Buddhism in television

[Anonymous]

Professor Dube discussed about how Guanyin was a male Buddha in India but took on a feminine role when Buddhism was transmitted to China. I saw this wooden statue of Guanyin at the Bower Museum with the fact sheet explaining her historical significance.

[Anonymous]

Very interesting information, Vu. Following class on Saturday, I met up with a yoga instructor friend who was filling me in on more information on present-day Buddhism practices throughout Asia. She, too, noted that Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam each have their own term of Buddhism and that there are many sects in each country.

Buddhism has such a rich, fascinating history that continues to be ardently practiced across the world, and is sometimes integrated in popular media and culture as Vu pointed out, which is interesting to see. There was even a popular Nickelodeon children's show called "Avatar: The Last Airbender," which features the savior of the world reincarnated as a young Buddhist monk. The show does not overtly promote Buddhism, but it does borrow ideas and other cultural aspects from the religion and other eastern religions and philosophies.

Here is an interesting article on the show in regards to its use of adaptation (some might even argue "appropriation") of Buddhism:
https://worldreligionnews.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/avatar-the-last-airbender/

[Anonymous]

Buddhism was present at the LA Times Book festival this weekend. As suggested by another student, I went on a hunt for those free books about Buddhism. Needless to say once I found the booth, they were happy to give me as much information as possible. I ended up with about 10 new books that touch on Buddhist believes. Now I need the to go though them and learn a few new things.

[Anonymous]

When reading about the condition of women in Han China I remembered this beautiful movie I saw more than 20 years ago.It is the story of an intelligent and educated girl who has to become the 4th wife of a wealthy land owner and who is trying to survive the intrigues of the older wives. Watch it and you will not regret it.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I grew up watching a Chinese series called "Journey to the West." It was by far the most popular TV series--so much so that it was remade several times. In a nutshell, this TV series portrayed the journey a monk and his demi-god disciples (monkey-king, pig-king, and a pagan) took to obtain the Buddhist texts for the people in the East. During this danger-filled journey, the group encountered many evil demi-gods who tried to prevent them from reaching their destiny. These evil demi-gods believed that if they ate the monk they would obtain immortality. Hence, the monk's disciples served as bodyguards along the journey.

Besides the allure of the drama, the series also implicitly taught the Chinese Buddhist belief system. According to the series, everything was controlled by heavenly deities--all of whom were under the control of the heavenly emperor/king. There were deities for everything--from the god of thunder to the gods who control human's fate. Their roles seemed to be to thwart evil gods/spirits who harm humans, and/or to maintain a natural order. Surprisingly, Buddha and Guanyin seemed to reside in this heavenly abode and help people down on earth to achieve nirvana. I don't know how far this series strayed from the real Buddhist teaching but it sure gave me an idea of what Buddhism is about. I'm attaching a few pictures of the series.

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[Anonymous]

It is interesting that Christianity and Islam came to China about the same time , Christianity through Nestorian Monks from Asia Minorme during the Tang dinasty in 635 and Islam through the visits of Saad ibn abi Waqqas that culminated with an embassy sent by the 3rd caliph in 651.

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