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135-520: Modern scholars of Buddhist studies generally hold that these sūtras first began to appear between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE. They continued being composed, compiled, and edited until the decline of Buddhism in ancient India . Some of them may have also been composed outside of India, such as in Central Asia and in East Asia . Some of the most influential Mahāyāna sūtras include

270-577: A failed war in northern Korea provoked widespread unrest. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties , Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age. The Tang dynasty retained control of the Western Regions and the Silk Road, which brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and the Horn of Africa , and made the capital Chang'an a cosmopolitan urban center. However, it

405-412: A Buddha is often seen as "a spiritual king, relating to and caring for the world", rather than simply a teacher who after his death "has completely 'gone beyond' the world and its cares". Buddha Sakyamuni 's life and death on earth is then usually understood docetically , as a "mere appearance", his death was an unreal show (which was done in order to teach others), while in reality he continues to live in

540-462: A Buddha, a disciple of a Buddha, a deva (heavenly being), a ṛṣi (a sage), or an emanation of one of these beings; however, they must first receive certification from a Buddha that its contents are true Dharma. The Indian Mahāyāna scholar Shantideva (8th century) states: Through four factors is an inspired utterance [ pratibhana ] the word of the Buddhas. What four? (i)...the inspired utterance

675-470: A body of ten Mahayana sutras translated by Lokaksema before 186 C.E. – and these constitute our earliest objectively dated Mahayana texts. This picture may be qualified by the analysis of very early manuscripts recently coming out of Afghanistan, but for the meantime this is speculation. In effect we have a vast body of anonymous but relatively coherent literature, of which individual items can only be dated firmly when they were translated into another language at

810-401: A climate very suitable for agriculture and the country has been the world's largest producer of rice, wheat, tomatoes, eggplant, grapes, watermelon, spinach, and many other crops. In 2021, 12 percent of global permanent meadows and pastures belonged to China, as well as 8% of global cropland. China is one of 17 megadiverse countries , lying in two of the world's major biogeographic realms :

945-483: A common prevailing view of the Mahāyāna sūtras among modern Buddhist studies scholars as follows: Western scholarship does not go so far as to impugn the religious authority of Mahayana sutras, but it tends to assume that they are not the literal word of the historical Śākyamuni Buddha. Unlike the śrāvaka critics just cited, we have no possibility of knowing just who composed and compiled these texts, and for us, removed from

1080-532: A cultural identity among its populace still remembered in the ethnonym of the modern Han Chinese . The Han expanded the empire's territory considerably , with military campaigns reaching Central Asia, Mongolia , Korea , and Yunnan , and the recovery of Guangdong and northern Vietnam from Nanyue . Han involvement in Central Asia and Sogdia helped establish the land route of the Silk Road , replacing

1215-634: A disputed land border with India and Bhutan . China is additionally involved in maritime disputes with multiple countries over territory in the East and South China Seas , such as the Senkaku Islands and the entirety of South China Sea Islands . The People's Republic of China is a one-party state governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP is officially guided by socialism with Chinese characteristics , which

1350-730: A far-reaching popular uprising (the May Fourth Movement ). In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political maneuverings known collectively as the Northern Expedition . The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to Nanjing and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of

1485-475: A high density of plant species including numerous rare endemics. Tropical and seasonal rainforests , though confined to Yunnan and Hainan , contain a quarter of all the animal and plant species found in China. China has over 10,000 recorded species of fungi . In the early 2000s, China has suffered from environmental deterioration and pollution due to its rapid pace of industrialization. Regulations such as

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1620-572: A known date. A. K. Warder notes that the Mahāyāna Sūtras are highly unlikely to have come from the teachings of the historical Buddha, since the language and style of every extant Mahāyāna Sūtra is comparable more to later Indian texts than to texts that could have circulated in the Buddha's putative lifetime. Warder also notes that the Tibetan historian Tāranātha (1575–1634) proclaimed that after

1755-497: A major focus, special economic zones (SEZs) were created. Inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were restructured and some closed. This marked China's transition away from planned economy. China adopted its current constitution on 4 December 1982. In 1989, there were protests such those in Tiananmen Square , and then throughout the entire nation. Zhao Ziyang was put under house arrest for his sympathies to

1890-404: A permanent navy which was supported by the developed shipbuilding industry along with the sea trade. Between the 10th and 11th century CE, the population of China doubled to around 100 million people, mostly because of the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. The Song dynasty also saw a revival of Confucianism , in response to

2025-506: A select few individuals. The practice of visualization of Buddhas (in texts like the Sukhāvatīvyūha ) has been seen by some scholars as a possible explanation for the source of certain Mahāyāna sūtras which were seen as revelations from Buddha in other heavenly worlds. Williams also notes that there are other Mahāyāna texts which speak of sūtras being revealed or entrusted to forest dwelling monks by devas (deities). Paul Harrison notes that

2160-671: A small elite of hardcore ascetics. While some Mahāyāna sūtras like the Vimalakirti sūtra and the White Lotus sūtra criticize arhats and sravakas (referring to non-Mahāyānists) as lacking wisdom, and reject their path as a lower vehicle, i.e. ' hīnayāna ' (the 'inferior way'), earlier Mahāyāna sūtras do not do this. As noted by David Drewes "early Mahāyāna sūtras often present their teachings as useful not only to people who wish to become Buddhas, but to those who wish to attain arhatship or pratyekabuddhahood as well. The old idea that

2295-461: A transcendent realm in order to help all beings. Mahāyāna sūtras, especially those of the Prajñāpāramitā genre, teach the importance of the practice of the six perfections ( pāramitā ) as part of the path to Buddhahood , and special attention is given to the perfection of wisdom ( prajñāpāramitā ) which is seen as primary. The importance of developing bodhicitta , which refers to a mind that

2430-457: Is Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances . The Chinese constitution states that the PRC "is a socialist state governed by a people's democratic dictatorship that is led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and peasants," that the state institutions "shall practice the principle of democratic centralism ," and that "the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics

