Chinese Buddhism refers collectively to the various schools of Buddhism that have flourished in China since ancient times. Buddhism has played an enormous role in shaping the mindset of the Chinese people, affecting their aesthetics, politics, literature, philosophy and medicine.
At the peak of the Tang Dynasty's vitality, Chinese Buddhism produced numerous spiritual masters.
Admitting the impossibility of saying "when or how the first Buddhist missions in China began", Kenneth Saunders mentions Ashoka and the Fayuan Zhulin (written 688 CE) noting missionaries arriving in Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE) China. This Buddhist encyclopedia claims that in 217 BCE, the monk Li Fang and seventeen others arrived in Xi'an. According to some European historians, Mauryan emperor Aśoka the Great sent the royal monk Massim Sthavira to India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China to spread Buddhism around 265 BCE. However, it has not been widely confirmed that these missionaries arrived in China or that they were responsible for establishing the teachings of Buddhism there.
Generations of scholars have debated whether Buddhist missionaries first reached Han China via the maritime or overland routes of the Silk Road. The maritime route hypothesis, favored by Liang Qichao and Paul Pelliot, proposed that Buddhism was originally practiced in southern China, the Yangtze River and Huai River region, where prince Ying of Chu (present day Jiangsu) was jointly worshipping the Yellow Emperor, Laozi, and Buddha in 65 CE. The overland route hypothesis, favored by Tang Yongtong, proposed that Buddhism disseminated eastward through Yuezhi and was originally practiced in western China, at the Han capital Luoyang (present day Henan), where Emperor Ming of Han established the White Horse Temple in 68 CE. Rong Xinjiang, a history professor at Peking University, reexamined the overland and maritime hypotheses through a multi-disciplinary review of recent discoveries and research, including the Gandhāran Buddhist Texts, and concluded.
The view that Buddhism was transmitted to China by the sea route comparatively lacks convincing and supporting materials, and some arguments are not sufficiently rigorous. Based on the existing historical texts and the archaeological iconographic materials discovered since the 1980's, particularly the first-century Buddhist manuscripts recently found in Afghanistan, the commentator believes that the most plausible theory is that Buddhism started from the Greater Yuezhi of northwest India (present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) and took the land roads to reach Han China. After entering into China, Buddhism blended with early Daoism and Chinese traditional esoteric arts and its iconography received blind worship.
White Horse Temple, traditionally held to be at the origin of Chinese Buddhism.
Mogao Caves 8th-century mural depicting the pseudo historical legend of Emperor Wu of Han worshipping "golden man" Buddha statues captured in 121 BCE.
A number of popular accounts in historical Chinese literature have led to the popularity of certain legends regarding the introduction of Buddhism into China. According to the most popular one, Emperor Ming (58–75 CE) precipitated the introduction of Buddhist teachings into China. The (early 3rd century) Lihuolun by Mouzi first records this legend.
In olden days emperor Ming saw in a dream a god whose body had the brilliance of the sun and who flew before his palace; and he rejoiced exceedingly at this. The next day he asked his officials: "What god is this?" the scholar Fu Yi said: "Your subject has heard it said that in India there is somebody who has attained the Dao and who is called Buddha; he flies in the air, his body had the brilliance of the sun; this must be that god."
The emperor then sent an envoy to Tianzhu (Southern India) to inquire about the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhist scriptures were said to have been returned to China on the backs of white horses, after which White Horse Temple was named. Two Indian monks also returned with them, named Dharmarakṣa and Kaśyapa Mātaṅga.
An 8th century Chinese fresco at Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in Gansu portrays Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BCE) worshiping statues of a golden man; "golden men brought in 121 BCE by a great Han general in his campaigns against the nomads". However, neither the Shiji nor Book of Han histories of Emperor Wu mentions a golden Buddhist statue (compare Emperor Ming above).
The First Translations
The first documented translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese occurs in 148 CE with the arrival of the Parthian prince-turned-monk An Shigao . He worked to establish Buddhist temples in Loyang and organized the translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese, testifying to the beginning of a wave of Central Asian Buddhist proselytism that was to last several centuries. An Shigao translated Buddhist texts on basic doctrines, meditation, and abhidharma. An Xuan, a Parthian layman who worked alongside An Shigao, also translated an early Mahāyāna Buddhist text on the bodhisattva path.
Mahāyāna Buddhism was first widely propagated in China by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema active c. 164–186 CE), who came from the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhāra. Lokakṣema translated important Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, as well as rare, early Mahāyāna sūtras on topics such as samādhi, and meditation on the buddha Akṣobhya. These translations from Lokakṣema continue to give insight into the early period of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Chinese Buddhism Matures
Blue-eyed Central Asian and East-Asian Buddhist monks, Bezeklik, Eastern Tarim Basin, China, 9th–10th century.
The Tripiṭaka Koreana, an edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon carved and preserved in over 81,000 wood printing blocks.
Early Translation Methods
Initially, Buddhism in China faced a number of difficulties in becoming established. The concept of monasticism and the aversion to social affairs seemed to contradict the long-established norms and standards established in Chinese society. Some even declared that Buddhism was harmful to the authority of the state, that Buddhist monasteries contributed nothing to the economic prosperity of China, that Buddhism was barbaric and undeserving of Chinese cultural traditions. However, Buddhism was often associated with Daoism in its ascetic meditative tradition, and for this reason a concept-matching system was used by some early Indian translators, to adapt native Buddhist ideas onto Daoist ideas and terminology.
Buddhism appealed to Chinese intellectuals and elites and the development of gentry Buddhism was sought as an alternative to Confucianism and Daoism, since Buddhism's emphasis on morality and ritual appealed to Confucianists and the desire to cultivate inner wisdom appealed to Daoists. Gentry Buddhism was a medium of introduction for the beginning of Buddhism in China, it gained imperial and courtly support. By the early 5th century Buddhism was established in south China During this time, Indian monks continued to travel along the Silk Road to teach Buddhism, and translation work was primarily done by foreign monks rather than Chinese.
The Arrival of Kumārajīva
When the famous monk Kumārajīva was captured as booty during the Chinese conquest of the Buddhist kingdom of Kucha, he was imprisoned for many years. When he was released, he immediately took a high place in Chinese Buddhism and was appraised as a great master from the West. He was especially valued by Emperor Yao Xing of the state of Later Qin, who gave him an honorific title and treated him like a god. Kumārajīva revolutionized Chinese Buddhism with his high quality translations, which are still praised for their flowing smoothness, clarity of meaning, subtlety, and literary skill. Due to the efforts of Kumārajīva, Buddhism in China became not only recognized for its practice methods, but also as high philosophy and religion. The arrival of Kumārajīva also set a standard for Chinese translations of Buddhist texts, effectively doing away with previous concept-matching systems.
The translations of Kumārajīva have often remained more popular than those of other translators. Among the most well-known are his translations of the Diamond Sutra, the Amitabha Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, and the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra.
A Completed Sūtra Piṭaka
Around the time of Kumārajīva, the four major Sanskrit āgamas were also translated into Chinese. Each of the āgamas was translated independently by a different Indian monk. These āgamas comprise the only other complete surviving Sūtra Piṭaka, which is generally comparable to the Pali Sutta Pitaka of Theravada Buddhism. The teachings of the Sūtra Piṭaka are usually considered to be one of the earliest teachings on Buddhism and a core text of the Early Buddhist Schools in China.
Early Chinese Buddhist Traditions
Due to the wide proliferation of Buddhist texts available in Chinese and the large number of foreign monks who came to teach Buddhism in China, various new and independent traditions emerged. Among the most influential of these was the practice of Pure Land Buddhism established by Hui Yuan, which focused on Amitābha Buddha and his western pure land. Another major early tradition was the Tiantai school, founded by Zhiyi, which is based upon the primacy of the Lotus Sutra, along with supplementary sūtras and commentaries. Zhiyi wrote several works that become important and widely read meditation manuals in China.
A traditional Chinese Chán Buddhist master in Taiwan, sitting in meditation.
Chinese Buddhism Flourishes
Chán: Pointing Directly to the Mind
In the 5th century, the Chán (Zen) teachings began in China, traditionally attributed to the Indian monk Bodhidharma, who has since become a somewhat legendary figure. The school heavily utilized the principles found in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, a sūtra utilizing the teachings of Yogācāra and those of Tathāgatagarbha, and which teaches the One Vehicle (Skt. Ekayāna) to buddhahood. In the early years, the teachings of Chán were therefore referred to as the "One Vehicle School." The earliest masters of the Chán school were called "Laṅkāvatāra Masters", for their mastery of practice according to the principles of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra.
The principle teachings of Chán were later often known for the use of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, and the teaching methods used in them. Nan Huaijin identifies the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra and the Diamond Sūtra (Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra) as the principle texts of the Chán school, and summarizes the principles succinctly: "The Zen teaching was a separate transmission outside the scriptural teachings that did not posit any written texts as sacred. Zen pointed directly to the human mind to enable people to see their real nature and become buddhas."
The ruins of Nalanda University in India where Xuanzang studied.
Statue of Xuanzang at the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an.
Xuanzang's Journey to the West
During the early Tang dynasty, between 629 and 645, the monk Xuanzang journeyed to India and visited over one hundred kingdoms, and wrote extensive and detailed reports of his findings, which have subsequently become important for the study of India during this period. During his travels he visited holy sites, learned the lore of his faith, and studied with many famous Buddhist masters, especially at the famous center of Buddhist learning at Nālanda University. When he returned, he brought with him some 657 Sanskrit texts. Xuanzang also returned with relics, statues, and Buddhist paraphernalia loaded onto twenty-two horses. With the emperor's support, he set up a large translation bureau in Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), drawing students and collaborators from all over East Asia. He is credited with the translation of some 1,330 fascicles of scriptures into Chinese. His strongest personal interest in Buddhism was in the field of Yogācāra, or "Consciousness-only".
The force of his own study, translation and commentary of the texts of these traditions initiated the development of the Faxiang school in East Asia. Although the school itself did not thrive for a long time, its theories regarding perception, consciousness, karma, rebirth, etc. found their way into the doctrines of other more successful schools. Xuanzang's closest and most eminent student was Kuiji who became recognized as the first patriarch of the Faxiang school. Xuanzang's logic, as described by Kuiji, was often misunderstood by scholars of Chinese Buddhism because they lack the necessary background in Indian logic. Another important disciple was the Korean monk Woncheuk.
Xuanzang's translations were especially important for the transmission of Indian texts related to the Yogācāra school. He translated central Yogācāra texts such as the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra and the Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, as well as important texts such as the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra and the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja Sūtra (Medicine Buddha Sūtra). He is credited with writing or compiling the Cheng Weishi Lun (Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi Śāstra) as a commentary on these texts. His translation of the Heart Sūtra became and remains the standard in all East Asian Buddhist sects. The proliferation of these sūtras expanded the Chinese Buddhist canon significantly with high quality translations of some of the most important Indian Buddhist texts.
