Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.16

v1.c7.16

In 3rd century BCE, Indian Buddhism began to expand to other areas. It was transmitted to Sri Lanka via southern India where it was called “Southern Buddhism”. In China, one stream entered via Thailand and Myanmar and spread to the frontier minorities in Yunnan such as the Dai and Achang. This is known as “Yunnan Theravāda Buddhism”. “Northern Buddhism” was the section which moved from northern India and finally entered China through Central Asia. It was further sub-divided into two main sub-systems. One primarily spread in the region of the Han ethnicity. The second one, known as Tibetan Buddhism, spread among the Tibetan and other nationalities. There are four main northern transmission routes of Indian Buddhism. The first one is the ancient Silk Road which goes via Jibin (present Kashmir region) and reaches Central Asia. It enters the Western Regions, ie, the Xinjiang region of China and finally arrives in the interior mainland area. The second one goes via Myanmar along the ”Yangchuan ancient path” to Dali in Yunnan. It then enters the interior area. It is called “*ācārya* Buddhism.” The third one goes via Nepal enters the Tibetan region and reaches Mongolia and Qinghai. It then enters mainland China. It is called Tibetan Buddhism. The fourth one goes via the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the islands of the Southeast Asia and finally arrives in Guangzhou, and then spread to the interior area.