2565-664: Is "China" ( 中国 ; 中國 ; Zhōngguó ), from zhōng ('central') and guó ('state'), a term which developed under the Western Zhou dynasty in reference to its royal demesne . It was used in official documents as an synonym for the state under the Qing . The name Zhongguo is also translated as 'Middle Kingdom' in English. China is sometimes referred to as " mainland China " or "the Mainland" when distinguishing it from

2700-500: Is aimed at full awakening (i.e. Buddhahood) is also stressed. Another central practice advocated by the Mahāyāna sūtras is focused around "the acquisition of merit , the universal currency of the Buddhist world, a vast quantity of which was believed to be necessary for the attainment of Buddhahood". According to David Drewes, Mahāyāna sūtras teach simple religious practices that are supposed to make Buddhahood easy to achieve. Some of

2835-400: Is based on the idea that "Whatever is well spoken [ subhasita ], all that is the word of the Buddha [ buddhabhasita ]." As such, this idea holds that Mahāyāna is the "word of the Buddha" because it leads to awakening ( bodhi ), not because it was spoken by a specific individual with the title "Buddha". According to Venerable Hsuan Hua , there are five types of beings who may speak "Buddha word":

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2970-856: Is bounded by the Bohai , Yellow , East China and South China seas. China connects through the Kazakh border to the Eurasian Steppe . The territory of China lies between latitudes 18° and 54° N , and longitudes 73° and 135° E . The geographical center of China is marked by the Center of the Country Monument at 35°50′40.9″N 103°27′7.5″E  /  35.844694°N 103.452083°E  / 35.844694; 103.452083  ( Geographical center of China ) . China's landscapes vary significantly across its vast territory. In

3105-585: Is commonly agreed that pre-modern China's population experienced two growth spurts, one during the Northern Song period (960–1127), and other during the Qing period (around 1700–1830). By the High Qing era China was possibly the most commercialized country in the world, and imperial China experienced a second commercial revolution by the end of the 18th century. On the other hand, the centralized autocracy

3240-526: Is connected with truth, not untruth; (ii) it is connected with the Dharma, not that which is not the Dharma; (iii) it brings about the renunciation of moral taints [ klesa ] not their increase; and (iv) it shows the laudable qualities of nirvana, not those of the cycle of rebirth [samsara]. Williams writes that similar ideas can be found in the Pali Canon , though it is interpreted in a more open ended way in

3375-432: Is evidence of disagreement as regards the details of the Buddha's teaching. John W. Pettit writes that "Mahāyāna has not got a strong historical claim for representing the explicit teachings of the historical Buddha". However, he also argues that basic Mahāyāna concepts such as "the bodhisattva ethic, emptiness (sunyata), and the recognition of a distinction between buddhahood and arhatship as spiritual ideals," can be seen in

3510-461: Is home to a variety of forest types. Cold coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such as moose and Asian black bear , along with over 120 bird species. The understory of moist conifer forests may contain thickets of bamboo . In higher montane stands of juniper and yew , the bamboo is replaced by rhododendrons . Subtropical forests, which are predominate in central and southern China, support

3645-659: Is promoted in some of the sutras themselves. The Prajñāpāramitā sutras promote the copying, reading, recitation, contemplation, and distribution of the sutra, and they also teach its worship and veneration. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra states: Here, the sons or daughters of good family are enjoined to put up a copy of the Prajñāpāramitā on an altar, and to pay respect to it, to revere, worship and adore it, pay regard and reverence to it with flowers, incense, powders, umbrellas, banners, bells, and rows of burning lamps. The Prajñāpāramitā sutras also reference themselves as

3780-451: Is protected by law, and as of 2005 , the country has over 2,349 nature reserves , covering a total area of 149.95 million hectares, 15 percent of China's total land area. Most wild animals have been eliminated from the core agricultural regions of east and central China, but they have fared better in the mountainous south and west. The Baiji was confirmed extinct on 12 December 2006. China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants, and

3915-530: Is the country's capital, while Shanghai is its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center . China is considered one of the cradles of civilization : the first human inhabitants in the region arrived during the Paleolithic . By the late 2nd millennium BCE, the earliest dynastic states had emerged in the Yellow River basin. The 8th–3rd centuries BCE saw a breakdown in

4050-451: Is the direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters . The Shang were overthrown by the Zhou , who ruled between the 11th and 5th centuries BCE, though the centralized authority of Son of Heaven was slowly eroded by fengjian lords. Some principalities eventually emerged from the weakened Zhou and continually waged war with each other during the 300-year Spring and Autumn period . By

4185-401: Is the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party." The PRC officially terms itself as a democracy , using terms such as "socialist consultative democracy", and " whole-process people's democracy ". However, the country is commonly described as an authoritarian one-party state and a dictatorship , with among the heaviest restrictions worldwide in many areas, most notably against freedom of

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4320-559: Is the world's leading investor in renewable energy and its commercialization , with $ 546 billion invested in 2022; it is a major manufacturer of renewable energy technologies and invests heavily in local-scale renewable energy projects. Long heavily relying on non-renewable energy sources such as coal, China's adaptation of renewable energy has increased significantly in recent years, with their share increasing from 26.3 percent in 2016 to 31.9 percent in 2022. In 2023, 60.5% of China's electricity came from coal (largest producer in

4455-702: The Encyclopædia Britannica , to 9,596,961 km (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook , and The World Factbook . China has the longest combined land border in the world , measuring 22,117 km (13,743 mi) and its coastline covers approximately 14,500 km (9,000 mi) from the mouth of the Yalu River (Amnok River) to the Gulf of Tonkin . China borders 14 nations and covers

