Jabarkan Penyebaran agama Buddha dari Penyebaran Buddhisme di sepanjang Jalur Sutra

Agama Buddha dibawa ke Tiongkok melalui Jalur Sutra. Para biarawan Buddhis berkelana bersama karavan-karavan saudagar melalui Jalur Sutra, untuk mengajarkan agama baru mereka. Perdagangan sutra Tiongkok yang menguntungkan sepanjang rute perdagangan ini dimulai semasa Dinasti Han (206 SM – 220 M) bersamaan dengan pendirian suatu sistem kerajaan Helenistik oleh Aleksander Agung (323 SM - 63 SM) dan jaringan perdagangan membentang dari Mediterania hingga Afganistan dan Tajikistan saat ini di perbatasan Tiongkok. Kerajaan Yunani-Baktria (250 SM - 125 SM) yang kuat di Afghanistan dan kemudian Kerajaan India-Yunani (180 SM - 10 M) mempraktikkan Greko-Buddhisme dan mendirikan perhentian pertama di Jalur Sutra, setelah Tiongkok, selama hampir 300 tahun. (Lihat Dayuan (Ta-yuan; ; arti harfiah "Suku Ionia Agung")).

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