Buddhism

Silk, paper and other goods weren't the only things that were shared and spread on the Silk Road, so was Buddhism. It is said that in China during the first century, the emperor Han Ming had a dream in which Buddha appeared. The next day he ordered his officials to go find out why his certain dream had occurred. The officials traveled west on the Silk Road and eventually came upon two monks with two white horses. With them the monks carried a picture of Buddha, and holy sculptures on their horses. The Chinese officials then invited them to come to the Chinese Capitol, Chang'an so they could introduce them to the emperor. Once they arrived safely back to the town the emperor meet the two monks and saw a sculpture of Buddha, whom he recognized in his dreams. From then on it is said to be that Buddhism was practiced in China and slowly spread throughout the continent. Throughout the Silk Road Buddhist monks shared their beliefs with other traders and Buddhism began to influence the Chinese culture in the later centuries. Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk in the 5th and 6th century. He is known as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism and the training of the monks in the Shaolin monastery, which later led to the creation of Kung fu. Another historic monument in Buddhism are the Mogao Caves, also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. It is located in the southeast center of Dunhuang, a religious and cultural crossroad on the Silk Road. These caves contain ancient Buddhist art from a span of 1,000 years. Mogao caves means "a cave high up in the desert", monks on the Silk Road would go and draw on the cave walls. Buddhism has shaped Chinas culture in many ways, art, politics, literature, philosophy, medicine, and material culture. One concept in Buddhism is Samsara which is the continual cycle of birth and death and ones actions in the past, present and future. Karma is the force that drives samsara, it is the sum of a persons actions in their past life and is used to decide the fate of that persons future existence. Reincarnation is that after ones death, the soul or spirit can begin a new life in a different body. The four noble truths are the central teachings of Buddhism, the first is the truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, unsatisfaction), the second is the truth of the origin of dukkha, the third one is the truth of the cessation of dukkha, and the last one is the truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha. The eightfold path is a set of eight connected factors that when they are all intertwined together lead to the cessation of dukkha. The eightfold path is called the middle way because it avoids the two extremes in life, extreme asceticism and indulgence, it is right in between. Nirvana is the state in which there is no suffering, sense of self or desire, it is the final stage in Buddhism. In the end, Buddhism took a big part in a new Chinese lifestyle and had a large impact on the silk roads and the culture.