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Buddhism entered [12] China via the Silk Road. Buddhist monks travelled with merchant caravans on the Silk Road to preach their new religion. The lucrative Chinese silk trade along this trade route began during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), with voyages by people like Zhang Qian establishing ties between China and the west.
The Silk Road [a] was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. [1] Spanning over 6,400 km (4,000 mi), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds.
Foltz has emphasized the role of Iranians in the spread of culture in world history, particularly in the domain of religions. [2] In contrast to widespread notions associating the Silk Road with China, he sees the premodern trans-Asian trade networks as having been driven by the activities of traders who were mostly of Iranian background, principally Sogdians but also Parthians and Persians. [3]
The religion arrived alongside Christianity through the various south-eastern Chinese seaports and overland Silk Road trade routes from the western desert regions. [4] Sources state that Manichaeism was first brought into China in the year 694, but this may have happened much earlier. [5]
Due to Gandhāra's position on the Silk Road, Gandhāran Buddhism has a strong influence on the Buddhism of Central Asia and East Asia. During the Greek and Kushan eras, the Khyber Pass was an important trade route and a key highway connected Peshawar with Bactria (and the city of Balkh, or Bactra) through the pass. [50]
Zhu Zixing (Chinese: 朱士行, or Zhu Shixing) is described in Chinese Buddhism as the first Chinese person to be ordained and become a Buddhist monk via contact with others on the Silk Road. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] His hometown is recorded as Yingchuan , located in Lishui , and he was ordained in Luoyang at the White Horse Temple . [ 1 ]
One early 20th century researcher wrote of the Tripoli-Murzuk-Lake Chad route, "Most of the [trans-Saharan] traffic from the Mediterranean coast during the last 2,000 years has passed along this road." [15] Another Libyan route was Benghazi to Kufra to the lands of the Wadai Empire between Lake Chad and Darfur. [15]
These were roadside stations which supported the flow of commerce, information, and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa, and southeastern Europe, and in particular along the Silk Road. Caravanserais provided water for human and animal consumption, for washing, and for ritual ablutions.