4590-936: The Lotus Sutra , the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras , the Avatamsaka Sutra , the Lankavatara Sutra , the Pure Land Sutras , and the Nirvana Sutra . Mahāyāna Buddhists typically consider several major Mahāyāna sūtras to have been taught by Shakyamuni Buddha , committed to memory and recited by his disciples, in particular Ananda . However, other Mahāyāna sūtras are presented as being taught by other figures, such as bodhisattvas like Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara . There are various reasons that Indian Mahāyāna Buddhists gave to explain

4725-456: The 18th CCP National Congress in 2012. Shortly after his ascension to power, Xi launched a vast anti-corruption crackdown , that prosecuted more than 2 million officials by 2022. During his tenure , Xi has consolidated power unseen since the initiation of economic and political reforms. China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts in the arid north to

4860-778: The Cultural Revolution , sparking a decade of political recrimination and social upheaval that lasted until Mao's death in 1976. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the ROC in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. After Mao's death, the Gang of Four was arrested by Hua Guofeng and held responsible for the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution

4995-636: The Kuomintang and the Communists led to the resumption of civil war. Constitutional rule was established in 1947, but because of the ongoing unrest, many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China. Afterwards, the CCP took control of most of mainland China, and the ROC government retreated offshore to Taiwan . On 1 October 1949, CCP Chairman Mao Zedong formally proclaimed

5130-568: The Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879 , in which between 9 and 13 million people died. The Guangxu Emperor drafted a reform plan in 1898 to establish a modern constitutional monarchy , but these plans were thwarted by the Empress Dowager Cixi . The ill-fated anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901 further weakened the dynasty. Although Cixi sponsored a program of reforms known as the late Qing reforms ,

5265-620: The Palearctic and the Indomalayan . By one measure, China has over 34,687 species of animals and vascular plants, making it the third-most biodiverse country in the world, after Brazil and Colombia . The country is a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity ; its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan was received by the convention in 2010. China is home to at least 551 species of mammals (the third-highest in

5400-601: The Pāli Canon . According to Pettit, this suggests that Mahāyāna is "not simply an accretion of fabricated doctrines" but "has a strong connection with the teachings of Buddha himself". Mahāyāna sūtras are generally regarded by Mahāyānists as being more profound than the śrāvaka texts as well as generating more spiritual merit and benefit. Thus, they are seen as superior and more virtuous to non-Mahāyāna sūtras. The Mahāyāna sūtras were not recognized as being Buddha word ( buddhavacana ) by various groups of Indian Buddhists and there

5535-744: The RCEP . It is a member of the BRICS , the G20 , APEC , the SCO , and the East Asia Summit . Making up around one-fifth of the world economy, the Chinese economy is the world's largest economy by PPP-adjusted GDP , the second-largest economy by nominal GDP , and the second-wealthiest country , albeit ranking poorly in measures of democracy , human rights and religious freedom . The country has been one of

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5670-573: The Republic of China (ROC) was established the following year. The country under the nascent Beiyang government was unstable and ultimately fragmented during the Warlord Era , which was ended upon the Northern Expedition conducted by the Kuomintang (KMT) to reunify the country. The Chinese Civil War began in 1927, when KMT forces purged members of the rival Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who proceeded to engage in sporadic fighting against

5805-729: The Republic of China or the PRC's Special Administrative Regions . Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China 2.25 million years ago. The hominid fossils of Peking Man , a Homo erectus who used fire , have been dated to between 680,000 and 780,000 years ago . The fossilized teeth of Homo sapiens (dated to 125,000–80,000 years ago) have been discovered in Fuyan Cave . Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 6600 BCE, at Damaidi around 6000 BCE, Dadiwan from 5800 to 5400 BCE, and Banpo dating from

5940-470: The Silk Road , and the building of the Great Wall , Chinese culture flourished and has heavily influenced both its neighbors and lands further afield. However, China began to cede parts of the country in the late 19th century to various European powers by a series of unequal treaties . After decades of Qing China on the decline, the 1911 Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and the monarchy and

6075-476: The State Council , China's cabinet, composed of four vice premiers, state councilors , and the heads of ministries and commissions. The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body that is critical in China's " united front " system, which aims to gather non-CCP voices to support the CCP. Similar to the people's congresses, CPPCC's exist at various division, with

6210-723: The Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989. China is a unitary one-party socialist republic led by the CCP. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council ; the UN representative for China was changed from the ROC to the PRC in 1971. It is a founding member of several multilateral and regional organizations such as the AIIB , the Silk Road Fund , the New Development Bank , and

6345-505: The Turpan Depression . China's climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons , which lead to pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas at lower latitudes are warm and moist. A major environmental issue in China is the continued expansion of its deserts , particularly

6480-621: The World Trade Organization in 2001. At the 16th CCP National Congress in 2002, Hu Jintao succeeded Jiang as the general secretary. Under Hu, China maintained its high rate of economic growth, overtaking the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan to become the world's second-largest economy. However, the growth also severely impacted the country's resources and environment, and caused major social displacement. Xi Jinping succeeded Hu as paramount leader at

6615-719: The Xi , Mekong , Brahmaputra and Amur . To the west sit major mountain ranges, most notably the Himalayas. High plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes of the north, such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert. The world's highest point, Mount Everest (8,848 m), lies on the Sino-Nepalese border. The country's lowest point, and the world's third-lowest, is the dried lake bed of Ayding Lake (−154 m) in

6750-549: The Xinhai Revolution of 1911–1912 ended the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China . Puyi , the last Emperor, abdicated in 1912 . On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, and Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (KMT) was proclaimed provisional president. In March 1912, the presidency was given to Yuan Shikai , a former Qing general who in 1915 proclaimed himself Emperor of China . In

6885-422: The campaigns against Western Xia by Genghis Khan , who also invaded Jin territories . In 1271, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty , which conquered the last remnant of the Song dynasty in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, the population of Song China was 120 million citizens; this was reduced to 60 million by the time of the census in 1300. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew

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7020-438: The fastest-growing major economies and is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter , as well as the second-largest importer . China is a nuclear-weapon state with the world's largest standing army by military personnel and the second-largest defense budget . It is a great power , and has been described as an emerging superpower . China is known for its cuisine and culture, and has 59 UNESCO World Heritage Sites ,

