Curated category
History of Buddhism in Asia
- MahayanaAn inscription in Mathura, dated to the year 180 CE, bears a reference to the Buddha Amitābha and marks one of the earliest stone records of Mahāyāna…
- TheravadaIn the third century before the Common Era, a missionary monk named Mahinda arrived in Sri Lanka to spread the teachings of the Buddha.
- Tibetan BuddhismIn the year 618, King Songtsän Gampo ordered Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures to be translated into Tibetan. This marked the formal introduction of Buddhism to…
- Chinese BuddhismBuddhist missionaries began bringing Buddhism to China during the Han dynasty, and the religion was present in China at the beginning of the common era.
- Buddhism in Central AsiaA standing Buddha statue from the 1st century BCE stands in the Tokyo National Museum, draped in a Greek himation that flows over both shoulders.
- Buddhism in NepalEmperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire put up a pillar at Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, in the second century BCE.
- Silk Road transmission of BuddhismIn the year 138 BCE, a Chinese envoy named Zhang Qian departed the Han capital of Chang'an on a mission to secure alliances against northern nomads.
- Korean BuddhismIn 372 CE, a monk named Sundo arrived at the court of King Sosurim in Goguryeo. He carried texts and statues that introduced Buddhism to the northern kingdom.