the spread of buddhism

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The spread of Buddhismtansen sen

Several factors facilitated the spread of Buddhism over vast distances after itsestablishment in the Gangetic region of northern India in the fifth centurybce. First, the encouragement of missionary work, attributed to the Buddhahimself, resulted in the travels of monks and nuns through perilous land andsea routes into regions that were far away from the Buddhist heartland inSouth Asia. Second, the intimate relationship between merchants andBuddhist communities gave rise to a symbiotic association that not onlyhelped the long-distance spread of Buddhist ideas, but also created a mech-anism through which religious paraphernalia could be easily supplied to theemerging centers of Buddhism. Third, rulers and polities in various parts ofAsia supported the diffusion of Buddhism through their patronage. Whilethe actions of King Aśoka (c. 268–232 bce) of the Mauryan Empire (324/321–187 bce) contributed to the rapid spread of Buddhism in South Asia inthe third century bce, some of the later polities in Southeast and East Asiafound it useful to employ Buddhist doctrines to legitimize their politicalpower and authority, resulting in state support for Buddhist activities andexchanges.The transmission of Buddhism is often described as a linear process,

spreading from ancient India to other parts of Asia. This is illustrated inmaps with arrows from the Buddhist heartland in South Asia to Central andSoutheast Asia and then from those regions to East Asia. In reality, theprocess was more complex and the transmission was not necessarily in onedirection. Buddhist monks from South Asia, for example, went to China notonly to transmit the doctrine, but also to pay homage to Buddhist divinitiespurportedly living on Chinese mountains. Similarly, ideas formulated byJapanese monks seem to have influenced Buddhist schools in China, con-sidered to be the main source of Buddhism in Japan. In some cases Buddhistdoctrines might have evolved internally without any stimuli from foreignregions or monks. Indeed, the spread of Buddhism was a complex process,

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In The Cambridge World History, Volume 5: Expanding Webs of Exchange and Conflict, 500CE-1500CE. Edited by Benjamin Z. Kedar and Merry Wiesner-Hanks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.

with ideas sometimes filtering back to places that were the original transmit-ting centers.It should also be noted that although the Buddha might have emphasized

missionary activity, the transmission of the doctrine outside South Asia wasnever undertaken in an organized way or through forced conversion.Buddhist teachings, texts, and images spread in fragmented forms, frequentlyalong the major trade routes and often carried by itinerant monks andmerchants. Consequently, in several places different schools and doctrinesof Buddhism coexisted and mingled with each other, without the followersmaking a clear distinction between the diverse traditions. The spread ofBuddhism, therefore, was not a systematic process. Rather, multiple strainsof Buddhist doctrines originating in different regions circulated in Asia fromthe middle of the first millennium bce to the twentieth century (see Map 17.1).Within this long history of the transmissions and evolutions of Buddhism,

the fifth–sixth century ce was an important watershed. Prior to this period,Buddhist ideas had spread to most regions of the Indian subcontinent andmade significant inroads into Han and post-Han China. After the fifthcentury, places such as Sumatra, Japan, and Korea were also incorporatedinto the Buddhist realm. Additionally, new networks of Buddhist exchangeswere established and diverse forms of Buddhist teachings and schoolsemerged throughout these regions. By the tenth century, the Buddhist worldspanned from the western regions of Central Asia to the towns and moun-tains of Heian Japan. The tenth century marked another turning point forBuddhist exchanges. The long-distance networks of Buddhist interactionsbetween South Asia and what is present-day China began unraveling. Whatemerged after the tenth century were multiple centers of Buddhism, withtheir own spheres of influence and connections. These centers and theassociated spheres formed distinct Buddhist worlds unto themselves, usuallyfeaturing a major Buddhist tradition.This chapter focuses on the above two turning points in the history of the

spread of Buddhism. However, since Buddhist exchanges after the fifthcentury were grounded in the networks and modalities of transmission thatdeveloped prior to this period, the first part of the chapter deals with some ofthe key elements of the early diffusion of the doctrine. The aim, on one hand,is to demonstrate the reasons and methods of the initial spread of thedoctrine within South Asia and from South Asia to Han and post-Han China;and on the other hand, it is to argue that the pre-fifth century networkscontinued to have significant impact on the later transmissions of Buddhistdoctrines across Asia.

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The early spread of Buddhism

Gautama Siddhartha, who became known as the Buddha (“the enlightenedone”), lived in around the fifth century bce during a period that hadwitnessed urban growth and flourishing commercial activity. Buddhist bio-graphical works, which were composed several centuries after the Buddha’sdeath, suggest he was born in an upper class, ruling family. He is said to have“renounced” his family and wealth after witnessing for the first time, in hislate twenties, some of the most visible and disconcerting aspects of urban life(old age, sickness, death, and ascetic life). After attaining enlightenment, at aplace called Bodhgayā (in the present-day Bihar state in India), the firstpeople whom the Buddha met were merchants called Tapussa and Bhallika.The story of them becoming the first two lay disciples of the Buddhaunderscores the close relationship between the Buddhist and merchantcommunities that would develop during the subsequent periods.The Buddha lived until the age of eighty. His death, termed as

mahāparinirvā_na (the final or eternal extinction, indicating a state from

which there is no rebirth), was also an important element of the earlyspread of Buddhist doctrines, especially through the development of therelic cult. Early Buddhist works speak of eight rulers of India vying for thebodily remains of the Buddha. Eventually it was decided that these relicswere to be distributed equally among the eight rulers, each of whom tookthe remains to their kingdoms and had them enshrined. In the third centurybce, King Aśoka reportedly exhumed these relics and redistributed themthroughout his empire and also as gifts to foreign polities. Many localBuddhist legends credit the initial transmission of Buddhist doctrines totheir regions to this pious act of King Aśoka. The most important of thesewas Sri Lanka (Ceylon), where the Mauryan ruler is recorded to have senthis son Mahinda with a sapling of the Bodhi Tree, the Sacred Fig tree underwhich the Buddha is understood to have received enlightenment. This waspresented to the Sri Lankan ruler Devāna

_mpiya Tissa, who shortly after

receiving the gift is said to have established the first Buddhist monasticinstitution in his kingdom. For his contributions, Aśoka was portrayed inBuddhist literature as the ideal king with the laudatory title chakravartin or“Universal Ruler.”While it is generally accepted that King Aśoka played an important role in

the spread of Buddhism within his empire and in surrounding regions, theprocess was more complicated than simply a state-sponsored propagation. Bythe third century bce, an intimate relationship between the monastic

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community and trading networks had developed in South Asia.1 Thesenetworks connected the Gangetic regions, where the Buddha had dwelledand preached, to the regions in central and southern India. The earlyBuddhist sites were mostly located near urban centers along the trade routes.Thus the northwestern town of Taxila (in present-day Pakistan), the Gangeticcities of Śrāvastī (near present-day Benares) and Pā

_taliputra (modern-day

Patna), and the central and southern urban centers of Sāñcī (in present-dayMadhya Pradesh) and Amarāvatī (in present-day Andhra Pradesh) becameclosely connected through the intertwined networks of trade and Buddhism.Inscriptions by King Aśoka, highlighting teachings associated with Buddhism,have been found near many of these urban centers.The spread of Buddhism along the trading networks within South Asia

continued after the death of Aśoka. The two succeeding empires, theŚātavāhanas (c. first century bce – c. third century ce) in the Deccan regionof India and the Ku

_sā_nas (c. 30 ce – c. 230) ruling in northern India, were

instrumental in this regard, and also played a significant role in the diffusionof Buddhism outside South Asia. The Śātavāhana court emerged as one ofthe leading supporters of Buddhism in India, although the rulers themselvesmay not have converted to the religion. Their patronage of Buddhism can bediscerned from the inscriptions that report sponsorship of monasteries, rock-cut temple complexes, and donations to Buddhist institutions in the Deccanregion.2 Also evident in epigraphical records from western and easternregions of Deccan is the thriving relationship between traders and Buddhistinstitutions. Places such as Amarāvatī, Nāgārjunako

_n_da and others in the

eastern part of the Deccan suggest intimate connections not only betweenBuddhism and the local trading communities, but also with merchant guildsengaged in overseas maritime commerce.3

The Ku_sā_nas, who originated in the eastern part of Central Asia, formed

their empire during the first century ce. Expansion under King Kani_ska

(c. 127 – c. 140) in the second century ce stretched the empire from CentralAsia to the Gangetic plains of eastern India. Trade routes connecting the oasisstates of Central Asia with the maritime world of Bay of Bengal became more

1 James Heitzman,“Early Buddhism, Trade and Empire,” in Kenneth A. R. Kennedy andGregory L. Possehl (eds.), Studies in the Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology of South Asia(Calcutta: Oxford University Press, 1984): 124.

