Buddhism was born in the middle reaches of the Ganges River in India, the area between today's southern Nepal and India, and soon spread to Central Asia. In the 1st century AD, Buddhism was introduced to Luoyang from the Western Regions. In the 2nd century AD, the Persian monk Ansek ko came to China and translated a large number of Hinayana Buddhist scriptures. In the 5th century, the Chinese monk Faxian traveled from Xinjiang to India and finally wrote the famous "Book of the Buddha's Kingdom". At the same time, the Central Asian monk Kumarosh came from Xinjiang to Liangzhou, lived for more than 10 years, and then went to Chang'an, where he translated a large number of Buddhist scriptures. It can also be seen from here that the introduction of Buddhism to China was actually a two-way interactive process.
Kumarosh
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > The introduction of Buddhism and The advent of Ansko</h1>
The earliest recorded Introduction of Chinese Buddhism to China was in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but in fact Buddhism may have been introduced to China in the Qin Dynasty.
Pushing the Peacock Dynasty to the peak of the Ashoka period, Buddhism has begun to spread wildly around India, and at this time Qin Shi Huang has not yet unified China, Buddhism may have been introduced to China through people-to-people exchanges at this time, and this is also just a bold inference, and there is no clear archaeological and historical evidence.
Ashoka in the film and television drama
Compared with the Qin, the historical data of the introduction of Buddhism into the Han Dynasty is much clearer. In the Kushan era, there were four major empires coexisting on the Eurasian continent at the same time, the westernmost of which was Rome, the Eastern Rest Empire, the Parthian Empire, and the Easternmost Washan Empire. At this time in Eurasia, Buddhism began to spread to Central Asia. In 147 AD, a prince of the Sabbath Empire came to the Eastern Han Dynasty after living in India for many years, and was called An Shigao in the Chinese historical records.
Ansekhar preached Hinayana Buddhism, which is what Mahayana buddhists call this sect, and the average Hinayana Buddhist called himself Theravada Buddhism.
In the early days of Buddhism in India, Central Asia and Persia, most of them were actually Hinayana Buddhism, so during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Buddhism that came to China was likely to be Hinayana Buddhism.
According to legend, in 67 AD, the envoys of the Eastern Han Dynasty came to the Western Regions to meet the senior monks and returned to Luoyang with the white horse consignment of scriptures, so the Han Ming Emperor ordered the construction of The White Horse Temple, the first Chinese Buddhist temple in China, and the construction of the White Horse Temple is also regarded as the origin of buddhism into China.
Luoyang White Horse Temple
Among the many monks who came to China during the Eastern Han Dynasty, An Shigao was a typical representative, he preached Buddhism, was proficient in many languages, and he quickly mastered Chinese after he came to China. From 148 to 171, he spent more than 20 years translating Buddhist classics into Chinese. However, it was not long before the edifice of the Han Empire collapsed during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and these Buddhist scriptures were not passed on to the world.
Between Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism, chinese believers tend to prefer Mahayana Buddhism. In terms of influence, Mahayana Buddhism has deeply influenced Chinese Buddhists during the Wei and Jin dynasties, and through a long period of evolution, Buddhism has finally completed the process of Sinicization in the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the history of the sinification of Buddhism, the greatest contribution was made by the senior monk Faxian during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Buddhist temples in china today (actual photo by the author)
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > second, the "Buddha's Kingdom" of Fa Xian</h1>
Because after Buddhism was introduced to China, there were still many things that people did not understand, and Fa Xian traveled thousands of miles to India to explore the Dharma. At that time, Fa Xian was 62 years old, and he took dozens of believers thousands of miles to India along the Hexi Corridor. Many weak-willed people gave up, and he was the only one left to come to India.
The journey to the west was very difficult, and he set out from Chang'an in 399 AD and finally reached northwestern India in 405, where Gandhara, one of the cultural centers of buddhism as a whole. After studying the language there for more than 3 years, he collected a large number of Buddhist scriptures in the Ganges Valley. In 410 AD, he sailed from the Ganges to the Lion Country, which is today's Sri Lanka, where he stayed for several years before returning to China along the Maritime Silk Road.
Dharma manifestation in a stage play
However, Faxian's journey back to China was very unsatisfactory, and he happened to encounter a Storm in the Pacific Ocean when he returned home, after which the ship was forced to stop at Java. After waiting for half a year, I finally boarded a merchant ship back to Guangzhou.
But then the accident happened again! The ship veered off course and reached the vicinity of today's Philippines. After resting, Faxian finally reached the vicinity of Laoshan in Qingdao in 413 AD.
The route of Fa Xian's return to China happened to be along the Maritime Silk Road, as early as the Qin Dynasty, the Maritime Silk Road was opened, and by the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties where Fa Xian was located, the Maritime Silk Road had formed a regular round-trip route.
After Returning to China, Faxian was more than 80 years old, but he still insisted on writing his observations around the world in the past few decades into an important travelogue "The Book of Buddha's Kingdom". In the 5th century AD, Buddhism had begun to decline in India, but the Dharma Xian still called it the "Buddha's Kingdom".
With less than 12,000 words, the Book of Buddhahood provides a detailed description of northern India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and other places at that time, and it became one of the earliest records of China's overseas transportation. And Fa Xian's trip also inspired future generations such as Xuanzang and Yijing to go abroad and promote the ideals of Buddhism.
Photocopy of Fa Xian's Book of the Buddha's Kingdom
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" > Wen Shijun said</h1>
Early Buddhism was introduced to China, both foreign monks came to China from west to east to promote Buddhism, and Chinese monks went from east to west to India to explore Buddhism, so that two-way exchanges and interactions eventually made Buddhist civilization bloom in China and become an important part of the spiritual world of Chinese.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="28" > references</h1>
Yang Shumei: Fifteen Lectures on the Archaeology of the Silk Road, Peking University Press, 2015.
Fang Yong: A Review of Traditional Chinese Architecture, Beijing Normal University Press, 2015.
Wang Chengzu, Ancient Chinese Geography (Pre-Qin to Ming), The Commercial Press, 2015.
Zhang Xingang: Fifteen Lectures on Silk Road Civilization, Peking University Press, 2018.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Yugong Walker)
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