Bodhisattva Leading the Way, color on silk, China, c. 875, British Museum. Caves, Art, and Technology
The popularization of Buddhism in this period is evident in the many scripture-filled caves and structures surviving from this period. The Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in Gansu province, the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan and the Yungang Grottoes near Datong in Shanxi are the most renowned examples from the Northern, Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Leshan Giant Buddha, carved out of a hillside in the 8th century during the Tang Dynasty and looking down on the confluence of three rivers, is still the largest stone Buddha statue in the world.
Making duplications of Buddhist texts was considered to bring meritorious karma. Printing from individually carved wooden blocks and from clay or metal movable type proved much more efficient than hand copying and eventually eclipsed it. The Diamond Sūtra (Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra) of 868 CE, a Buddhist scripture discovered in 1907 inside the Mogao Caves, is the first dated example of block printing.
Arrival of Esoteric Buddhism
The Kaiyuan's Three Great Enlightened Masters, Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi, and Amoghavajra, established Esoteric Buddhism in China from AD 716 to 720 during the reign of emperor Xuanzong. They came to Daxing Shansi, Great Propagating Goodness Temple), which was the predecessor of Temple of the Great Enlightener Mahavairocana. Daxing Shansi was established in the ancient capital Chang'an, today's Xi'an, and became one of the four great centers of scripture translation supported by the imperial court. They had translated many Buddhist scriptures, sutra and tantra, from Sanskrit to Chinese. They had also assimilated the prevailing teachings of China: Daoism and Confucianism, with Buddhism, and had further evolved the practice of the Esoteric school.
They brought to the Chinese a mysterious, dynamic, and magical teaching, which included mantra formula and detailed rituals to protect a person or an empire, to affect a person’s fate after death, and, particularly popular, to bring rain in times of drought. It is not surprising, then, that all three masters were well received by the emperor Tang Xuanzong, and their teachings were quickly taken up at the Tang court and among the elite. Mantrayana altars were installed in temples in the capital, and by the time of emperor Tang Daizong (r. 762-779) its influence among the upper classes outstripped that of Daoism. However, relations between Amoghavajra and Daizong were especially good. In life the emperor favored Amoghavajra with titles and gifts, and when the master died in 774, he honored his memory with a stupa, or funeral monument. The Esoteric Buddhist lineage of China (and almost all of Buddhism in China at the time) was nearly wiped out by the Emperor Tang Wuzong, an avid Daoist with biases against Buddhists, leading to the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution.
By this time, all of the Esoteric Buddhist lineages were transmitted to Japan under the auspices of the monks Kūkai and Saicho, each of whom later formulated the teachings transmitted to them to created the Shingon sect and the Tendai sect.
Tang state repression of 845
There were several components that lead to opposition of Buddhism. One factor is the foreign origins of Buddhism, unlike Daoism and Confucianism. Han Yu wrote, "Buddha was a man of the barbarians who did not speak the language of China and wore clothes of a different fashion. His sayings did not concern the ways of our ancient kings, nor did his manner of dress conform to their laws. He understood neither the duties that bind sovereign and subject, nor the affections of father and son."
Other components included the Buddhists' withdrawal from society, since the Chinese believed that Chinese people should be involved with family life. Wealth, tax-exemption status and power of the Buddhist temples and monasteries also annoyed many critics.
As mentioned earlier, persecution came during the reign of Emperor Wuzong in the Tang Dynasty. Wuzong was said to hate the sight of Buddhist monks, whom he thought were tax-evaders. In 845, he ordered the destruction of 4,600 Buddhist monasteries and 40,000 temples. More than 400,000 Buddhist monks and nuns then became peasants liable to the Two Taxes (grain and cloth). Wuzong cited that Buddhism was an alien religion, which is the reason he also persecuted the Christians in China. Ancient Chinese Buddhism never fully recovered from the persecution. Buddhism after forfeiture of 845
Chinese gold painting of Cundī. Hanging scroll, gold ink and colors on paper. Ming Dynasty.
Song Dynasty
Buddhist ideology began to merge with Confucianism and Daoism, due in part to the use of existing Chinese philosophical terms in the translation of Buddhist scriptures. Various Confucian scholars of the Song dynasty, including Zhu Xi (wg: Chu Hsi), sought to redefine Confucianism as Neo-Confucianism.
During the Song Dynasty, in 1021 CE, it is recorded that there were 458,855 Buddhist monks and nuns actively living in monasteries. The total number of monks was 397,615, while the total number of nuns was recorded as 61,240. Yuan Dynasty
During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongol emperors made Esoteric Buddhism an official religion of China, and Tibetan lamas were given patronage at the court. A common perception was that this patronage of lamas caused corrupt forms of tantra to become widespread. When the Mongol Yuan Dynasty was overthrown and the Ming Dynasty was established, the Tibetan lamas were expelled from the court, and this form of Buddhism was denounced as not being an orthodox path.
At the peak of the Tang Dynasty's vitality, Chinese Buddhism produced numerous spiritual masters.
Admitting the impossibility of saying "when or how the first Buddhist missions in China began", Kenneth Saunders mentions Ashoka and the Fayuan Zhulin (written 688 CE) noting missionaries arriving in Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE) China. This Buddhist encyclopedia claims that in 217 BCE, the monk Li Fang and seventeen others arrived in Xi'an. According to some European historians, Mauryan emperor Aśoka the Great sent the royal monk Massim Sthavira to India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China to spread Buddhism around 265 BCE. However, it has not been widely confirmed that these missionaries arrived in China or that they were responsible for establishing the teachings of Buddhism there.
Generations of scholars have debated whether Buddhist missionaries first reached Han China via the maritime or overland routes of the Silk Road. The maritime route hypothesis, favored by Liang Qichao and Paul Pelliot, proposed that Buddhism was originally practiced in southern China, the Yangtze River and Huai River region, where prince Ying of Chu (present day Jiangsu) was jointly worshipping the Yellow Emperor, Laozi, and Buddha in 65 CE. The overland route hypothesis, favored by Tang Yongtong, proposed that Buddhism disseminated eastward through Yuezhi and was originally practiced in western China, at the Han capital Luoyang (present day Henan), where Emperor Ming of Han established the White Horse Temple in 68 CE. Rong Xinjiang, a history professor at Peking University, reexamined the overland and maritime hypotheses through a multi-disciplinary review of recent discoveries and research, including the Gandhāran Buddhist Texts, and concluded.
The view that Buddhism was transmitted to China by the sea route comparatively lacks convincing and supporting materials, and some arguments are not sufficiently rigorous. Based on the existing historical texts and the archaeological iconographic materials discovered since the 1980's, particularly the first-century Buddhist manuscripts recently found in Afghanistan, the commentator believes that the most plausible theory is that Buddhism started from the Greater Yuezhi of northwest India (present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) and took the land roads to reach Han China. After entering into China, Buddhism blended with early Daoism and Chinese traditional esoteric arts and its iconography received blind worship.
White Horse Temple, traditionally held to be at the origin of Chinese Buddhism.
Mogao Caves 8th-century mural depicting the pseudo historical legend of Emperor Wu of Han worshipping "golden man" Buddha statues captured in 121 BCE.
A number of popular accounts in historical Chinese literature have led to the popularity of certain legends regarding the introduction of Buddhism into China. According to the most popular one, Emperor Ming (58–75 CE) precipitated the introduction of Buddhist teachings into China. The (early 3rd century) Lihuolun by Mouzi first records this legend.
In olden days emperor Ming saw in a dream a god whose body had the brilliance of the sun and who flew before his palace; and he rejoiced exceedingly at this. The next day he asked his officials: "What god is this?" the scholar Fu Yi said: "Your subject has heard it said that in India there is somebody who has attained the Dao and who is called Buddha; he flies in the air, his body had the brilliance of the sun; this must be that god."
The emperor then sent an envoy to Tianzhu (Southern India) to inquire about the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhist scriptures were said to have been returned to China on the backs of white horses, after which White Horse Temple was named. Two Indian monks also returned with them, named Dharmarakṣa and Kaśyapa Mātaṅga.
An 8th century Chinese fresco at Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in Gansu portrays Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BCE) worshiping statues of a golden man; "golden men brought in 121 BCE by a great Han general in his campaigns against the nomads". However, neither the Shiji nor Book of Han histories of Emperor Wu mentions a golden Buddhist statue (compare Emperor Ming above).
The First Translations
The first documented translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese occurs in 148 CE with the arrival of the Parthian prince-turned-monk An Shigao . He worked to establish Buddhist temples in Loyang and organized the translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese, testifying to the beginning of a wave of Central Asian Buddhist proselytism that was to last several centuries. An Shigao translated Buddhist texts on basic doctrines, meditation, and abhidharma. An Xuan, a Parthian layman who worked alongside An Shigao, also translated an early Mahāyāna Buddhist text on the bodhisattva path.
Mahāyāna Buddhism was first widely propagated in China by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema active c. 164–186 CE), who came from the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhāra. Lokakṣema translated important Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, as well as rare, early Mahāyāna sūtras on topics such as samādhi, and meditation on the buddha Akṣobhya. These translations from Lokakṣema continue to give insight into the early period of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Chinese Buddhism Matures
Blue-eyed Central Asian and East-Asian Buddhist monks, Bezeklik, Eastern Tarim Basin, China, 9th–10th century.
The Tripiṭaka Koreana, an edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon carved and preserved in over 81,000 wood printing blocks.
Early Translation Methods
Initially, Buddhism in China faced a number of difficulties in becoming established. The concept of monasticism and the aversion to social affairs seemed to contradict the long-established norms and standards established in Chinese society. Some even declared that Buddhism was harmful to the authority of the state, that Buddhist monasteries contributed nothing to the economic prosperity of China, that Buddhism was barbaric and undeserving of Chinese cultural traditions. However, Buddhism was often associated with Daoism in its ascetic meditative tradition, and for this reason a concept-matching system was used by some early Indian translators, to adapt native Buddhist ideas onto Daoist ideas and terminology.
Buddhism appealed to Chinese intellectuals and elites and the development of gentry Buddhism was sought as an alternative to Confucianism and Daoism, since Buddhism's emphasis on morality and ritual appealed to Confucianists and the desire to cultivate inner wisdom appealed to Daoists. Gentry Buddhism was a medium of introduction for the beginning of Buddhism in China, it gained imperial and courtly support. By the early 5th century Buddhism was established in south China During this time, Indian monks continued to travel along the Silk Road to teach Buddhism, and translation work was primarily done by foreign monks rather than Chinese.