7155-399: The second-highest number of any country . The word "China" has been used in English since the 16th century; however, it was not used by the Chinese themselves during this period. Its origin has been traced through Portuguese , Malay , and Persian back to the Sanskrit word Cīna , used in ancient India . "China" appears in Richard Eden 's 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of

7290-517: The second-most populous country after India , representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land . With an area of nearly 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third-largest country by total land area. The country is divided into 33 province-level divisions : 22 provinces , five autonomous regions , four municipalities , and two semi-autonomous special administrative regions . Beijing

7425-422: The subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya , Karakoram , Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia . The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, respectively, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 km (9,000 mi) long and

7560-440: The 1979 Environmental Protection Law are fairly stringent, though they are poorly enforced, frequently disregarded in favor of rapid economic development. China has the second-highest death toll because of air pollution, after India , with approximately 1 million deaths. Although China ranks as the highest CO 2 emitting country, it only emits 8 tons of CO 2 per capita , significantly lower than developed countries such as

7695-406: The 2010s. In 2020, the Chinese government announced its aims for the country to reach its peak emissions levels before 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 in line with the Paris Agreement , which, according to Climate Action Tracker , would lower the expected rise in global temperature by 0.2–0.3 degrees – "the biggest single reduction ever estimated by the Climate Action Tracker". China

7830-405: The 5th millennium BCE. Some scholars have suggested that the Jiahu symbols (7th millennium BCE) constituted the earliest Chinese writing system. According to traditional Chinese historiography , the Xia dynasty was established during the late 3rd millennium BCE, marking the beginning of the dynastic cycle that was understood to underpin China's entire political history. In the modern era,

7965-416: The British under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking , the first of what have been termed as the " unequal treaties ". The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula , as well as the cession of Taiwan to Japan . The Qing dynasty also began experiencing internal unrest in which tens of millions of people died, especially in the White Lotus Rebellion ,

8100-406: The Buddha taught the sutras, they disappeared from the human world and circulated only in the world of the nagas . In Warder's view, "this is as good as an admission that no such texts existed until the 2nd century A.D." Paul Williams writes that while Mahāyāna tradition believes that the Mahāyāna sūtras were taught by the Buddha, "source-critical and historical awareness has made it impossible for

8235-421: The Buddha's word by the school of Theravāda Buddhism . The origins of the Mahāyāna and their sūtras are not completely understood. Modern scholars have proposed numerous theories about the origins of Mahāyāna and the Mahāyāna texts. Some of the main theories are the following: According to David Drewes, none of these theories have been satisfactorily proven and they lack sufficient evidence. Drewes writes that

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8370-476: The Buddhas Amitabha , Akshobhya and Vairocana , and the bodhisattvas Maitreya , Mañjusri , Ksitigarbha , and Avalokiteshvara . An important feature of Mahāyāna is the way that it understands the nature of Buddhahood . Mahāyāna texts see Buddhas (and to a lesser extent, certain bodhisattvas as well) as transcendental or supramundane ( lokuttara ) beings, who live for eons constantly helping others through their activity. According to Paul Williams, in Mahāyāna,

8505-400: The CCP. The NPC is dominated by the CCP, with another eight minor parties having nominal representation under the condition of upholding CCP leadership. The president is elected by the NPC. The presidency is the ceremonial state representative, but not the constitutional head of state. The incumbent president is Xi Jinping, who is also the general secretary of the CCP and the chairman of

8640-413: The Central Military Commission , making him China's paramount leader and supreme commander of the Armed Forces. The premier is the head of government , with Li Qiang being the incumbent. The premier is officially nominated by the president and then elected by the NPC, and has generally been either the second- or third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). The premier presides over

8775-450: The Gobi Desert. Although barrier tree lines planted since the 1970s have reduced the frequency of sandstorms , prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices have resulted in dust storms plaguing northern China each spring, which then spread to other parts of East Asia, including Japan and Korea. Water quality, erosion , and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting glaciers in

8910-668: The Himalayas could potentially lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people. According to academics, in order to limit climate change in China to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) electricity generation from coal in China without carbon capture must be phased out by 2045. With current policies, the GHG emissions of China will probably peak in 2025, and by 2030 they will return to 2022 levels. However, such pathway still leads to three-degree temperature rise. Official government statistics about Chinese agricultural productivity are considered unreliable, due to exaggeration of production at subsidiary government levels. Much of China has

9045-418: The KMT-led Nationalist government . Following the country's invasion by the Empire of Japan in 1937, the CCP and KMT formed the Second United Front to fight the Japanese. The Second Sino-Japanese War eventually ended in a Chinese victory; however, the CCP and the KMT resumed their civil war as soon as the war ended. In 1949, the resurgent Communists established control over most of the country, proclaiming

9180-430: The Kuomintang and the CCP. Japanese forces committed numerous war atrocities against the civilian population; as many as 20 million Chinese civilians died. An estimated 40,000 to 300,000 Chinese were massacred in Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation. China, along with the UK, the United States, and the Soviet Union , were recognized as the Allied " Big Four " in the Declaration by United Nations . Along with

9315-412: The Mahāyāna began with the rejection of the arhat ideal in favor of that of the bodhisattva is thus clearly incorrect." Paul Williams also writes that earlier Mahāyāna sūtras like the Ugraparipṛcchā Sūtra and the Ajitasena sutra do not present any antagonism towards the hearers or the ideal of arhatship like later sutras. According to David Drewes, Mahāyāna sūtras contain several elements besides

9450-422: The Mahāyāna in order to include a larger set of teachings that were seen as spiritually useful. The modern Japanese Zen Buddhist scholar D. T. Suzuki similarly argued that while the Mahāyāna sūtras may not have been directly taught by the historical Buddha, the "spirit and central ideas" of Mahāyāna "are those of its founder". Thus, Suzuki admits (and celebrates) how the Mahāyāna evolved and adapted itself to suit

9585-400: The Mahāyāna sūtras is the ideal of the Bodhisattva path, something which is not unique to them, however, as such a path is also taught in non-Mahayana texts which also required prediction of future Buddhahood in the presence of a living Buddha. What is unique to Mahāyāna sūtras is the idea that the term bodhisattva is applicable to any person from the moment they intend to become a Buddha (i.e.

