of writing, information was recorded using knotted ropes 用结绳来记事 yongjieshenglaijishi.

Whether or not they are the most ancient orthography, Oracle Bone inscriptions, 甲骨文 jia3gu3wen2, are the ancestors of modern Chinese characters. They represent true writing in that they are an orthographic representation of language (as opposed to a picture). Even after thousands of years of development, modern characters still bear a resemblance to the Oracle Bone script. It is even possible for an untrained reader of modern Chinese to recognize many of the ancient characters.

The Rebus and the Advancement of Writing

From Oracle Bones, it can be seen that Chinese characters were developed based on the rebus. Despite the intimidating and unfamiliar word, everyone who has been through elementary school is familiar with this principle. The rebus uses symbols to represent a word because of their sound rather than their meaning. In English, we commonly play such word games using simple pictures and single letters. For example, you might draw a picture of an eye to indicate the subject “I,” a picture of waves to indicate “see,” and the letter U to indicate “you.” In this manner you can use basic pictures to symbolize words that are difficult to draw:



It seems somewhat strange to say that an entire language can be based on a principle that is generally used in the West to create games for children. However, the Chinese use of the rebus system is quite sophisticated.

Naturally, the first characters that could have developed were pictographs that are essentially pictures of objects. When a symbol was needed for a more complicated concept, an existing character with the same pronunciation could be used to symbolize the pronunciation of the word. In other words, the written language is truly a record of the spoken language. For this reason, about 90 percent of characters have a phonetic element, and the number of pictograph and ideograph characters is quite low.

In the Oracle Bone script, the skeleton of this system is revealed. Some characters are reused without change to represent other words with the same pronunciation but different sounds. Although, such recycling of characters creates an accurate record of speech, it also creates a written language that is difficult to understand.

Radical Developments 部首发展

In addition to reusing characters for their sounds, Chinese uses the slightly more sophisticated system of radicals to clarify the meaning of a character. With the combination of phonetic elements and radicals, Chinese developed into a fully functional orthography that is radically different from that of any other world language.

From the Oracle Bone script of the Shang Dynasty, Chinese script developed into different styles in different places. These scripts were all built on the same foundation and principle, but diverged because China was divided into several warring states until the time of the Qin Dynasty, 秦朝 Qin2chao2 (221-207 BCE).

During the Qin Dynasty, the first emperor, Qinshi huangdi, 秦始皇帝, unified the warring states in China. He allegedly built the Great Wall, and he also standardized the writing system used throughout China. He had his code of laws carved on stone tablets in the capital using only one script, which is known today as the "Small Seal" script, 小篆 xiaozhuan.

With some slight alterations, the standard script used today is essentially the same as the Qin Script used over two thousand years ago.

Conclusion

While Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics bear some superficial resemblance to Chinese characters in terms of appearance and historical development, the similarities disappear quickly given more information about the methodology and tradition of the two systems. Also, it is important to note that while hieroglyphics originated before Chinese characters, they also stopped being used long ago. Modern Egyptian is actually a dialect of Aracbic, and it is written in Arabic script. Chinese writing, on the other hand, has enjoyed approximately three thousand years of continuous use.

Source:www.interestingchinese.com

A small war that mattered - 40 years since the Damansky Island tragedy

Technically, the Damansky conflict was a local two-episode frontier engagement between Chinese and Soviet soldiers on March 2 and March 15, 1969. Statistically, it was, for the lack of a better term, small.

Today it is remembered for what it was in fact: a real shooting war with its own dead and its own heroes; a war that was misrepresented by the Western, Soviet and Chinese media in a big way, all the while in reality it triggered one of the major shifts in the Cold War global balance of power.

In 1969 I was six. Too young to have known that ‘Stalin and Mao are listening to us’ or that ‘the Russians and the Chinese are brothers forever.’ These songs belonged to the generation of my parents as did their Chinese college classmates and friends who, by the end of the 1960s, were already embers in the fires of the ‘Cultural Revolution.’

Nearly every family had someone in the armed forces. Besides, the Soviet Union was populated by members of my parents’ generation, the bearers and recipients of every effect of the Khrushchev Spring, including a somewhat laxer security discipline, so the initial media blackout never worked. In 1969 boys in my kindergarten stopped their usual war games of ‘the fascists and the Soviets’ (the Great War was only 25 years in the past and fresh in the memories of our parents and grandparents), switching for a while to ‘the Chinese and the Soviets.’

The full truth about the war on Damansky, including the number of casualties, was told to the Soviet people several years later. As it was the rule, it took a Politburo decision to release the figures to the newspapers, television and radio. Many engagements that had happened before March 1969 (over a dozen clashes between 1967 and 1969) never made it into the media at all, except limited-circulation military journals and the restricted-access party bulletin ‘Arguments and Facts’ (now a major tabloid).