The Arrival of Kumārajīva
When the famous monk Kumārajīva was captured as booty during the Chinese conquest of the Buddhist kingdom of Kucha, he was imprisoned for many years. When he was released, he immediately took a high place in Chinese Buddhism and was appraised as a great master from the West. He was especially valued by Emperor Yao Xing of the state of Later Qin, who gave him an honorific title and treated him like a god. Kumārajīva revolutionized Chinese Buddhism with his high quality translations, which are still praised for their flowing smoothness, clarity of meaning, subtlety, and literary skill. Due to the efforts of Kumārajīva, Buddhism in China became not only recognized for its practice methods, but also as high philosophy and religion. The arrival of Kumārajīva also set a standard for Chinese translations of Buddhist texts, effectively doing away with previous concept-matching systems.
The translations of Kumārajīva have often remained more popular than those of other translators. Among the most well-known are his translations of the Diamond Sutra, the Amitabha Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, and the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra.
A Completed Sūtra Piṭaka
Around the time of Kumārajīva, the four major Sanskrit āgamas were also translated into Chinese. Each of the āgamas was translated independently by a different Indian monk. These āgamas comprise the only other complete surviving Sūtra Piṭaka, which is generally comparable to the Pali Sutta Pitaka of Theravada Buddhism. The teachings of the Sūtra Piṭaka are usually considered to be one of the earliest teachings on Buddhism and a core text of the Early Buddhist Schools in China.
Early Chinese Buddhist Traditions
Due to the wide proliferation of Buddhist texts available in Chinese and the large number of foreign monks who came to teach Buddhism in China, various new and independent traditions emerged. Among the most influential of these was the practice of Pure Land Buddhism established by Hui Yuan, which focused on Amitābha Buddha and his western pure land. Another major early tradition was the Tiantai school, founded by Zhiyi, which is based upon the primacy of the Lotus Sutra, along with supplementary sūtras and commentaries. Zhiyi wrote several works that become important and widely read meditation manuals in China.
A traditional Chinese Chán Buddhist master in Taiwan, sitting in meditation.
Chinese Buddhism Flourishes
Chán: Pointing Directly to the Mind
In the 5th century, the Chán (Zen) teachings began in China, traditionally attributed to the Indian monk Bodhidharma, who has since become a somewhat legendary figure. The school heavily utilized the principles found in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, a sūtra utilizing the teachings of Yogācāra and those of Tathāgatagarbha, and which teaches the One Vehicle (Skt. Ekayāna) to buddhahood. In the early years, the teachings of Chán were therefore referred to as the "One Vehicle School." The earliest masters of the Chán school were called "Laṅkāvatāra Masters", for their mastery of practice according to the principles of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra.
The principle teachings of Chán were later often known for the use of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, and the teaching methods used in them. Nan Huaijin identifies the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra and the Diamond Sūtra (Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra) as the principle texts of the Chán school, and summarizes the principles succinctly: "The Zen teaching was a separate transmission outside the scriptural teachings that did not posit any written texts as sacred. Zen pointed directly to the human mind to enable people to see their real nature and become buddhas."
The ruins of Nalanda University in India where Xuanzang studied.
Statue of Xuanzang at the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an.
Xuanzang's Journey to the West
During the early Tang dynasty, between 629 and 645, the monk Xuanzang journeyed to India and visited over one hundred kingdoms, and wrote extensive and detailed reports of his findings, which have subsequently become important for the study of India during this period. During his travels he visited holy sites, learned the lore of his faith, and studied with many famous Buddhist masters, especially at the famous center of Buddhist learning at Nālanda University. When he returned, he brought with him some 657 Sanskrit texts. Xuanzang also returned with relics, statues, and Buddhist paraphernalia loaded onto twenty-two horses. With the emperor's support, he set up a large translation bureau in Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), drawing students and collaborators from all over East Asia. He is credited with the translation of some 1,330 fascicles of scriptures into Chinese. His strongest personal interest in Buddhism was in the field of Yogācāra, or "Consciousness-only".
The force of his own study, translation and commentary of the texts of these traditions initiated the development of the Faxiang school in East Asia. Although the school itself did not thrive for a long time, its theories regarding perception, consciousness, karma, rebirth, etc. found their way into the doctrines of other more successful schools. Xuanzang's closest and most eminent student was Kuiji who became recognized as the first patriarch of the Faxiang school. Xuanzang's logic, as described by Kuiji, was often misunderstood by scholars of Chinese Buddhism because they lack the necessary background in Indian logic. Another important disciple was the Korean monk Woncheuk.
Xuanzang's translations were especially important for the transmission of Indian texts related to the Yogācāra school. He translated central Yogācāra texts such as the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra and the Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, as well as important texts such as the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra and the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja Sūtra (Medicine Buddha Sūtra). He is credited with writing or compiling the Cheng Weishi Lun (Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi Śāstra) as a commentary on these texts. His translation of the Heart Sūtra became and remains the standard in all East Asian Buddhist sects. The proliferation of these sūtras expanded the Chinese Buddhist canon significantly with high quality translations of some of the most important Indian Buddhist texts.
Bodhisattva Leading the Way, color on silk, China, c. 875, British Museum. Caves, Art, and Technology
The popularization of Buddhism in this period is evident in the many scripture-filled caves and structures surviving from this period. The Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in Gansu province, the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan and the Yungang Grottoes near Datong in Shanxi are the most renowned examples from the Northern, Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Leshan Giant Buddha, carved out of a hillside in the 8th century during the Tang Dynasty and looking down on the confluence of three rivers, is still the largest stone Buddha statue in the world.
Making duplications of Buddhist texts was considered to bring meritorious karma. Printing from individually carved wooden blocks and from clay or metal movable type proved much more efficient than hand copying and eventually eclipsed it. The Diamond Sūtra (Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra) of 868 CE, a Buddhist scripture discovered in 1907 inside the Mogao Caves, is the first dated example of block printing.
Arrival of Esoteric Buddhism
The Kaiyuan's Three Great Enlightened Masters, Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi, and Amoghavajra, established Esoteric Buddhism in China from AD 716 to 720 during the reign of emperor Xuanzong. They came to Daxing Shansi, Great Propagating Goodness Temple), which was the predecessor of Temple of the Great Enlightener Mahavairocana. Daxing Shansi was established in the ancient capital Chang'an, today's Xi'an, and became one of the four great centers of scripture translation supported by the imperial court. They had translated many Buddhist scriptures, sutra and tantra, from Sanskrit to Chinese. They had also assimilated the prevailing teachings of China: Daoism and Confucianism, with Buddhism, and had further evolved the practice of the Esoteric school.
They brought to the Chinese a mysterious, dynamic, and magical teaching, which included mantra formula and detailed rituals to protect a person or an empire, to affect a person’s fate after death, and, particularly popular, to bring rain in times of drought. It is not surprising, then, that all three masters were well received by the emperor Tang Xuanzong, and their teachings were quickly taken up at the Tang court and among the elite. Mantrayana altars were installed in temples in the capital, and by the time of emperor Tang Daizong (r. 762-779) its influence among the upper classes outstripped that of Daoism. However, relations between Amoghavajra and Daizong were especially good. In life the emperor favored Amoghavajra with titles and gifts, and when the master died in 774, he honored his memory with a stupa, or funeral monument. The Esoteric Buddhist lineage of China (and almost all of Buddhism in China at the time) was nearly wiped out by the Emperor Tang Wuzong, an avid Daoist with biases against Buddhists, leading to the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution.
By this time, all of the Esoteric Buddhist lineages were transmitted to Japan under the auspices of the monks Kūkai and Saicho, each of whom later formulated the teachings transmitted to them to created the Shingon sect and the Tendai sect.
Tang state repression of 845
There were several components that lead to opposition of Buddhism. One factor is the foreign origins of Buddhism, unlike Daoism and Confucianism. Han Yu wrote, "Buddha was a man of the barbarians who did not speak the language of China and wore clothes of a different fashion. His sayings did not concern the ways of our ancient kings, nor did his manner of dress conform to their laws. He understood neither the duties that bind sovereign and subject, nor the affections of father and son."
Other components included the Buddhists' withdrawal from society, since the Chinese believed that Chinese people should be involved with family life. Wealth, tax-exemption status and power of the Buddhist temples and monasteries also annoyed many critics.
As mentioned earlier, persecution came during the reign of Emperor Wuzong in the Tang Dynasty. Wuzong was said to hate the sight of Buddhist monks, whom he thought were tax-evaders. In 845, he ordered the destruction of 4,600 Buddhist monasteries and 40,000 temples. More than 400,000 Buddhist monks and nuns then became peasants liable to the Two Taxes (grain and cloth). Wuzong cited that Buddhism was an alien religion, which is the reason he also persecuted the Christians in China. Ancient Chinese Buddhism never fully recovered from the persecution. Buddhism after forfeiture of 845
Chinese gold painting of Cundī. Hanging scroll, gold ink and colors on paper. Ming Dynasty.
Song Dynasty
Buddhist ideology began to merge with Confucianism and Daoism, due in part to the use of existing Chinese philosophical terms in the translation of Buddhist scriptures. Various Confucian scholars of the Song dynasty, including Zhu Xi (wg: Chu Hsi), sought to redefine Confucianism as Neo-Confucianism.
During the Song Dynasty, in 1021 CE, it is recorded that there were 458,855 Buddhist monks and nuns actively living in monasteries. The total number of monks was 397,615, while the total number of nuns was recorded as 61,240. Yuan Dynasty
During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongol emperors made Esoteric Buddhism an official religion of China, and Tibetan lamas were given patronage at the court. A common perception was that this patronage of lamas caused corrupt forms of tantra to become widespread. When the Mongol Yuan Dynasty was overthrown and the Ming Dynasty was established, the Tibetan lamas were expelled from the court, and this form of Buddhism was denounced as not being an orthodox path.
Ming dynasty
"By the Ming period (1368–1644) the preeminence of Chan had been so firmly established that almost the entire Buddhist clergy were affiliated with either its Linji or Caodong lineages, both of which claimed descent from Bodhidharma."
Qing dynasty
The Qing court endorsed the Gelukpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. Early in the Taiping rebellion, the Taiping rebels targeted Buddhism. In the Battle of Nanjing (1853), the Taiping army butchered thousands of monks in Nanjing. But from the middle of the Taiping rebellion, Taiping leaders took a more moderate approach, demanding that monks should have licences.
Lay practitioners in Chinese Buddhism
Nan Huai-Chin, an influential lay Buddhist teacher in modern China and Taiwan.