9720-426: The Mahāyāna teachings. The reason these accounts give for the historically late disclosure of the Mahāyāna teachings is that most people were initially unable to understand the Mahāyāna sūtras at the time of the Buddha (500 BCE) and suitable recipients for these teachings had not yet arisen. Some traditional accounts of the transmission of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras claim that they were originally stored or hidden in

9855-708: The PRC initially allied closely with the Soviet Union , the relations between the two communist nations gradually deteriorated , leading China to develop an independent industrial system and its own nuclear weapons . The Chinese population increased from 550 million in 1950 to 900 million in 1974. However, the Great Leap Forward , an idealistic massive industrialization project, resulted in an estimated 15 to 55 million deaths between 1959 and 1961, mostly from starvation. In 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb. In 1966, Mao and his allies launched

9990-1002: The People program for transforming China into a modern democratic state. The Kuomintang briefly allied with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Northern Expedition, though the alliance broke down in 1927 after Chiang violently suppressed the CCP and other leftists in Shanghai, marking the beginning of the Chinese Civil War . The CCP declared areas of the country as the Chinese Soviet Republic (Jiangxi Soviet) in November 1931 in Ruijin , Jiangxi . The Jiangxi Soviet

10125-586: The People's Republic of China and forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to the island of Taiwan . The country was split, with both sides claiming to be the sole legitimate government of China . Following the implementation of land reforms , further attempts by the PRC to realize communism failed: the Great Leap Forward was largely responsible for the Great Chinese Famine that ended with millions of Chinese people having died, and

10260-535: The People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square , Beijing . In 1950, the PRC captured Hainan from the ROC and annexed Tibet . However, remaining Kuomintang forces continued to wage an insurgency in western China throughout the 1950s. The CCP consolidated its popularity among the peasants through the Land Reform Movement , which included the state-tolerated executions of between 1 and 2 million landlords by peasants and former tenants. Though

10395-573: The Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa . Barbosa's usage was derived from Persian Chīn ( چین ), which in turn derived from Sanskrit Cīna ( चीन ). Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahabharata (5th century BCE) and the Laws of Manu (2nd century BCE). In 1655, Martino Martini suggested that the word China is derived ultimately from

10530-551: The United States (16.1), Australia (16.8) and South Korea (13.6). Greenhouse gas emissions by China are the world's largest . The country has significant water pollution problems; only 89.4% of China's national surface water was graded suitable for human consumption by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2023. China has prioritized clamping down on pollution, bringing a significant decrease in air pollution in

10665-540: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 548032633 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:42:10 GMT China China , officially the People's Republic of China ( PRC ), is a country in East Asia . With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is

10800-496: The Xia is the earliest for which there are both contemporary written records and undisputed archaeological evidence. The Shang ruled much of the Yellow River valley until the 11th century BCE, with the earliest hard evidence dated c.  1300 BCE . The oracle bone script , attested from c.  1250 BCE but generally assumed to be considerably older, represents the oldest known form of written Chinese , and

10935-513: The Xia's historicity came under increasing scrutiny, in part due to the earliest known attestation of the Xia being written millennia after the date given for their collapse. In 1958, archaeologists discovered sites belonging to the Erlitou culture that existed during the early Bronze Age ; they have since been characterized as the remains of the historical Xia, but this conception is often rejected. The Shang dynasty that traditionally succeeded

11070-681: The Yuan in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty as the Hongwu Emperor . Under the Ming dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that admiral Zheng He led the Ming treasure voyages throughout the Indian Ocean, reaching as far as East Africa. In

11205-472: The arising of bodhicitta ) and without the requirement of a living Buddha. They also claim that any person who accepts and uses Mahāyāna sūtras either had already received or will soon receive such a prediction from a Buddha, establishing their position as an irreversible bodhisattva. Some Mahāyāna sūtras promote it as a universal path for everyone, while others like the Ugraparipṛcchā see it as something for

11340-451: The authority of the Zhou dynasty , accompanied by the emergence of administrative and military techniques, literature , philosophy , and historiography . In 221 BCE, China was unified under an emperor , ushering in more than two millennia of imperial dynasties including the Qin , Han , Tang , Yuan , Ming , and Qing . With the invention of gunpowder and paper , the establishment of

11475-820: The bulk of East Asia, bordering Vietnam , Laos , and Myanmar in Southeast Asia; India , Bhutan , Nepal , Pakistan and Afghanistan in South Asia; Tajikistan , Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; and Russia, Mongolia , and North Korea in Inner Asia and Northeast Asia . It is narrowly separated from Bangladesh and Thailand to the southwest and south, and has several maritime neighbors such as Japan , Philippines , Malaysia , and Indonesia . China has resolved its land borders with 12 out of 14 neighboring countries, having pursued substantial compromises in most of them. China currently has

11610-512: The content found in the sūtras. Numerous Mahayana sutras teach the veneration and recitation of the sutras themselves as a religious icon and as an embodiment of the Dharma and the Buddha. In Indian Mahayana Buddhism , the worship of sutras, like the Prajñāpāramitā sutra books ( pustaka ) and manuscripts became an important part of Mahayana practice which was considered to bring wisdom, merit and apotropaic protection from harm. This practice

11745-559: The designation 'Teacher' with regard to this perfection of wisdom—he thinks, 'The Teacher is face to face with me, the Teacher is seen by me.' Since the sutras teach and lead one to perfect wisdom, and perfect wisdom was considered to be the mother of all Buddhas, then to honor and to know the text was to honor and to know the Buddha. As such, the Aṣṭasāhasrikā states: Buddhist studies Too Many Requests If you report this error to

