Mahayana Buddhism entered Han China via the Silk Road, beginning in the 1st or 2nd century CE.Zürcher (1972), pp. 22–27.Hill (2009), p. 30, for the Chinese text from the Hou Hanshu, and p. 31 for a translation of it. The first documented translation efforts by Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE via the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory bordering the Tarim Basin under Kanishka.Zürcher (1972), p. 23.Samad, Rafi-us, The Grandeur of Gandhara. The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys, p. 234 These contacts transmitted strands of Sarvastivadan and Tamrashatiya Buddhism throughout the Eastern world.
Theravada Buddhism developed from the Pāli Canon in Sri Lanka Tamrashatiya school and spread throughout Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Sarvastivada Buddhism was transmitted from North India through Central Asia to China. Direct contact between Central Asian and Chinese Buddhism continued throughout the 3rd to 7th centuries, much into the Tang period. From the 4th century onward, Chinese pilgrims like Faxian (395–414) and later Xuanzang (629–644) started to travel to northern India in order to get improved access to original scriptures. Between the 3rd and 7th centuries, parts of the land route connecting northern India with China was ruled by the Xiongnu, Han dynasty, Kushan Empire, the Hephthalite Empire, the Göktürks, and the Tang dynasty. The Indian form of Buddhist tantra (Vajrayana) reached China in the 7th century. Tibetan Buddhism was likewise established as a branch of Vajrayana, in the 8th century.
But from about this time, the Silk road trade of Buddhism began to decline with the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana (e.g. Battle of Talas), resulting in the Uyghur Khaganate by the 740s. Indian Buddhism declined due to the resurgence of Hinduism and the Muslim conquest of India. Tang-era Chinese Buddhism was briefly repressed in the 9th century (but made a comeback in later dynasties). The Western Liao was a Buddhist Sinitic dynasty based in Central Asia, before Mongol invasion of Central Asia. The Mongol Empire resulted in the further Islamization of Central Asia. They embraced Tibetan Buddhism starting with the Yuan dynasty (Buddhism in Mongolia). The other khanates, the Ilkhanate, Chagatai Khanate, and Golden Horde eventually converted to Islam (Religion in the Mongol Empire#Islam).
Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese and Southeast Asian traditions of Buddhism continued. As of 2019, China by far had the largest population of Buddhists in the world at nearly 250 million; Thailand comes second at around 70 million (see Buddhism by country).
Northern transmission
The Buddhism transmitted to China is based on the Sarvastivada school, with translations from Sanskrit to the Chinese languages and Tibetic languages. These later formed the basis of Mahayana Buddhism. Japan and Korea then borrowed from China. Few remnants of the original Sanskrit remained. These constituted the 'Northern transmission'.
First contacts
Buddhism entered China via the Silk Road. Buddhist monks travelled with merchant caravans on the Silk Road to preach their new religion. The lucrative Chinese silk trade along this trade route began during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), with voyages by people like Zhang Qian establishing ties between China and the west.
Alexander the Great established Hellenistic kingdoms (323 BC – 63 BC) and trade networks extending from the Mediterranean to Central Asia (furthest eastern point being Alexandria Eschate). The Greco-Bactrian Kingdoms (250 BC-125 BC) in Afghanistan and the later Indo-Greek Kingdoms (180 BC-10 CE) formed one of the first Silk Road stops after China for nearly 300 years. One of the descendant Greek kingdoms, the Dayuan (Ta-yuan; ; "Great Ionians"), were defeated by the Chinese in the Han-Dayuan war. The Han victory in the Han–Xiongnu War further secured the route from northern nomads of the Eurasian Steppe.
The transmission of Buddhism to China via the Silk Road started in the 1st century CE with a semi-legendary account of an embassy sent to the West by the Chinese Emperor Ming (58–75 CE):
Extensive contacts however started in the 2nd century CE, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Greco-Buddhist Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory of the Tarim Basin, with the missionary efforts of a great number of Central Asian Buddhist monks to Chinese lands. The first missionaries and translators of Buddhists scriptures into Chinese were either Parthian, Kushan, Sogdian or Kuchean.
Gaochang Gaochang, strategically located in the middle of the Silk Road, was a crucial center for the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road. Surrounded by major trade routes and diverse ethnic groups, it became a melting pot of traditions. Buddhism thrived in this environment, shaped by Indian, Central Asian, and Han Chinese influences. As Buddhist teachings moved eastward and westward, Gaochang played a crucial role in their transmission and adaptation. This cultural exchange enriched its religious landscape, blending local traditions with Buddhist practices, making Gaochang a significant center for Buddhism along the Silk Road.
