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==Foundation to the Common Era==
534 BCE: Gautama leaves his inheritance and becomes an ascetic.
c.490 - 410 BCE Life of the Buddha according to recent research
200s BCE: Sanskrit and Prakrit languages emerge in northern India. Indian traders regularly visited ports in Arabia, explaining the prevalence of place names in the region with Indian or Buddhist origin. For example, bahar (from the Sanskrit vihara, a Buddhist monastery). Ashokan emissary monks brought Buddhism to Suwannaphum, the location of which is disputed but the Dipavamsa and the Mon believe it was a Mon seafaring settlement in present-day Burma.
29 BCE: According to the Sinhalese chronicles, the Pali Canon was written down in the reign of King Vaṭṭagamiṇi(29-17 B.C.E)
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Common Era
65: Liu Ying's sponsorship of Buddhism is the first documented case of Buddhist practices in China.
148: An Shigao, a Parthian prince and Buddhist monk, arrived in China and proceeded to make the first translations of Theravada texts into Chinese.
296: The earliest surviving Chinese Buddhist scripture dates from this year. (Zhu Fo Yao Ji Jing, discovered in Dalian, late 2005).
300s: Two Chinese monks took scriptures to the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo and established paper-making in Korea.
320-467: The University at Nalanda grew to support 3000-10,000 monks.
399-414: Fa Xian travelled from China to India, then returned to translate Buddhist works in to Chinese.
400s: The kingdom of Funan (centered in modern Cambodia) begins to advocate Buddhism in a departure from Hinduism. Earliest evidence of Buddhism in Myanmar (Pali inscriptions). Earliest evidence of Buddhism in Indonesia (statues). Earliest reinterpretations of Pali texts. The stupa at Dambulla (Sri Lanka) is constructed.
403: In China, Hui Yuan argues that Buddhist monks should be exempt from bowing to the emperor.
495: The Shaolin temple is built in the name of Buddhabhadra, by the edict of emperor Wei Xiao Wen. •
607: A Japanese imperial envoy was dispatched to Sui China to obtain copies of sutras.
600s: Xuan Zang travelled to India, noting the persecution of Buddhists by Sasanka (king of Gouda, a state in north-west Bengal), before returning to Chang An in China to translate Buddhist scriptures. End of sporadic Buddhist rule in the Sindh. King Songtsen Gampo of Tibet sent messengers to India to get Buddhist texts. Latest recorded use of the Kharoṣṭhī script amongst Buddhist communities around Kucha.
743-754: The Chinese monk Jianzhen attempts to reach Japan eleven times, succeeding in 754 to establish the Japanese Ritsu school, which specialised in the vinaya (monastic rules).
c.760: Borobodur, the famous Indonesian Buddhist structure, begins to be constructed, probably as a non-Buddhist shrine. It was completed as a Buddhist monument in 830 after about 50 years of work.
804: Under the reign of Emperor Kammu of Japan, a fleet of four ships set sail for mainland China. Of the two ships that arrived, one carried the monk Kukai, recently ordained by the Japanese government as a Bhiksu, who absorbed Vajrayana teachings in Chang'an and returned to Japan to found the Japanese Shingon school. The other ship carried the monk Saichō, who returned to Japan to found the Japanese Tendai school, partly based upon the Chinese Tiantai tradition.
838-847: Ennin, a priest of the Tendai school, travels in China for nine years. He reaches both the famous Buddhist mountain of Wutaishan and the Chinese capital, Chang'an, keeping a detailed diary that is a primary source for this period of Chinese history, including the Buddhist persecution.
9th Century Tibet: Decline of Buddhism, persecution by King Langdharma
971: Chinese Song Dynasty commissions Chengdu wood carvers to carve the entire Buddhist canon for printing. Work is completed in 983, 130,000 blocks are produced in total.
991: A printed copy of the Song Dynasty Buddhist canon arrives in Korea, impressing government.
1009: Vietnam's Ly Dynasty began, which was partly brought about by an alliance with the Buddhist monkhood. Ly emperors patronized Mahayana Buddhism, in addition to traditional spirits.