In 1969 the Soviet people still lived off the emotional legacy of its WWII victory and the peace that had come to our land with it, had come to stay forever, as we believed then. Russia never knew the nuclear shelter hysteria on the same scale as it happened in the US and Britain. We somehow believed, even in the worst times of the Cold war, that common sense would prevail. It was then that Yevtushenko wrote: ‘You want to know, if the Russians want war – you ask the quiet of our fields, you ask the birch trees, you ask the soldiers who sleep beneath their roots…’ In 1969 over sixty dead in a frontier clash was a catastrophic loss. Afghanistan was still very far ahead along the road of History.

In the context of international politics and Western media’s coverage of international events Damansky was partly lost behind the big problem of the day: the Soviet Union’s principle opposition to the introduction of the West Berlin constituency in the election of a president of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In April-May 1969 Western newspapers started placing more articles about the conflict. Everyone, it seems, was trying to find out who had started the hostilities. Some blamed the Soviet Union and spoke of an aggressive trend in Soviet politics that had established itself after the Prague Spring of 1968. Some blamed the Chinese calling China an ‘anti-status quo power’ which is ‘pushing its boundaries to establish ‘lines of actual control’ to claim them later as legitimate borders.’ Judging by the tone of the articles, the Damansky conflict for everyone in the West was ‘a clash between the Communist giants,’ and therefore, an event useful for the Western cause.

Only later, closer to 1970-71 did the Western papers start speculating in earnest that the Chinese provocative moves on the Soviet borders including ‘the incident on the Chenpao Island which the Russians call Damansky’ had been a clever signal to Washington that Beijing (or rather Peking) had arrived at the decision to take the side of the West against the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

Today these speculations may look realistic and feasible enough, taking into consideration Henry Kissinger’s secret visit to Peking in 1971 and everything that followed, including China – US anti-Soviet cooperation in many ‘hotter’ areas of the Cold War including Africa and Afghanistan. It is most probably true that the Damansky conflict triggered the beginning of that cooperation, starting from the same Peking visit by the then US Secretary of State. In the beginning of the 1970s China-US cooperation and coordination of anti-Soviet efforts was rapidly gaining speed.

Why did it take so long after the supposed ‘signal’ for the two sides to start talking to each other about that desperately needed cooperation? Two years in the Cold war context were like two decades, if not two hundred years…

Russian experts believe that in fact there was no signal at all. A major clash on the Chinese-Russian border, cleverly used by spin artists on the both sides (China and the West), indeed became a launching platform for a new alliance that was destined to last for over a decade.

Russian historians of the conflict insist today that for the invasion of Damansky there was no direct order either from People’s Liberation Army Headquarters or the Chinese Politburo. The attack, in their opinion, was perpetrated by the local authorities, military as well as civilian, of the Chinese province bordering Russia, without direct approval from the center.

That is, most probably, true, especially if we consider the partial independence of Chinese provincial governors in military affairs, and the devastatingly blind zeal of provincial ‘Culture Revolutionaries’ in comparison with the somewhat easier drive of their Peking colleagues.

The fact that the leadership of the two countries immediately started looking for opportunities to meet and talk, the way the meeting was conducted and the speed with which it was organized (the famous Airport summit of Kosygin and Chou En-lai) all speak of deep concern over the events that could have triggered a war between two giant countries, and of the lack of ill or suicidal intentions in both central governments.

Summing up this column I would like to quote from the website DAMANSKI-ZHENBAO, belonging to the Fidelity Foundation in support of frontier guards’ veterans. The website states that on Damansky:

‘Best sons of two great nations paid with their lives for the inertness of political mentality.’

Evgeny Belenkiy, RT

The Spread of Buddhism Among the Chinese

During the third century B.C., Emperor Asoka sent missionaries to the northwest of India, that is, present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. The mission achieved great success as the region soon became a centre of Buddhist learning with many distinguish monks and scholars. When the merchants of Central Asia came into this region for trade, they learnt about Buddhism and accepted it as their religion. By the second century B.C., some central Asian cities like Kotan, has already become important centres for Buddhism. The Chinese people had their first contact with Buddhism through Central Asians who were already Buddhists.

When the Han Dynasty of China extended its power to Central Asia in the first century B.C., trade and cultural ties between China and Central Asia also increased. In this way, the Chinese people learnt about Buddhism so that by the middle of the first century C.E., a community of Chinese Buddhists was already in existence. As interest in Buddhism grew, there was a great demand for Buddhist texts to be translated from Indian languages into Chinese. This led to the arrival of translators from Central Asia and India. The first notable one was Anshigao from Central Asia who came to China in the middle of the second century. With a growing collection of Chinese translations of Buddhist texts, Buddhism became more widely known and a Chinese monastic order was also formed. The first known Chinese monk was said to be Anshigao's disciple.