2 D. K. Chakrabarti, “Buddhist Sites Across South Asia as Influenced by Political andEconomic Forces,” World Archaeology 27. 2 (1995): 199.

3 See Himanshu P. Ray, Monastery and Guild: Commerce under the Satavahanas (New Delhi:Oxford University Press, 1986).

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extensive and integrated during the Ku_sā_na period. Similar to King Aśoka

and the Śātavāhana rulers, the Ku_sā_na kings supported Buddhist institutions

through donations and sponsorships. Taxila, for example, consolidated itsposition as a leading center for Buddhist learning in southern Asia under theKu

_sā_nas. More importantly, the itinerant merchant communities from Cen-

tral Asia expanded their trading networks into Southeast and East Asia. Someof these merchants, the Sogdians in particular, played a leading role inintroducing Buddhist teachings and images to Han China, which also waswitnessing a period of urbanization and commercial expansion.Buddhism had undergone noteworthy doctrinal changes by the time it

entered the urban centers and port towns of Han China. The most importantof these was the emergence of the Mahāyāna (Great Vehicle) school. Theteachings of Mahāyāna Buddhism, appearing mostly in texts written inSanskrit, allowed the laity to pursue the Buddhist path without the need torenounce society and join the monastic community. Some of these peoplecould also become bodhisattvas, enlightened beings who delayed enteringNirvā

_na in order to help others. The Mahāyāna Buddhists developed their

unique philosophical traditions, texts, and images, which became popular inCentral Asia, China, Japan, and Korea. The Theravada school, with itsdistinct texts, teachings, rules of personal conduct, and the primary use ofPāli language, eventually became dominant in Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma),and Thailand. This does not imply, however, that people in these regionsexclusively practiced one specific form of Buddhism. As noted above, inmany of these places one could find texts and images belonging to multipleforms of Buddhism, including those from the later Tantric/esoteric orVajrayāna (Thunderbolt Vehicle) tradition, which developed in the seventhcentury. Also evident in these regions is the incorporation of local beliefs intoBuddhist teachings and practices.The route of transmission of Buddhism to China has been debated

extensively during the past century. The argument has focused on whetherthe doctrine was initially transmitted through the overland roads or maritimeroutes. Erik Zürcher has questioned the long-accepted view that the trans-mission of Buddhist doctrines to China through the overland route wasstaged from Central Asian oasis states. He argues that the evidence forBuddhism in China predates the evidence for the presence of monasticinstitutions in eastern Central Asia. While textual and archeological sourcesmake it clear that Buddhism spread to China by the second century ce, theearliest Buddhist remains from places such as Kucha and Khotan in easternCentral Asia date from the fourth century. In other words, Buddhism seems

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to have penetrated Chinese society at least two centuries before it wasestablished in regions that were considered to be the key staging sites forthe diffusion of Buddhism to China. Thus Zürcher contends that the spreadof Buddhism from southern Asia to China was through “long-distance”transmission rather than a result of “contact expansion.”4

No matter through which route Buddhism first reached China, it is clearthat there was some presence of the doctrine and Buddhist monks in the Hancapital Luoyang around the year 65 ce. A popular legend associates thespread of Buddhism to China with a dream of the Han Emperor Ming(r. 58–75 ce). In his dream, the Chinese ruler is said to have seen a “goldenman.” Upon enquiring, the court officials told him that it might have beenthe foreign god called the Buddha. Learning this, the emperor sent twoenvoys to the “Western Regions” to seek more information about the foreigndeity. Three years later, the envoys are said to have returned with twoBuddhist monks, who were housed at the “first” Chinese Buddhist monas-tery called the Baimasi (White Horse Monastery) and asked to translateBuddhist texts. The history of Buddhism in China usually begins with thisstory of official introduction of the doctrine. While it is clear that this story isa later fabrication, meant to link the introduction of Buddhism with theChinese court and legitimize the presence of a foreign doctrine in China,there are other reliable records to indicate the existence of Buddhist ideas andfollowers in Han China during the reign of Emperor Ming.5

By the beginning of the sixth century, over two thousand Buddhist texts(known as sutras) were translated and cataloged in China. The rendition ofBuddhist texts into Chinese may have been one of the important factors forthe successful establishment of the doctrine in China. Often more than fourpeople collaborated in the translation of a single Buddhist sutra. The firstperson recited the text, either from memory or from a manuscript, thesecond translated it orally into Chinese, the third wrote down the Chinesetranslation, and the fourth edited the written version of the Chinese transla-tion. This method of translation of Buddhist texts, due to the lack of bilingualspecialists, continued through to the tenth century. Initially, the translationsconsisted of basic Buddhist teachings and the Jātaka tales (stories of the

4 Erik Zürcher, “Han Buddhism and the Western Regions,” in W. L. Idema and ErikZürcher (eds.), Thought and Law in Qin and Han China: Studies Presented to AnthonyHulsewé on the Occasion of his Eightieth Birthday (Leiden: Brill, 1990): 158–82.

5 On this and other similar stories, see Erik Zürcher, The Buddhist Conquest of China: TheSpread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China, third edn. (Leiden: Brill,2007): 19–23.


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Buddha’s previous births). Gradually, more philosophical works belonging tovarious schools of Buddhism were rendered into Chinese. Several othergenres of Buddhist literature, ranging from the biographical accounts offamous monks to apocryphal texts that placed Buddhist teachings withinthe Chinese socio-cultural framework, were composed in China. Also, by thistime, Chinese monks, starting with Faxian (337/342–c. 422) in the fifthcentury, were traveling to South Asia to procure new texts and makepilgrimages. In other words, networks of Buddhist exchanges between Chinaand South Asia were firmly established by the sixth century. During thesubsequent centuries, these networks and the Buddhist centers in Chinafacilitated the further spread of Buddhism to other parts of Asia.

The spread of Buddhism between the fifthand tenth centuries

The fifth and sixth centuries witnessed several developments across most ofAsia that resulted in the spread of Buddhism to places that either had no priorencounter with the doctrine or were marginally in contact with it. WhileKorea and Japan fall into the former category, the maritime polities ofSoutheast Asia can be associated with the latter. The brisk networks ofexchange between South Asia and China, mentioned above, augmentedCentral and Southeast Asia’s participation in the flow of Buddhist monks,merchants, and paraphernalia from one region to another. In the seventhcentury, these networks had also integrated Korea and Japan. Additionally,many of these regions outside South Asia started developing their ownunique schools and traditions of Buddhism to address local needs andsituations. This process, sometimes referred to as “domestication” or“localization,” intensified Buddhist interactions, created multiple centers ofBuddhism, and transformed Buddhism into the first pan-Asiatic religion.

Buddhism across AsiaEstablished in the middle of the fifth century, the Nālandā Mahāvihāra in thepresent-day Bihar state of India rapidly developed into the leading center ofBuddhist learning. By the seventh century, this institution was not onlyattracting students from across Asia, it was also actively sending monks topropagate the doctrine. The monastery also received donations from localand foreign rulers. Indeed, the establishment of Nālandā seems to have hadsignificant impact on cross-regional Buddhist exchanges during the secondhalf of the first millennium. Two other developments also contributed to the

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rapid spread of Buddhism during this period. First, new dynasties and politiesthat emerged in China, Japan, and Korea, as well as in Central and SoutheastAsia, started employing Buddhism to legitimize their political authority.Their aim was often to create a distinct identity for the newly establishedregime through the use of Buddhism. Links with existing Buddhist centerswere essential for these political entities to import texts and other parapher-nalia in order to further the cause of the doctrine in their lands. Second, theintensification of long-distance commercial activity in the fifth and sixthcenturies reinforced the association between merchants and monastic com-munities and contributed to the spread of Buddhism to new sites ofinteractions.Between the fall of the Han Empire in 220 ce and the formation of a new

unified empire by the Sui in 589, several contending kingdoms and dynastiesrose and fell in China. Some of these, the Liang dynasty (502–557) in southernChina for instance, employed Buddhism in unprecedented ways. Thefounding ruler of the dynasty, Emperor Wu (r. 502–49), not only propagatedBuddhist doctrines and rituals within his state, but also established connec-tions with Buddhist centers in South Asia, and took steps to transmit thedoctrine to Korea. After ascending to the throne, Emperor Wu dispatched adelegation of eighty-two people to bring an image of the Buddha fromcentral India. This delegation returned in 511 by the maritime route withthe image especially made for the Chinese emperor. Emperor Wu is alsoreported to have sent envoys to the Funan polity in Southeast Asia to fetchBuddhist relics. This interest in Buddhist artifacts by Emperor Wu seems tohave triggered various embassies from South and Southeast Asian politiesthat presented Buddhist relics and other paraphernalia to the Chinese court.The polity of Panpan, for example, presented Buddhist relics to Emperor Wuin 528 and 534, Dandan offered a tooth relic and a Buddha image in 528, and in540 Funan gave an image of the Buddha and Buddhist texts.6 All these politieswere located in the maritime regions of Southeast Asia and were encounter-ing Buddhism more intensely due to the upsurge in long-distance mercantileactivity in the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea regions.Similarly, in northern China, under the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534),

established by the Tuoba migrants from the steppe region in Central Asia,Buddhism was favored and propagated by several rulers. With the supportand sponsorship of these rulers, construction of a large number of Buddhist

