Han Buddhism

Han Buddhism emerged during the Han Dynasty, and has its roots in magic, much like Taoism upon its conception, and was popular predominantly in the royal family and aristocracy. This differed from the version of Buddhism studied during the Three Kingdoms Period.Han Buddhism refers to the Buddha's religion spreading in Han dominated areas and mingling with the Han culture. Buddhism formally spread into China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), although there are historical records indicating Buddhist missionaries came to China during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). During the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386 --- 589), since most emperors believed in it, Buddhism grew rapidly despite the demolition incidents. In the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), the famous Yungang Caves and Longmen Caves were hewn, and Buddhist population amounted up to 2 million. Until the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-557), official Buddhist registration was more than 4 million. Many famous foreign monks came China to promote and Chinese monks trekked to India to study Buddhism and bring back with them many sutras.

The number of temples climaxed to 1768 and with as many as 24,000 monks and nuns. Monks were to become a new class in China and Buddhism took a firm hold on the country. Buddhism continued to flourish during the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the now famous Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Caves were constructed during this period.

Famous Buddhist Holy Mountains:Mt. Jiuhua; Mt. Emei; Mt. Putuo; Mt. Wutai.There are so many famous Buddhism temples in China that it is difficult to list hundreds of temples here. Interested viewer can find those temples in the cities where they are located.