11880-610: The earlier path over the Himalayas to India. Han China gradually became the largest economy of the ancient world. Despite the Han's initial decentralization and the official abandonment of the Qin philosophy of Legalism in favor of Confucianism , Qin's legalist institutions and policies continued to be employed by the Han government and its successors. After the end of the Han dynasty , a period of strife known as Three Kingdoms followed, at

12015-686: The early Mahāyāna texts, which were not written documents but orally preserved teachings. Drewes writes, that Mahāyāna sūtras advocate mnemic/oral/aural practices more frequently than they do written ones, make reference to people who have memorized or are in the process of memorizing them, and consistently attach higher prestige to mnemic/oral practices than to ones involving written texts. Study of differences in various versions of sutras translated into Chinese has directly shown that these texts were often transmitted orally. Mahāyāna sūtras were committed to memory and recited by important learned monks called "Dharma reciters" ( dharmabhāṇakas ), who were viewed as

12150-537: The early Ming dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. With the budding of capitalism, philosophers such as Wang Yangming critiqued and expanded Neo-Confucianism with concepts of individualism and equality of four occupations . The scholar-official stratum became a supporting force of industry and commerce in the tax boycott movements, which, together with the famines and defense against Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) and Later Jin incursions led to an exhausted treasury. In 1644, Beijing

12285-737: The east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains , while on the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, broad grasslands predominate. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the central-east hosts the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Other major rivers include

12420-656: The end of which Wei was swiftly overthrown by the Jin dynasty . The Jin fell to civil war upon the ascension of a developmentally disabled emperor ; the Five Barbarians then rebelled and ruled northern China as the Sixteen States . The Xianbei unified them as the Northern Wei , whose Emperor Xiaowen reversed his predecessors' apartheid policies and enforced a drastic sinification on his subjects . In

12555-410: The entire Hīnayāna corpus. There is also no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed within the early Buddhist schools as a certain set of ideals, texts and later doctrines, for bodhisattvas. Mahāyānists also never had a separate Vinaya (monastic rule) from the early Buddhist schools . The Chinese monk Yijing who visited India in

12690-473: The face of popular condemnation and opposition from his own Beiyang Army , he was forced to abdicate and re-establish the republic in 1916. After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented. Its Beijing-based government was internationally recognized but virtually powerless; regional warlords controlled most of its territory. During this period , China participated in World War I and saw

12825-457: The fact that they only appeared at a later time. One such reason was that they had been hidden away in the land of the Nāgas (snake deities, dragons) until the proper time for their dissemination arrived. The Mahāyāna sūtras were not accepted by all Buddhists in ancient India, and the various Indian Buddhist schools disagreed on their status as "word of the Buddha". They are generally not accepted as

12960-555: The failed Taiping Rebellion that ravaged southern China in the 1850s and 1860s and the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) in the northwest. The initial success of the Self-Strengthening Movement of the 1860s was frustrated by a series of military defeats in the 1880s and 1890s. In the 19th century, the great Chinese diaspora began. Losses due to emigration were added to by conflicts and catastrophes such as

13095-490: The fifth and sixth centuries saw a great increase in their production. By this time, Chinese pilgrims, such as Faxian , Yijing , and Xuanzang were traveling to India, and their writings describe monasteries which they label 'Mahāyāna' as well as monasteries where both Mahāyāna monks and non-Mahāyāna monks lived together. Dating the Mahāyāna sūtras is quite difficult; and many can only be dated firmly to when they were translated into another language. Andrew Skilton summarizes

13230-612: The growth of Buddhism during the Tang, and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and porcelain were brought to new levels of complexity. However, the military weakness of the Song army was observed by the Jin dynasty . In 1127, Emperor Huizong of Song and the capital Bianjing were captured during the Jin–Song wars . The remnants of the Song retreated to southern China . The Mongol conquest of China began in 1205 with

13365-464: The highest object of study and worship, claiming that studying, reciting, and worshiping them is superior to worshiping stupas , Buddha relics , and other objects. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā claims that this is because "the relics of the Tathāgata have come forth from this perfection of wisdom". Since the very concept of Prajñāpāramitā (transcendent knowledge, perfection of wisdom) is linked with

13500-509: The idea that devas may preach the Buddha word is also present in non-Mahāyāna texts. Paul Harrison has also noted the importance of dream revelations in certain texts such as the Arya-svapna-nirdesa which lists and interprets 108 dream signs. A different Mahāyāna justification for the authenticity of the Mahāyāna sūtras is that they are in accord with the truth, with the Buddha's Dharma and therefore they lead to awakening. This

13635-400: The informal paramount leader . The current general secretary is Xi Jinping , who took office on 15 November 2012. At the local level, the secretary of the CCP committee of a subdivision outranks the local government level; CCP committee secretary of a provincial division outranks the governor while the CCP committee secretary of a city outranks the mayor. The government in China is under

13770-409: The largest importer of Russian crude oil in 2022. China is the third-largest country in the world by land area after Russia , and the third- or fourth-largest country in the world by total area. China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km (3,700,000 sq mi). Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km (3,696,100 sq mi) according to

13905-467: The modern scholar to accept this traditional account." However, Williams further writes that Nevertheless, it is not always absurd to suggest that a Mahāyāna sūtra or teaching may contain elements of a tradition which goes back to the Buddha himself, which was played down or just possibly excluded from the canonical formulations of the early schools. We have seen that even at the First Council there

14040-589: The most likely origin of Mahāyāna is that it was "primarily a textual movement, focused on the revelation, preaching, and dissemination of Mahāyāna sūtras, that developed within, and never really departed from, traditional Buddhist social and institutional structures." The figures of this movement probably saw themselves as bodhisattvas entrusted with teaching and preserving the Mahāyāna sūtras. Scholars like Joseph Walser have also noted how Mahāyāna sūtras are heterogeneous and seem to have been composed in different communities with varying ideas. Walser writes that "Mahāyāna

