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How did Tang Dynasty of China dominate East and Central Asia?

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The Sui Dynasty - A Violent Reunification

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Six Dynasties, (ad 220-589), in China, the period between the end of the Han dynasty in ad 220 and the final conquest of South China (589) by the Sui (established in 581 in North China). The name is derived from the six successive dynasties of South China that had their capitals at Jianye (later Jiankang; present-day Nanjing) during this time: the Wu (222-280), the Dong (Eastern) Jin (317-420), the Liu-Song (420-479), the Nan (Southern) Qi (479-502), the Nan Liang (502-557), and the Nan Chen (557-589). At the same time, the North was ruled by a succession of kingdoms founded by invaders from Central Asia. Important among these were the Bei (Northern) Wei (386-534/535), with its capital at Datong (later Luoyang); the Dong (Eastern) Wei (534-550), at Ye (now Anyang); the Xi (Western) Wei (535-556/557), at Chang'an (now Xi'an); the Bei Qi (550-577), also at Ye; and the Bei Zhou (557-581), also at Chang'an. That the period takes its name from the Nanjing states reflects a gradual shift in Chinese civilization from its previous centre in the North to the relatively unpopulated southern area, whose capital was separated from the northern invaders by the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang).

As a result of the disintegration of the society and constant foreign incursions and alien reign throughout the North, many fundamental changes occurred in China during this period. The Confucian system that had ordered society disintegrated, and the growing influence of Daoism and the importation of Buddhism worked profound changes everywhere. Buddhism became a great popular religion, embraced by the northern invaders. Daoism also grew, spreading from its status as the religion of the few and finally becoming a great popular religion.

Despite the general chaos, great advances were made in medicine, astronomy, botany, and chemistry. Wheelbarrows and kites were invented. Coal was first used as a fuel. It was also during the Six Dynasties that the great aristocratic families began to arise in Chinese society. By the end of the period, their control was so firmly established that they continued to dominate the society until the middle or end of the Tang dynasty (618-907).

Inevitably, the changes and uncertainties of the age were reflected in the arts, which flowered abundantly, transcending the chaos that characterized its political record. Translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese focused attention on literature and calligraphy. Poetry flourished, and love songs were popular everywhere; in the North, where war was always near, martial influences appeared in such poetry as the "Ballad of Mu Lan," in which a girl disguises herself as a boy and wins glory at war. Literary poetry-e.g., that of the lyrical Cao Zhi (2nd-3rd century) and the great Tao Qian (4th-5th century)-was widely popular. Daoism influenced major writers to exhibit individuality of expression, rather than merely to emulate ancient masters. Conversation and intellectual discourse became fashionable. The intonations of Buddhist chants sharpened ears and heightened Chinese appreciation of the tonal qualities of their own speech. Art invaded the mundane: Yang Xianzhi wrote Luoyang Jialanji ("Record of Buddhist Temples in Luoyang") as a record, but it was also a graceful and charming account of current affairs and folklore. Tensions between the Chinese and various northern invaders stimulated cultural rivalry and concern for the preservation of old literature and other artworks. In the North the trumpets, drums, and double-reed wind instruments used for signaling by the Tatar invaders were adapted to purely musical uses.

Also in the North the Bei Wei (often simply called the Wei) were quick to build Buddhist temples, and this not only won popular support but also stimulated development of the visual arts. That impetus came more slowly in the South, though it accelerated during the 4th century by refugees from the North and missionaries from Indochina. However, Nanjing evolved into the real centre of Chinese culture, with an abundance of great painters and calligraphers, as well as poets-some of whom turned to art criticism. A painter turned critic, Xie He, set forth the "Six Principles" of Chinese painting. The early painters of the period turned naturally to Buddhist and Daoist subjects. Dai Kui and Gu Kaizhi were versatile poets, musicians, painters, and sculptors who helped inspire the tradition of scholarly amateur painters.

Architecture thrived with the erection of temples and monasteries, the great monuments of the 4th and 5th centuries. In the North the Wei dynasty moved its seat to Luoyang in 495, and architects built a city of splendour for the new capital. Tiered pagodas of brick and stone were built both in the North and South, in the North with decorative touches reflecting Indian stupas, in the South with curved rooflines. Frescoes were painted and relief figures carved on temple walls and occasionally in caves; in the North some Buddhist frescoes from the period survive in caves. In sculpture, the massive bulk of figures from the Han tradition gave way to leaner winged lions and other monumental work. A new elegance of form pervaded all visual arts of the Six Dynasties, just as individuality and grace characterized the literature. Painting in the South in the early 6th century developed an ethereal style, modifying the courtly figure painting of the 5th century with flowing drapery and golden robes.

