为什么中国建造了更多的佛陀雕像而不是孔子或者老子雕像呢？是为了国际化的考虑吗？ [美国媒体]

Patrick Koh, studied at National University of Singapore
Answered Sun
Yes, only large Buddhas but nothing to do with internationalisation. Buddhism is a religion imported from India, and many races from India through the cultures in the silk road began making huge statues, and when Buddhism was at its prime in China, Chinese made lots of big statues too. Lao Tzu and Confucius were philosophers, so like Plato, Socrates they are not considered Gods but with so much respect they got deified and are worshipped in temples (more respect , and same as ancestral worship). Taoism is a religion that imbued the teachings of Lao Tzu but integrated with so much superstitious practices (an Imperial God and many gods and goddesses, major and minor Gods much like the Viking, Roman and Greek gods, and later even absorbing Buddhas as gods), that it became the common religion for the common Chinese much like Shintoism in Japan. Confucianism is never a religion, it was more philosophy and school of political thinking, and underpin the classical teaching, and the main substance of Imperial exams for China and later Korea. As far as I know, Chinese are never evangelists, they don't push any brand of religions to others or to other cultures or countries, for they do not see a need too. Religion is a personal thing you either do or don't, unlike Christianity and Islam. There was no societal pressure that one should go to the temple or believe this or not, that is something quite unique for an old civilisation. So Chinese are liberals when it comes to religious belief.

是的，只有大型佛陀雕像，但是和国际化没有关系。佛教来源于印度，包括印度和丝路上的很多国家开始制造巨型雕像，当佛教在中国达到鼎盛时，中国也建造了很多雕像。老子和孔子是哲学家，像柏拉图和苏格拉底，他们不被认为是神，但是备受尊敬，所以被神化，供奉在庙宇上（就像祖先崇拜）。道教是一种宗教，有老子的教义，但是也有很多迷信的实践（一个玉皇大帝，很多神仙和女神仙，大小神仙，很像维京，罗马和希腊神明，后期甚至吸收了佛陀，把佛陀当神），所以变成普通中国老百姓生活当中普遍的宗教，好比日本的神道教。

而儒家从来不是一种宗教，它更多是一种哲学和政治思维学派，支持古典教义，是中国和朝鲜皇家考试的材料来源。据我所知，中国人从来不是传教士，他们不会向他人或者其他国家推销任何的宗教，因为他们认为没有这样做的必要。宗教信仰是一件非常私人的事情，你信仰或者不信仰，不像基督教和伊斯兰教。中国人信不信神，去不去庙宇，都没有这方面的压力。对于一个古老文明来说，这是相当独特的。所以在宗教信仰方面，中国人是自由主义者。
Safwan Zabalawi, studied at Politechnika Gdańska
Answered Sat
“Buddhism” is a huge umbrella-word covering many schools of Theravada and Mahayana. Over many centauries China was a historical centre for Buddhism, and many schools developed in China, in particular the TienTai (c year 500) school based on the Lotus Sutra. So Buddhism and Chinese history are firmly connected.
People from other countries seeking to learn about Buddhism had no where to seek knowledge but to travel to China. This is what took place in the history of Japanese Buddhism. The Chinese language was regarded as the official language of the courts in Japan, and many letters of philosophy had to be in classical Chinese to be recognised as valuable.

“佛教”包括了小乘佛教和大乘佛教。几千年来，中国都是佛教的中心，很多佛教分支都在中国发展起来，特别是基于《法华经》的天台宗。所以佛教和中国历史是紧密相连的。
其他国家想要了解佛教的人只能去中国。日本佛教的历史就是这么来的。当时，中文是日本朝廷的官方语言，很多哲学书信都必须是古汉语写成的才有价值。

A currently widely practiced form of Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra was developed by the Japanese reformer, Nichiren (1222–1282) who studied the Tientai tradition, and the first thing required in temples at that time was learning Chinese language. Many of Nichiren’s letters were in classical Chinese.
Buddhism covers in its teaching other philosophies - and in particular Nichiren Buddhism, which acknolwdges the teachings of the Three Sages:
Three Sages Three wise men of ancient China. Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Yen Hui, Confucius’s foremost disciple.Glossary T | WND I | Nichiren Buddhism Library Sages
So, it would be inconsistent for China not to recognise the respect and acknowledgment Buddhism holds for its role in Buddhist history - which is part of the Chinese history - integrating also the teachings of its remarkable philosophers.