The exact time Buddhism reached the Turpan region is unknown, but it was likely introduced through the Chesi people from the Western Regions. The Cheshi people of Turpan spoke Tocharian languages and established a state with Jiaohe City as its capital. During Emperor Xuan’s reign (92–49 BCE), it split into Anterior and Rear Cheshi due to Han-Xiongnu conflicts. From 67 B.C., Han settlers arrived, and by 327 A.D., Gaochang Jun became a migrant refugee. Ruled by Zhang, Ma, and Qu dynasties, it was unified by the Tang in 640 A.D., with Han Chinese making up 70–75% of the population. Regarding Buddhism, Cheshi Buddhism and Gaochang Buddhism developed differently. Cheshi Buddhism was Hinayana and non-Han, while Gaochang Buddhism was Mahayana, aligned with Chinese traditions. Chinese culture that was localized in Gaochang during the and Wei Dynasties, played a huge role in the development of Gaochang Buddhism.
During the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties (220–589), Gaochang Buddhism was influenced by Indian and Qiuci Buddhism. Many Buddhist scriptures were translated into Chinese and introduced through places like Dunhuang, making Buddhism more accessible to the local people. Excavations from Turpan since the 1900s confirm Han Buddhism's strong presence, with 153 of 2,300 manuscripts found by a German expedition, many written or translated by inner-land monks between the 4th and 7th centuries. During the Jin dynasty (266–420) (317–420), Turpan’s Buddhist communities maintained close ties with inner China, further inheriting Han Buddhist traditions. As a result, Buddhism spread beyond the elites, blending with local customs and Taoism.
Missionaries
In the middle of the 2nd century, the Kushan Empire under king Kaniṣka from its capital at Purushapura (modern Peshawar), India expanded into Central Asia. As a consequence, cultural exchanges greatly increased with the regions of Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkand (all in the Tarim Basin, modern Xinjiang). Central Asian Buddhist missionaries became active shortly thereafter in the Chinese capitals of Loyang and Nanjing, where they distinguished themselves by their translation work. They promoted both Nikāya and Mahayana scriptures. Thirty-seven of these early translators of Buddhist texts are known.
An Shigao, a Parthian prince who made the first known translations of Nikāya Buddhist texts into Chinese (148–170) Lokakṣema, a Kushan and the first to translate Mahayana scriptures into Chinese (167–186) An Xuan, a Parthian merchant who became a monk in China in 181 Zhi Yao (c. 185), a Kushan monk in the second generation of translators after Lokakṣema. Zhi Qian (220–252), a Kushan monk whose grandfather had settled in China during 168–190 Kang Senghui (247–280), born in Jiaozhi close to modern Hanoi in what was then the extreme south of the Chinese empire, and a son of a Sogdian merchant Dharmarakṣa (265–313), a Kushan whose family had lived for generations at Dunhuang Kumārajīva (c. 401), a Kuchean monk and one of the most important translators Fotudeng (4th century), a Central Asian monk who became a counselor to the Chinese court Bodhidharma (440–528), the founder of Chan Buddhism. a debunked 17th-century apocryphal story found in a manual called Yijin Jing claimed that he originated of the physical training of the Shaolin monks that led to the creation of Shaolin kung fu. This erroneous account only became popularized in the 20th century. According to the earliest reference to him, by Yang Xuanzhi, he was a monk of Central Asian origin whom Yang Xuanshi met around 520 at Loyang.Broughton, Jeffrey L. (1999), The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, Berkeley: University of California Press, . pp. 54–55. Throughout Buddhist art, Bodhidharma is depicted as a rather ill-tempered, profusely bearded and wide-eyed barbarian. He is referred to as "The Blue-Eyed Barbarian" (碧眼胡:Bìyǎn hú) in Chinese Chan texts.Soothill, William Edward; Hodous, Lewis (1995), A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, London: RoutledgeCurzon https://web.archive.org/web/20140303182232/http://buddhistinformatics.ddbc.edu.tw/glossaries/files/soothill-hodous.ddbc.pdf Five monks from Gandhāra who traveled in 485 CE to the country of Fusang ("the country of the extreme east" beyond the sea, probably Japan), where they introduced Buddhism. Jñānagupta (561–592), a monk and translator from Gandhāra Prajñā (c. 810), a monk and translator from Kabul who educated the Japanese Kūkai in Sanskrit texts
Additionally, Indian monks from central regions of India were also involved in the translation and spread of Buddhists texts into central and east Asia. Among these Indian translators and monks include:
Dharmakṣema – 4th and 5th-century Buddhist monk from Magadha responsible for the translation of many Sanskrit texts in Chinese including the Mahayana Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. Dhyānabhadra – 14th-century monk from Nalanda monastery who travelled to China and Korea during the period of the Yuan dynasty. Founded the Hoemsa temple in Korea. Guṇabhadra – 5th-century Mahayana Buddhist translator from Central India who was active in China Paramartha – 6th-century Indian monk and translator from Ujjain and patronised by Emperor Wu of Liang
Early translations into Chinese
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 Luoyang 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 Mahayana Buddhist text on the bodhisattva path.
Mahayana Buddhism was first widely propagated in China by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema (active ca. 164–186 CE), who came from the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhāra. Lokakṣema translated important Mahayana sūtras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, as well as rare, early Mahayana 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 Mahayana Buddhism.
By the 8th century CE, the School of Esoteric Buddhism became prominent in China due to the careers of two South Asian monks, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra.