What Was The Impact Of Buddhism On Japan

Buddhism was first introduced in Japan by Korea during the mid-sixth century (Earhart 293). Before, Japan was already practicing its own religion called Shinto and the introduction of Buddhism had induced a serious religious conflict within Japan. One form of Buddhism that enthralled Japan was the Mahayana Buddhism, which demonstrated an easy way to achieve salvation for all people (Earhart 293). The new religion and its doctrine attracted both the Japanese people, especially the commoners, the court, and the state. The public easily accepted Buddhism because it allowed all people to participate in the religious rituals, generating a sense of national unity throughout the people and the state. Moreover, the contribution of Buddhism’s profound
Before Buddhism arrived, Japan had “no literature and philosophy to speak of, and her religion and government were only loosely formed” (Earhart 294). Hence, Buddhism had introduced a highly organized Chinese cultural heritage, which Japan had accepted to cultivate its loosely formed state. The two important cultural heritages that Buddhism brought into Japan were literature and writing system, which equipped Japan with effective communication skills and profound intelligence to form an efficient and unified government. Moreover, the most important Chinese cultural heritage that Buddhism introduced to Japan was the “[Chinese] models for a well-ordered kingdom” (Earhart 294). The frailly formed Japanese state adopted the Chinese models of government to consolidate the authority of the court and develop a sound, coherent state. For example, Prince Shotoku’s “Seventeen-Article Constitution,” which adopted Buddhism and Confucianism perspectives on ideal government, stated that the people should obey the Sovereign, and that all taxes should be paid to the Sovereign and not to the local nobilities (“Prince Shotoku and his Constitution” 297-298). The articles demonstrated that Japan had enforced a strong centralized government and consolidated the power of the Emperor by reducing the power of the clans and officials
For example, Nara Buddhism became “a religion of the aristocracy and monks,” and was “infamous for its increasing decadence and corruption” (Earhart 296). This was partly due to the priests receiving inducement from the nobles who wanted to use the religion as a political leverage to acquire an influential position in the government to interfere with the politics. Since Buddhism became a strong state religion, its temples became powerful and wealthy by receiving inducements and bequests from the nobility. Indeed the priests also became power by receiving bribes and began to interfere with the politics (Earhart 296). The increasing influence of Buddhism was, in fact, considered counterproductive to the Japanese government because it was losing its centralized power to the nobles and priests. Even though the wealth and corruption of Buddhism caused decentralization of the Japanese government, it was still hard to deny that “Buddhism played a major role in shaping the Japanese state” (Earhart 294). Prince Shotoku’s Constitution clearly portrayed that Buddhism created a centralized Japanese government by consolidating the power of the emperor and diminishing the power of the clans and the government officials. Also, the Constitution was marked as the “first recognition of Buddhism’s profound message and the