As population increased in the South, there was impetus for the creation of pottery for funerary and other purposes in the lower Yangtze River valley (e.g., Yue-ware jars and ewers). In Hebei and Henan, "northern celadon" originated, with its exotic echoes of art styles imported by conquerors from the north and west.

Ultimately, it was the cultural life of the period that paved the way for the eventual reunification of China under the Sui dynasty, for as successive conquerors of the North sought to consolidate their hold, they turned to Chinese idioms and imagery to validate their reign and, in the process, became absorbed and converted. In the case of the Bei Wei, most of the invaders were assimilated in less than a century, even to the point of outlawing their own original dress.

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Six Dynasties, (ad 220-589), in China, the period between the end of the Han dynasty in ad 220 and the final conquest of South China (589) by the Sui (established in 581 in North China).

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Song dynasty, (960-1279), Chinese dynasty that ruled the country during one of its most brilliant cultural epochs. It is commonly divided into Bei (Northern) and Nan (Southern) Song periods, as the dynasty ruled only in South China after 1127.

The Bei Song was founded by Zhao Kuangyin, the military inspector general of the Hou (Later) Zhou dynasty (last of the Five Dynasties), who usurped control of the empire in a coup. Thereafter, he used his mastery of diplomatic maneuvering to persuade powerful potential rivals to exchange their power for honours and sinecures, and he proceeded to become an admirable emperor (known as Taizu, his temple name). He set the nation on a course of sound administration by instituting a competent and pragmatic civil service; he followed Confucian principles, lived modestly, and took the country's finest military units under his personal command. Before his death he had begun an expansion into the small Ten Kingdoms of southern China.

Taizu's successors maintained an uneasy peace with the menacing Liao kingdom of the Khitan to the north. Over time, the quality of the bureaucracy deteriorated, and when the Juchen (Chinese: Nüzhen, or Ruzhen)-tribes from the North who overthrew the Liao-burst into the northern Song state, it was easy prey. The Juchen took over the North and established a dynasty with a Chinese name, the Jin. But they were unable to take those regions of Song territory south of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang).

In the South, the climate and the beautiful surroundings were the setting for the Nan Song dynasty established (1127) by the emperor Gaozong. He chose a capital he called Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou) and set about maintaining defenses against the hostile North and restoring imperial authority in the hinterland. Gaozong was a conscious admirer and emulator of the highly successful approach of the Han dynasty to the management of civil service, and the empire's bureaucrats long functioned well. In due course, however, the dynasty began to decline. But the eventual fall of the Song dynasty was neither sudden nor a collapse upon itself such as had ended several of its predecessors. The Mongols, under Genghis Khan, began their move on China with an assault on the Jin state in the North in 1211. After their eventual success in the North and several decades of uneasy coexistence with the Song, the Mongols-under Genghis Khan's grandsons-advanced on the Song forces in 1250. The Song forces fought on until 1276, when their capital fell. The dynasty finally ended in 1279 with the destruction of the Song fleet near Guangzhou (Canton).

During the Song period, commerce developed to an unprecedented extent; trade guilds were organized, paper currency came into increasing use, and several cities with populations of more than 1,000,000 flourished along the principal waterways and the southeast coast. Widespread printing of the Confucian Classics and the use of movable type, beginning in the 11th century, brought literature and learning to the people. Flourishing private academies and state schools graduated increasing numbers of competitors for the civil service examinations. The administration developed a comprehensive welfare policy that made this one of the most humane periods in Chinese history. In the works of the 12th-century philosophers Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan, Neo-Confucianism was systematized into a coherent doctrine.

The Song dynasty is particularly noted for the great artistic achievements that it encouraged and, in part, subsidized. The Bei Song dynasty at Bianjing had begun a renewal of Buddhism and of literature and the arts. The greatest poets and painters in the empire were in attendance at court. The last of the Northern Song emperors was himself perhaps the most noteworthy artist and art collector in the country. His capital at Kaifeng was a city of beauty, abounding in palaces, temples, and tall pagodas when, in 1126, the Juchen burned it. The architecture of the Song era was noted for its tall structures; the highest pagoda at Bianjing was 360 feet (110 metres). Song architects curved the eave line of roofs upward at the corners. Pagodas, six- or eight-sided and built of brick or wood, still survive from the period.

