Chinese Buddhism

Chinese Buddhism (Han Chinese Buddhism) has played an extremely prominent and dynamic role in Buddhist history, particularly in East Asia. Over the course of approximately two thousand years, Buddhist ideas and practices have shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas, including art, politics, literature, philosophy, medicine, and material culture.

The translation of a large body of Indian Buddhist scriptures into Chinese and the inclusion of these translations together with works composed in China into a printed canon had far-reaching implications for the dissemination of Buddhism throughout the Chinese cultural sphere, including Korea, Japan, Ryukyu Islands and Vietnam. Chinese Buddhism is also marked by the interaction between Indian and Chinese religion which includes Taoism.

History

From medieval times on, various legends circulated in China telling of the presence of Buddhism on Chinese soil in very ancient times. Nonetheless, the scholarly consensus is that Buddhism first came to China in the first century of the Common Era, that is, in the Han Dynasty through missionaries from India. From that time on, Buddhism played a significant role in Chinese history up to and including modern times.