In Chinese Buddhism, lay practitioners have traditionally played an important role, and lay practice of Buddhism has had similar tendencies to those of monastic Buddhism in China. Many historical biographies of lay Buddhists are available, which give a clear picture of their practices and role in Chinese Buddhism. In addition to these numerous biographies, there are accounts from Jesuit missionaries such as Matteo Ricci which provide extensive and revealing accounts to the degree Buddhism penetrated elite and popular culture in China. Traditional practices such as meditation, mantra recitation, mindfulness of Amitābha Buddha, asceticism, and vegetarianism were all integrated into the belief systems of ordinary people. It is known from accounts in the Ming Dynasty that lay practitioners often engaged in practices from both the Pure Land and Chán traditions, as well as the study of the Buddhist sūtras. The Heart Sūtra and the Diamond Sūtra were the most popular, followed by the Lotus Sūtra and the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Laypeople were also commonly devoted to the practice of mantras, and the Mahā Karuṇā Dhāraṇī and the Cundī Dhāraṇī were very popular. Robert Gimello has also observed that in Chinese Buddhist communities, the esoteric practices of Cundī enjoyed popularity among both the populace and the elite. Mahāyāna figures such as Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Amitābha Buddha, and the Medicine Buddha, were all widely known and revered. Beliefs in karma and rebirth were held at all levels of Chinese society, and pilgrimages to well-known monasteries and the four holy mountains of China were undertaken by monastics and lay practitioners alike.
Modern developments in Chinese Buddhism
A Chinese Buddhist depiction of Śākyamuni Buddha, at a temple in London.
The 108-metre-high statue is the world's tallest of Guanyin Statue of Hainan was enshrined on April 24, 2005 with the participation of 108 eminent monks from various Buddhist groups in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland China, and tens of thousands of pilgrims. The delegation also included monks from the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. China belongs to those countries that own most of the world's highest Buddhist statues.
In April 2006 China organized the World Buddhist Forum and in March 2007 the government banned mining on Buddhist sacred mountains. In May of the same year, in Changzhou, world's tallest pagoda was built and opened. In March 2008 the Taiwan-based Tzu Chi Foundation was approved to open a branch in mainland China.
Theravada Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism exist mainly among ethnic minorities in the southwest and the north.
Hsu Yun is generally regarded as one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Unlike Catholicism and other branches of Christianity, there was no organization in China that embraced all monastics in China, nor even all monastics within the same sect. Traditionally each monastery was autonomous, with authority resting on each respective abbot. In 1953, the Chinese Buddhist Association was established at a meeting with 121 delegates in Beijing. The meeting also elected a chairman, 4 honorary chairmen, 7 vice-chairmen, a secretary general, 3 deputy secretaries-general, 18 members of a standing committee, and 93 directors. The 4 elected honorary chairmen were the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama, the Grand Lama of Inner Mongolia, and Venerable Master Hsu Yun. Festivals
These are the holy days that Chinese Buddhists celebrate by visiting temples to make offerings of prayers, incense, fruits, flowers and donations. On such days they observe the moral precepts very strictly as well as a full day’s vegetarian diet, a practice originally from China. The dates given are based on the Chinese calendar system so that 8.4 means the Eighth day of the fourth lunar moon and so on.
History of Buddhism in ChinaBuddhism is the most important religion in China. It is generally believed that it was spread to China in 67 AD during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220) from Hotan in Xinjiang to Central China. During its development in China, it has a profound influence on traditional Chinese culture and thoughts, and has become one of the most important religions in China at that time. In general, the development of Buddhism in China can be divided into the following periods. The first period is Buddhism in Han Dynasty when it was just introduced into China. During this period of time, many Buddhist scriptures were translated and explained. The White Horse Temple was built during this period of time and it signifies the first time of Buddhism doctrines delivered in China.
Painted Buddha Sculpture, Mogao Caves, Dunhuang The second period is in Jin (265-420), Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-589) when more Buddhist scriptures were translated and Buddhist writings came out. From the beginning of Northern and Southern Dynasties, Chinese Buddhism has entered its prosperous time. During this period, the Buddhism ideas were popularized across the land. The number of Buddhists was on increase. The third period is the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties when Buddhism welcomed its heyday and got unprecedented development. During this period, many new Buddhist denominations were founded. The emperors of the Sui Dynasty believed in Buddhism, and though Tang's emperors believed in Taoism, they showed a protective and tolerant attitude toward the development of other religions such as Buddhism. So in this period, Buddhism got a rapid and great development in China.
Fayu Temple on Mt. Putuoshan, Zhejiang However, in the late of feudal society, because of the social unrest, Chinese Buddhism was slow in development. After the founding of People's Republic of China and the implementing of the policy of freedom in religion belief, Chinese Buddhism embraced its new growing age. Now it is developing greatly and the international academic exchanges are expanded. Sects of Buddhism Three different forms of this religion evolved as it reached the centers of population at varying times and by different routes. The social and ethnic background in each location also affected the way in which each of these forms developed and eventually they became known as Han, Tibetan and Southern Buddhism.
"By the Ming period (1368–1644) the preeminence of Chan had been so firmly established that almost the entire Buddhist clergy were affiliated with either its Linji or Caodong lineages, both of which claimed descent from Bodhidharma."
Qing dynasty
The Qing court endorsed the Gelukpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. Early in the Taiping rebellion, the Taiping rebels targeted Buddhism. In the Battle of Nanjing (1853), the Taiping army butchered thousands of monks in Nanjing. But from the middle of the Taiping rebellion, Taiping leaders took a more moderate approach, demanding that monks should have licences.
Lay practitioners in Chinese Buddhism
Nan Huai-Chin, an influential lay Buddhist teacher in modern China and Taiwan.
In Chinese Buddhism, lay practitioners have traditionally played an important role, and lay practice of Buddhism has had similar tendencies to those of monastic Buddhism in China. Many historical biographies of lay Buddhists are available, which give a clear picture of their practices and role in Chinese Buddhism. In addition to these numerous biographies, there are accounts from Jesuit missionaries such as Matteo Ricci which provide extensive and revealing accounts to the degree Buddhism penetrated elite and popular culture in China. Traditional practices such as meditation, mantra recitation, mindfulness of Amitābha Buddha, asceticism, and vegetarianism were all integrated into the belief systems of ordinary people. It is known from accounts in the Ming Dynasty that lay practitioners often engaged in practices from both the Pure Land and Chán traditions, as well as the study of the Buddhist sūtras. The Heart Sūtra and the Diamond Sūtra were the most popular, followed by the Lotus Sūtra and the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Laypeople were also commonly devoted to the practice of mantras, and the Mahā Karuṇā Dhāraṇī and the Cundī Dhāraṇī were very popular. Robert Gimello has also observed that in Chinese Buddhist communities, the esoteric practices of Cundī enjoyed popularity among both the populace and the elite. Mahāyāna figures such as Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Amitābha Buddha, and the Medicine Buddha, were all widely known and revered. Beliefs in karma and rebirth were held at all levels of Chinese society, and pilgrimages to well-known monasteries and the four holy mountains of China were undertaken by monastics and lay practitioners alike.
Modern developments in Chinese Buddhism
A Chinese Buddhist depiction of Śākyamuni Buddha, at a temple in London.
The 108-metre-high statue is the world's tallest of Guanyin Statue of Hainan was enshrined on April 24, 2005 with the participation of 108 eminent monks from various Buddhist groups in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland China, and tens of thousands of pilgrims. The delegation also included monks from the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. China belongs to those countries that own most of the world's highest Buddhist statues.
In April 2006 China organized the World Buddhist Forum and in March 2007 the government banned mining on Buddhist sacred mountains. In May of the same year, in Changzhou, world's tallest pagoda was built and opened. In March 2008 the Taiwan-based Tzu Chi Foundation was approved to open a branch in mainland China.
Theravada Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism exist mainly among ethnic minorities in the southwest and the north.
Hsu Yun is generally regarded as one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Unlike Catholicism and other branches of Christianity, there was no organization in China that embraced all monastics in China, nor even all monastics within the same sect. Traditionally each monastery was autonomous, with authority resting on each respective abbot. In 1953, the Chinese Buddhist Association was established at a meeting with 121 delegates in Beijing. The meeting also elected a chairman, 4 honorary chairmen, 7 vice-chairmen, a secretary general, 3 deputy secretaries-general, 18 members of a standing committee, and 93 directors. The 4 elected honorary chairmen were the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama, the Grand Lama of Inner Mongolia, and Venerable Master Hsu Yun. Festivals
These are the holy days that Chinese Buddhists celebrate by visiting temples to make offerings of prayers, incense, fruits, flowers and donations. On such days they observe the moral precepts very strictly as well as a full day’s vegetarian diet, a practice originally from China. The dates given are based on the Chinese calendar system so that 8.4 means the Eighth day of the fourth lunar moon and so on.
History of Buddhism in ChinaBuddhism is the most important religion in China. It is generally believed that it was spread to China in 67 AD during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220) from Hotan in Xinjiang to Central China. During its development in China, it has a profound influence on traditional Chinese culture and thoughts, and has become one of the most important religions in China at that time. In general, the development of Buddhism in China can be divided into the following periods. The first period is Buddhism in Han Dynasty when it was just introduced into China. During this period of time, many Buddhist scriptures were translated and explained. The White Horse Temple was built during this period of time and it signifies the first time of Buddhism doctrines delivered in China.
Painted Buddha Sculpture, Mogao Caves, Dunhuang The second period is in Jin (265-420), Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-589) when more Buddhist scriptures were translated and Buddhist writings came out. From the beginning of Northern and Southern Dynasties, Chinese Buddhism has entered its prosperous time. During this period, the Buddhism ideas were popularized across the land. The number of Buddhists was on increase. The third period is the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties when Buddhism welcomed its heyday and got unprecedented development. During this period, many new Buddhist denominations were founded. The emperors of the Sui Dynasty believed in Buddhism, and though Tang's emperors believed in Taoism, they showed a protective and tolerant attitude toward the development of other religions such as Buddhism. So in this period, Buddhism got a rapid and great development in China.
Fayu Temple on Mt. Putuoshan, Zhejiang However, in the late of feudal society, because of the social unrest, Chinese Buddhism was slow in development. After the founding of People's Republic of China and the implementing of the policy of freedom in religion belief, Chinese Buddhism embraced its new growing age. Now it is developing greatly and the international academic exchanges are expanded. Sects of Buddhism Three different forms of this religion evolved as it reached the centers of population at varying times and by different routes. The social and ethnic background in each location also affected the way in which each of these forms developed and eventually they became known as Han, Tibetan and Southern Buddhism.
During the third century B.C., Emperor Asoka sent missionaries to the northwest of India, that is, present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. The mission achieved great success as the region soon became a centre of Buddhist learning with many distinguish monks and scholars. When the merchants of Central Asia came into this region for trade, they learnt about Buddhism and accepted it as their religion. By the second century B.C., some central Asian cities like Kotan, has already become important centres for Buddhism. The Chinese people had their first contact with Buddhism through Central Asians who were already Buddhists.
When the Han Dynasty of China extended its power to Central Asia in the first century B.C., trade and cultural ties between China and Central Asia also increased. In this way, the Chinese people learnt about Buddhism so that by the middle of the first century C.E., a community of Chinese Buddhists was already in existence. As interest in Buddhism grew, there was a great demand for Buddhist texts to be translated from Indian languages into Chinese. This led to the arrival of translators from Central Asia and India. The first notable one was Anshigao from Central Asia who came to China in the middle of the second century. With a growing collection of Chinese translations of Buddhist texts, Buddhism became more widely known and a Chinese monastic order was also formed. The first known Chinese monk was said to be Anshigao's disciple.
The early translators had some difficulty in finding the exact words to explain Buddhist concepts in Chinese, so they often used Taoist terms in their translations. As a result, people began to relate Buddhism with the existing Taoist tradition. It was only later on that the Chinese came to fully understand the teachings of the Buddha.
After the fall of the Han Dynasty in the early part of the third century, China faced a period of political disunity. Despise the war and unrest, the translations of the Buddhist texts continued. During this time, both foreign and Chinese monks were actively involved in establishing monasteries and lecturing on the Buddhist teachings.
Among the Chinese monks, Dao-an who lived in the fourth century, was the most outstanding. Though he had to move from place to place because of the political strife, he not only wrote and lectured extensively, but prepared the first catalogues of them. He invited the famous translator, Kumarajiva, from Kucha. With the help of of Do-an's disciples, Kumarjiva translated a large number of important texts and revised the earlier Chinese translations. His fine translations are still in use to this day. Because of political unrest, Kumarkiva's disciple were later dispersed and this helped to spread Buddhism to other parts of China.
The Establishment of Buddhism in China: From the beginning of the fifth century to around the end of the sixth century, northern and southern China came under separate rule. The south remained under native dynasties while the north was controlled by non-Chinese rulers. The Buddhist in southern China continued to translate Buddhist texts and to lecture and write commentaries on the major texts. Their rulers were devout Buddhists who saw to the construction of numerous temples, participated in Buddhist ceremonies and organised public talks on Buddhism.
In northern China, except for two short periods of persecution, Buddhism flourished under the lavish royal patronage of rulers who favoured the religion. By the latter half of the sixth century, monks were employed in government posts. During this period, Buddhist art flourished, especially in the caves at Dun-huang, Yun-gang and Long-men. In the thousand caves at Dun-huang, Buddhist paintings covered the walls and there were thousands of Buddha statues in these caves. At Yun-gan and Long-men, many Buddha images of varying sizes were carved out of the rocks. All these activities were a sign of the firm establishment of Buddhism in China by the end of this period.
The Development of Chinese Schools of Buddhism: With the rise of the Tang Dynasty at the beginning of the seventh century, Buddhism reached out to more and more people. It soon became an important part of Chinese culture and had great influence on Chinese Art, Literature, Sculpture, Architecture and the Philosophy of that time.
By then the number of Chinese translations of Buddhist texts had increased tremendously. The Buddhist were now faced with the problem of how to put their teachings into practice. As a result, a number of schools of Buddhism arose, with each school concentrating on certain texts for their study and practice. The Tian-tai school, for instance, developed a system of teaching and practice based on the Lotus Sutra. It also arranged all the Buddhist texts into graded categories to suit the varying aptitude of the followers.
Other schools arose which focused on different areas of the Buddha's teachings. The two most prominent schools were the Ch'an and the Pure Land schools. The Ch'an school emphasized the practice of meditation as the direct way of gaining insight and experiencing Enlightenment in this very life. (see link)
The Pure Land school centres its practices on the recitation of the name of Amitabha Buddha. The practice is based on the sermon which teaches that people could be reborn in the Western Paradise (Pure Land) of Amitabha Buddha if they recite his name and have sincere faith in him. Once in the Pure Land, the devotees are said to be able to achieve Enlightenment more easily. Because of the simplicity of its practice, this school became popular especially among the masses throughout China.
Further Development of Buddhism in China: In the middle of the ninth century, Buddhism faced persecution by a Taoist emperor. He decreed the demolition of monasteries, confiscation of temple land, return of monks and nuns to secular life and the destruction of Buddha images. Although the persecution lasted only a short time, it marked the end of an era for Buddhism in China. Following the demolition of monasteries and the dispersal of scholarly monks, a number of Chinese schools of Buddhism ceased to exist as separate movements. They were absorbed into the Ch'an and Pure Land schools which survived. The eventual result was the emergence of a new form of Chinese Buddhist practice in the monastery. Besides practicing Ch'an meditation, Buddhist also recited the name of Amitabha Buddha and studied Buddhist texts. It is this form of Buddhism which survives to the present time.
Just as all the Buddhist teachings and practices were combined under the one roof in the monasteries, Buddhist lay followers also began to practice Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism simultaneously. Gradually, however, Confucian teachings became dominant in the court and among the officials who were not in favour of Buddhism.
Buddhism generally, continues to be a major influence in Chinese religious life. In the early twentieth century, there was an attempt to modernize and reform the tradition in order to attract wider support. One of the most well-known reformist was Tai-xu, a monk noted for his scholarship. Besides introducing many reforms in the monastic community, he also introduced Western-style education which included the study of secular subjects and foreign languages for Buddhist.
In the nineteen-sixites, under the People's Republic, Buddhism was suppressed. Many monasteries were closed and monks and nuns returned to lay life. In recent years, a more liberal policy regarding religion has led to a growth of interest in the practice of Buddhism.
When the Han Dynasty of China extended its power to Central Asia in the first century B.C., trade and cultural ties between China and Central Asia also increased. In this way, the Chinese people learnt about Buddhism so that by the middle of the first century C.E., a community of Chinese Buddhists was already in existence. As interest in Buddhism grew, there was a great demand for Buddhist texts to be translated from Indian languages into Chinese. This led to the arrival of translators from Central Asia and India. The first notable one was Anshigao from Central Asia who came to China in the middle of the second century. With a growing collection of Chinese translations of Buddhist texts, Buddhism became more widely known and a Chinese monastic order was also formed. The first known Chinese monk was said to be Anshigao's disciple.
The early translators had some difficulty in finding the exact words to explain Buddhist concepts in Chinese, so they often used Taoist terms in their translations. As a result, people began to relate Buddhism with the existing Taoist tradition. It was only later on that the Chinese came to fully understand the teachings of the Buddha.
After the fall of the Han Dynasty in the early part of the third century, China faced a period of political disunity. Despise the war and unrest, the translations of the Buddhist texts continued. During this time, both foreign and Chinese monks were actively involved in establishing monasteries and lecturing on the Buddhist teachings.
Among the Chinese monks, Dao-an who lived in the fourth century, was the most outstanding. Though he had to move from place to place because of the political strife, he not only wrote and lectured extensively, but prepared the first catalogues of them. He invited the famous translator, Kumarajiva, from Kucha. With the help of of Do-an's disciples, Kumarjiva translated a large number of important texts and revised the earlier Chinese translations. His fine translations are still in use to this day. Because of political unrest, Kumarkiva's disciple were later dispersed and this helped to spread Buddhism to other parts of China.
The Establishment of Buddhism in China: From the beginning of the fifth century to around the end of the sixth century, northern and southern China came under separate rule. The south remained under native dynasties while the north was controlled by non-Chinese rulers. The Buddhist in southern China continued to translate Buddhist texts and to lecture and write commentaries on the major texts. Their rulers were devout Buddhists who saw to the construction of numerous temples, participated in Buddhist ceremonies and organised public talks on Buddhism.
In northern China, except for two short periods of persecution, Buddhism flourished under the lavish royal patronage of rulers who favoured the religion. By the latter half of the sixth century, monks were employed in government posts. During this period, Buddhist art flourished, especially in the caves at Dun-huang, Yun-gang and Long-men. In the thousand caves at Dun-huang, Buddhist paintings covered the walls and there were thousands of Buddha statues in these caves. At Yun-gan and Long-men, many Buddha images of varying sizes were carved out of the rocks. All these activities were a sign of the firm establishment of Buddhism in China by the end of this period.
The Development of Chinese Schools of Buddhism: With the rise of the Tang Dynasty at the beginning of the seventh century, Buddhism reached out to more and more people. It soon became an important part of Chinese culture and had great influence on Chinese Art, Literature, Sculpture, Architecture and the Philosophy of that time.
By then the number of Chinese translations of Buddhist texts had increased tremendously. The Buddhist were now faced with the problem of how to put their teachings into practice. As a result, a number of schools of Buddhism arose, with each school concentrating on certain texts for their study and practice. The Tian-tai school, for instance, developed a system of teaching and practice based on the Lotus Sutra. It also arranged all the Buddhist texts into graded categories to suit the varying aptitude of the followers.
Other schools arose which focused on different areas of the Buddha's teachings. The two most prominent schools were the Ch'an and the Pure Land schools. The Ch'an school emphasized the practice of meditation as the direct way of gaining insight and experiencing Enlightenment in this very life. (see link)
The Pure Land school centres its practices on the recitation of the name of Amitabha Buddha. The practice is based on the sermon which teaches that people could be reborn in the Western Paradise (Pure Land) of Amitabha Buddha if they recite his name and have sincere faith in him. Once in the Pure Land, the devotees are said to be able to achieve Enlightenment more easily. Because of the simplicity of its practice, this school became popular especially among the masses throughout China.
Further Development of Buddhism in China: In the middle of the ninth century, Buddhism faced persecution by a Taoist emperor. He decreed the demolition of monasteries, confiscation of temple land, return of monks and nuns to secular life and the destruction of Buddha images. Although the persecution lasted only a short time, it marked the end of an era for Buddhism in China. Following the demolition of monasteries and the dispersal of scholarly monks, a number of Chinese schools of Buddhism ceased to exist as separate movements. They were absorbed into the Ch'an and Pure Land schools which survived. The eventual result was the emergence of a new form of Chinese Buddhist practice in the monastery. Besides practicing Ch'an meditation, Buddhist also recited the name of Amitabha Buddha and studied Buddhist texts. It is this form of Buddhism which survives to the present time.
Just as all the Buddhist teachings and practices were combined under the one roof in the monasteries, Buddhist lay followers also began to practice Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism simultaneously. Gradually, however, Confucian teachings became dominant in the court and among the officials who were not in favour of Buddhism.
Buddhism generally, continues to be a major influence in Chinese religious life. In the early twentieth century, there was an attempt to modernize and reform the tradition in order to attract wider support. One of the most well-known reformist was Tai-xu, a monk noted for his scholarship. Besides introducing many reforms in the monastic community, he also introduced Western-style education which included the study of secular subjects and foreign languages for Buddhist.
In the nineteen-sixites, under the People's Republic, Buddhism was suppressed. Many monasteries were closed and monks and nuns returned to lay life. In recent years, a more liberal policy regarding religion has led to a growth of interest in the practice of Buddhism.
Besides silk, paper and other goods, the Silk Road carried another commodity which was equally significant in world history. Along with trade and migration, the world's oldest international highway was the vehicle which spread Buddhism through Central Asia. The transmission was launched from northwestern India to modern Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Xinjiang (Chinese Turkistan), China, Korea and Japan. Buddhism not only affected the lives and cultures on those regions but also left us with a world of wonders in arts and literature. (Figure on the right: Princes from Central Asian states in Lamentation, Dunhuang Cave 158. After Sakyamuni entered nirvana, princes of different Central Asian states gathered to express their grief, crying, beating their chests, piercing themselves with swords or knives, or cutting off their noses or ears. This painting not only depicts their devotions to Buddha, but also accurately presents the appearances, garments and customs of different nations along the Silk Road and the history of cultural exchange between them.)
Birth of Buddha and the Development of Buddhism in IndiaAccording to legend, the Buddha (The Awakened), or Gotama (Sanskrit) lived in northern India in the 6th century BC. Gotama was his family name and his personal name was Siddhattha in Pali language. He was born in a noble family and ancient lineage, the Sakyas. A title by which Siddhattha came to be known as 'the Sage of the Sakyas', Sakyamuni. To the West, he is known as the Buddha.
What is known of the Buddha's life is based mainly on the evidence of the canonical texts, the most extensive and comprehensive of which are those written in Pali, an ancient Indian language. According to the canon, Buddha's birth place was Lumbini, near the small city of Kapilavastu on the borders of Nepal and India. In his twenties, he renounced his life in the palace and left home in search of enlightenment after witnessing sights of suffering, sickness, aging and death. He achieved Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and gave the first sermon at Sarnath. He spent his remaining life in travelling, teaching and spreading Buddhism.
It is not clear when the first Buddhist community was established in India. By the time of Buddha's death at the age of 80 he had become a famous and respected figure and had allies and supporters among rich and poor. In 484 BC, seven days after the Buddha's death at Kushinagara (modern Kasia), his body was cremated and the relics were divided equally among eight clans. Each of these built a sacred cairn over the relics, a form of memorial known in India as a stupa, which later became the focus for Buddhists' devotions. For the next two centuries, there was a steady growth of Buddhism in India.
Not long after the Buddha's death, the followers gathered at Rajagriha for the first general council. The second council was held in Vaishali one hundred years after the death of Buddha. The third one is said to be held in Pataliputra in the time of the Mauryan king Ashoka.
The Indian King Ashoka (273-232 BC), the grandson of the founder of the Mauryan dynasty, demonstrated his conversion to Buddhism by vigorously promulgating the religion across India. His edicts were carved on pillars of stone and wood, from Bengal to Afghanistan and into the south. He celebrated the distribution of the ashes of the Buddha, according to legend, placed inside 84,000 stupas. His best-known dedications are the Sarnath lion capital imprinted on India's currency and the Wheel of the Law at the center of the national flag of India. Ashoka's empire extended to the northwestern borders of the Punjab. The Buddhist monks were free to move throughout the whole area. As the result, the Buddhist community probably had reached the Hellenized neighbor, the Kushan/Bactrian kingdom, by the end of Ashoka's reign.
The Dissemination of Buddhism by Kushan/Bactria The Kushans dominated the areas of Hindu Kush into Kabul, Gandhara, northern Pakistan and north-western India. They controlled the trade between India, China, Parthia and the Roman Empire. This provided an ideal medium for the further spread of Buddhism. From the 2th century BC to the 2nd century AD, Buddhism gradually developed in northwestern India and the great Kushan ruler, Kanishak reigned from 144-172, was converted. Under his influence, Gandhara, a Buddhist settlement, flourished and created a distinctive Graeco-Buddhist art form, which affected the arts in Central Asia and eastward in the first four centuries of our era, which is to be discussed later.
According to Prof. A. Litvinskii, Buddhism had reached Merv and Parthia as early as Achaemenid times. The Mahavamsa, the Great Chronicle of Ceylon described that Parthian and Alexandrian delegates were in attendance at a Buddhist council held by King Duttha Gamani (108-77BC). With the extension of Kushan influence, Buddhism further penetrated the realm of the Parthians and Sassanians. Parthian's Buddhist faith was also confirmed by the Chinese records of the missions of the Parthian Buddhist preachers, An-Shih-Kao and An Hsuan during the 2nd century.
Bactria was introduced to Buddhism by the 1st century AD as suggested by the Buddhist settlement discovered at Airtam, 18 kilometers northwest of Termez. For the next few centuries Kushan/Bactrian Buddhist centers were expanded to Hadda, Bamiyan and Kondukistan. Among them the most important one is Bamiyan, 240 kilometers northwest of Kabul, Afghanistan. It became one of the greatest Buddhist monastic communities in all Central Asia by the 4th century. At the west stands the 53 meter Buddha (Figure on the left), still the largest statue in the world. With its strategic location at the intersection of roads to Persia, India, Tarim basin, and China, it developed an art style with a fusion of Iranian, Indian, Gandharan and local style into an independent mode of its own. This style of Buddhist art traveled eastward and was quickly adopted at Kizil, Xinjiang and ultimately Dunhuang. Buddhism reached the height of its power in the 8th and 9th centuries in Afghanistan before it fell to the Arabs.
In terms of the distribution of Buddhist schools, we rely on the travel accounts of the pilgrims and envoys. Hadda was a center of Hinayana (Small Vehicle). Bamiyan, described by Xuan Zang in the 7th century, practiced Hinayana Buddhism whereas by 727 AD, another visitor Hui-chao described the monastery devoting to Mahayana (Big Vehicle) Buddhism. Other centers such as Kapisa, Kakrak and Fondukistan seemed to also follow Mahayana Buddhism, from the evidence of their paintings and sculptures.
Buddhism in the Tarim BasinWe learn that by the 7th century all the small kingdoms of the Tarim region had been entirely won over to Buddhism, which brought with it so much of Indian culture that Sanskrit had become the religious language. As Buddhism advanced towards the Tarim basin, Kashgaria with Yarkand and Khotan in the west, Tumsuk, Aksu and Kizil in the north, Loulan, Karasahr and Dunhuang in the east, and Miran and Cherchen in the south became important centers of Buddhist art and thought. The Buddhist texts were translated from Sanskrit into various local Indo-European dialects such as Tocharian or Kuchean. By 658 Kucha developed to be a leading center of Hinayana Buddhism and the paintings were found at the cave temples of Kizil (near Kucha) (Figure on the right: Goddess and Celestial Musician, Wall-painting at Kizil cave. 600-605 AD) dated from the 1st to 8th centuries. The early art form in the Tarim area were strongly Indo-Persian in style, but Persian elements were gradually overlaid by the Chinese in the 6th century after Tang's power dominated the Tarim basin.
It is impossible to make any general rules about the precise schools of Buddhism that flourished in the Tarim basin, but the early pilgrims who traveled there gave some clues. Fa-hsien and Xuan Zang appeared to indicate that most of the kingdoms such as Kashgar, Kizil, Karashahr and Kucha on the northern route followed the Hinayana Vehicle whereas Mahayana flourished along the southern route including the kingdoms of Khotan and Yarkand.
The Nomads Established the Buddhist Faith in the SteppesThe information on how the nomads adopted Buddhism is fragmentary but the Chinese seemed to indicate that Buddhism penetrated Hun, or Xiongnu (Early Hun), as early as the 2nd century BC. The Xiongnu lost few major battles at Hexi Corridor (Gansu province) and surrendered to Han general Ho. It was reported that the Xiongnu chief Kun-hsieh offered General Ho a golden statue called "Great Divinity". The statue was later placed in the Kanchuan Temple. People burned incense and worshipped him. This incident seems to indicate that the conversion to Buddhism had taken place among the Xiongnu at an early stage of Buddhism.
Buddhism certainly had a strong effect on some other lives in the steppes. Grousset has pointed out that once a nomadic tribe adopted the Buddhist faith, they no longer possessed tough barbaric and soldierly qualities. Eventually they lost their nomadic identity and were absorbed by the civilized neighbors. This can demonstrated by the Tobgatch Turks or the Toba, whose empire extended to Mongolia and northern China. From 386-534, they controlled northern China under the Northern Wei dynasty. These eastern Turks had contact with Chinese Buddhism early on. Some of the Turkic emperors were foremost patrons of Buddhism. In 471 Toba king Hung was so devoted to Buddhism that he had his son become a monk. This son, Toba king Hung II (471-499), was equally devoted to Buddhism and under his influence he introduced a more humane legislation. By the time he moved his capital from Pingcheng in Jehol to the south, Loyang in 494, he and his Turkic people have been completely sinicized. At his instigation, work began on the famous Buddhist Longmen caves, south of Loyang. According to Chinese sources, Turkish Buddhist temples were erected for the Turkish ruler, Mu-han (553-572) in Ch'angan and other places during Northern Chou dynasty (556-581). Mu-han's successor and younger brother Tapar Qayan (To-po, 572-581) was also devotee to Buddhism and erected a Buddhist temple. In 680 Eastern Turks, the kingdom of Kok-Turks (682-745) disassociated themselves from Chinese Buddhism and returned to their nomadic native life style and religion.
The next time Buddhist activities were seen in this area were by the Uighur Turks who became masters of the steppes around 745. Around 840 the Uighur Turks were driven out from Mongolia and many settled in the area of the northern Tarim oases, mainly Turfan from 850 to 1250. They practiced Manichaeism but quickly abandoned it in favor of the local Buddhist faith. In the early 20th century, much Turkish Buddhist literature was discovered in Turfan, Hami and Dunhuang. At the end of 10th century, a Chinese envoy, Wang Yen-te, found in Kaochang (near Turfan) a flourishing Buddhist culture with some fifty Buddhist convents and a library of Chinese Buddhists texts. Turfan remained the main center of Turkish Buddhism until the end of the 15th century when its ruler converted to Islam.
As for the Western Turks, who came in power in the steppes during the middle of 8th century, we have the records that they established Buddhist sanctuaries in the Kapisa (Begram) area. When the Chinese Buddhist monk Wu-kung visited Gandhara between 759-764, he found there Buddhist temples, which as he believed, were built by the Turkish kings. Even though their empire stretched far to the Sassanian border and may have included some Buddhist communities, little is known of their Buddhist activities.
While the Mongols were controlling the Silk Road, Kublai Khan clearly showed his preference for Buddhism even though most of the Mongol kingdoms converted to Islam. Buddhist doctrine was expounded by Na-mo, who won the debate with Taoists in 1258. Marco Polo tell us that Kublai Khan accorded a magnificent ceremonial reception to the relics of the Buddha, sent him by the raja of Ceylon. Most of Kublai's successors were equally fervent Buddhists. Khaishan Khan (1307-1311) had many Buddhist texts translated into Mongolian.