The sculpture of the Song period continued to emphasize representations of the Buddha, and in that genre there were no substantive improvements over the work of Song sculptors in succeeding dynasties. Landscape painting was one of the outstanding arts of the Bei Song, and its most noted figures were Fan Kuan and Li Cheng. In the Nan Song many great painters served at the Hanlin Academy, becoming noted for brush effects, miniatures, and, under Chan (Zen) influence, paintings of Buddhist deities, animals, and birds.

In the decorative arts the Song dynasty marked a high point in Chinese pottery. Song wares are noted for their simplicity of shape and the purity of colour and tone of their glazes. From the Bei Song came Ding, Ru, Zhun, Cizhou, northern celadon, and brown and black glazed wares; from the Nan Song came Jingdezhen whiteware, Jizhou wares, celadons, and the black pottery of Fujian. Pottery produced at the Guan kilns, near the Nan Song capital, was the finest of an enormous number of celadons of the dynasty.

The tendency of Song jade carvers to adopt old lines and techniques makes difficult the accurate dating of jades that may be from the Song, and it has been similarly difficult to place Song lacquerware.

In music the Bei Song adopted a two-stringed fiddle from the northern tribes, and music was widely used for ceremonies, sacrifices, and other court events. Music attracted considerable attention in the dynasty's enormous works of literature: the official history of the dynasty devoted 17 of its 496 chapters to musical events, and an encyclopaedia that appeared in 1267 has 10 of 200 chapters on the subject of music. Music drama flourished throughout the Song, and distinctly different styles evolved in the North and the South. The literature of the Song dynasty emphasized a return to old-time simplicity of expression in prose, and short tales called guwen were written in great volume. A school of oral storytelling in the vernacular arose, and conventional poetry enjoyed wide cultivation. Song poets achieved their greatest distinction, however, in the new genre of the ci, sung poems of joy and despair. These poems became the literary hallmark of the dynasty. For the diversity and richness of its cultural achievements, the Song dynasty is remembered as one of China's greatest.

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Song dynasty | Chinese History, Art & Culture

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Song dynasty, (960-1279), Chinese dynasty that ruled the country during one of its most brilliant cultural epochs. It is commonly divided into Bei (Northern) and Nan (Southern) Song periods, as the dynasty ruled only in South China after 1127. The Bei Song was founded by Zhao Kuangyin, the military

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Tang dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization T'ang, (618-907 ce), Chinese dynasty that succeeded the short-lived Sui dynasty (581-618), developed a successful form of government and administration on the Sui model, and stimulated a cultural and artistic flowering that amounted to a golden age. The Tang dynasty-like most-rose in duplicity and murder, and it subsided into a kind of anarchy. But at its apex, in the early 8th century, the splendour of its arts and its cultural milieu made it a model for the world.

History

Founding of the dynasty

The first Tang emperor, Li Yuan, known by his temple name, Gaozu, began as a contender for the rule of the Sui, of which he had been an official. He overcame various rivals and rebels, and by 621 he controlled China's eastern plain; in 624 he added most of the rest of North and South China, although some rebels remained in the North throughout the dynasty. He directed many complex military operations in his tenure and established the basic institutions of the Tang state. He emulated the first Sui emperor in establishing a highly competent bureaucracy, and he adopted the same pattern of local administration.

Because the state was bankrupt, the administration was kept small, simple, and cheap. The land-distribution system of the Sui was adopted to give every taxable male a plot and to minimize the number of large estates, and Li Yuan also took on the Sui system of taxation. He created mints and established a copper coinage that lasted throughout the dynasty. He recodified the laws with stated penalties for specific acts and provided for their review every 20 years.

Taizong and his successors

The second Tang emperor, Li Shimin, known by the temple name Taizong, succeeded to the throne in 626 by murdering two brothers and forcing the abdication of his father, but he became one of the greatest emperors China has known. He adjusted the balance of the court aristocracy to equalize regional influences and expanded both the Sui use of examinations in literature and culture for hiring civil servants and the Sui system of high-quality schools at the capital. He further enshrined the classics and published a standard edition. He defeated his eastern Turkish enemies and spread disunity among those in the west, expanding China farther westward than ever before.

