Chan Influence on Chinese Culture Draft

Taixu太虛, who is the father of modern Chinese Buddhism, said that the special feature of Chinese Buddhism is Chan 禪. Chan is also the most influential of eight Chinese Buddhist schools. Ren Jiyu任繼愈, a scholar of Chinese Philosophy, also thought that the formation of Chan as a school in China in Sui and Tang dynasties represents the second climax in cultural development in China. The first is the period of Spring and Autumn and Warriors States, around seventh to third centuries BCE. Chan Buddhism influenced Chinese culture tremendously such as thought and philosophy, poetry, painting, tea drinking, design and even esthetical outlook etc. In this paper I will first discuss briefly the development of Chan in China and then its influence.