Buddhism Introduced to China from the Silk RoadIt is not certain when Buddhism reached China, but with the Silk Road opened in the second century BC, missionaries and pilgrims began to travel between China, Central Asia and India. The record described that Chang Ch'ien, on his return from Ta-hsia (Ferghana) in the 2nd century BC, heard of a country named Tien-chu (India) and their Buddhist teaching. This is probably the first time a Chinese heard about Buddhism. A century later, a Buddhist community is recorded at the court of a Han prince. However the most famous story is the Han emperor Mingdi's dream about Buddha. In 68 AD, Mingdi sent his official Cai Yin to Central Asia to learn more about Buddhism after a vision of a golden figure appeared to him in a dream. The next morning he asked his ministers what the dream meant and was told that he had seen the Buddha - the god of the West. Cai Yin returned after 3 years in India and brought back with him not only the images of Buddha and Buddhist scriptures but also two Buddhist monks named She-mo-teng and Chu-fa-lan to preach in China. This was the first time that China had Buddhist monks and their ways of worship. A few years later, a Buddhist community was established in Loyang, the capital, itself. From then on, the Buddhist community grew continuously. They introduced the sacred books, texts and most importantly the examples of Buddhist art, never before seen in China. In 148 AD, a Parthian missionary, An Shih-kao arrived China. He set up a Buddhist temple at Loyang and began the long work of the translation of the Buddhist scriptures into the Chinese language. The work of scripture translation continued until the 8th century when access to Central Asia and India by land was cut off by the Arabs. In 166 AD Han Emperor Huan formally announced Buddhism by having Taoist and Buddhist ceremonies performed in the palace. The unrest situation in China at the end of the Han dynasty was such that people were in a receptive mood for the coming of a new religion.
During the 4th century, Kumarajiva, a Buddhist from Central Asia organized the first translation bureau better than anything that had existed before in China. He and his team translated some 98 works from many languages into Chinese, of which 52 survive and are included in the Buddhist canon. By around 514, there were 2 million Buddhists in China. Marvelous monasteries and temples were built and the work of translating the scriptures into Chinese was undertaken with great industry.
Buddhism in China reached its apogee during the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907). Popular forms of Buddhism percolated down to the ordinary folk. A fully sinicized Buddhist religion and art. (Figure on the right: Buddha preaching to his disciples. Silk banner from the Dunhuang cave, 8th century) emerged and spread into Korea, and thence into Japan by the end of the sixth century. However in 845 a persecution of Buddhists in China had 4600 temples destroyed and 260,500 monks and nuns defrocked; this was a severe setback Buddhism.
While numerous pilgrims arrived China from the West, Chinese Buddhist pilgrims were sent to India during different times and the accounts which some of them have left of their travels in the Silk Road provide valuable evidence of the state of Buddhism in Central Asia and India from the 4th to the 7th centuries. Some of the more famous Chinese pilgrims were Fa-hsien (399 to 414), Xuan-zang (629-645), and I-tsing (671-695).
Decline of BuddhismThe decline of Buddhism along the Silk Road was due to the collapse of the Tang Dynasty in the East and the invasion of Arabs in the West. The conversion to Islam started in the 8th century in Central Asia. Since Islam condemned the iconography, most of the Buddhist statues and wall-paintings were damaged or destroyed. Buddhist temples and stupas were abandoned and buried beneath the sand. By the 15th century, the entire Central Asia basin had been converted to Islam.
Buddhist Art and its ImpactIt is impossible to talk about Buddhism without mentioning its profound impact on the development of Central Asian art. It is through those artworks that a fusion of eastern and western cultures was demonstrated. The art of Buddhism left the world the most powerful and enduring monuments along the Silk Road, and among them, some of the most precious Buddhist sculptures, paintings and murals. Furthermore the contact with the Hellenized Gandharan culture resulted in the development of a new art form, the Buddha statue, sometimes referred as a Buddha image. Before Buddhism reached Gandhara in the 3rd century BC, there had been no representation of the Buddha, and it was in the Gandharan culture that the use of Buddha images had begun. The earliest Buddha images resembled the Greek god Apollo. (Figure on the left: Buddha image, Gandhara, 2-3 century) It has been suggested by the scholars that the earliest Buddha images in Gandhara were created by the local Greeks who carried their classic artistic conception and Indianized it by transforming it into the figure of the Greek-featured Buddha, dressed in a toga and seated in the yoga pose. The Gandhara style represented a union of classical, Indian, and Iranian elements continued in Afghanistan and the neighboring regions throughout most of the first millennium until the end of the 8th century.
Though it was largely as a result of Greek influence that Gandhara became the center of development in Buddhist sculpture, it was on the Indian foundation from which Buddhist architecture evolved. The development of Buddhism along the Silk Road resulted in a proliferation of monasteries, grottoes, vishanas and stupas throughout the entire Buddhist communities. However the cave temples hold the most unique position in the development of Buddhist architecture. The Buddhists' devotion was deeply reflected by the wall paintings of its rock-cut caves. From Gandhara, Bamyin, Kumtura, Kizil, to Bezeklik, and Dunhuang, the Buddhist artists, with arduous labor , created the most impressive wall paintings of cave temples dedicated to the Buddha, his saints, and his legend. They present us an astonishing pageant of local societies with kings, queens, knights, ladies, monks and artists. Aside from their artistic values, those cave temples provide us with an immense amount of historical information. The portraits of Kizil donors with light complexions, blue eyes, and blond or reddish hair teach us they are more Indo-European than Mongol in appearance. The processions of Uighur prince and princess from Dunhuang illustrate how Uighurs dressed in the 9th century. It is from these wall paintings that we can have a glance at the lives and cultures of these fascinating but vanished ancient peoples.
Birth of Buddha and the Development of Buddhism in IndiaAccording to legend, the Buddha (The Awakened), or Gotama (Sanskrit) lived in northern India in the 6th century BC. Gotama was his family name and his personal name was Siddhattha in Pali language. He was born in a noble family and ancient lineage, the Sakyas. A title by which Siddhattha came to be known as 'the Sage of the Sakyas', Sakyamuni. To the West, he is known as the Buddha.
What is known of the Buddha's life is based mainly on the evidence of the canonical texts, the most extensive and comprehensive of which are those written in Pali, an ancient Indian language. According to the canon, Buddha's birth place was Lumbini, near the small city of Kapilavastu on the borders of Nepal and India. In his twenties, he renounced his life in the palace and left home in search of enlightenment after witnessing sights of suffering, sickness, aging and death. He achieved Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and gave the first sermon at Sarnath. He spent his remaining life in travelling, teaching and spreading Buddhism.
It is not clear when the first Buddhist community was established in India. By the time of Buddha's death at the age of 80 he had become a famous and respected figure and had allies and supporters among rich and poor. In 484 BC, seven days after the Buddha's death at Kushinagara (modern Kasia), his body was cremated and the relics were divided equally among eight clans. Each of these built a sacred cairn over the relics, a form of memorial known in India as a stupa, which later became the focus for Buddhists' devotions. For the next two centuries, there was a steady growth of Buddhism in India.
Not long after the Buddha's death, the followers gathered at Rajagriha for the first general council. The second council was held in Vaishali one hundred years after the death of Buddha. The third one is said to be held in Pataliputra in the time of the Mauryan king Ashoka.
The Indian King Ashoka (273-232 BC), the grandson of the founder of the Mauryan dynasty, demonstrated his conversion to Buddhism by vigorously promulgating the religion across India. His edicts were carved on pillars of stone and wood, from Bengal to Afghanistan and into the south. He celebrated the distribution of the ashes of the Buddha, according to legend, placed inside 84,000 stupas. His best-known dedications are the Sarnath lion capital imprinted on India's currency and the Wheel of the Law at the center of the national flag of India. Ashoka's empire extended to the northwestern borders of the Punjab. The Buddhist monks were free to move throughout the whole area. As the result, the Buddhist community probably had reached the Hellenized neighbor, the Kushan/Bactrian kingdom, by the end of Ashoka's reign.
The Dissemination of Buddhism by Kushan/Bactria The Kushans dominated the areas of Hindu Kush into Kabul, Gandhara, northern Pakistan and north-western India. They controlled the trade between India, China, Parthia and the Roman Empire. This provided an ideal medium for the further spread of Buddhism. From the 2th century BC to the 2nd century AD, Buddhism gradually developed in northwestern India and the great Kushan ruler, Kanishak reigned from 144-172, was converted. Under his influence, Gandhara, a Buddhist settlement, flourished and created a distinctive Graeco-Buddhist art form, which affected the arts in Central Asia and eastward in the first four centuries of our era, which is to be discussed later.
According to Prof. A. Litvinskii, Buddhism had reached Merv and Parthia as early as Achaemenid times. The Mahavamsa, the Great Chronicle of Ceylon described that Parthian and Alexandrian delegates were in attendance at a Buddhist council held by King Duttha Gamani (108-77BC). With the extension of Kushan influence, Buddhism further penetrated the realm of the Parthians and Sassanians. Parthian's Buddhist faith was also confirmed by the Chinese records of the missions of the Parthian Buddhist preachers, An-Shih-Kao and An Hsuan during the 2nd century.
Bactria was introduced to Buddhism by the 1st century AD as suggested by the Buddhist settlement discovered at Airtam, 18 kilometers northwest of Termez. For the next few centuries Kushan/Bactrian Buddhist centers were expanded to Hadda, Bamiyan and Kondukistan. Among them the most important one is Bamiyan, 240 kilometers northwest of Kabul, Afghanistan. It became one of the greatest Buddhist monastic communities in all Central Asia by the 4th century. At the west stands the 53 meter Buddha (Figure on the left), still the largest statue in the world. With its strategic location at the intersection of roads to Persia, India, Tarim basin, and China, it developed an art style with a fusion of Iranian, Indian, Gandharan and local style into an independent mode of its own. This style of Buddhist art traveled eastward and was quickly adopted at Kizil, Xinjiang and ultimately Dunhuang. Buddhism reached the height of its power in the 8th and 9th centuries in Afghanistan before it fell to the Arabs.
In terms of the distribution of Buddhist schools, we rely on the travel accounts of the pilgrims and envoys. Hadda was a center of Hinayana (Small Vehicle). Bamiyan, described by Xuan Zang in the 7th century, practiced Hinayana Buddhism whereas by 727 AD, another visitor Hui-chao described the monastery devoting to Mahayana (Big Vehicle) Buddhism. Other centers such as Kapisa, Kakrak and Fondukistan seemed to also follow Mahayana Buddhism, from the evidence of their paintings and sculptures.
