introduction of (at first) alien complexes of ideas and
institutions that opened new horizons of intellectual
inquiry and spiritual exploration, thereby enlarging
the contours of Chinese civilization and enriching its
contents. Through their mutual encounter, both Bud-
dhism and Chinese traditions were profoundly trans-
formed, with Buddhism adding new elements to
Chinese civilization while at the same time undergo-
ing dramatic changes in the process of its adaptation
to China’s social ethos and cultural milieu.
Historical overview: First century to
tenth century
Buddhism first entered China around the beginning of
the common era, during the Eastern Han dynasty (25–
220 C.E.). The first Buddhist missionaries arrived
through the empire’s northwestern frontier, accompa-
nying merchant caravans that traversed the network of
trade routes known as the SILKROAD, which linked
China with CENTRALASIAand Persia, with additional
links to West and South Asia. By that time Buddhism
had already establish a strong presence within the Cen-
tral Asian kingdoms that controlled most of the trade
along the Silk Road. Early literary evidence of Bud-
dhism’s entry into China links the foreign religion with
the Han monarchy and its ruling elites. Such connec-
tion is explicit in the well-known story about Emperor
Ming’s (r. 58–75 C.E.) dream about a golden deity,
identified by his advisers as the Buddha. That suppos-
edly precipitated the emperor’s sending of a western-
bound expedition that brought back to China the first
Buddhist text (and two missionaries, according to a
later version of the story). Taking into consideration
the court-oriented outlook of traditional Chinese his-
toriography, such focus on the emperor’s role in the
arrival of Buddhism should not come as a surprise.
However, in light of the prevalent patterns of economic
and cultural interaction between China and the out-
side world during this period, it seems probable that
Buddhism had already entered China prior to Emperor
Ming’s reign.
Most of the early Buddhist monks who entered
China were associated with the MAHAYANAtradition,
which was increasing in popularity even while it was
still undergoing creative doctrinal development. The
foreign missionaries—most of whom were Kushans,
Khotanese, Sogdians, and other Central Asians—entered
a powerful country with evolved social and political in-
stitutions, long-established intellectual and religious
traditions, and a profound sense of cultural superior-
ity. In the course of the initial contacts, some mem-
bers of the Chinese elites found the new religion to be
inimical to the prevalent social ethos. The institution
of MONASTICISM, with its stress on ascetic renuncia-
tion, which included celibacy and mendicancy, was
alien to the Chinese and went against the Confucian-
inspired mores adopted by the state and the ruling
aristocracy.
In response to the initial spread of the alien religion,
some Chinese officials articulated a set of critiques that
highlighted perceived areas of conflict between Bud-
dhism and the prevalent Confucian ideology. The prin-
cipal object of the criticisms was the monastic order
(SAN ̇GHA). Buddhist monks were accused of not being
filial because their adoption of a celibate lifestyle meant
they were unable to produce heirs and thereby secure
the continuation of their families’ lineages. Additional
criticisms were leveled on economic and political
grounds. Monks and monasteries were accused of be-
ing unproductive and placing an unwarranted eco-
nomic burden on the state and the people, while the
traditional Buddhist emphasis on independence from
the secular authorities was perceived as undermining
the traditional authority of the emperor and subvert-
ing the established sociopolitical system. From a doc-
trinal point of view, Buddhism was perceived as being
overtly concerned with individual salvation and tran-
scendence of the mundane realm, which went counter
to the pragmatic Confucian emphasis on human affairs
and sociopolitical efficacy. Finally, Buddhism met dis-
approval on account of its foreign origin, which in the
eyes of its detractors made it unsuitable for the Chinese.
Despite these misgivings, by the fall of the Han dy-
nasty in 220 Buddhism had managed to gain a foothold
in China. Its growth sharply accelerated during the pe-
riod of disunion (311–589), the so-called Six Dynas-
ties period, which constitutes the second phase of
Buddhist history in China. It was an age of political
fragmentation as non-Chinese tribes established em-
pires that ruled the north, while the south was gov-
erned by a series of native dynasties. Ironically, the
unstable situation encouraged the spread of Buddhism.
In the eyes of many educated Chinese the collapse of
the old imperial order brought discredit to the pre-
vailing Confucian ideology, which created an intellec-
tual vacuum and a renewed sense of openness to new
ideas. Buddhism was also attractive to the non-Chinese
rulers in the north, who were eager to use its univer-
salistic teachings in their search for political legitimacy.
Another contributing factor was the growing interest
in religious and philosophical Daoism. Many upper-
class Chinese who were familiar with Daoist texts andCHINA