现在流行的日莲宗就是日本人日莲发展的，他研究的是天台宗，当时寺庙里要求的第一件事就是学习中文。日莲的很多信件都是古汉语写的。
佛教在其教义中涵盖了其他哲学思想，特别是日莲宗，承认三圣人的教义：三圣人是古代中国三个智者，老子，孔子和颜回。
所以中国得接受自己为佛教所做的贡献，将宗教同中国哲学家的教义融合在一起。

Feng Xian, former Research Associate at Eurasian Center (2017-2018)
Answered Sat
Confucianism is for intellectualists while Taoism the upper class. For the people on the bottom, Buddhism has been their favorite ever since it came in, which has been promoted this way by the ruling class even in Tang and Ming dynasty when Taoism was the the official religion. The Emperor of Tang for instance claimed to descend from Lao Tzu himself but they also largely promoted Buddhism to the lower class. The fact of the matter is Buddhism is very effective in managing and promoting the social mobility. As for Confucianism, it's never for the majority because it requires knowledge.

儒家思想是为了知性论者，道教是为了上层阶级。而佛教自进入中国以来，就成为了底层民众的最爱，而这符合统治阶级的利益，甚至在唐朝和明朝，当道教是官方宗教时，统治阶级也大力宣扬佛教。比如唐朝皇帝宣称自己是老子的后人，但同时也向底层大众推行佛教。事实是佛教在管理和促进社会流动性方面效果显着。就儒家思想而言，从来就不适合大多数人，因为它要求你有文化。

Eccardo Adelingi, Graduated in Philosophy & Religious Studies
Answered Sun
There is plenty of newly built statues of Confucius, Taoist and folk gods throughout China. Most are not well-known in the West since, being folk gods, their following is concentrated in China and does not have international links.

在中国有很多新建的孔子雕像，道士雕像和民间神明雕像。大部分都不为西方人所知，因为民间神明的信仰者主要集中在中国，没有国际知名度。

Chara Chan, born and raised in Sichuan, China
Answered Sat
come on, my city is only witnessing the proliferation of higher-rises and subways, not any buddhist statues, even though we have the tallest in China in the nearby city.
you wanna see giant buddha? take a high-speed rail to Leshan city and pay more than 100 to see them(can’t remember the exact fee)
Most of the Chinese are atheists.
Some worship money more than anything else.
The younger generation is more busy shopping than going to any religious venues.

得了吧，我的城市只看得到高楼和地铁的扩张，没有任何的佛教雕像，附近城市倒有一个中国最高佛教雕像。你想看大佛？那乘坐高铁去乐山市吧。大部分中国人都是无神论者。有些人最崇拜金钱。年轻人更加忙于购物，而不是去任何宗教场所。

Patrick Koh
Sun
Chinese were not Atheists accordingly to their culture throughout history, they pray a lot to many Gods and were just as superstitious as many early civilisations. Kings and emperors need the mandate of heavens. It is because of communism, that atheism became the preferred societal thinking. Superstition and religion was frowned upon. Chinese being pragmatic in modern time and communism have made Chinese what they are today, far more atheists and a lot more materialistic than the ancestors. yet they perform a lot of ancestral worship and with it there are religious elements still perhaps less in the modern cities, but villages and towns are still doing that. For the young … that is the same phenomenon for most modern countries as it is in the West … young hardly go to church as well.
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从历史来看，中国人并不是无神论者，中国人向神明祈祷，和很多早期文明一样，都很迷信。国王或者皇帝需要“天命”。只不过到了现代，无神论才被青睐，迷信和宗教才不被看好。现代中国人是务实的，更加物质。但依然崇拜祖先，其中不乏很多宗教因素，可能在大城市里比较少，但是农村还是有。就年轻人而言，大部分现代国家都有这种现象，好比在西方，年轻人也很少去教堂。