6 Panpan and Dandan were most likely located on the east coast of the Malay peninsula.


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temples and monuments took place in the major towns of northern China.Also noteworthy was the building of the cave complexes at Longmen (nearthe city of Luoyang, Henan Province) and Yungang (near the city of Datong,Shanxi Province), which required the introduction of various kinds ofreligious paraphernalia, including relics, sculptures, and texts, and created ademand for artists and craftsmen familiar with Buddhist style and practices(see Figure 17.1). The Chinese monk Falin (572–640) reports that in northernChina during the Northern Wei period there were 47 “great state monaster-ies,” 839monasteries built by the royalty and the elites, and more than 30,000Buddhist temples constructed by commoners.7 In the south, on the otherhand, there were 2,846 monasteries and 82,700 monks.8

Figure 17.1 Buddhist figures, Longmen Caves, Henan Province (Private Collection,Leemage / Bridgeman Images)

7 Jacques Gernet, Buddhism in Chinese Society: An Economic History from the Fifth to the TenthCenturies, trans. Franciscus Verellen (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995 [1956]): 4.

8 Kenneth Ch’en, Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey (Princeton University Press,1964): 136.

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The impressive growth of Buddhism in China during the fifth and sixthcenturies seems to have had considerable impact on the development of Bud-dhism in regions of Central and Southeast Asia. The demand for Buddhistparaphernalia and artisans in China and the corresponding emergence ofNālandā as a center for Buddhist learning and propagation greatly increasedthe Buddhist traffic between South Asia and China. All the regions in between, asa consequence, came into contact with Buddhist preachers, pilgrims, artifacts,and artisansmore frequently and in larger numbers than in any previous periods.Indeed, while Buddhist doctrines had already penetrated the oasis states of

Central Asia before the fifth century, the increased traffic between South Asiaand China continued to foster Buddhism in areas such as Kucha, Khotan, andDunhuang. These places were vital stopovers for Buddhist monks travellingoverland between South Asia and China and benefited from doctrines andgoods moving along these so-called Silk Roads. In the late fifth century,Kocho (Chinese: Gaochang) emerged as a new polity in the present-dayTurfan area of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Buddhism flourished undersome of the rulers of Kocho, who sponsored the translation of Buddhist texts,conducted grand religious ceremonies, and constructed temples and cavecomplexes. Textual and archaeological evidence suggest that the doctrinewas widespread in the Kocho society, both among elites and commoners.The fifth and sixth centuries were especially important for the spread of

Buddhism to the maritime regions of Southeast Asia. In areas of mainlandSoutheast Asia, such as Myanmar and Thailand, Buddhist doctrines mighthave entered prior to the fourth century. Some scholars have pointed to thearchitectural influences of Nāgārjunako

_n_da and Amarāvatī on the design of

stupas (mound-like structures containing sacred relics) in the Pyu (in present-day Myanmar) and Mon (in present-day Thailand) areas, as well as thediscovery of Mauryan-style Buddhist inscriptions (known as dharmacakraand ye dharma) in these regions, to suggest the transmission of Buddhismto mainland Southeast Asia by the second century ce.9 The Pyu site Śrī

_setra

(in the lower Irrawaddy river) and the Mon site Dvāravatī (in the ChaoPhraya basin) also revealed the earliest Pāli inscriptions in inland SoutheastAsia dating from the fifth to seventh centuries and sixth to eighth centuriesrespectively, indicating, for some, the presence of Theravada doctrines.10

9 Prapod Assavavirulhakarn, The Ascendancy of Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia(Bangkok: Silkworm Books, 2010): 68.

10 Peter Skilling, “The Advent of Theravāda Buddhism to Mainland South-east Asia,”Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 20 (1997): 93–107.


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The earliest concrete evidence for the presence and practice of Buddhismin maritime regions of Southeast Asia, on the other hand, dates to the fourth–fifth century. One of these is a fifth-century Sanskrit inscription found inKedah in present-day Malaysia. Commissioned by a sea captain namedBuddhagupta, the inscription also has an engraved image of a stupa. Thethree-line inscription offers prayers to the Buddha and records of Buddha-gupta as the “great sea captain” and a resident of Raktam

_rttika, which most

scholars identify as the Southeast Asian polity called Chitu (on the easterncoast of the Malay peninsula) in later Chinese sources. Other early Buddhistinscriptions in maritime Southeast Asia were also found in the Kedah region(see Map 17.2).11

Excavations in Kedah and its vicinity have also revealed several Buddhastatues and sculptures from the same period. While some of these imagesstylistically resemble Gupta art forms and may have been imported fromSouth Asia, others seem to have been made locally. Buddhist statues made ofstone and bronze, votive tablets and stupas dating from the fifth to theseventh centuries have also been discovered on the east coast of the Malaypeninsula. Made in different styles, these objects indicate links betweenSoutheast Asia and several regions of South Asia, including the present-dayIndian states of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra, and Tamil Nadu, and thepresence of distinct traditions of Buddhist doctrines.The above evidence for the presence of Buddhism in maritime Southeast

Asia coincided with the decline of Funan, a polity centered in the present-dayCambodia–Vietnam region, and in the formation of new polities in it. Tolegitimize their authority, the rulers of some of these new polities opted forBuddhism instead of the Brahmanical doctrines that might have prevailed inFunan. The fact that almost at the same time Chinese dynasties were alsousing Buddhism for political legitimization would have been apparent tothese rulers. The emergence of the powerful Śrīvijayan polity centered inSumatra in the seventh century, as noted below, further stimulated thespread of Buddhism in maritime Southeast Asia.The use of Buddhism to legitimize or project political power was also

instrumental in the establishment of the doctrine in Korea and Japan. Thedevelopment of Buddhism in these areas was closely associated with diplo-matic, commercial, and religious connections to China. According to atwelfth-century Korean work called Samguk sagi (Historical Records of the

11 Michel Jacq-Hergoualch’h, The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silk Road(100 bc – 1300 ad), trans. Victoria Hobson (Leiden: Brill, 2002): 207–21.

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Three Kingdoms), Buddhism was introduced to Korea during the ThreeKingdoms period, to the kingdom of Koguryŏ in 372, the kingdom ofPaekche in 384, and the kingdom of Silla in 528.12 While contacts withChinese kingdoms are credited with the transmission of the doctrine to the

Guangzhou

Jiaozhi (Hanoi)

Dong Duong

Nha TrangPhan Rang

Oc Eo

Angkor Borei

Takua PaChaiya

Ligor

Yarang

Kedah

Barus

Jambi

Krg. Brahi

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Kota Kapur

Palas PasemahBungkuk

Batujaya

DiengRatu Boko

Kota Blater

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Equator

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Holotan

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Kantoli

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Panpan

Funan

Linyi

Java Sea

S o u t hC h i n a S e a

INDIAN OCEAN

Sites associated with early Buddhism

Sumatra

Isthmusof Kra

Borneo

Java

Bali

Hainan

Taiwan

Philippines

Map 17.2. Early Buddhist sites in Southeast Asia

12 On the spread of Buddhism to Korea, see Lewis R. Lancaster and C. S. Yu (eds.),Introduction of Buddhism to Korea: New Cultural Patterns (Berkeley: Asian HumanitiesPress, 1989).


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former two kingdoms, monks from Koguryŏ are said to have broughtBuddhist teachings to Silla.13 The spread of Buddhism to Japan, on the otherhand, is attributed to Buddhist teachers from Paekche. The Samguk sagi andother sources also suggest that the transmission of Buddhism to the regionwas intimately connected to the larger networks of Buddhist interactionsacross Asia. In both Paekche and Silla, for example, the two earliest monks,named Maranant’a (Mālānanda?) and Mukhoja respectively, seem to havecome from Central Asia.14

Textual sources from the sixth and seventh centuries indicate intense inter-actions between Buddhist communities in East Asia. The Liang dynasty inChina, which, as outlined above, fostered Buddhist linkages with South andSoutheast Asia, also facilitated Buddhist exchanges in East Asia. Not only didmonks from the Korean kingdoms travel to Liang China to study, but EmperorWu is also known to have sent Buddhist delegations and relics to Korea. In factin 527, the ruler of Paekche built a Buddhist temple called Taet’ong-sa (Chinese:Datong si) in honor of EmperorWu’s contribution to the spread of the doctrineto his kingdom.15 Additionally, within a few decades of the introduction of thedoctrine, the rulers of the Silla kingdom, similar to Emperor Wu, were usingthe symbolism of the chakravartin, associated with King Aśoka, to portraythemselves as powerful and pious Buddhist monarchs.16

Monks from Korea also started traveling to South Asia in the sixth century tostudy and procure Buddhist texts. One of the earliest monks to make thisjourney might have been Kyomik from Paekche who went to India by the searoute.17 It was also through the maritime networks that monks from Paekcheintroduced Buddhist doctrines to Japan. After the initial transmission of Bud-dhism to Japan in 552 by a monk namedNorisach’igye,18 several other Buddhistmissions were sent from Paekche to Japan. Monks from Koguryŏ were activein Japan during the sixth century as well and are known to have established the

13 Some sources credited an official mission from the Liang court in China for thetransmission of the doctrine to Silla.

14 Ahn Kye-hyŏn, “A Short History of Ancient Korean Buddhism,” in Lancaster and Yu(eds.), Introduction of Buddhism to Korea, 1–27.

15 Jonathan Best, A History of the Early Korean Kingdom of Paekche: Together with anAnnotated Translation of the Paekche Annals of the Samguk Sagi (Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Asia Center, 2007): 135–6.

16 Richard D. McBride II, Domesticating the Dharma: Buddhist Cults and the HwaŏmSynthesis in Silla Korea (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008).

17 On the early Korean monks who reportedly traveled to South Asia, see Jonathan Best,“Tales of Three Paekche Monks who Traveled Afar in Search of the Law,” HarvardJournal of Asiatic Studies 51, 1 (1991): 139–97.

18 Ahn, “A Short History,” 13.

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first order of nuns in the island. In 594, Koguryŏ and Paekche monks, Hyejaand Hyech’ong respectively, were instrumental in explaining the Buddhistdoctrines to Prince Shōtoku, who became one of the first members of theroyalty in Japan to advocate Buddhism.19 Aware of the importance of China asa center of Buddhism, Shōtoku sent an envoy to the Sui court (581–618) in607 to bring, among other things, Buddhist texts. By the time of PrinceShōtoku’s death in 622, Buddhist doctrines had penetrated the easternmostregion of Asia.

Northern Wei

Koguryo

Silla

PaekcheJapan

TamraKaya

Usan

Nangnang(Pyongyang)

Hanseong (Seoul)

Ungjin (Gongju)

SabiSeorabeol (Gyeongju)

Sea of Japan

Yellow Sea

Bohai SeaKoreaBay

ŏ

Map 17.3. The Three Kingdoms in Korea

19 On the transmission of Buddhism from the Korean peninsula to Japan, see KamataShigeo, “The Transmission of Paekche Buddhism to Japan,” in Lancaster and Yu (eds.),Introduction of Buddhism to Korea, 143–60.


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Buddhist networks and exchangesThe spread of Buddhism across Asia triggered vibrant cross-culturalexchanges during the seventh and eighth centuries. This is manifested inthe increased number of monks traveling between various regions of Asia,the growth in the exchange of Buddhist paraphernalia, and the creation ofnew networks of Buddhist transmissions. This period also witnessed theformation of several localized schools of Buddhist thought, the establishmentof unique pilgrimage sites and the creation of new art motifs throughout theBuddhist realm (see Figure 17.2). The latter developments eventually contrib-uted to the emergence of multiple centers of Buddhism that would graduallyform their own spheres of influences.The travels of the Chinese monks Xuanzang (600?–664) and Yijing

(635–713), the pilgrimage of the Korean Buddhist Hye’cho (c. 700–c. 780),the missionary work of the South Asian Tantric masters Vajrabodhi (671–741)and Amoghavajra (705–774), and the Japanese monk Kūkai’s (774–835) sojournin China are indicative of the highly connected and interactive nature ofBuddhist exchanges during the seventh and eighth centuries. The travels ofXuanzang, which were later fictionalized by Chinese writers, are perhaps thebest known of these cross-regional interactions that sustained the diffusion ofBuddhist ideas, images, and paraphernalia.Xuanzang seems to have come to know about Nālandā from a South Asian

monk named Prabhākaramitra, who reached Tang China in the early seventhcentury. He set out on his journey through Central Asia sometime around629, with the intention to learn about Yogacara teachings. During his stay inSouth Asia, Xuanzang had audiences with two powerful rulers, King Har

_sa of

Kanauj (located in northern India) and King Bhāskarvarman of Kāmarūpa (ineastern India). After staying at Nālandā for about ten years, Xuanzangreturned to Tang China in 645 with over 600 Buddhist texts and manyBuddhist images. Xuanzang continued to maintain contacts with his teachersand fellow students at Nālandā and may have even played some role infostering diplomatic exchanges between the Tang court and kingdoms inSouth Asia.20

A few decades after Xuanzang’s return, another Chinese monk calledYijing also travelled to Nālandā and observed the ways in which Buddhistpractices in South Asia differed from those in China and Southeast Asia.

20 Tansen Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations,600–1400 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2003).

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Yijing wrote about several other monks from East Asia who went to Nālandāin the seventh century, making their journeys either by the sea or the landroute. More importantly, Yijing’s activities indicate an intimate networkingbetween the Buddhist learning centers in Tang China, Southeast Asia, andSouth Asia. Before reaching Nālandā, Yijing studied Sanskrit in Śrīvijaya for

Figure 17.2 Pensive Bodhisattva, Three Kingdoms period (57 bce–668 ce), mid–seventhcentury, Korea (Metropolitan Museum of Art / © SCALA)


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about half a year. On his way back, he lived in the Southeast Asian polityagain to write his accounts of travels and undertake, in collaboration withother Chinese monks, translation work. In fact, in one of his translations,Yijing recommends that Chinese monks planning to visit South Asia shouldfirst study Sanskrit in Śrīvijaya.Yijing also mentions several Korean monks who made (or attempted to

make) pilgrimages to South Asia. This included the monks Hyeŏp, Hyeryun,Hyŏn‘gak, Hyŏnjo, Hyŏnyu, and Hyŏnt‘ae. Some of these monks lived anddied in Nālandā. There were others who, according to Yijing, passed away ontheir way to South Asia. The most famous Korean monk to travel to Nalandawas Hyech’o, who reached there in the early eighth century. This monkfrom the Silla kingdom studied in Tang China under the Indian Tantricmaster Vajrabodhi before making his pilgrimage to the sacred sites in India.After his pilgrimage, Hyech’o returned to China and continued to workunder Vajrabodhi and his disciple Amoghavajra. He is credited with writing amemoir called Wang ocheonchukguk jeon (Memoir of a Pilgrimage to the FiveIndias), which also vividly demonstrates the linkages that existed betweenvarious Buddhist learning centers and pilgrimage sites in South and East Asia.The two South Asian masters under whom Hyech’o studied in Tang

China were part of the larger movement to transmit new doctrines ofBuddhism associated with Tantric practices. Tantra is defined as

that body of beliefs and practices which, working from the principle that theuniverse we experience is nothing other than the concrete manifestation ofthe divine energy [or teaching/enlightened consciousness, in the case ofBuddhism] of the godhead that creates and maintains that universe, seeks toritually appropriate and channel that energy, within the human microcosm,in creative and emancipatory ways.21

Spells, chants, and ritual ceremonies were key elements of this traditionwhich developed in South Asia in the seventh century and influenced bothBrahmanism and Buddhism.Between the second half of the seventh and the late eighth century,

Tantric Buddhist doctrines spread rapidly to all parts of the Buddhist realm.Tantra gained favor among the Pāla rulers in the Bihar–Bengal region ofSouth Asia, with some of the Tang emperors in China, and also influencedmonastic institutions in Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan. It made

21 David Gordon White, “Introduction, Tantra in Practice: Mapping a Tradition,” inDavid Gordon White (ed.), Tantra in Practice (Princeton University Press, 2000): 9.

