This document provides an overview and plan for studying the spread of Buddhism through Asia. It will discuss Buddhism's transmission along trade routes from India to China, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and beyond. Specific topics to be covered include the Sui and Tang dynasties in China, developments in Vietnam, Korea and Japan, and the main branches of Buddhism that emerged. It concludes by outlining an activity for students to generate review questions ahead of an upcoming exam.

2. Plan for Today:
• Look at the spread of Buddhism through Asia
• Briefly look at Sui and Tang China
• Look at developments elsewhere in East/Southeast Asia
• Vietnam
• Korea
• Japan
• Discuss how Review Day will work

3. The Spread of Buddhism
• As we previously discussed, the Mauryan leader Ashoka (262-232
BCE) sent out emissaries to carry Buddhism to the rest of the Indian
sub-continent, to the Northeast and Northwest.
• Buddhism would spread along the following paths (generally):
• From Central Asia into China along the Silk Road
• From China into Korea (with Chinese expansion) and Japan (with trade)
• From Sri Lanka into Burma
• From Burma into SE Asia
• From Sri Lanka into the South China Sea (Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.)
• This spread mostly happens before the 3rd century CE
• Interactive Map:
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/ma
ps/g6_u7/

4. Main Branches of Buddhism

5. Theravada Buddhism
• The “Way of the Elders”
• Oldest school of Buddhism
• Spread from India to Sri Lanka, then Burma, Thailand, etc.
• Monasticism is the ideal life for achieving Nirvana
• An individual approach to enlightenment, without help
• Focus on wisdom and meditation
• Goal is to achieve Nirvana
• Uniform across cultures with only minor (usually cultural) differences

6. Mahayana Buddhism
• The “Great Vehicle”
• Developed first century C.E.
• Spread from Central Asia to China, Korea, Japan, etc.
• Devotional – seek guidance from Bodhisattvas (like guides or priests)
& deified Buddhas
• Focus on compassion
• Goal is to become a bodhisattva and assist others toward
enlightenment rather than achieve nirvana yourself
• Diverse schools and sects

7. Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism
• Developed 7th century C.E.
• A mix of Theravada & Mahayana
• Focuses on Practices:
• Rituals (tantra)
• Mantras (chanting)
• Mandalas & Thankas (symbolic images)
• Mudras (hand gestures)
• Bodhisattvas, including living Lamas (Dalai Lama)
• Meditation, monasticism, wisdom & compassion
• Bardo Thodol -Tibetan Book of the Dead

8. • Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE)
• Succeeded in reunifying the North and South
• Restored ethnic Chinese control to the North
• First Chinese Dynasty to face a new power in Central Asia, the Turks
• Largely known for building the Grand Canal (what did it connect?)
• Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE)
• Utilized the Sui structure (was in many ways a return to the better parts of the
Qin and Han Dynasties)
• First allied with, then turned on and defeated the Turks, gaining for the
Emperor the additional title of Great Khan
• During this dynasty two women effectively controlled China
• Empress Wu – consort of the sickly emperor Gaozong, served after his death, declaring
herself Empress and deposing her sons. Ruled 660-690 CE, ousted by one son
• Consort Yang Guifei – Was the most favored consort of the Emperor Xuanzong
Sui and Tang Dynasties in China

9. Forms of Buddhism Developed in China
• During the Tang Dynasty two new branches of Mahayana
Buddhism emerge
• Pure Land Buddhism
• One could be reborn in paradise (the Pure Land) by calling upon a particular Buddha
and bodhisattva
• Zen (or Chan) Buddhism
• Focused on the transmission of Buddhist truths from mind-to-mind (group practice
and learning)
• Buddhism becomes persecuted in the late Tang Dynasty
• People continue to practice but monasteries and convents decline
• Zen Buddhism spreads to Korea, and more importantly to Japan

10. For Participation
• Put your name on a sheet of paper
• Write a question that you still have about Buddhism

11. Vietnam
• After the Qin Dynasty collapsed a Qin general that had been in the
south stayed, and set himself up as a leader
• He ruled over the Viet people and adopted their customs
• Named the kingdom Nam Viet
• Lasted from 206 to 111 BCE when they were conquered by the
Chinese again
• Local revolts began against the Chinese as early as 39 CE, though
the Viet people remained mostly under Chinese control
throughout this period
• Viet elite never fully assimilated

13. Korea
• Came into significant contact with China during the Warring
States Period
• Eventually 4 Han Chinese provinces are set up in Northern Korea
• The Chinese language became widespread amongst the elite
• The entire peninsula was never controlled by any Chinese Dynasty
• But trade and coexistence meant that there were many connections
between the two cultures
• The northern kingdom in Korea (Koguryo) was established in the
first century BCE
• Two other kingdoms developed in the south (Paekche and Silla) in
the third and fourth centuries CE.

14. Unification of Korea
• After the Tang Dynasty comes to
power in China they ally
themselves with the Silla to
conquer the other two kingdoms
in the 660s CE
• Unified Korea, under the Silla,
would hold off Tang efforts to take
over, but would remain a vassal
state until around 800 CE

15. Japan
• Jomon Period (10000 BCE – 300 BCE)
• Similar culture to those found in Korea and Manchuria
• Yayoi Period (300 BCE – 250 CE)
• An influx of people into the Korean Penninsula encouraged another wave
of migrating to the Japanese islands
• First distinct civilization in Japan
• Kofun Period (300 CE – 552 CE)
• Warrior chieftans
• The Japanese language as we know it begins to develop
• Chinese written language is used

16. Japan (cont.)
• Yamato Period (552-710 CE)
• Intermarried tribes began to refer to themselves as the Yamato people
• Distinct class groups
• Unique tombs develop
• After the defeat of the Paekche Kingdom in Korea they begin more
diplomatic and cultural contact with the Tang Dynasty
• Buddhism comes to Japan at this time, and coexists with Shinto
• Nara Period (710-784 CE)
• First long-term, true city built at Nara, north of present day Osaka
• Evidence of significant trade with Korea and China, and artifacts brought
from the Silk Road
• Buddhism continues to grow, many temples survive to this day

18. For Next Week’s Review
• Please bring to class the following on a sheet of paper:
• Your Name
• Three (3) potential short answer topics (people, places, events, etc.)
• Should have a Who, What, When, Where, Why/How it was important
• One possible essay question
• Should be a broader question, possibly connecting ideas from multiple chapters
• Should be a topic you can write a little over a page on
• You will turn this in at the beginning of class for the review assignment
(25 pts)
• Have your topics and essay question on a second paper/in your
notes/on your laptop so we can discuss them
• We will write them on the board, and narrow them down as a class to
determine what to study for the exam
• There may (or may not) be a chance for some extra credit on review day
(so you may want to brush up on chapters 2,3,4,7)