Buddhism was founded by Prince Gautama Siddhartha in the 6th century B.C. in ancient India(the modern Nepal). It was introduced to China by the end of the Western Han Dynasty(202B.C.-8A.D.). According to the historical records, during the reign of Han-Aidi(7B.C.-1A.D.), an envoy whose name was Yi Cun was sent to China by the king of Indo-Scythe. In the year of 2 B.C., He arrived in Chang’an(the present Xi’an) and imparted Buddhist Sutra to a Chinese scholar, Jing Lu. The event is considered to be the earliest sermon preached by a Buddhist in China.
In the year of 65 A.D., Emperor Han-Mingdi of the Eastern Han Dynasty(25-220) sent a mission to India for Buddhist scriptures. The envoys returned and invited two monks to Luoyang three years later. The monks were Kasyapa-matanga and Dharmaranya. They helped to translate the Sutra in Forty-two Sections into Chinese. Emperor Han-Mingdi gave an order to build the White-Horse Monastery in Luoyang for the translators. It is known as the oldest Buddhist monastery in China.
During the Wei and Jin Period(220-420), Buddhism began to spread widely among Chinese people. Buddhist doctrine was gradually assimilated into Chinese traditional ethics and religious beliefs. It became a school of metaphysics. The metaphysics was very popular among the rulers during the Southern and Northern Dynasties Period(420-589). Many monarchs and governors practiced Buddhism, such as King Xiao-Wen of the Northern Wei and King Wu of the Liang. They made a great contribution to the spread of Buddhism by translating Buddhist scriptures, building monasteries and chiseling grottoes with sculptures.
In the Sui Dynasty(581-619) and the Tang Dynasty(618-907), the Mahayana Buddhism reached the apex of its development and spread. It was evolved into eight Buddhist sects, namely the Zen Buddhism(Dhyana), the Tantrism, the Vinaya Buddhism(the Sect of Discipline), the Cittamatra Buddhism(the Sect of Consciousness), the Saddharmapundari Buddhism(the Sect of Lotus), the Avatamasaka Buddhism(the Hua-Yen Sect), the Madhyamika Buddhism(the Sect of Middle Way) and the Sukhavati Buddhism(the Sect of Pure-Land).
Xuan Zang was a celebrated Buddhist scholar of the Tang. In the year of 628, he traveled to India from Chang’an along the Ancient Silk Road. Xuan Zang stayed in India for 15 years and studied Buddhism from the local scholars. After returning to Chang’an, he started to translate Buddhist Sutra into Chinese. He also wrote a travel log which was entitled the Records of West Travels. It is a very important reference for researchers to study both the history and geography in Ancient India, as well as the Central Asia. The novel Journey to the West is a mythological account of his adventure to India. It depicts the untold hardship Xuan Zang experienced on the way to India for his pilgrimage. He is accompanied by some mythological figures, such as the Monkey King. The Monkey King is called Sun Wukong, is one of Xuan Zang’s disciples. Sun Wukong has strong magic power and always rescues his master from the lairs of ghosts and monsters.
In order to spread Buddhism to the further places, Jian Zhen(688-763), another Buddhist scholar of the Tang Dynasty, tried five times to sail from Yangzhou to Japan. Each time he failed and he eventually became blind. Accompanied by 24 disciples, he succeeded in the year of 754. In the next year, he started to preach in Nara, the capital of Japan at that time. He became the founder of the Ritsugku Buddhism of Japan. The disciples accompanied him to Japan were monks, architects, artists, doctors and pharmacists. They worked together and greatly enhanced the cultural exchange between the two countries. The magnificent Tang-styled Toshodai Monastery in Nara was designed by Jian Zhen.
The Zen Buddhism and the Sukhavati Buddhism have become the most influential Chinese Buddhist sects. The former was founded by Master Hui-Neng(638-713). In the subsequent dynasties, many Chinese poets and politicians practiced the Zen Buddhism, such as Wang Anshi, Su Dongpo and Huang Tingjian. The Sukhavati Buddhism is also known as the Sect of Pure-Land. Its founder was Master Hui-Yuan(334-416). The followers of the Pure-Land Sect do not need to study Buddhism doctrines deeply. All they must do are to keep the basic disciplines and to recite the title of Amitabha Buddha in their daily life.
Author: Tina Luo
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