Buddhism in the Tarim BasinWe learn that by the 7th century all the small kingdoms of the Tarim region had been entirely won over to Buddhism, which brought with it so much of Indian culture that Sanskrit had become the religious language. As Buddhism advanced towards the Tarim basin, Kashgaria with Yarkand and Khotan in the west, Tumsuk, Aksu and Kizil in the north, Loulan, Karasahr and Dunhuang in the east, and Miran and Cherchen in the south became important centers of Buddhist art and thought. The Buddhist texts were translated from Sanskrit into various local Indo-European dialects such as Tocharian or Kuchean. By 658 Kucha developed to be a leading center of Hinayana Buddhism and the paintings were found at the cave temples of Kizil (near Kucha) (Figure on the right: Goddess and Celestial Musician, Wall-painting at Kizil cave. 600-605 AD) dated from the 1st to 8th centuries. The early art form in the Tarim area were strongly Indo-Persian in style, but Persian elements were gradually overlaid by the Chinese in the 6th century after Tang's power dominated the Tarim basin.
It is impossible to make any general rules about the precise schools of Buddhism that flourished in the Tarim basin, but the early pilgrims who traveled there gave some clues. Fa-hsien and Xuan Zang appeared to indicate that most of the kingdoms such as Kashgar, Kizil, Karashahr and Kucha on the northern route followed the Hinayana Vehicle whereas Mahayana flourished along the southern route including the kingdoms of Khotan and Yarkand.
The Nomads Established the Buddhist Faith in the SteppesThe information on how the nomads adopted Buddhism is fragmentary but the Chinese seemed to indicate that Buddhism penetrated Hun, or Xiongnu (Early Hun), as early as the 2nd century BC. The Xiongnu lost few major battles at Hexi Corridor (Gansu province) and surrendered to Han general Ho. It was reported that the Xiongnu chief Kun-hsieh offered General Ho a golden statue called "Great Divinity". The statue was later placed in the Kanchuan Temple. People burned incense and worshipped him. This incident seems to indicate that the conversion to Buddhism had taken place among the Xiongnu at an early stage of Buddhism.
Buddhism certainly had a strong effect on some other lives in the steppes. Grousset has pointed out that once a nomadic tribe adopted the Buddhist faith, they no longer possessed tough barbaric and soldierly qualities. Eventually they lost their nomadic identity and were absorbed by the civilized neighbors. This can demonstrated by the Tobgatch Turks or the Toba, whose empire extended to Mongolia and northern China. From 386-534, they controlled northern China under the Northern Wei dynasty. These eastern Turks had contact with Chinese Buddhism early on. Some of the Turkic emperors were foremost patrons of Buddhism. In 471 Toba king Hung was so devoted to Buddhism that he had his son become a monk. This son, Toba king Hung II (471-499), was equally devoted to Buddhism and under his influence he introduced a more humane legislation. By the time he moved his capital from Pingcheng in Jehol to the south, Loyang in 494, he and his Turkic people have been completely sinicized. At his instigation, work began on the famous Buddhist Longmen caves, south of Loyang. According to Chinese sources, Turkish Buddhist temples were erected for the Turkish ruler, Mu-han (553-572) in Ch'angan and other places during Northern Chou dynasty (556-581). Mu-han's successor and younger brother Tapar Qayan (To-po, 572-581) was also devotee to Buddhism and erected a Buddhist temple. In 680 Eastern Turks, the kingdom of Kok-Turks (682-745) disassociated themselves from Chinese Buddhism and returned to their nomadic native life style and religion.
The next time Buddhist activities were seen in this area were by the Uighur Turks who became masters of the steppes around 745. Around 840 the Uighur Turks were driven out from Mongolia and many settled in the area of the northern Tarim oases, mainly Turfan from 850 to 1250. They practiced Manichaeism but quickly abandoned it in favor of the local Buddhist faith. In the early 20th century, much Turkish Buddhist literature was discovered in Turfan, Hami and Dunhuang. At the end of 10th century, a Chinese envoy, Wang Yen-te, found in Kaochang (near Turfan) a flourishing Buddhist culture with some fifty Buddhist convents and a library of Chinese Buddhists texts. Turfan remained the main center of Turkish Buddhism until the end of the 15th century when its ruler converted to Islam.
As for the Western Turks, who came in power in the steppes during the middle of 8th century, we have the records that they established Buddhist sanctuaries in the Kapisa (Begram) area. When the Chinese Buddhist monk Wu-kung visited Gandhara between 759-764, he found there Buddhist temples, which as he believed, were built by the Turkish kings. Even though their empire stretched far to the Sassanian border and may have included some Buddhist communities, little is known of their Buddhist activities.
While the Mongols were controlling the Silk Road, Kublai Khan clearly showed his preference for Buddhism even though most of the Mongol kingdoms converted to Islam. Buddhist doctrine was expounded by Na-mo, who won the debate with Taoists in 1258. Marco Polo tell us that Kublai Khan accorded a magnificent ceremonial reception to the relics of the Buddha, sent him by the raja of Ceylon. Most of Kublai's successors were equally fervent Buddhists. Khaishan Khan (1307-1311) had many Buddhist texts translated into Mongolian.
Buddhism Introduced to China from the Silk RoadIt is not certain when Buddhism reached China, but with the Silk Road opened in the second century BC, missionaries and pilgrims began to travel between China, Central Asia and India. The record described that Chang Ch'ien, on his return from Ta-hsia (Ferghana) in the 2nd century BC, heard of a country named Tien-chu (India) and their Buddhist teaching. This is probably the first time a Chinese heard about Buddhism. A century later, a Buddhist community is recorded at the court of a Han prince. However the most famous story is the Han emperor Mingdi's dream about Buddha. In 68 AD, Mingdi sent his official Cai Yin to Central Asia to learn more about Buddhism after a vision of a golden figure appeared to him in a dream. The next morning he asked his ministers what the dream meant and was told that he had seen the Buddha - the god of the West. Cai Yin returned after 3 years in India and brought back with him not only the images of Buddha and Buddhist scriptures but also two Buddhist monks named She-mo-teng and Chu-fa-lan to preach in China. This was the first time that China had Buddhist monks and their ways of worship. A few years later, a Buddhist community was established in Loyang, the capital, itself. From then on, the Buddhist community grew continuously. They introduced the sacred books, texts and most importantly the examples of Buddhist art, never before seen in China. In 148 AD, a Parthian missionary, An Shih-kao arrived China. He set up a Buddhist temple at Loyang and began the long work of the translation of the Buddhist scriptures into the Chinese language. The work of scripture translation continued until the 8th century when access to Central Asia and India by land was cut off by the Arabs. In 166 AD Han Emperor Huan formally announced Buddhism by having Taoist and Buddhist ceremonies performed in the palace. The unrest situation in China at the end of the Han dynasty was such that people were in a receptive mood for the coming of a new religion.
During the 4th century, Kumarajiva, a Buddhist from Central Asia organized the first translation bureau better than anything that had existed before in China. He and his team translated some 98 works from many languages into Chinese, of which 52 survive and are included in the Buddhist canon. By around 514, there were 2 million Buddhists in China. Marvelous monasteries and temples were built and the work of translating the scriptures into Chinese was undertaken with great industry.
Buddhism in China reached its apogee during the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907). Popular forms of Buddhism percolated down to the ordinary folk. A fully sinicized Buddhist religion and art. (Figure on the right: Buddha preaching to his disciples. Silk banner from the Dunhuang cave, 8th century) emerged and spread into Korea, and thence into Japan by the end of the sixth century. However in 845 a persecution of Buddhists in China had 4600 temples destroyed and 260,500 monks and nuns defrocked; this was a severe setback Buddhism.
While numerous pilgrims arrived China from the West, Chinese Buddhist pilgrims were sent to India during different times and the accounts which some of them have left of their travels in the Silk Road provide valuable evidence of the state of Buddhism in Central Asia and India from the 4th to the 7th centuries. Some of the more famous Chinese pilgrims were Fa-hsien (399 to 414), Xuan-zang (629-645), and I-tsing (671-695).
Decline of BuddhismThe decline of Buddhism along the Silk Road was due to the collapse of the Tang Dynasty in the East and the invasion of Arabs in the West. The conversion to Islam started in the 8th century in Central Asia. Since Islam condemned the iconography, most of the Buddhist statues and wall-paintings were damaged or destroyed. Buddhist temples and stupas were abandoned and buried beneath the sand. By the 15th century, the entire Central Asia basin had been converted to Islam.
Buddhist Art and its ImpactIt is impossible to talk about Buddhism without mentioning its profound impact on the development of Central Asian art. It is through those artworks that a fusion of eastern and western cultures was demonstrated. The art of Buddhism left the world the most powerful and enduring monuments along the Silk Road, and among them, some of the most precious Buddhist sculptures, paintings and murals. Furthermore the contact with the Hellenized Gandharan culture resulted in the development of a new art form, the Buddha statue, sometimes referred as a Buddha image. Before Buddhism reached Gandhara in the 3rd century BC, there had been no representation of the Buddha, and it was in the Gandharan culture that the use of Buddha images had begun. The earliest Buddha images resembled the Greek god Apollo. (Figure on the left: Buddha image, Gandhara, 2-3 century) It has been suggested by the scholars that the earliest Buddha images in Gandhara were created by the local Greeks who carried their classic artistic conception and Indianized it by transforming it into the figure of the Greek-featured Buddha, dressed in a toga and seated in the yoga pose. The Gandhara style represented a union of classical, Indian, and Iranian elements continued in Afghanistan and the neighboring regions throughout most of the first millennium until the end of the 8th century.
Though it was largely as a result of Greek influence that Gandhara became the center of development in Buddhist sculpture, it was on the Indian foundation from which Buddhist architecture evolved. The development of Buddhism along the Silk Road resulted in a proliferation of monasteries, grottoes, vishanas and stupas throughout the entire Buddhist communities. However the cave temples hold the most unique position in the development of Buddhist architecture. The Buddhists' devotion was deeply reflected by the wall paintings of its rock-cut caves. From Gandhara, Bamyin, Kumtura, Kizil, to Bezeklik, and Dunhuang, the Buddhist artists, with arduous labor , created the most impressive wall paintings of cave temples dedicated to the Buddha, his saints, and his legend. They present us an astonishing pageant of local societies with kings, queens, knights, ladies, monks and artists. Aside from their artistic values, those cave temples provide us with an immense amount of historical information. The portraits of Kizil donors with light complexions, blue eyes, and blond or reddish hair teach us they are more Indo-European than Mongol in appearance. The processions of Uighur prince and princess from Dunhuang illustrate how Uighurs dressed in the 9th century. It is from these wall paintings that we can have a glance at the lives and cultures of these fascinating but vanished ancient peoples.
