The introduction of Buddhism to China was an epoch-making historical event. The entire process of introduction was a historical process in which Buddhism gradually transformed from a foreign culture into part of Chinese culture. The introduction of Buddhism also demonstrates that China possessed the cultural soil to accommodate Buddhist culture. From the day Buddhism was introduced to China, it gradually began its process of Sinicization, undergoing more than a thousand years of historical development, ultimately forming distinctive Chinese Buddhism and systematized Chinese Buddhist studies, making it the source of East Asian and modern world Buddhist culture. The formation and development of Chinese Buddhist studies has made indelible contributions to world culture and religion.
After the Buddha’s parinirvana, over more than two thousand years, Buddhism gradually spread outward – southward to Ceylon, Myanmar, Thailand, and Southeast Asia; northward to Central Asia, the Central Plains, Tibet, Korea, and Japan. In recent years, it has spread even further to Britain, America, Germany, France, and other countries. Among all these transmissions, China has been the most extensive in its propagation.
The eastward transmission of Buddhism is traditionally said to have begun in the tenth year of Emperor Ming of Han’s Yongping era (67 CE). However, there were historical traces of Buddhism’s eastward transmission even before the Yongping period. For instance, in Liezi’s “Zhongni Chapter Four,” it states: “Qiu has heard that in the west there is a sage who governs without ruling, is trusted without speaking, and transforms without acting – so vast that people cannot name him.” From this, we can infer that Confucius already knew of the Buddha as a great sage.
The “Record of Three Treasures Through the Ages” compiled by Fei Changfang of the Sui Dynasty records: “…Also during the time of the First Emperor, there were eighteen worthy monks including Shi Lifang who brought scriptures to spread the teachings. The First Emperor did not follow them and imprisoned Lifang and others. That night, a vajra guardian sixteen feet tall came to break the prison and free them. The First Emperor was terrified and kowtowed in apology.” This account is also recorded in the “Record of Buddha Ancestors,” where “Shi Lifang” is translated as “Shili Fang.”
The “Record of Buddhism and Taoism” in the Book of Wei states: “During Emperor Wu of Han’s Yuanshou period, Huo Qubing captured King Kunye and a golden figure over ten feet tall. The emperor regarded it as a great deity and placed it in Ganquan Palace, burning incense and worshipping it. This was the beginning of the gradual spread of Buddhist teachings.” The golden figure over ten feet tall mentioned here was likely referring to a Buddha statue.
The “Record of Buddha Ancestors” states: “…When the Western Regions were opened and Zhang Qian was sent as an envoy to Daxia, upon his return, he reported that nearby was the country of Shendu, also called Tianzhu, where he first heard of the Buddhist teachings.”
Although the above accounts can be viewed as evidence that Buddhism had already spread to China before the Yongping period, they are all fragmentary historical materials without sufficient documentation from other sources. However, in historical records, the “Biography of the Ten Kings of Emperor Guangwu” in the Book of Later Han records King Ying of Chu’s devotion to Buddhist fasting, precepts, and sacrificial rituals. The biography states: “Ying in his youth enjoyed making friends with knights-errant and entertaining guests. In his later years, he became more interested in Huang-Lao studies and Buddhist fasting, precepts, and sacrificial rituals. In the eighth year (of Yongping), an edict was issued allowing all under death sentences to redeem themselves with silk. Ying sent his chamberlain with thirty bolts of yellow silk to the prime minister, saying: ‘Entrusted as a vassal, my transgressions have accumulated. Rejoicing in this great grace, I offer silk to redeem my excessive crimes.’ The prime minister reported this, and the emperor replied in an edict: ‘The king recites the subtle words of Huang-Lao and reveres the benevolent shrines of Buddhism, maintaining pure fasting for three months and making vows with the deities. What suspicion or doubt could there be? There should be no regret. Return the redemption payment to assist the lavish feasts of the upasakas and monks.'”