1010: Korea begins carving its own woodblock print edition of the Buddhist canon. No completion date is known - the canon is continuously expanded with the arrival of new texts from China.
1025: Srivijaya, a Buddhist kingdom based on Sumatra, is raided by the Chola empire of southern India. It survives, but declines in importance. Shortly after the raid, the centre of the kingdom moves northward from Palembang to Jambi-Melayu.
1044-1077: In Burma, Pagan's first king Anoratha reigned. He converted the country to Theravada Buddhism with the aid of monks and books from Sri Lanka. He is said to have been converted to Theravada Buddhism by a Mon monk, though other beliefs persisted.
1063: A copy of the Khitans' printed canon arrives in Korea from mainland China.
1100-1125: Huizong reigns during the Chinese Song Dynasty and outlaws Buddhism to promote the Dao. He is one of three Chinese emperors to have prohibited Buddhism.
1181: The self-styled bodhisattva Jayavarman VII, a devout follower of Mahayana Buddhism (though he also patronised Hinduism), assumes control of the Khmer kingdom. He constructs the Bayon, the most prominent Buddhist structure in the Angkor temple complex. This set the stage for the later conversion of the Khmer people to Theravada Buddhism.
1190: In Myanmar, Anawrahta's lineage regains control with the assistance of Sri Lanka. Pagan has been in anarchy. The new regime reforms Burmese Buddhism on Sri Lankan Theravada models.
Late 1100s: The great Buddhist educational centre at Nalanda, where various subjects were taught such as Buddhism, Logic, Philosophy, Law, Medicine, Grammar, Yoga, Mathematics, Alchemy and Astrology, is sacked. Nalanda was supported by kings of several dynasties and had served as a great international centre of learning.
1200s: Theravada overtakes Mahayana - previously practised alongside Hinduism - as the dominant form of Buddhism in Cambodia. Thailand and Sri Lanka were influences in this change. In Persia, the historian Rashid al-Din records some eleven Buddhist texts circulating in Arabic translation, amongst which the Sukhavati-vyuha and Karanda-vyuha Sutras are recognizable. Portions of the Samyutta and Anguttara-Nikayas, along with parts of the Maitreya-vyakarana, have also been identified in this collection.
1222 Birth of Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282) who was the Japanese founder of Nichiren Buddhism.
c.1279-1298: Sukhothai's third and most famous ruler, Ramkhamhaeng (Rama the Bold), reigned and made vassals of Laos, much of modern Thailand, Pegu (Burma), and parts of the Malay Peninsula, thus giving rise to Sukhothai artistic tradition. After Ramkhamhaeng's death, Sukhothai lost control of its territories as its vassals became independent.
1405-1431: The Chinese eunuch admiral Zheng He made seven voyages in this period, through South-East Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, East Africa, and Egypt. At the time, Buddhism was well-established in China, so visited peoples may have had exposure to Chinese Buddhism.
1600s & 1700s: When Vietnam divided during this period, the Nguyen rulers of the south chose to support Mahayana Buddhism as an integrative ideology for the ethnically plural society of their kingdom, which was also populated by Chams and other minorities.
1615: The Oirat Mongols converted to the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism.
1800s: In Thailand, King Mongkut - himself a former monk - conducted a campaign to reform and modernise the monkhood, a movement that has continued in the present century under the inspiration of several great ascetic monks from the north-east of the country.
1802-20: Nguyen Anh comes to the throne of the first united Vietnam - he succeeds by quelling the Tayson rebellion in south Vietnam with help from Rama I in Bangkok, then took over the north from the remaining Trinh. After coming to power, he created a Confucianist orthodox state and was eager to limit the competing influence of Buddhism. He forbade adult men to attend Buddhist ceremonies.
1820-41: Minh Mang reigns in Vietnam, further restricting Buddhism. He insists that all monks be assigned to cloisters and carry identification documents. He also placed new restrictions on printed material. He also began a persecution of Catholic missionaries and converts that his successors (not without provocation) continued.
