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17 - The spread of Buddhism

from Part IV - Expanding religious systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

By
Tansen Sen
Edited by
Benjamin Z. Kedar  and
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
Benjamin Z. Kedar
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
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Summary

This chapter focuses on the two turning points in the history of the spread of Buddhism. It demonstrates the reasons and methods of the initial spread of the doctrine within South Asia and from South Asia to Han and post-Han China. The chapter also explores that the pre-fifth century networks continued to have significant impact on the later transmissions of Buddhist doctrines across Asia. The fifth and sixth centuries witnessed developments across most of Asia that resulted in the spread of Buddhism to places that either had no prior encounter with the doctrine or were marginally in contact with it. Tantric Buddhism introduced new styles of religious paraphernalia into the networks of exchange. By the eleventh century, three distinct worlds of Buddhism emerged across Asia: the India-Tibet world, the East Asian world, and the Sri Lanka-Southeast Asia world.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge World History , pp. 447 - 480
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

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References

Further reading

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