[Buddha-l] Spread of Buddhism

[jkirk]

Franz wrote:
... your (and Jon's, oops)
> idea that efforts toward the spread of Buddhism were just not the same
> as missionizing efforts in the Christian context (at least until the
> rise of "Protestant Buddhism" and its parallels in Japan). You wrote,
>
> > Now [lack of doctrinal congruence] did not stop Buddhism from moving
> > into other areas with very different traditions of their own, but
> > patronage, either royal (eg Tibet, Japan) or by a prosperous trading
> > class (China) had a lot to do with that. No patronage, no spread of
> > Buddhism.

===============
Hi Franz and Michel,

I'd suggest that as Christianity was spreading to Japan via the Portuguese
and later Dutch and English merchant ships during the period of European
exploration, and to India where, under the later Raj, in India's case the
patrons were dual: the English government who, after they took over the East
India Company, then allowed missionaries free rein in India, and the
well-supported church congregations that consisted of--guess what--a
"prosperous trading class."  English and Scottish merchants and merchant
capital, to which could be added the wealthy professions, such as they were
at that time, were the patrons.  So in a way, the patronage for the spread
of Christianity in India paralled that for Buddhism with the addition of
colonial government intervention and support, (although I'm uncertain if the
Raj government monetarily supported the missions in India, but they gave
them lots of other kinds of support.)
I have a hunch that the Portuguese and the Dutch governments also supported
the missonizing that accompanied the trading ships to China and Japan.
Best wishes,
Joanna