One of the most remarkable women in Chinese history, Wu Zhao (known by Wuhou, her posthumous name), intrigued her way into the role of empress during the reign of the Gaozong emperor (649-683). She took up residence in Luoyang (the eastern capital) and ruthlessly aggrandized her role by inflating the bureaucracy during Gaozong's illness. Despite her excesses, she maintained a steady grip on the government until she was in her 80s, when she was forced to abdicate.

The dynasty reached the peak of its wealth and power during the early 8th century, which was a golden age for its arts. The aristocracy, scattered, murdered, and incarcerated under the empress Wuhou, was restored and oversaw an era of reform. In the second half of the 8th century, however, rebellion broke out in the northeast and spread rapidly, forcing the emperor Xuanzong to flee west to Sichuan. Although the rebellion was finally suppressed, in its wake came a period of provincial separation and later rebellion. By 818 the emperor Xianzong had restored the authority of the empire throughout most of the country. In the second half of the 9th century, the government grew weaker, and rebellions recurred; the dynasty declined until 907, when it collapsed into a scattering of independent kingdoms that withstood unification for more than 50 years.

Tang culture

The years of the Tang were brilliant times for the arts and culture. Major imperial ceremonies saw a revival and elaboration of the ancient orchestras and companies of courtly dancers. The musicians played on bells, stone chimes, flutes, zithers, and drums. China in this period was hospitable to foreign ideas, as Arabian and Persian seamen roved its ports and "western" music and dance found their way into China from Central Asia. In the taverns of the western capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), western songs and dances were performed to the accompaniment of western musicians on strange instruments. Exotic troupes of dancing girls became the subject of paintings and reproduction in clay figurines. The Pear Garden at the palace was reserved for training musicians and dancers. Foreign music became a third category of music, in addition to court and common music. Before the end of the dynasty there were 10 musical categories, several of them foreign. Although no orchestral scores survive, the music for several solo pieces has been found. Late Tang paintings show imperial entertainments with ensembles of strings, winds, and percussion, and choreographic plans for bands and dancers have also been preserved.

Poetry was the greatest glory of the period. All the verse forms of the past were used and refined, and new ones developed. Regulated verse (lüshi) and an abbreviated, truncated verse (jueju) were introduced and became widely popular. Nearly 50,000 works by some 2,000 Tang poets have been preserved. Prose stylists were concerned with lyrical expression and rhetorical devices for artistic effect.

Heroic sculpture of Buddhas was a feature of the middle Tang; and, although no works of this size and period survive in China, several do in Japan, which was profoundly influenced by the administration, arts, culture, and religion of the Tang dynasty.

Painting played a major role in the culture of the era, and painters were important court figures. One of the Tang ministers of state, Yan Liben, is far better known as a painter than as a statesman. The greatest master of figure painting of the dynasty was Wu Daozi, who did 300 wall paintings in temples at Luoyang and Chang'an. A painter of horses was a great favourite in an era when military steeds were a matter of life and death and when court ladies played a form of polo. Landscape painting was dominated by Wang Wei, who was also an official at the court in the western capital. A new freedom with brushwork developed to provide a wider range of effects of texture and tone. Chan, or Zen, Buddhist painters brought still further freedom with the brush to religious painting.

Pottery made huge strides after the sterility of the Six Dynasties period. Finishes in white porcelain, three-colour pottery and figurines, stoneware with a rich black glaze, and a type of celadon all were developed by Tang potters; and, in keeping with the general interest in things foreign, their wares were often in foreign shapes and followed foreign motifs. Great volumes of tomb figurines were produced. Metalwork and jewelry of the period included much silver. Ritual objects included foreign shapes among the traditional Chinese forms. Silver and gold vessels were no longer cast but "raised" into bowl shape by hammering thin sheets; such vessels for drinking were double thicknesses soldered together with an insulating layer of air between them. Decorated bronze mirrors were also popular.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Adam Augustyn.

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Tang dynasty | History, Government, Achievements, & Facts

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Tang dynasty (618-907 CE), Chinese dynasty that succeeded the short-lived Sui dynasty (581-618), developed a successful form of government and administration on the Sui model, and stimulated a cultural and artistic flowering that amounted to a golden age. Learn more about the Tang dynasty in this article.

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Sui dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization Sui, (581-618 ce), short-lived Chinese dynasty that unified the country after four centuries of fragmentation in which North and South China had gone quite different ways. The Sui also set the stage for and began to set in motion an artistic and cultural renaissance that reached its zenith in the succeeding Tang dynasty (618-907). Its capital was at Daxing, which, during Tang times, changed its name to Chang'an (now Xi'an).