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the most significant impact in Tibet, where Buddhist doctrines entered in theeighth century.Tantric Buddhism introduced new styles of religious paraphernalia into

the existing networks of exchange. The activities of Tantric mastersVajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, and one of their predecessors, a South Asianmonk named Śubhakarasi

_mha (d. 735), reveal the vitality of these expanded

networks. The three monks were closely associated with the Tang rulers andperformed various rituals and ceremonies for the protection of the state,translated numerous Tantric texts, and trained Chinese and other East Asianmonks. The Japanese monk Kūkai studied with one of Amoghavajra’sChinese students named Huiguo and returned to his homeland in 806 topromote Tantric doctrines in Japan by establishing the school known asShingon. The Japanese emperors Kammu (r. 781–806) and Junna (r. 823–33)were his leading patrons.22 Huiguo also had a student from Java namedBianhong, who, after returning from China, may have contributed to thedesigning of the temple of Borobudur.23

Not far from Borobudur, in central Java, is a site called Ratu Boko, wherean eighth-century Sanskrit inscription indicates the presence of Sri Lankanmonks. The architectural features of the Buddhist monastic site in Ratu Bokoalso show similarities to the Abhayagiri monastery in Sri Lanka.24 In 741,Amoghavajra visited the Abhayagiri monastery and passed through Java onhis way from Tang China to South Asia. He and his Chinese disciples areknown to have stayed in Sri Lanka for several months and brought backTantric Buddhist texts and artifacts to China. It is clear from textual recordsand archaeological evidence that Sri Lanka was an integral part of the Tantricnetworks of the seventh and eighth centuries.The Tantric masters in China were also responsible for furthering the cult

of Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva of compassion. Mount Wutai, perceived as anabode of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, was perhaps the most important Buddhistpilgrimage site outside South Asia. Starting from around the sixth century,Chinese Buddhist texts started promoting the mountain in central China asthe site where one could encounter and venerate Mañjuśrī. The legends

22 Ryūichi Abé, The Weaving of Mantra: Kūkai and the Construction of Esoteric BuddhistDiscourse (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999).

23 Hiram W. Woodward, “Bianhong, Mastermind of Borobudur?,” Pacific World: Journalof the Institute of Buddhist Studies 11 (2009): 25–60.

24 Jeffrey Roger Sundberg, “The Wilderness Monks of the Abhyagirivihāra and theOrigins of Sino-Javanese Esoteric Buddhism,” Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volk-enkunde 160 (2004): 163–88.


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associated with the presence of the Buddhist divinity at the mountain becameso popular that even monks from South Asia began making pilgrimages tothe site. Vajrabodhi was one such monk who, after reaching China, fre-quently organized ritual and ceremonies on the mountain. The Mañjuśrī cultassociated with Mount Wutai also spread to Tibet and later became animportant part of the diplomatic intercourse between the rulers in Chinaand Lhasa.25

Tibet was the last major region of Asia where Buddhist doctrines pene-trated. Although some sources suggest that Buddhist ideas spread as early asthe reign of King Songtsen Gampo (Srong btsan sgam po, r. c. 614–650), itwas only under King Tri Songdetsen (Khri srong Ide btsan, r. 754–797) thatthey gained popularity. King Tri Songdetsen is said to have converted toBuddhism and employed it not only to consolidate his political power, butalso in Tibet’s diplomatic relations with foreign polities.26 The processthrough which the doctrine spread to Tibet reveals the existence of multiplecenters of Buddhism and the diverse array of Buddhist ideas that haddeveloped throughout Asia by the eighth century.27

During Tri Songdetsen’s reign, several Indian and Chinese monks wereactive in Tibet. This included Indian monks belonging to the Madhyamikāschool, represented by Śāntarak

_sita and his disciple Kamalaśīla, the Kashmīri

Tantric master Padmasambhava, who is credited for establishing the firstBuddhist monastery in Tibet known as Samye (Bsam yas) in 779, and theChinese Moheyan, who headed the local Chan school. Shortly before thedeath of Tri Songdetsen, a great debate is reported to have ensued betweenthe followers of Madhyamikā and Chan, represented by Kamalaśīla andMoheyan respectively, to determine the true nature of enlightenment.Tibetan sources hold that Moheyan was defeated and banished from Tibet.It was then decided that the Madhyamikā school would be followed inTibet.28

Buddhist exchanges between Tibet and other regions of the Buddhistworld grew considerably during the reigns of Tri Songdetsen and his

25 Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade, 76–86.26 The spread of Buddhist ideas to Tibet is outlined in Donald S. Lopez, Jr, Religions of

Tibet in Practice (Princeton University Press, 1997): 5–25.27 See for example Matthew T. Kapstein, “The Treaty Temple of Turquoise Grove,” in

Matthew T. Kapstein (ed.), Buddhism between Tibet & China (Somerville, MA: WisdomPublications, 2009): 21–71.

28 Paul Demiéville, Le Concile de Lhasa: une controverse sur le quiétisme entre bouddhistes del’Inde et de la Chine au viiie siècle de l’ère chrétienne (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale deFrance, 1952).

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successor Ralpajen (Ral pa can, r. c. 815–835). Tri Songdetsen was interestedin Buddhist pilgrimage sites in both India and China, including Mount Wutai.On one occasion, he is recorded to have sent a diplomatic mission to theTang court to request a painting of Mount Wutai. Under Ralpajen, on theother hand, several translation academies were established in Tibet totranslate Indian Buddhist texts and study Sanskrit. Military expansion intoDunhuang also gave Tibetans access to Buddhist texts and artifacts fromCentral Asia. These exchanges and interactions were interrupted in 838,when the King Langdarma (Glang dar ma) persecuted Buddhist monks andsuppressed monastic institutions. Langdarma may have been eventuallyassassinated by a Buddhist monk, which, while ending the persecution ofBuddhism, also led to the disintegration of the Tibetan empire. It was only inthe eleventh century that Buddhist exchanges between Tibet and otherBuddhist centers started to revive.

The multiple worlds of Buddhism, 1000–1500

By the eleventh century, three distinct “worlds” of Buddhism seemed to haveemerged across Asia: the India-Tibet world, centered on the monastic insti-tutions in the Bihar–Bengal region; the East Asian world, with multiplecenters in China, Korea and Japan; and the Sri Lanka–Southeast Asia world,connected through the Theravada/Pāli Buddhist networks. This does notimply, however, that the contacts and exchanges across and between thevarious Buddhist regions ceased. The travels of the South Asian monk Atīśa(982–1054) are indicative of the persistent Buddhist connections across Asia.Also known as Dīpa

_mkara Śrījñāna, Atīśa traveled to Sumatra in the early

eleventh century and studied under a local monk named Dharmakīrti. Afterspending about eleven years in Southeast Asia, he returned to India andsettled at the Vikramaśīla Monastery. In 1040, on an invitation from theTibetan royalty, Atīśa went to central Tibet to teach Tantric Buddhistdoctrines.29 There was also a monk named Dhyanabhadra (Ch. Chanxian/Zhikong, 1225–1363), who in the thirteenth century was ordained at Nālandāand then traveled from India to Beijing and subsequently to the Koreanpeninsula.30 Indeed, despite the fact that the contours of the three Buddhist

29 For details about Atīśa’s life see Alaka Chattopadhyaya, Atīśa and Tibet: Life and Worksof Dīpa

_mkara Śrījñāna in Relation to the History and Religion of Tibet (New Delhi: Motilal

Banarsidass, 1996).30 See Duan Yuming, Zhikong: Zuihou yiwei lai Hua de Yindu gaoseng (Zhikong: The Last

Eminent Monk from India to Travel to China) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 2007).


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worlds became more distinct with regard to doctrinal practices, the connec-tions between them continued through to the twentieth century.

