World Religions › Classical faiths › Mahayana Buddhism
Buddhism reaches China on the Silk Road
1st century AD (traditionally AD 65–68)· Event· Chinese, Japanese & Korean
Mostly agreed by scholarsMost historians agree; some details uncertain.
Buddhism entered China from India and Central Asia along Silk Road trade routes in the first centuries AD.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
Legend says Emperor Ming of Han dreamed of a golden figure around AD 65 and sent envoys west, who returned with monks and sutras to Luoyang's White Horse Temple. More reliably, merchants and monks from Parthia, the Kushan Empire and Central Asian oasis cities brought it. An Shigao, a Parthian, began translating texts in Luoyang around 148. After the Han dynasty fell in 220, through centuries of division, Buddhism spread widely; by the Tang dynasty it was a major Chinese religion.
Why it matters
China became Buddhism's great second home, and from there it reached Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Roughly half of the world's Buddhists live in China today.
Sources and history
The Hou Hanshu records Prince Ying of Chu honoring the Buddha in AD 65; surviving translations by An Shigao and Lokaksema; Buddhist images in Han-era tombs and the Kongwangshan cliff carvings.
Questions and debates
Whether Buddhism arrived before the 1st century, and whether it came first overland or by sea through southern China, are debated.
Inside this (2)
Connections (4)
▸Buddhism reaches China on the Silk Road borrowed key terms from Daoism (Taoism)Mostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Early translators lacked Chinese words for Buddhist ideas, so they borrowed Daoist ones. Enlightenment (bodhi) was rendered as dao, 'the Way', and nirvana as wuwei, 'non-action'. A later method, geyi or 'matching concepts', explained Buddhist terms through Daoist ones. This made Buddhism sound familiar but blurred its meaning; Kumarajiva's translations around 400 moved to more precise terms.
When and where
Luoyang and other Chinese cities, c. AD 150–400; translators An Shigao and Lokaksema, then the monk Dao'an and Kumarajiva, who criticized or replaced the borrowed terms.
How do we know?
Early translations survive and show the Daoist vocabulary; Dao'an discusses geyi; and Emperor Huan sacrificed to Laozi and the Buddha together in 166.
Questions and debates
How systematic geyi really was, and whether Daoism shaped Buddhism more than Buddhism shaped later Daoism, are debated.
▸Mahayana Buddhism reached East Asia through Buddhism reaches China on the Silk RoadMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Mahayana, with its compassionate bodhisattvas and many buddhas, flourished in the Kushan Empire, which controlled Silk Road routes from northern India into Central Asia. Monks and merchants from there carried Mahayana sutras to China, where Lokaksema translated some of the first around 180. Mahayana became the dominant Buddhism of China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam.
When and where
From Kushan lands (today's Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India) and Central Asian oasis cities to Luoyang, from the 2nd century AD.
How do we know?
Early Chinese translations of Mahayana sutras, Gandharan manuscripts, and Buddhist cave temples along the routes, such as Kizil and Dunhuang.
Questions and debates
Why Mahayana, rather than the older schools also present in Central Asia, came to dominate East Asia is debated.
▸Lotus Sutra spread widely through Buddhism reaches China on the Silk RoadMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
The Lotus Sutra arrived as part of Buddhism's spread into China and became one of its best-loved texts. Kumarajiva's clear translation of 406 was copied, recited and painted everywhere. Zhiyi (538–597) built the Tiantai school around it, and from China the sutra traveled on to Korea and Japan.
When and where
Translated by Dharmaraksha at Chang'an in 286 and by Kumarajiva in 406; the Tiantai school was founded on Mount Tiantai, Zhejiang, in the late 500s.
How do we know?
Dated translations, many Lotus copies among the Dunhuang manuscripts, cave paintings of its parables, and Zhiyi's surviving commentaries.
Questions and debates
Why this sutra, among hundreds translated, became so dominant in East Asia when its role in India was more modest is debated.
▸Buddhism reaches Korea came via Buddhism reaches China on the Silk RoadHistorical record
The connection
Korea received Buddhism from China, not directly from India. Goguryeo's first monk and images came from the Former Qin state in northern China in 372; Baekje's from the southern Eastern Jin court in 384. Korean monks then studied in China and brought home Chinese schools, from Hwaeom (Huayan) to Seon (Chan).
When and where
372 (Goguryeo, from Former Qin), 384 (Baekje, from Eastern Jin) and 527 (Silla, after contacts with Goguryeo and China).
Historical evidence
Korean histories (Samguk sagi, Samguk yusa) record the dates; Korean Buddhist texts were written in Chinese characters, and early statues follow Chinese styles.
Questions and debates
Whether Buddhism reached Korea earlier through unofficial contacts, and how much early Korean Buddhism drew on Central Asian monks, is uncertain.