This edict was issued in the eighth year of Yongping. The document contains translated terms such as “futu” (Buddha), “yipusai” (upasaka – lay male Buddhist practitioners), and “shamen” (monks), indicating that Buddhist rituals already existed at that time, and translation work had already begun. Considering the communication between Han China and the Western Regions, when Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions, communication was already established. Later, Huo Qubing struck against the Xiongnu, and Li Guangli attacked Dayuan, bringing all territory from Dunhuang to the Salt Lake under Han control. During Emperor Xuan’s reign, Zheng Ji was appointed as Protector-General of the Western Regions, making all countries south and north of the Tianshan Mountains and east of the Onion Range Han dependencies. With such established communication at that time, the eastward transmission of Buddhism was naturally possible. However, it is generally accepted that Buddhism was introduced to China in the tenth year of Emperor Ming of Han’s Yongping era.
According to Chinese official histories, the “Western Regions” section of the Book of Later Han states: “Emperor Ming dreamed at night of a golden figure, tall and large, with light radiating from its neck. He questioned his ministers about this, and some said there was a deity in the west called Buddha, whose form was sixteen feet tall and golden in color. The emperor then sent envoys to Tianzhu to inquire about Buddhist teachings, and subsequently had images painted in China.”
The “Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government,” Han Annals 37, states: “Initially, the emperor heard that in the Western Regions there was a deity called Buddha, so he sent envoys to Tianzhu to seek these teachings, obtaining their scriptures and monks.”
The above two accounts are brief and lack detail. The “Record of Buddha Ancestors” contains more detailed records and has become the accepted version, stating: “…In the seventh year (of Yongping), the emperor dreamed of a golden figure sixteen feet tall with sun-like radiance around its neck, flying through the palace courtyard. He questioned his ministers, but none could answer. Grand Astrologer Fu Yi stepped forward and said: ‘Your subject has heard that during the time of King Zhao of Zhou, a sage appeared in the west whose name was Buddha.’ The emperor then sent Central Palace Gentleman Cai Yin, Qin Jing, Scholar Wang Zun, and fifteen others as envoys to the Western Regions to seek Buddhist teachings. In the tenth year, Cai Yin and others encountered Kasyapa Matanga and Zhu Falan in Central India’s Kushan territory, obtaining a Buddha statue and Sanskrit scriptures of 600,000 words, which they carried on white horses to Luoyang. Falan met them with monastic etiquette and resided at the Honglu Temple. In the eleventh year, by imperial edict, the White Horse Temple was built outside the western Yongmen Gate of Luoyang. Matanga began translating the Sutra in Forty-Two Sections, the Sanskrit originals were stored in the right chamber of Lantai, and Buddha images were painted at the western Yangcheng Gate and on Xianjie Mausoleum.”
Summarizing the above, Buddhism’s arrival in China should be dated to after Emperor Wu of Han. When Indian monks came to China during Emperor Ming’s time, the court recorded this in historical records out of respect, passing it down to later generations. Subsequently, translation masters from the Western Regions came east in succession to translate Buddhist scriptures, and dedicated Chinese scholars also traveled west to seek the Dharma. Thus, the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha gradually spread in China.
China had its own native Buddhist monastics quite early. The earliest recorded cases were Sikong Yangcheng and Marquis Liu Jun who became monks during the Han Ming period. However, these early monks merely followed teachers in becoming monastics, shaving their hair and living according to precepts, but there was no formal ordination system yet. It was not until 250 CE, when Dharmakala from Central India formally established an ordination platform at White Horse Temple in Luoyang, that China began to have properly ordained bhikshus. Since no foreign bhikshunis had arrived, initially women who became nuns only had their hair shaved; later they received ordination from male monks, but this ordination system was still incomplete. It was not until 429 CE, when nineteen bhikshunis led by Tessara successively arrived from Sri Lanka, that their ordination became truly complete. From then on, China had properly ordained bhikshunis in accordance with Dharma and Vinaya.
Glossary
Shizun (釋尊) Shakyamuni Buddha.
Miedu (滅度) Nirvana or parinirvana. “Mie” means extinguishing the three types of delusions: view and thought delusions, dust-like delusions, and fundamental ignorance. “Du” means transcending the two types of birth and death: fragmentary birth-death and transformational birth-death.
Shoujie (受戒) Monastic ordination includes the Five Precepts, Eight Precepts, Ten Precepts, and Full Ordination, each with its own ceremonies and procedures.
Jietan (戒壇) Ordination platform. In Sanskrit: mandala, the venue for bhikshus to receive ordination.
Rufa Rulü (如法如律) In accordance with Buddha-dharma and the monastic code (Vinaya).
