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| At about the same time as, or a little earlier than, Confucius, Buddhism was founded by Sakyamuni, who was originally a prince of a small state in North India, on the border of present-day Nepal. At that time India was divided into many states with different traditions and languages. After seeing other people's sufferings and sorrows, he left his father's palace and began roaming alone, leading a very hard life, and thinking of the causes of man's sorrows, and the way to free man of all trouble. Finally, at 35, he attained enlightenment. After that he preached the truth he had found and gradually it was accepted by many people. He was regarded by his followers as the Buddha, meaning the awakend one. Among his main teachings were the Four Noble Truths: (1)that sorrow is the universal experience of mankind; (2)that the cause of sorrow is desire; (3)that the removal of sorrow can only come from the removal of desire; and (4)that desire can be systematically abandoned by following the Noble Eightfold Path (eight steps that should be taken). Buddhism was first introduced into China at the beginning of the Eastern Han. This had something to do with the opening of the Western Regions, which made travel between China and India easier than before. In AD 67, two Indian monks came to Luoyang. Emperor Ming Di ordered the building of the White Horse Temple and asked them to translate Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. They were followed by other monks from India and West Asia. At first, Buddhism was known only to members of the ruling class. It was during the period of the Southern and Northern dynasties that it was spread among the ordinary people. |
Buddhism