China: Religion (Notable Terms, Concepts, Figures, Writers, Characters or Deities, Events / Stories, Cults, etc.)

Chinese Buddhism (All Facts)

• Religion which came to China from the west along the string of oases known as the Silk Road

• It ran from the Kushan Empire in central Asia into China and from the east on the China and from the south via Burma 

• Its first practitioners were foreign merchants 

• Eventually, indigenous monasteries were founded, and the namesake emerged with a Taoist flavor 

• Large sections of the namesake population were converted 

• Was distinctly Chinese 

• Most of the Chinese translations of the namesake religion’s texts used Taoist terminology 

• No longer seen as a foreign religion, its promise of freedom from pain and suffering attracted millions of converts, having made it the fastest growing religion in China by the 60’s CE 

• By 85 CE, it reached the oases of Tarim 

• When the Xiongnu occupied Loyang, Confucian scholars fled, thus leaving the field open to the namesake monks who provided the barbarian Xiongnu conquerors with a literate civil service 

• By 399, during the Northern Wei Dynasty, it spread throughout China, working its way along the trade routes from Central Asia and India 

  • Regarded as something of an intellectual curiosity by the Han Court, it became a recognized religion 

  • During this time, Indian translators worked on the huge task of providing versions of its original teachings, which were written in Sanskrit, into Chinese 

  • It owed as much to the fall of the Han Dynasty and the “age of confusion” that followed 

  • The small states of the north which had easy contact with India were particularly receptive to the namesake 

148 CE - 180 CE - An Shigao (All Facts)

• Parthian Monk who becomes famous for being a Buddhist missionary to China after travelling from Parthia and arriving in Loyang 

• He initiated the first project for a systematic translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese from originals in Sanskrit or Prakrit 

344 - 413 - Kumarajiva (All Facts)

• Chinese Buddhist Monk and Kuchean Translator 

  • He was of Indian descent and born in central Asia

• He is considered one of the greatest translators of Chinese Buddhism

  • His excellent translations of Buddhist texts allowed the Chinese to gain a real understanding of Buddhism as a philosophy, which they had not been able to obtain up to that point 

• Taught at Changan in Shensi province

• He preached versions of Buddhism previously unknown in China

337 - 422 - Faxian (All Facts)

• Chinese Buddhist Monk

• He traveled on foot from Jin China to medieval India to acquire Buddhist scriptures

• He set out from Changan on a long pilgrimage, spending several years 

  • Walking the Silk Road

  • Visiting Temples

  • Studying with holy men

  • Recording the traditions and customs of the counties through which he passes

• He was one of a number of monks who found their own path to the secrets of Buddhism, having travelled along the Silk Road to study the true doctrine at the sources of (Chinese) Buddhism