Knowra Buddhism in China Buddhism in China Buddhism in China is the adaptation and development of Buddhist teachings, practices, and institutions within Chinese society, culture, and intellectual life.
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism : The movement of Buddhist teachings and communities along trade routes linking South Asia, Central Asia, and China. Trade routes across Central Asia brought scriptures, teachers, and images into China.
Chinese Buddhist canon : The collection of Buddhist scriptures and related texts translated into or composed in Chinese. Its accumulated translations supplied the shared textual base for Chinese Buddhist schools.
Tiantai : A Chinese Mahayana school founded around the Lotus Sutra and systematized by the monk Zhiyi. Tiantai organized diverse Buddhist teachings into a comprehensive Chinese doctrinal system.
Confucianism : A Chinese ethical and political tradition focused on moral cultivation, social relationships, ritual, and good government. Confucian critiques challenged monastic withdrawal and Buddhist claims about family obligations.
Chinese Buddhist art : The visual arts produced for Chinese Buddhist worship, teaching, and patronage, including sculpture, painting, and cave decoration. Buddhist images and sacred sites became enduring expressions of Chinese religious and artistic life.
An Shigao : A Parthian Buddhist monk who translated early Buddhist texts into Chinese in the second century CE. His translations mark an early stage of Buddhism’s textual presence in China.
Mahayana : A broad family of Buddhist traditions emphasizing the bodhisattva path and the liberation of all beings. Mahayana scriptures and ideals became especially influential in Chinese Buddhist traditions.
Huayan : A Chinese Buddhist school centered on the Avataṃsaka Sutra and the interdependence of all phenomena. Huayan developed a distinctive account of reality from a scripture influential in China.
Daoism : A Chinese philosophical and religious tradition concerned with the Dao, naturalness, cultivation, and ways of living. Daoist concepts supplied early interpretive analogies, while Daoist institutions also competed with Buddhism.
Dunhuang : A Silk Road oasis in Gansu, China, known for the Mogao Caves and their Buddhist art and manuscripts. Its caves preserve material evidence of Buddhism’s long life across Chinese dynasties.
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