The first Sui emperor, Yang Jian, known by his posthumous name Wendi, was a high official of the Bei (Northern) Zhou dynasty (557-581), and, when that reign dissolved in a storm of plots and murders, he managed to seize the throne and take firm control of North China; by the end of the 580s he had won the West and South and ruled over a unified China. The Wendi emperor established uniform institutions of government throughout the country and raised a corps of skilled and pragmatic administrators. He reestablished Confucian rituals last used in government by the Han dynasty. He sought and won the support of men of letters, and he fostered Buddhism. He promulgated a penal code and administrative laws that were simpler, fairer, and more lenient than those of the predecessor Bei Zhou. He conducted a careful census, a practice long lost in chaos, and simplified the taxation. He made his army into a system of militias that was self-supporting when the country was not at war.

The second emperor, Yangdi, completed the integration of southern China into the empire, emphasized the Confucian Classics in an examination system for public employment, and built a second capital at Luoyang in the east. He engaged in great construction projects, including a vast canal system.

The relations of the Sui with the Turks in the west deteriorated; and, when wars in Korea to exact tribute failed, the short regime collapsed in a welter of rebellions. Yangdi was murdered by a member of his entourage in 618, and his successor, Gongdi, reigned less than a year.

The architecture of the Sui was dominated by the great Yuwen Kai, who in nine months designed a vast capital city at Daxing that was six times the size of present-day Xi'an at the same site. Its palace had a rotating pavilion accommodating 200 guests. Painters came from throughout the country seeking patronage at the Sui court. The dynasty established a pattern of patronizing the arts that was later embraced by the Tang rulers. Because of the brevity of the Sui reign and the consonance of its arts with those of the Tang, the arts of the two dynasties are often treated together.

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Sui dynasty | Chinese Imperial Dynasty, Reunification of China

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Sui dynasty, (581-618 ce), short-lived Chinese dynasty that unified the country after four centuries of fragmentation in which North and South China had gone quite different ways. The Sui also set the stage for and began to set in motion an artistic and cultural renaissance that reached its zenith

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Kids learn about the Period of Disunion of Ancient China including what caused the wars, results, who was involved, and fun facts.

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Buddhism is a faith that was founded by Siddhartha Gautama ("the Buddha") more than 2,500 years ago in India. With about 470 million followers, scholars consider Buddhism one of the major world religions. Its practice has historically been most prominent in East and Southeast Asia, but its influence is growing in the West. Many Buddhist ideas and philosophies overlap with those of other faiths.

Buddhism Beliefs

Some key Buddhism beliefs include:

Followers of Buddhism don't acknowledge a supreme god or deity. They instead focus on achieving enlightenment-a state of inner peace and wisdom. When followers reach this spiritual echelon, they're said to have experienced nirvana.

The religion's founder, Buddha, is considered an extraordinary man, but not a god. The word Buddha means "enlightened."

The path to enlightenment is attained by utilizing morality, meditation and wisdom. Buddhists often meditate because they believe it helps awaken truth.

There are many philosophies and interpretations within Buddhism, making it a tolerant and evolving religion.

Some scholars don't recognize Buddhism as an organized religion, but rather, a "way of life" or a "spiritual tradition."

Buddhism encourages its people to avoid self-indulgence but also self-denial.

Buddha's most important teachings, known as The Four Noble Truths, are essential to understanding the religion.

Buddhists embrace the concepts of karma (the law of cause and effect) and reincarnation (the continuous cycle of rebirth).

Followers of Buddhism can worship in temples or in their own homes.

Buddhist monks, or bhikkhus, follow a strict code of conduct, which includes celibacy.

There is no single Buddhist symbol, but a number of images have evolved that represent Buddhist beliefs, including the lotus flower, the eight-spoked dharma wheel, the Bodhi tree and the swastika (an ancient symbol whose name means "well-being" or "good fortune" in Sanskrit).

In Pictures Ltd./Corbis/Getty Images

Founder of Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism who later became known as "the Buddha," lived during the 5th century B.C.

Gautama was born into a wealthy family as a prince in present-day Nepal. Although he had an easy life, Gautama was moved by suffering in the world.

