Laughing Sutra - Confucius

The Laughing Sutra follows the journey of a young Chinese man on a quest to find a sutra for his ailing father, incorporating many different elements of the three main Chinese religions at the time, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

Kongzi, also known as Confucius, started Confucianism in 551 B.C and it is a religion heavily influenced by family. One of the beliefs of Confucianism is that in order for everything to go smoothly, people must show honor and treat family and others with compassion. Another belief is that every person has essential goodness and if someone is taught how to use it, they would do the right thing (Bulliet 47). One example of Confucianism in The Laughing Sutra is Hsun-ching traveling all the way to America to obtain the sutra for Wei-ching even though he himself doesn't get any use out of the sutra, "I'm only doing this for Master because it's the only way I can pay him back for taking care of me" (Salzman 111). This shows the level of respect and gratitude Hsun-ching feels for Wei-ching since he was willing to potentially risk his life to get something his Master has been waiting his entire life to see. Another element of Confucianism is Colonel Sun trying to make Hsun-ching realize that it would be foolish to go back to China without the sutra by saying, " When you make a promise, you carry it out, regardless of how foolish it may seem" (Salzman 240). Hsun-ching wanted to give up and forget about the sutra, but Colonel Sun wouldn't let him because that would mean he was giving up hope on his family and wasn't honoring them.

Siddhartha Gautama more commonly referred to as Buddha started Buddhism in 563 B.C. Buddhism is centered around the four noble truths which believe life is suffering and the end to the suffering is found in the Eightfold Path of righteous views, speech, conduct, effort, livelihood, mindfulness, meditation, and aspirations. Originally Buddhism was centered around the individuals themselves who lived in moderation to diminish their suffering, but evolved into monks and nuns who worshipped Buddha himself as their god. One of the main beliefs of Buddhism is nirvana, which means true enlightenment (Bulliet 179). In The Laughing Sutra the main reason Hsun-ching tried to get the sutra was so Wei-ching could achieve enlightenment but he soon realizes, "It is as Buddha said all along: Enlightenment cannot be found in books. It must be experienced directly! Foolish as I was, I did not take him at his word. But now I do! I am free!"(Salzman 260). Wei-ching is now free because he doesn't have to constantly think about what is contained the in Laughing Sutra and could finally end his suffering of waiting. Another example of Buddhism in The Laughing Sutra is when Hsun-ching says to Colonel Sun, "Anyway, he believed that suffering came from having an unhappy life, not from the fear of death, and happiness depended on primarily circumstances