The early translators had some difficulty in finding the exact words to explain Buddhist concepts in Chinese, so they often used Taoist terms in their translations. As a result, people began to relate Buddhism with the existing Taoist tradition. It was only later on that the Chinese came to fully understand the teachings of the Buddha.

After the fall of the Han Dynasty in the early part of the third century, China faced a period of political disunity. Despise the war and unrest, the translations of the Buddhist texts continued. During this time, both foreign and Chinese monks were actively involved in establishing monasteries and lecturing on the Buddhist teachings.

Among the Chinese monks, Dao-an who lived in the fourth century, was the most outstanding. Though he had to move from place to place because of the political strife, he not only wrote and lectured extensively, but prepared the first catalogues of them. He invited the famous translator, Kumarajiva, from Kucha. With the help of of Do-an's disciples, Kumarjiva translated a large number of important texts and revised the earlier Chinese translations. His fine translations are still in use to this day. Because of political unrest, Kumarkiva's disciple were later dispersed and this helped to spread Buddhism to other parts of China.

The Establishment of Buddhism in China: From the beginning of the fifth century to around the end of the sixth century, northern and southern China came under separate rule. The south remained under native dynasties while the north was controlled by non-Chinese rulers. The Buddhist in southern China continued to translate Buddhist texts and to lecture and write commentaries on the major texts. Their rulers were devout Buddhists who saw to the construction of numerous temples, participated in Buddhist ceremonies and organised public talks on Buddhism.

In northern China, except for two short periods of persecution, Buddhism flourished under the lavish royal patronage of rulers who favoured the religion. By the latter half of the sixth century, monks were employed in government posts. During this period, Buddhist art flourished, especially in the caves at Dun-huang, Yun-gang and Long-men. In the thousand caves at Dun-huang, Buddhist paintings covered the walls and there were thousands of Buddha statues in these caves. At Yun-gan and Long-men, many Buddha images of varying sizes were carved out of the rocks. All these activities were a sign of the firm establishment of Buddhism in China by the end of this period.

The Development of Chinese Schools of Buddhism: With the rise of the Tang Dynasty at the beginning of the seventh century, Buddhism reached out to more and more people. It soon became an important part of Chinese culture and had great influence on Chinese Art, Literature, Sculpture, Architecture and the Philosophy of that time.

By then the number of Chinese translations of Buddhist texts had increased tremendously. The Buddhist were now faced with the problem of how to put their teachings into practice. As a result, a number of schools of Buddhism arose, with each school concentrating on certain texts for their study and practice. The Tian-tai school, for instance, developed a system of teaching and practice based on the Lotus Sutra. It also arranged all the Buddhist texts into graded categories to suit the varying aptitude of the followers.

Other schools arose which focused on different areas of the Buddha's teachings. The two most prominent schools were the Ch'an and the Pure Land schools. The Ch'an school emphasized the practice of meditation as the direct way of gaining insight and experiencing Enlightenment in this very life.

The Pure Land school centres its practices on the recitation of the name of Amitabha Buddha. The practice is based on the sermon which teaches that people could be reborn in the Western Paradise (Pure Land) of Amitabha Buddha if they recite his name and have sincere faith in him. Once in the Pure Land, the devotees are said to be able to achieve Enlightenment more easily. Because of the simplicity of its practice, this school became popular especially among the masses throughout China.

Further Development of Buddhism in China: In the middle of the ninth century, Buddhism faced persecution by a Taoist emperor. He decreed the demolition of monasteries, confiscation of temple land, return of monks and nuns to secular life and the destruction of Buddha images. Although the persecution lasted only a short time, it marked the end of an era for Buddhism in China. Following the demolition of monasteries and the dispersal of scholarly monks, a number of Chinese schools of Buddhism ceased to exist as separate movements. They were absorbed into the Ch'an and Pure Land schools which survived. The eventual result was the emergence of a new form of Chinese Buddhist practice in the monastery. Besides practicing Ch'an meditation, Buddhist also recited the name of Amitabha Buddha and studied Buddhist texts. It is this form of Buddhism which survives to the present time.

Just as all the Buddhist teachings and practices were combined under the one roof in the monasteries, Buddhist lay followers also began to practice Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism simultaneously. Gradually, however, Confucian teachings became dominant in the court and among the officials who were not in favour of Buddhism.

Buddhism generally, continues to be a major influence in Chinese religious life. In the early twentieth century, there was an attempt to modernize and reform the tradition in order to attract wider support. One of the most well-known reformist was Tai-xu, a monk noted for his scholarship. Besides introducing many reforms in the monastic community, he also introduced Western-style education which included the study of secular subjects and foreign languages for Buddhist.

In the nineteen-sixites, under the People's Republic, Buddhism was suppressed. Many monasteries were closed and monks and nuns returned to lay life. In recent years, a more liberal policy regarding religion has led to a growth of interest in the practice of Buddhism.

Source:www.buddhanet.net