He decided to give up his lavish lifestyle and endure poverty. When this didn't fulfill him, he promoted the idea of the "Middle Way," which means existing between two extremes. Thus, he sought a life without social indulgences but also without deprivation.

After six years of searching, Buddhists believe Gautama found enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. He spent the rest of his life teaching others about how to achieve this spiritual state.

Buddhism History

When Gautama passed away around 483 B.C., his followers began to organize a religious movement. Buddha's teachings became the foundation for what would develop into Buddhism.

In the 3rd century B.C., Ashoka the Great, the Mauryan Indian emperor, made Buddhism the state religion of India. Buddhist monasteries were built, and missionary work was encouraged.

Over the next few centuries, Buddhism began to spread beyond India. The thoughts and philosophies of Buddhists became diverse, with some followers interpreting ideas differently than others.

In the sixth century, the Huns invaded India and destroyed hundreds of Buddhist monasteries, but the intruders were eventually driven out of the country.

Islam began to spread quickly in the region during the Middle Ages, forcing Buddhism into the background.

Types of Buddhism

Today, many forms of Buddhism exist around the world. The three main types that represent specific geographical areas include:

Theravada Buddhism: Prevalent in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos and Burma

Mahayana Buddhism: Prevalent in China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Vietnam

Tibetan Buddhism: Prevalent in Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, Bhutan, and parts of Russia and northern India

Each of these types reveres certain texts and has slightly different interpretations of Buddha's teachings. There are also several subsects of Buddhism, including Zen Buddhism and Nirvana Buddhism.

Some forms of Buddhism incorporate ideas of other religions and philosophies, such as Taoism and Bon.

Dharma

Buddha's teachings are known as "dharma." He taught that wisdom, kindness, patience, generosity and compassion were important virtues.

Specifically, all Buddhists live by five moral precepts, which prohibit:

Killing living things

Taking what is not given

Sexual misconduct

Lying

Using drugs or alcohol

Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths, which Buddha taught, are:

The truth of suffering (dukkha)

The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)

The truth of the end of suffering (nirhodha)

The truth of the path that frees us from suffering (magga)

Collectively, these principles explain why humans hurt and how to overcome suffering.

Eightfold Path

The Buddha taught his followers that the end of suffering, as described in the fourth Noble Truths, could be achieved by following an Eightfold Path.

In no particular order, the Eightfold Path of Buddhism teaches the following ideals for ethical conduct, mental disciple and achieving wisdom:

Right understanding (Samma ditthi)

Right thought (Samma sankappa)

Right speech (Samma vaca)

Right action (Samma kammanta)

Right livelihood (Samma ajiva)

Right effort (Samma vayama)

Right mindfulness (Samma sati)

Right concentration (Samma samadhi)

Buddhist Holy Book

Buddhists revere many sacred texts and scriptures. Some of the most important are:

Tipitaka: These texts, known as the "three baskets," are thought to be the earliest collection of Buddhist writings.

Sutras: There are more than 2,000 sutras, which are sacred teachings embraced mainly by Mahayana Buddhists.

The Book of the Dead: This Tibetan text describes the stages of death in detail.

Dalai Lama

David McNew/Getty Images

The Dalai Lama is the leading monk in Tibetan Buddhism. Followers of the religion believe the Dalai Lama is a reincarnation of a past lama that has agreed to be born again to help humanity. There have been 14 Dalai Lamas throughout history.

The Dalai Lama also governed Tibet until the Chinese took control in 1959. The current Dalai Lama, Lhamo Thondup, was born in 1935.

Buddhist Holidays

Every year, Buddhists celebrate Vesak, a festival that commemorates Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death.

During each quarter of the moon, followers of Buddhism participate in a ceremony called Uposatha. This observance allows Buddhists to renew their commitment to their teachings.

They also celebrate the Buddhist New Year and participate in several other yearly festivals.

Sources

Buddhism: An Introduction, PBS.
Buddhism, Ancient History Encyclopedia.
Buddhism: An Introduction, BBC.
The History of Buddha, History Cooperative.
Demographics of Buddhism, Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs.
Religions: Buddhism, BBC.
Buddhist Scriptures, Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs.
The Noble Eightfold Path: Tricycle.

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Buddhism is a religion that was founded by Siddhartha Gautama ("The Buddha") more than 2,500 years ago in India. With about 470 million followers, scholars consider Buddhism one of the major world religions. The religion has historically been most prominent in East and Southeast Asia, but its influence is growing in the West.