The de facto founder of the Kushan dynasty was the Taiyue clan, due to the wars between the Xiongnu and the Han dynasty. The Otsuki people were affected and had to leave their original homeland and migrate to South Asia.
One of them migrated to India. They contributed greatly to the spread of Buddhism. When we talk about religious belief in India today, most people's first reaction is Buddhism, and the second reaction is Hinduism.
So why do the Otsuki people believe in Buddhism in India? In fact, the Otsuki people actually not only believe in Buddhism, but they also transform Buddhism.
The Otsuki people were somewhat influenced by Greek culture. India is a place where many cultures meet.
Buddhism first came to the mainland during the Han Ming Emperor's period. The story of the famous White Horse Sutra is widely spread. At that time, it was the Kushan Dynasty that stood side by side with the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The Kushan dynasty absorbed and transformed Buddhism. It gives Buddhism some characteristics of other cultures. At the same time, Buddhism, which already had other cultural characteristics, was reintroduced to other countries. It is tantamount to completing a cultural reform.
In fact, at this time, Buddhism refers to the "new Buddhism" that has integrated many religious traditions. For the people, this Buddhism is obviously more acceptable. Buddhism incorporates many religions, one of which is the Greek idea.
In the Greek concept , they believed that a person of high moral character could carve statues. The statue expresses the admiration of future generations for highly respected people.
In fact, at first Buddhists were very opposed to statues. They believe that Buddha is a belief in everyone's heart. It can't be expressed through something concrete. For example, Jigong's "wine and flesh pass through the intestines, and the Buddha keeps it in his heart." "This is probably what Buddhists thought in that period.
At that time, Buddhists believed that Buddhism itself did not mean that you had to follow any pure rules and precepts, any cumbersome rules. On the contrary, Buddhism should be meant to have compassion for all beings and an opposition to killing.
This compassion for all beings and opposition to killing is not limited to humans. The same applies to all other races.
The Buddhist goodness is actually a kind of goodwill in people's hearts, and they don't see it as an emotion that can be expressed.
However, due to the influence of Greek culture, the Kushan dynasty accepted to some extent that the great men of the Greek dynasty could be carved.
In the hearts of Buddhists, the greatest of the great people is definitely the Buddha statue, so they carved a lot of Buddha images. Interestingly, these Buddha statues are not the previous Buddha statues, but have a little Greek style.
The Persian kingdom also had a little bit of integration with Buddhism. In the religion of the Persian kingdom, there is a god who has the power to redeem suffering on earth. After the Buddhists accepted Persian culture, they gave this ability to the Buddha.
That is to say, if the Buddha sees that you have a fate, he may give guidance after seeing you.
In this way, Buddhism is not primitive, and it has to be said that this transformed Buddhism has a more market among the toiling people.
The first is that Buddhist beings are equal, which means that Buddhism is not hierarchical. That means that even the lowest levels of the population can enjoy the benefits of Buddhism.
The other is that Buddhism believes that Buddha has a destiny person. Many people are thinking that maybe they will become destined people themselves. This person is like who will win the lottery next time, but it is not clear in fact. In this case, the destined person becomes a hope.
Everyone agrees that you can get a lot of benefits if you become a destined person. It's like winning the lottery and getting a lot of money, giving the people at the bottom an ethereal hope, but this hope, although ethereal, is always there.
So in many cases, Buddhism also has to be forced to accept some secular things to be more popular, and Buddhism accepts these secular things, and they are very popular under pressure.
Of course, the biggest popular person in Buddhism is the ruler's advocacy, and the rulers of the Kushan Dynasty are very devout Buddhist believers, and they really believe that there is Elysium after death.
The so-called good at the top, the lower will be very bad. Under the advocacy of the Kushan aristocracy, there were also many Buddhist believers among the people, who not only improved Buddhism, but also made Buddhism more suitable for the development of society.
It's just that when Buddhism reaches a particularly prosperous stage, it needs to be very careful.
Because if religion occupies too many resources, then on the other hand, the resources occupied by the secular will slowly decrease. This is a very bad thing for all countries.
Therefore, when the Otsuki clan and other ethnic groups promote Buddhism, they also base themselves on whether Buddhism can serve the secular, and if Buddhism can serve the secular, then the spread will be smoother.
These changes allowed the Kushan people to find suitable routes of transmission in Central Asia, and Buddhism began to spread in Central Asia.
Another reason for the spread of Buddhism was that there were many people who traveled far and wide during the Kushan Dynasty. These travelers traveled east every day to find suitable soil for Buddhism. In this way, it is not surprising that Buddhism has spread in East Asia and Central Asia.
Of course, Buddhism is not invincible. He achieved dominance in only a few regions, which has a lot to do with the Kushan dynasty's advocacy and the Kushan people's transformation of Buddhism.
On the other hand, there are also some areas that do not have Buddhism, mainly because that region has formed its own complete system of gods and can no longer accept Buddhism.
There are also many complete systems in China, but these systems do not conflict with Buddhism, and Buddhism and Confucianism are like two different philosophies of life, in which Buddhism is biased towards birth and will be indifferent to everything. Confucianism is equivalent to joining the WTO, and we must have a positive attitude towards everything.
Therefore, Buddhism is a system that is compatible with many ideological and moral systems. At present, Buddhism is spreading all over the world. Together with Islam, Buddhism and Christianity are the world's three major religions and have countless followers.
In fact, religious beliefs are partly to seek another kind of peace, perhaps they do not live well in the world, or they are dissatisfied with the world, but they cannot change it.
At this time, they will rely on seemingly ethereal religious beliefs to give themselves hope. It is best not to have a completely negative content in religious beliefs.
If there is too much negative content, then the religious belief itself may bring people sad emotions, which is not conducive to people's ideological construction and not conducive to attracting believers.
The flourishing of Buddhism in China did bring a new force to Chinese thought and culture, and before the advent of Buddhism, Confucianism and religion occupied all the territory of Chinese thought.
Buddhism, as a foreign religion, invaded the territory of Buddhism and Taoism.
Buddhism can have such achievements and the support of the Kushan aristocracy and the running of Kushan from east to west, from the beginning of coming to Central Asia, they found that the land of Central Asia is suitable for the spread of Buddhism, so they eventually introduced Buddhism into Central Asia and also opened up a large market for Buddhism.
No matter which religion is bound to increase the number of adherents by means of gods or creative systems. The spread of Buddhism in Central Asia was precisely the result of a certain degree of concession made by Buddhism.
Buddhism not only spread in Central Asia, but also gained a significant number of followers in China. Some emperors even started a campaign to exterminate Buddhism because they were afraid of the influence of Buddhism. It is enough to see the great influence of Buddhism.
It's just that any religious belief is an auxiliary method. If people want to achieve a happy life, I am afraid that they must still base themselves on the mortal world. If it is really beyond the three realms, it is not in the five elements. I'm afraid it's hard to experience happiness.
Of course, for some high-ranking people, this is not a problem. They may be able to find peace of mind from this life. But for us ordinary people, there may still be some difficulties in reaching that state, and it does not matter to us what religion we believe. Just live your life.