Religions Introduced into China via Silk Road

Source: cultural-china.com

Together with the economic and political exchange between the East and West, religions of the West were introduced into China via the world-famous Silk Road. Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manicheism, Nestorianism and Islam were cultural treasure of the ancient west, which were bestowed upon China during the old times.

Buddhism

In the first century BC, Buddhism was introduced into Yutian (Now Hetian). From there, it quickly spread throughout the vast Western Regions. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) that Buddhism infiltrated the inland of China. In the following centuries, many monks played important roles in the development of Buddhism in China. These included monks such as Zhu Shixing in the Three Kingdoms (220-280), Fa Xian and Kumrajva in the Jin Dynasty (265-420), Song Yun and Hui Sheng in the Northern Dynasties (420-589) and Xuan Zang in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). They traveled on the Silk Road to ancient India to study sutras, contributed greatly to the propagation of Buddhism.

Zoroastrianism, Manicheism and Nestorianism were called the "Three Foreign Religions" in the Tang Dynasty.

Zoroastrianism

From the fifth century BC to the first century BC, Zoroastrianism spread into the Western Regions of China. It was regarded as the earliest religion passing to this area. It was once the state religion of Persia. After the rise of Arab Empire, Zoroastrianism was forced to move to the east. The religion developed rapidly during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589) and the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). After the Song Dynasty (960-1279), this religion had largely disappeared although its practices were carried on by the Uygurs (Uigurs) and the Tajiks.

Manicheism

Manicheism is a mixture of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and ancient Greek ideas. In contrast to Zoroastrianism, it was very popular among the common people in China. Though it was prohibited by the Tang Dynasty, it had a great influence on people.

Nestorianism

Nestorianism, a school of Syrian Christianity, has many dogmatas and doctrines different from traditional Christianity. In 635, it was introduced into China via the time-honored Silk Road. Tang Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin ordered people to build a temple to practise Nestorianism. The temple was variously called Persian Temple, Roman Temple and Daqin Temple. After a 150-year development during the Tang Dynasty, the religion began a downwards decline. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), its followers could only be found in some parts of the Western Regions, Mongolian Grassland and border areas.

Islam

From the seventh century AD, Arab muslims traveled to China by the Silk Road or the sea route to spread Islam. In the Tang Dynasty, Guangdong Province and Quanzhou were the strongholds of most Islamic believers. Islam had a profound effect on spiritual beliefs in China.