14175-481: The most widely taught practices taught in Mahāyāna sūtras include: Another innovative "shortcut" to Buddhahood in Mahāyāna sutras are what are often called Pure Land practices. These involve the invocation of Buddhas such as Amitabha and Aksobhya , who are said to have created " Buddha fields " or "pure lands" especially so that those beings who wish to be reborn there can easily and quickly become Buddhas. Reciting certain sūtras, along with meditating on and reciting

14310-715: The multiple consultation mechanisms that exist in Chinese government. According to the CCP constitution , its highest body is the National Congress held every five years. The National Congress elects the Central Committee , who then elects the party's Politburo , Politburo Standing Committee and the general secretary ( party leader ), the top leadership of the country. The general secretary holds ultimate power and authority over party and state and serves as

14445-672: The name of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE). Although use in Indian sources precedes this dynasty, this derivation is still given in various sources. The origin of the Sanskrit word is a matter of debate. Alternative suggestions include the names for Yelang and the Jing or Chu state. The official name of the modern state is the "People's Republic of China" ( simplified Chinese : 中华人民共和国 ; traditional Chinese : 中華人民共和國 ; pinyin : Zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó ). The shorter form

14580-480: The names of these Buddhas can allow one to be reborn in these pure buddha-fields. One there, one can hear the Dharma directly from a Buddha and train in the bodhisattva path in a pure place without disturbances. The study of Mahāyāna sūtras is central to East Asian Buddhism , where they are widely read. In Tibetan Buddhism meanwhile, there is a greater emphasis on the study of Mahāyāna śāstras (philosophical treatises), which are seen as more systematic ways of studying

14715-472: The other three great powers, China was one of the four major Allies of World War II , and was later considered one of the primary victors in the war. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Taiwan, including the Penghu , was handed over to Chinese control ; however, the validity of this handover is controversial. China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between

14850-553: The press , freedom of assembly , free formation of social organizations , freedom of religion and free access to the Internet . China has consistently been ranked amongst the lowest as an "authoritarian regime" by the Economist Intelligence Unit 's Democracy Index , ranking at 148th out of 167 countries in 2023. Other sources suggest that terming China as "authoritarian" does not sufficiently account for

14985-401: The promotion of the bodhisattva ideal, including "expanded cosmologies and mythical histories, ideas of purelands and great, 'celestial' Buddhas and bodhisattvas , descriptions of powerful new religious practices, new ideas on the nature of the Buddha, and a range of new philosophical perspectives." Several Mahāyāna sūtras depict Buddhas or Bodhisattvas not found in earlier texts, such as

15120-417: The protests and was replaced by Jiang Zemin . Jiang continued economic reforms, closing many SOEs and trimming down " iron rice bowl " (life-tenure positions). China's economy grew sevenfold during this time. British Hong Kong and Portuguese Macau returned to China in 1997 and 1999 , respectively, as special administrative regions under the principle of one country, two systems . The country joined

15255-482: The realm of the nāgas (serpent-like supernatural beings). Later, these sūtras were retrieved by Nāgārjuna . Other Mahāyāna sources state that they were preached or preserved by bodhisattvas like Mañjuśrī or Buddhas like Vajradhāra . Another Mahāyāna explanation for the later appearance of the Mahāyāna sūtras in the historical record is the idea that they are the revelations of certain Buddhas and bodhisattvas, transmitted through visions and meditative experiences to

15390-574: The seventh century, writes about how Mahāyāna monastics and non-Mahāyāna monastics lived together under the same Vinaya. The only difference among them was that Mahāyāna monks venerated the bodhisattvas and read the Mahāyāna sūtras. Some scholars like Richard Gombrich think that Mahāyāna Sūtras only arose after the practice of writing down religious texts became widespread in India and thus that they were always written documents. However, James Apple and David Drewes have drawn attention to these oral features of

15525-637: The sole control of the CCP. The CCP controls appointments in government bodies, with most senior government officials being CCP members. The National People's Congress (NPC), with nearly 3,000-members, is constitutionally the " highest organ of state power ", though it has been also described as a " rubber stamp " body. The NPC meets annually, while the NPC Standing Committee , around 150 members elected from NPC delegates, meets every couple of months. Elections are indirect and not pluralistic, with nominations at all levels being controlled by

15660-761: The south, the general Liu Yu secured the abdication of the Jin in favor of the Liu Song . The various successors of these states became known as the Northern and Southern dynasties , with the two areas finally reunited by the Sui in 581. The Sui restored the Han to power through China, reformed its agriculture, economy and imperial examination system, constructed the Grand Canal , and patronized Buddhism . However, they fell quickly when their conscription for public works and

15795-657: The standardization of Chinese characters, measurements , road widths, and currency . His dynasty also conquered the Yue tribes in Guangxi , Guangdong , and Northern Vietnam . The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after the First Emperor's death. Following widespread revolts during which the imperial library was burned , the Han dynasty emerged to rule China between 206 BCE and 220 CE, creating

15930-661: The subsequent Cultural Revolution was a period of social turmoil and persecution characterized by Maoist populism. Following the Sino-Soviet split , the Shanghai Communiqué in 1972 would precipitate the normalization of relations with the United States . Economic reforms that began in 1978 moved the country away from a socialist planned economy towards an increasingly capitalist market economy , spurring significant economic growth. The corresponding movement for increased democracy and liberalization stalled after

16065-530: The substitute for the actual speaking presence of the Buddha. Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts. These Mahāyāna teachings were first propagated into China by Lokakṣema , the first translator of Mahāyāna Sūtras into Chinese during the second century. The Mahāyāna movement remained quite small until the fifth century, with very few manuscripts having been found before then (the exceptions are from Bamiyan ). According to Joseph Walser,

