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Chinese Buddhism
The Chinese name for Buddhism offers an interesting insight into how the religion came to be understood in China. Buddhism is commonly called Fojiao (佛教), literally meaning “the teaching (jiao) of the Buddha (Fo).” In this respect, Buddhism appears to belong to the same category as Confucianism and Daoism, traditionally known as the “Three Teachings”: Rujiao (Confucianism, the “teaching of the scholars”), Daojiao (Daoism, the “teaching of the Dao”), and Fojiao (Buddhism, the “teaching of the Buddha”).
There is, however, an important linguistic difference. The Chinese word Ru refers to a group of people, while Dao refers to a concept. Fo, by contrast, was originally a phonetic rendering of the Sanskrit word Buddha. In Sanskrit, Buddha means “the awakened one” or “one who has attained enlightenment.” The use of a foreign-sounding term reflects the fact that Buddhism originated in India and was introduced to China from outside the Chinese cultural tradition.
The Buddhist Worldview
When Buddhism began to spread into China during the first centuries of the Common Era, Buddhist teachers had to explain an unfamiliar religious worldview to a Chinese audience. Central to this worldview was the belief that living beings undergo repeated cycles of birth, death, and rebirth.
According to traditional Buddhist cosmology, existence takes place in six realms: gods, demigods, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts, and beings suffering in the various hells. The gods enjoy extraordinarily long and pleasurable lives, but they are not immortal and eventually undergo rebirth. Hungry ghosts are traditionally depicted as beings plagued by insatiable hunger and thirst, while beings in the hell realms experience various forms of suffering. All these states remain part of the cycle of rebirth.
The principle that determines the circumstances of rebirth is karma. The Sanskrit word karma literally means “action” or “deed.” In Buddhism, it refers to the principle that intentional actions produce corresponding consequences. Good actions lead toward favorable results, while harmful actions produce unfavorable consequences. The concept of karma therefore became a fundamental principle underlying Buddhist morality and religious practice.
The Three Characteristics of Existence
According to Buddhist teaching, the wisdom attained by the Buddha involved seeing the true nature of existence. The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth—known as samsara—is characterized by impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and the absence of a permanent self.
Everything is impermanent because all physical objects, emotions, mental states, and other phenomena arise from conditions, change over time, and eventually cease to exist. Life is also characterized by dukkha, often translated as suffering or unsatisfactoriness. Human beings experience physical and emotional suffering, but they also experience disappointment because the people, possessions, and circumstances they wish to preserve are constantly changing.
The third characteristic is the absence of a permanent, unchanging self, known in Sanskrit as anatman. This teaching created an important philosophical question: if there is no permanent self, what is it that is reborn?
Buddhist teachings explain rebirth not as the migration of an eternal soul but as a process of causal continuity. Traditional Buddhist texts use analogies such as one candle lighting another: the second flame is connected to the first, but it is not exactly the same flame. In the same way, the continuing effects of actions and mental processes connect one life with another without requiring an eternal, unchanging self.
The Cause of Suffering and the Path to Liberation
The Buddha's teaching identifies attachment and craving as fundamental causes of human suffering. People naturally cling to possessions, relationships, experiences, and even the idea of a permanent self, hoping that things that are inherently impermanent will remain unchanged. Because everything eventually changes, such attachment inevitably leads to disappointment and suffering.
Buddhist wisdom is therefore not merely intellectual knowledge. It is a form of spiritual understanding intended to bring liberation from suffering. The Buddha taught others how to follow a path toward awakening and freedom from the cycle of samsara.
Traditional Buddhist practice places morality at the foundation of this path. Lay followers traditionally undertake five basic precepts: refraining from killing, stealing, false speech, intoxicants, and sexual misconduct. Monks and nuns follow much more extensive rules governing their daily lives. Alongside moral discipline, Buddhist practice emphasizes meditation and the cultivation of wisdom.
The Historical Buddha
There are two important ways of understanding the word “Buddha.”
In the first sense, the Buddha refers specifically to Siddhartha Gautama, the historical founder of Buddhism. He was born into the Shakya clan in ancient India, traditionally dated to the fifth or sixth century BCE. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born into a royal family but renounced his privileged life in search of a solution to the problems of human existence.
After studying with established religious teachers and pursuing his own spiritual practices, he attained enlightenment through meditation. He subsequently became known as Shakyamuni, meaning “Sage of the Shakya Clan,” as well as Tathagata, a title traditionally translated as “Thus-Come One.” For many years he traveled throughout northern India, teaching both lay followers and monastic disciples.
After his death, traditionally described as his entry into nirvana, his physical presence was no longer directly accessible to his followers. Nevertheless, his influence continued through his teachings, disciples, sacred sites, relics, and stupas built to enshrine his remains.
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
In a broader sense, a buddha is any being who has attained complete enlightenment. Shakyamuni Buddha is therefore regarded as one Buddha among many. Buddhist traditions describe Buddhas who appeared before Shakyamuni as well as Buddhas who will appear in the future.
One of the best-known future Buddhas is Maitreya (Chinese: Mile), who is believed to reside in a heavenly realm and will appear in the future as the next Buddha of this world.
Buddhist traditions also describe Buddhas existing in different realms and directions. Amitabha Buddha (Chinese: Amituofo), for example, is believed to preside over the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in the West and is especially important in Pure Land Buddhism.
Closely associated with Buddhas are bodhisattvas, literally “beings dedicated to enlightenment.” The ideal of the bodhisattva became particularly important in Mahayana Buddhism, which developed in India around the beginning of the Common Era.
Bodhisattvas are traditionally understood as beings who have advanced greatly on the path to enlightenment but choose to remain engaged with the world in order to help other sentient beings attain liberation. Their emphasis on compassion has made them especially accessible and influential figures in Chinese Buddhism.
Among the most popular bodhisattvas in China are Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara), associated with compassion; Wenshu (Manjushri), associated with wisdom; Puxian (Samantabhadra), associated with practice and vows; Dizang (Ksitigarbha), associated particularly with vows to aid suffering beings; and Yaoshi Buddha (Bhaisajyaguru), the Medicine Buddha, associated with healing.
Through these Buddhas and bodhisattvas, Buddhism developed a rich religious and cultural presence in China. Over the centuries, Buddhist ideas interacted with indigenous Chinese traditions, particularly Confucianism and Daoism, giving rise to distinctive Chinese forms of Buddhist philosophy, ritual, art, literature, architecture, and religious practice.
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