The India-Tibet Buddhist worldThe Vikramaśīla Monastery where Atīśa lived before accepting the invitationto go to Tibet emerged as one of the leading Buddhist centers in South Asia.The Pāla ruler Dharmapāla (r. 770?–810) built the monastery in the late eighthor early ninth century, and it continued to prosper under the patronage ofthe later rulers of the dynasty. Located not far from Nālandā, the monasterywas a key site for interactions between local Tantric clergies and thosevisiting from Tibet. Until its decline in the twelfth century, Vikramaśīlaplayed an important role in the spread of Tantric Buddhism to Nepal andTibet. Another monastic institution that flourished and engaged in thetransmission of Buddhist Tantric doctrines during the Pāla period wasOdantapurī, also located in the modern state of Bihar. Although Nālandāreceived less attention from the Pāla rulers than either Vikramaśīla orOdantapurī, it nonetheless remained an important destination for foreignmonks and attracted donations from polities as far away as in Sumatra.31

The above three monasteries were not only involved in the transmissionof Tantric doctrines, but they were also instrumental in the spread of newBuddhist art forms that developed under the Pālas and other smaller king-doms located in the Bihar–Bengal region between the eighth and twelfthcenturies. Often represented in black stone or metal, with images thatincorporated Brahmanical deities, the Pāla Tantric art dispersed across Asia,even though the reception and impact was not always comparable. Nepal,Tibet, Yunnan, Java, and Myanmar seem to have been the main regions thatwere influenced by Pāla art forms.32

Other art forms produced during this period suggest serious rivalriesbetween the followers of Buddhism and Brahmanism in several regions ofIndia. In the seventh century, when the Chinese monk Xuanzang visitednorthern India, he had witnessed the decline of several urban centers andmonastic institutions. It seems that the decline of urban centers, which wereimportant for the initial spread of Buddhism, and the conflict with Brahman-ism had considerable impact on Buddhism, despite the strong patronage of

31 On the monastic institutions sponsored and patronized by the Pāla rulers, see PuspaNiyogi, Buddhism in Ancient Bengal (Calcutta: Jijnasa, 1980).

32 Susan L. Huntington and John C. Huntington, Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of PālaIndia (8th–12th centuries) and its International Legacy (Seattle: University of WashingtonPress, 1990).

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the Pāla rulers.33 Eventually, in the thirteenth century, the invasions byTurco-Mongol pillagers led to the decline of almost all major Buddhistmonastic institutions in northern India, including the three mentioned above.In many ways, Tibet was the inheritor of the Tantric Buddhist traditions

developed during the Pāla period. Similar to the other regions, Tibet alsoadded its own unique features to the doctrine, including the belief in reincar-nating lamas (Buddhist teachers), which may have derived from the teachingsof Atīśa. Several other schools of Buddhism developed in central, western,and eastern parts of Tibet due to the distinct interactions each of these placeshad with other parts of the Buddhist realm that included Kashmīr, CentralAsia, and China. There were also famous Buddhist monks, such as ‘Brog-mi(992–1072) and Milarepa (Mi-la-ras-pa, 1012–96), who founded their owntraditions that were centered at a specific monastery in Tibet. Consequently,different indigenous schools of Buddhism emerged in Tibet, some of whichcompeted with each other for religious and political clout.34

The major Buddhist schools in Tibet that evolved through these cross-regional interactions and individual introspections included the Sakyapa(Sa-skya-pa), established by ‘Brog-mi, who had studied at Vikramaśīla Mon-astery and translated one of the main Tantric texts known as the Hevajratantra; the Karmapa (Karma-pa), members of which negotiated the surrenderof Tibet to Chinggis Khan; and the Gelukpa (Dge-lugs-pa), which, founded inthe fourteenth century, emphasized monastic discipline and is associatedwith the traditions of Dalai and Panchen lamas. The latter two schools wereoften in conflict with each other and tried to gain favor from the Mongol andlater rulers of China. Many of these Tibetan schools of Buddhism alsocontributed to the diffusion of Tantric Buddhist traditions. Their impactcan be discerned, for example, from the religious practices of the Mongolsin Mongolia and the present-day Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region ofChina. In the eighteenth century, some of these teachings even spread toBuryatia in the southern Siberian region of Russia.35

The East Asian Buddhist worldThe persecution of Buddhism by the Tang Emperor Wuzong (r. 840–46) in845 – often termed the Huichang Persecution, as Huichang is the name given

33 Giovanni Verardi, Hardships and Downfall of Buddhism in India (New Delhi: Manoharand Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2011).

34 See Lopez, “Introduction,” in Lopez (ed.), Religions of Tibet in Practice.35 John Snelling, Buddhism in Russia: The Story of Agvan Dorzhiev, Lhasa’s Emissary to the

Tsar (Shaftesbury: Element, 1993).


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to Wuzong’s reign period – used to be viewed as a watershed in the historyof the doctrine in China, but the belief that Buddhism declined in China afterthis event is no longer accepted. Recent studies have demonstrated that thedoctrine had already penetrated deep into Chinese society by this time. Theyalso note the fact that Buddhism continued to play a significant role inChina’s interactions with the neighboring region during the subsequentperiods. Under the first three rulers of the Song dynasty, for example,Buddhism seems to have recovered from the persecution in 845 anddeveloped into an integral part of Song China’s diplomatic and commercialexchanges with neighboring societies. Translation activity and doctrinaldiscourse also revived during the late tenth and eleventh centuries.The Huichang Persecution was one of the most severe measures launched

by the state to address the impact of Buddhist monastic institutions on theChinese economy. Due to their large land ownership and soaring number oftax-exempted clergy, Buddhist monasteries were a significant drain on staterevenue. This issue had resulted in at least two earlier suppressions ofBuddhism in China. The one under Wuzong in the ninth century, however,was the most brutal. According to a report presented to Emperor Wuzongafter the persecution, 4,600 monasteries were destroyed, 260,500 monks andnuns were defrocked and subjected to tax, and a large amount of fertile landbelonging to Buddhist institutions was confiscated by the state.36

Neither Emperor Wuzong nor the Tang dynasty survived very long afterthe Huichang Persecution. When the Song dynasty reunified China in 960,not only did Buddhist monastic institutions recover, but networks of Bud-dhist exchanges were re-established with Japan, Korea, and the nomadicstates emerging at the northern and western borders of the Chinese Empire.Several factors were responsible for the survival and resurgence of Buddhismin Song China. The penetration of Buddhist ideas deep into Chinese society,as noted above, was perhaps the most important. Ideas associated with PureLand Buddhism, for instance, which advocated possible rebirth in the para-dise of the celestial Buddha called Amitabha, became immensely popularamong lay Buddhists and spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Similarly, theChan tradition that became widespread in China had a significant impact onEast Asian societies.37 The destruction of monastic institutions and defrockingof monks and nuns during the Huichang period did not seem to have had a

36 Ch’en, Buddhism in China, 232.37 Nguyen Cuong Tu, Zen in Medieval Vietnam: A Study and Translation of the Thiên uyển

tập anh (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1997).

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dire impact on these practices and beliefs that were already ingrained amongthe common people.During the tenth and eleventh centuries, commercial networks and state

formations continued to stimulate and sustain Buddhist exchanges in EastAsia. A new catalyst to this was the invention of movable-type printing thatcontributed to the increased circulation of Buddhist texts and canons. TheSong court’s policy to promote internal and external commerce had atremendous impact on its economy. New networks and markets developedthroughout China, which gradually became integrated with the largerEurasian commercial exchanges. Buddhist monasteries in Song Chinabecame part of this commercial revolution by providing loans to merchantsand space for fairs and markets. Trade in Buddhist paraphernalia witnessedrapid growth, although the involvement of Buddhist monks (and merchantspretending to be such) became a concern for the Song court.The growth in demand for Buddhist paraphernalia was not only connected

to the expansion of trade during the Song period, but also to state formationamong some of the nomadic tribes in Central and East Asia, particularly bythe Khitans and Tanguts, who established the Liao (907–1125) and Xixia(1038–1227) dynasties respectively. Similar to the polities in East and South-east Asia discussed above, the Liao and Xixia, and later the Mongols, alsoused Buddhism to create state identities and legitimize political authority.38

Another important development that led to increased trade in Buddhistartifacts had to do with the apocalyptic prophecies credited to the Buddhahimself. It was prophesied that at a certain point in future, the exact time forwhich varied from text to text, invasion of India by foreigners, the ensuingdestruction of Buddhist monuments, or corruption within the monasticorganization would lead to the disappearance of Buddhist doctrines. Theworld would be rampant with greed, chaos, disease, and starvation until theBuddha of the future, Maitreya, would descend to earth and restore orderand revive Buddhism. Reports about the decay of monastic centers in Indiaand the popularity of apocalyptic ideas found in Buddhist texts seems to haveinfluenced Buddhist communities throughout East Asia. This perceptionamplified the demand for relics and texts, which were to be stored for thefuture regeneration of the doctrine.39

38 Ruth W. Dunnell, The Great State of White and High: Buddhism and State Formation inEleventh-Century Xia (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1996).

39 The apocalyptic prophecies in Buddhism are discussed in detail by Jan Nattier, OnceUpon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline (Berkeley: Asian Human-ities Press, 1988).


