A Tentative Discussion of the Characteristics of Chinese Buddhism

Buddhism is one of the world's three largest religions. It originated in the fifth century B.C., and to date it has a history of over two and a half millennia. Buddhism had its earliest origins in ancient India and subsequently spread broadly in China, Japan, and many Southeast Asian countries. After entering China through India, Buddhism, transplanted to the soil of China's feudal society, took root and grew, producing its own peculiar structure and forming many schools, branches, and denominational offshoots that possessed special national characteristics of the Chinese people, and became a component of the superstructure of China's feudal society as well as an important part of China's traditional intellectual and ideological culture.