Abt. 1860: In Sri Lanka, against all expectations the monastic and lay community brought about a major revival in Buddhism, a movement that went hand in hand with growing nationalism. The revival followed a period of persecution by foreign powers. Since then Buddhism has flourished and Sri Lankan monks and expatriate lay people have been prominent in spreading Theravada Buddhism in Asia, the West and even in Africa.
1879: A council was convened under the patronage of King Mindon Min of Burma to re-edit the Pali canon. The king then had the texts engraved on 729 stones, which were then set upright on the grounds of a monastery near Mandalay.
1957: Caves near the summit of Pai-tai mountain, Fangshan district, 75km south-west of Beijing are re-opened, revealing thousands of Buddhist sutras that had been carved on to stone since the 7th century. Seven sets of rubbings are made and the stones numbered in work which continues until 1959.
1959: Together with some 100,000 Tibetans, the 14th Dalai Lama flees the Chinese occupation of Tibet, and establishes an exile community in India. The Chinese invaders completely destroy all monasteries but a handful, and severely persecute Buddhist practitioners.
1965: The Burmese government arrested over 700 monks for in Hmabwi, near Rangoon, for refusing to accept government rule.
We take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha (see Three Jewels)
We do not believe that this world is created and ruled by a God
We consider that the purpose of life is to develop compassion for all living beings without discrimination and to work for their good, happiness, and peace; and to develop wisdom leading to the realization of Ultimate Truth
All conditioned things (sa.mskaara) are impermanent (anitya) and dukkha, and that all conditioned and unconditioned things (dharma) are without self (anaatma).
We accept the Thirty-seven Qualities conducive to Enlightenment (bodhipak.sa-dharma) as different aspects of the Path taught by the Buddha leading to Enlightenment.
There are three ways of attaining bodhi or Enlightenment: namely as a disciple (sraavaka), as a Pratyeka-Buddha and as a Samyak-sam-Buddha (perfectly and Fully Enlightened Buddha). We accept it as the highest, noblest, and most heroic to follow the career of a Bodhisattva and to become a Samyak-sam-Buddha in order to save others.
We admit that in different countries there are differences regarding Buddhist beliefs and practices. These external forms and expressions should not be confused with the essential teachings of the Buddha.
1974: In Burma, during demonstrations at U Thant's funeral, 600 monks were arrested and several bayoneted by government forces.
1975: Lao Communist rulers attempted to change attitudes to religion, in particular calling on monks to work, not beg. This caused many to return to lay life, but Buddhism remains popular.
1975-79: Cambodian communists under Pol Pot tried to completely destroy Buddhism, and very nearly succeeded. By the time of the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978 nearly every monk and religious intellectual had been either murdered or driven into exile, and nearly every temple and Buddhist library had been destroyed.
1976: Following a demonstration in Burma, the government sought to discredit the critical monk La Ba by claiming that he was a cannibal and a murderer.
1978: In Burma, more monks and novices were arrested, disrobed and imprisoned by the government. Monasteries were closed and property seized. The critical monk U Nayaka was arrested and died, the government claiming it was suicide.
1980: Burmese military government asserts authority over the sangha, violence against monks continues through the decade.
1988: During the 1988 uprising SPDC troops gunned down monks. After the uprising, U Nyanissara, a senior monk, recorded a tape which discussed democracy in Buddhist precepts. This tape was banned.
1990, August 27: Over 7000 monks met in Mandalay in Burma to call for a boycott of the military. They refused to accept alms from military families or perform services for them. The military government seized monasteries and arrested hundreds of monks, including senior monks U Sumangala and U Yewata. The monks faced long-term imprisonment, and all boycotting monks were disrobed. Some monks were tortured during interrogation.
1998: January 25: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorists commit a deadly suicide attack on Sri Lanka's most sacred Buddhist site and a UNESCO World Heritage centre; the Temple of the Tooth, where Buddha's tooth relic is enshrined. 8 civilians were killed and 25 others were injured, as well as significant damage to the temple structure which was first constructed in 1592 AD.
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Notes
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See also
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