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Within the above contexts, the Chinese Buddhist canon that could berapidly copied and distributed became an object of high demand in East Asia.This demand contributed to an increase in the need for new Buddhist textsand translators and the establishment of official translation bureaus. TheSong translation bureau is known to have employed Indian and Chinesemonks, who translated a record number of Buddhist texts and printed severalcopies of the Buddhist canon. In fact, it seems that the number of Buddhisttexts translated during the reign of the first three Song emperors was greaterthan in any of the previous dynasties. However, the aim to either produce ordistribute these canons was not always related to the propagation (orpreservation) of the doctrine as such. The Song court in China and theKoryŏ kingdom (918–1392) in Korea, for example, competed with each otherto donate Buddhist canons to neighboring regions as part of their diplomaticmaneuverings.40

Buddhism in Korea had developed and diversified significantly under theSilla kingdom, which unified the region politically in the seventh century.Buddhist schools and cults entering Korea from China were synthesized anddomesticated by monks including Wŏnhyo (617–689) and Ŭisang (625–702).Some Korean monks, such as the monk Ch’egwan belonging to the Tiantaischool, were even invited to China for doctrinal input. The Buddhist clergyin Korea, similar to their counterparts in China, also transformed several sitesin their region into leading pilgrimage centers. This included the establishmentof a Mount Wutai-like pilgrimage site at Mount Odae, where the devoteescould encounter the Mañjuśrī cult without the need to travel to China.41

Many of the accomplishments attained during the Silla period contributed tothe growth of Buddhism under the Koryŏ rulers. Teachings related to SŏnBuddhism in particular became popular during this period, and state-sponsoredBuddhist rituals were common. A cordial and mutually beneficial relationshipbetween the Buddhist community and the Koryŏ state was established duringthe reign of T’aejo (r. 918–43), the founding ruler of the kingdom. And whilerestrictions were imposed on the ordination of monks, Buddhism in generaland Sŏn monks in particular received state support during most of Koryŏperiod. The Buddhist monasteries were also prosperous, with large landholdings, private donations, and state support. In fact, it is estimated thatBuddhist monasteries in Koryŏ controlled one-sixth of all arable land.42

40 Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade, 118. 41 McBride, Domesticating the Dharma.42 See Vermeersch, The Power of the Buddhas: The Politics of Buddhism During the Koryŏ

Dynasty (918–1392) (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2008).

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The Korean pattern of domestication of Buddhism and the continued linksto Buddhist centers and institutions in China also took place in Japan. Monksfrom Japan frequently visited Tang China to study with either Chinese orIndian teachers. Ideas associated with Tiantai, Tantric, and Chan Buddhismentered Japan mainly through these channels. These three traditionsdeveloped into what are known as the Tendai, Shingon, and Zen schoolsduring the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura (1185–1333) periods. While themonk Saichō (767–822) is credited with establishing the Tendai school, Kūkai,as noted above, was instrumental in introducing Tantric teachings in Japan.The monks Honen (1133–1212) and Shinran (1173–1262), on the other hand,are associated with propagating Pure Land Buddhism in Japan. Each ofthese schools, although originally imported from China, went throughevolution in Japan, sometimes leading to the establishment of new branches.The most pertinent example is that of the Nichiren school, which emergedwhen the Japanese monk Nichiren (1222–82) decided to reform the ideasof the Tendai school by emphasizing the Lotus Sutra as the only true text ofBuddhism.Under the Kamakura shogunate, Buddhism enjoyed state support, the

expansion of monastic economic prowess, and the widespread popularityof Buddhist rituals and ceremonies. Similar to other parts of East Asia duringthis period, the relics of the Buddha became prized items of monastic insti-tutions and the state itself. As a consequence, a number of Buddhist cere-monies during the Kamakura period revolved around the veneration of therelics. The relics housed in the Tōji temple in Kyoto, for instance, wereconsidered to be the “spiritual jewels” of India, China, and Japan, anddescribed as the “spiritual treasures of the realm and protectors of theimperial family.”43

By the time Qubilai Khan established the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) inChina, Korea and Japan had created their own Buddhist worlds, with theirown unique doctrinal and ritualistic emphases. For the clergy and layfollowers of Buddhism in these regions, the necessary monastic institutions,learning centers, and pilgrimage sites had all been established. Despite theselocalizing developments, however, linkages and exchanges continued withinthe larger Buddhist realm. In fact, because of the acceptance of TibetanBuddhism by Qubilai in China and Hulegu in Iran, pan-Asiatic Buddhist

43 Brian D. Ruppert, Jewel in the Ashes: Buddha Relics and Power in Early Medieval Japan(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2000): 274.


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networks, spanning from Japan to the Persian Gulf, persisted during thethirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

The Sri Lanka–Southeast Asia Buddhist worldAfter the eleventh century, networks associated with Theravada Buddhismdrew together Sri Lanka and different mainland and maritime polities ofSoutheast Asia more closely than in the previous periods. With links tovarious regions of India, the monastic sites in Sri Lanka, and influences fromsouthern and southwestern regions of China, Buddhist practices in SoutheastAsia were diverse and multifaceted. They included doctrines and art formsoriginating from the Andhra region in India, Theravada and Tantric teach-ings transmitted from Sri Lanka, and the influx of Chan and other schools ofBuddhism from China. There were also various cults and ideas thatdeveloped locally and spread to several regions of Southeast Asia. After thetenth century the Theravada linkages became much stronger, primarily dueto political changes taking place in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand.In the second half of the eleventh century, Vijayabāhu I (1055–1110) ended

the rule of the Co_las from southern India and consolidated his power in Sri

Lanka. The Sinhalese political hold over the island grew stronger during thereign of Parākramabāhu I (1153–1186), who reportedly launched militaryoffensives against South Indian kingdoms and revitalized the maritime net-works connecting Sri Lanka to the regions in the South China Sea. Buddhistinstitutions flourished under the patronage of Vijayabāhu I and Parākrama-bāhu I.44

During his battles against the Co_las, Vijayabāhu I is known to have asked

Aniruddha (1044–1077), the ruler of the newly established Pagan polity inMyanmar, to preserve the Buddhist tradition and paraphernalia during theperiod of chaos and warfare in the island. Even before this, the Pagan rulerseems to have decided to use ideas associated with Theravada Buddhism,which had entered Myanmar previously, to legitimize his political authority.Monks from Myanmar are reported to have visited Sri Lanka after Vijaya-bāhu I’s victory and assisted in the re-establishment of Buddhism on theisland. The collaboration between the Pagan rulers and the Sinhalese kingsduring the succeeding periods resulted in frequent Buddhist exchangesbetween the two regions, including gifts of relics and texts. One of themost famous Buddhist monks from Myanmar to visit Sri Lanka was

44 For details, see R. A. L. H. Gunawardana, Robe and Plough: Monasticism and EconomicInterest in Early Medieval Sri Lanka (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1979).

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Uttarajīva, who reached the island during the reign of King ParākramabāhuI. Chapa

_ta, a member of Uttarajīva’s delegation, remained behind to study in

Sri Lanka. After returning to Myanmar in 1181 or 1182, Chapa_ta established a

Sinhala Buddhist center, which, according to R. A. L. H. Gunawardana, notonly played a significant role in the spread of Sinhalese Theravada Buddhismin Myanmar, but also to other parts of Southeast Asia.45 It should be noted,however, that several other schools of Buddhism, deriving from specific localteachers, monastic institutions and regions of origin, also existed within thePagan polity.Patronage of Buddhism by local rulers, diplomatic interactions with Sri

Lanka, and the exchanges between monastic communities were also thereasons for the gradual dominance of Theravada Buddhism in Thailandduring the Sukhothai period (1238–1438). Under King Rāma Khambaeng (r.c. 1279–99) and his successors, Sinhalese Theravada doctrines and monastictraditions spread throughout the Sukhothai-controlled regions of Thailand.Similarly, rulers in the Chiangmai region developed their own links with SriLanka, leading to the diffusion of Sinhala Theravada Buddhism to almost allregions of present-day Thailand.46

Even in regions that were not dominated by the Sinhala Theravadatradition, Buddhist interactions between Sri Lanka and Southeast Asian werealso boosted by the popularity of the relic cult. The tooth and other remainsand relics of the Buddha found in Sri Lanka attracted monks, envoys, anddonations from almost all regions of Southeast Asia. A ruler from Tāmbra-li _nga named Candrabhānu is said to have even attacked Sri Lanka on twooccasions, in 1247 and 1262, to obtain Buddhist relics.47 The popularity ofrelics may have also enticed Qubilai Khan in China to procure the Buddha’salms bowl by sending a special envoy in 1284. It is also possible, furthermore,that the conflict between the Ming admiral Zheng He and the Sri Lankanruler Alakéswara in 1410–11, which led to the arrest and removal of the latterto China, took place over the sacred remains of the Buddha preserved on theisland.48

45 Gunawardana, Robe and Plough, 276–7.46 Donald K. Swearer, “Buddhism in Southeast Asia,” in Joseph M. Kitagawa and Mark

D. Cummings (eds.), Buddhism and Asian History (New York: Macmillan, 1987): 116–18.47 W. M. Sirisena, Sri Lanka and South-East Asia: Political, Religious and Cultural Relations,

a.d. c. 1000 to c. 1500 (Leiden: Brill, 1978): 36–57.48 Louise Levathes, When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne

1405–1433 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994): 116–18.