16200-660: The sutra itself is placed or recited, it makes the ground a caitya (a sacred space, shrine, sanctuary). According to Jacob Kinnard, Prajñāpāramitā sutras even present their physical form (as books, manuscripts, etc) as being akin to the Buddha's rūpakāya (physical form to be worshiped, like his relics) as well as being his dharmakāya (which contains the Dharma , the Buddha's teachings). The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā further states: One might hear this deep perfection of wisdom being spoken, being taught, being explained, being pointed out, and having heard it here he might bring forth

16335-464: The texts themselves, the texts were considered to have a mystic power within, which is the source of all the merit in the other religious objects, like Buddha relics. Furthermore, Mahayana sutras like the Aṣṭasāhasrikā often claim that the Buddha is present in the text. For example the Aṣṭasāhasrikā says that "when a pūja is done to the Prajñāpāramitā, it is a pūja to the venerable past, present, and future Buddhas." This sutra also states that wherever

16470-576: The time of the Warring States period of the 5th–3rd centuries BCE, there were seven major powerful states left. The Warring States period ended in 221 BCE after the state of Qin conquered the other six states, reunited China and established the dominant order of autocracy . King Zheng of Qin proclaimed himself the Emperor of the Qin dynasty , becoming the first emperor of a unified China. He enacted Qin's legalist reforms, notably

16605-413: The time of their authors by up to two millennia, they are effectively an anonymous literature. It is widely accepted that Mahayana sutras constitute a body of literature that began to appear from as early as the 1st century BCE, although the evidence for this date is circumstantial. The concrete evidence for dating any part of this literature is to be found in dated Chinese translations, amongst which we find

16740-437: The times by developing new teachings and texts, while at the same time maintaining the core "spirit" of the Buddha. The teachings as contained in the Mahāyāna sūtras as a whole have been described as a loosely bound bundle of many teachings, which was able to contain the various contradictions. Because of these contradictory elements, there are "very few things that can be said with certainty about Mahāyāna Buddhism". Central to

16875-485: The world), 1,221 species of birds (eighth), 424 species of reptiles (seventh) and 333 species of amphibians (seventh). Wildlife in China shares habitat with, and bears acute pressure from, one of the world's largest population of humans. At least 840 animal species are threatened, vulnerable or in danger of local extinction , due mainly to human activity such as habitat destruction, pollution and poaching for food, fur and traditional Chinese medicine . Endangered wildlife

17010-428: The world), 13.2% from hydroelectric power (largest), 9.4% from wind (largest), 6.2% from solar energy (largest), 4.6% from nuclear energy (second-largest), 3.3% from natural gas (fifth-largest), and 2.2% from bioenergy (largest); in total, 31% of China's energy came from renewable energy sources. Despite its emphasis on renewables, China remains deeply connected to global oil markets and next to India, has been

17145-758: Was wiped out by the KMT armies in 1934, leading the CCP to initiate the Long March and relocate to Yan'an in Shaanxi . It would be the base of the communists before major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949. In 1931, Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria . Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), a theater of World War II . The war forced an uneasy alliance between

17280-692: Was also known as being strongly opposed to the Mahayana sutras as noted by the Tibetan historian Tāranātha . Xuanzang reports that a Saṃmitīya known as Prajñāgupta composed a treatise which argued against the Mahāyāna. Various Mahāyāna sūtras warn against the charge that they are not word of the Buddha and defend their authenticity in different ways. Some Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Gaṇḍavyūha often criticize early Buddhist figures, such as Sariputra for lacking knowledge and goodness, and thus, these elders or śrāvaka are seen as not intelligent enough to receive

17415-406: Was captured by a coalition of peasant rebel forces led by Li Zicheng . The Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing dynasty , then allied with Ming dynasty general Wu Sangui , overthrew Li's short-lived Shun dynasty and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644 until 1912,

17550-523: Was devastated and weakened by the An Lushan rebellion in the 8th century. In 907, the Tang disintegrated completely when the local military governors became ungovernable. The Song dynasty ended the separatist situation in 960, leading to a balance of power between the Song and the Liao dynasty . The Song was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish

17685-608: Was lively debate over their authenticity throughout the Buddhist world. Buddhist communities such as the Mahāsāṃghika school and the Theravada tradition of Sri Lanka became divided into groups which accepted or did not accept these texts. Theravāda commentaries of the Mahavihara sub-school mention these texts (which they call Vedalla/Vetulla ) as not being the Buddha word and being counterfeit scriptures. The Saṃmitīya school

17820-635: Was probably never unitary, but differed from region to region.". Likewise, Hajime Nakamura states: Unlike the various recensions of the Hīnayāna canon, which were virtually closed by the early centuries of the common era and which shared, at least ideally, a common structure . . . the Mahāyāna scriptures were composed in a variety of disparate social and religious environments over the course of several centuries, diverge widely from each other in content and outlook, and were in many cases meant to stand as individual works representing (it has been conjectured) rivals to

17955-408: Was rebuked, with millions rehabilitated. Deng Xiaoping took power in 1978, and instituted large-scale political and economic reforms , together with the " Eight Elders ", most senior and influential members of the party. The government loosened its control and the communes were gradually disbanded. Agricultural collectivization was dismantled and farmlands privatized. While foreign trade became

18090-601: Was strengthened in part to suppress anti-Qing sentiment with the policy of valuing agriculture and restraining commerce, like the Haijin during the early Qing period and ideological control as represented by the literary inquisition , causing some social and technological stagnation. In the mid-19th century, the Opium Wars with Britain and France forced China to pay compensation, open treaty ports, allow extraterritoriality for foreign nationals, and cede Hong Kong to

18225-548: Was the last imperial dynasty of China. The Ming-Qing transition (1618–1683) cost 25 million lives, but the Qing appeared to have restored China's imperial power and inaugurated another flowering of the arts. After the Southern Ming ended, the further conquest of the Dzungar Khanate added Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang to the empire. Meanwhile, China's population growth resumed and shortly began to accelerate. It

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