Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.53

v1.c7.53

By the Song period, the process of sinification of Buddhism had completed. Most scriptures of Indian Buddhism had been transmitted to China and they had been translated. Meanwhile, the process of the decline of Indian Buddhism had also begun. The main current now was the trend for the esoteric vehicle (*Vajrayāna*) school of Buddhism. In Song times, they continued to use the system of the Tang and established a state-run *Yijing Yuan* (*Translation Bureau*). In the fourth year of Qiande (966 CE), eminent monks like Xingjin and 157 others were sent to the Western Regions as well as to Kashmir and other parts of India in search of the law (*Dhamma*). Zhixuan, *śramaṇa* from Quanzhou, Daoyuan, *śramaṇa* from Cangzhou, Jicong, *śramaṇa* from Bianjing, Guangyuan, *śramaṇa* from Yizhou, Zhongda, *śramaṇa* from Taiyuan, Keyun, *śramaṇa* from Xihe, Huaiwen, *śramaṇa* from Bianjing and others, more than 140 persons, returned home from India. They brought back mainly esoteric scriptures. They at the same time promoted the popularity of the belief in bone-relics of the Buddha during the dynasties of Song and Liao.