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The interest of the Yuan and Ming (1368–1644) courts in Sri Lanka reflectsthe entry of China-based trading and diplomatic networks into the IndianOcean region. By the end of the thirteenth century, Chinese diasporiccommunities had been established at ports in South and Southeast Asia. Asnoted above, Buddhist ideas from China had previously spread to Vietnam,Myanmar, and perhaps also Java. With the formation of Chinese diasporicnetworks, popular forms of Buddhism carried by the migrants also beganspreading to various regions of Southeast Asia. The cult of Guanyin, forexample, became widespread in maritime Southeast Asia, especially at siteswhere Chinese diasporic communities had been established. During the laterperiods, these communities also erected temples and shrines dedicated toGuanyin in South Asia. Indeed, the maritime networks of the Sri Lankans,Southeast Asians, and the Chinese continued to link the Buddhist worlds inAsia during much of the colonial period.

Concluding remarks

The spread of Buddhism was not simply the diffusion of religious doctrines.It included the transmission of art forms, literary genres, ritual items,geographical knowledge, and technologies and scientific ideas. The cultural,political, and social lives of numerous people living across most of Asia weretransformed because of these transmissions. The worldviews, belief systems,and even self-perceptions of settled societies, nomadic tribes, and islanddwellers were fundamentally changed as they encountered and acceptedBuddhist teachings. At the same time, however, each of these regionscontributed to the adaptations of Buddhist ideas and teachings based on localneeds and values. Indeed, the pan-Asiatic nature of Buddhism was remark-able not only because of its geographical spread, but also due to the inputeach of these regions made to the doctrine itself.Closely linked to the mercantile communities and networks, the spread of

Buddhism also had a significant impact on economic activity and cross-regional commercial interactions. Monastic institutions were sometimeslarge landowners and accumulators of substantial wealth. While some ofthese aspects led to instances of state interventions and suppressions ofBuddhism, they also promoted economic activity. Temple fairs, investmentin commercial ventures, and provision of lodging facilities for itineranttraders were conducive to commercial exchanges. Merchants, as notedabove, also facilitated the movement of monks, supplied ritual items, and

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helped establish and sustain monastic institutions through donations. Theywere also key transmitters of Buddhist ideas from one region to another.For almost two millennia, the above aspects related to the spread of

Buddhism had a significant impact on Asian history. First, Buddhism inte-grated various regions of Asia, from Iran to Japan, through cultural, diplo-matic, and commercial exchanges. Missionary and pilgrimage activities ofBuddhists, as well as their attempts to seek new teachings and texts, bondeddistant towns, ports, oases, and sacred sites more intimately than perhapsmercantile networks alone. Second, common interest in the teachings of theBuddha, no matter in what form they actually manifested in a local region,led to the circulation of a wide range of ideas among Asian societies. Third,Buddhism shaped economic activities, statecraft, the formation of political/cultural identities, and the creation of sacred landscapes throughout most ofAsia. In fact, in the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Asianintellectuals started formulating the idea of pan-Asianism, Buddhist connec-tions prior to European colonization were at the core of their vision.Beyond Asia, however, Buddhism seems to have made very little impact

before the sixteenth century. It is possible that some Buddhist ideas may havefiltered into the Mediterranean region, transmitted perhaps by the samenetworks that introduced some Greek and Roman imagery and art formsinto Buddhism.49 Substantial European, and subsequently American, encoun-ter with Buddhism took place after the sixteenth century. During the pasttwo centuries, the American Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907), the UkrainianHelena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891) – the two founders of the Theosoph-ical Society – the Sri Lankan monk Anagarika Dharmapala (1834–1933), andeventually the fourteenth Dalai Lama were instrumental in transformingBuddhism into a global religion.

further reading

Benn, James A. Burning for the Buddha: Self-Immolation in Chinese Buddhism. Studies in EastAsian Buddhism. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007.

Birnbaum, Raoul. The Healing Buddha. Revised edn. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 1989.Bogel, Cynthea J. With A Single Glance: Buddhist Icon and Early Mikkyō. Seattle and

London: University of Washington Press, 2009.

49 On the possible spread of Buddhist ideas to the West and the issue of their failure tohave similar impact as in Asia, see Erik Seldeslachts, “Greece, the Final Frontier? – TheWestward Spread of Buddhism,” in Ann Heirman and Stephen Peter Bumbacher(eds.), The Spread of Buddhism (Leiden: Brill, 2007): 131–66.


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Chen, Jinhua. Monks and Monarchs, Kinship and Kingship: Tanqian in Sui Buddhism andPolitics. Kyoto: Italian School of East Asian Studies, 2002.

Chou, Yi-liang. “Tantrism in China,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 8 (1944–5): 241–332.Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement.

New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2002.Fontein, Jan. Entering the Dharmadhātu: A Study of the Gandavyūha Reliefs of Borobudur.

Leiden: Brill, 2012.Gregory, Peter N. and Daniel A. Getz, Jr, eds. Buddhism in the Sung. Honolulu, HI:

University of Hawai‘i Press, 1999.Kieschnick, John. The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval Chinese Hagiography.

Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1997.The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture. Princeton University Press, 2003.

Kohn, Livia. Laughing at the Tao: Debates among Buddhists and Taoists in Medieval China.Princeton University Press, 1995.

Lamotte, Étienne. History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Śaka Era. Transl. SaraWebb-Boin. Louvain: Institut Orientaliste, 1988.

Li, Rongxi, trans. A Biography of the Tripitaka Master of the Great Ci’en Monastery of the GreatTang Dynasty. Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research,1995.

trans. Buddhist Monastic Traditions of Southern Asia: A Record of the Inner Law Sent Homefrom the South Seas. Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation andResearch, 2000.

trans. The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions. Berkeley, CA: NumataCenter for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1996.

trans. “The Journey of the Eminent Monk Faxian,” in Lives of Great Monks and Nuns,Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2002, 155–214.

Linrothe, Rob. Ruthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric BuddhistArt. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 1999.

Liu, Xinru. Ancient India and Ancient China: Trade and Religious Exchanges, a.d. 1–600. Delhi:Oxford University Press, 1988.

Luce, Gordon H. “The Advent of Buddhism to Burma,” in L. A. Cousins, A. Kunst, andK. R. Norman (eds.), Buddhist Studies in Honour of I. B. Horner. Dordrecht: D. ReidelPublishing Company, 1974, 119–38.

Mollier, Christine. Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face: Scripture, Ritual, and IconographicExchange in Medieval China. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008.

Neelis, Jason. Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange withinand beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia. Leiden: Brill, 2011.

Orzech, Charles D. Politics and Transcendent Wisdom: The Scripture for the Humane Kings inthe Creation of Chinese Buddhism. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.

Prazniak, Roxann. “Ilkhanid Buddhism: Traces of a Passage in Eurasian History,” Com-parative Studies in Society and History 56.3 (2014): 650–80.

Reichle, Natasha. Violence and Serenity: Late Buddhist Sculpture from Indonesia. Honolulu,HI: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007.

Sharf, Robert H. Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism: A Reading of the Treasure StoreTreatise. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2002.

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Shuhaimi, Nik Hassan. “Art, Archaeology, and the Early Kingdoms in the MalayPeninsula and Sumatra: c. 400–1400 ce”. Unpublished PhD thesis, University ofLondon, 1976.

Strong, John S. Relics of the Buddha. Princeton University Press, 2004.Teiser, Stephen F. The Ghost Festival in Medieval China. Princeton University Press, 1988.Trainor, Kevin. Relics, Rituals, and Representation in Buddhism: Rematerializing the Sri

Lankan Theravāda Tradition. Cambridge University Press, 1997.Yü, Chün-Fang. Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara. New York, NY:

Columbia University Press, 2001.Williams, Paul. Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, 2nd edn. London and New

York: Routledge, 2009.


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