Indispensable reference for art historians, scholars of Eastern philosophy and religion. Wealth of detailed scholarly information on names, attributes, symbolism, pictorial representations of virtually every major and minor divinity in Mahayana pantheon, as worshipped in Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea, Mongolia, and Japan. 185 black-and-white illustrat...
Gautama Buddha — his birth, 557; assumed Buddhahood, 528; his Parinirvana, 447 (v. sakya-muni).
Confucius, 551-478.
Date of the birth of the Buddha according to the Singalese, 623; Siamese and Burmese, 653; Chinese, 1027.
4th century.
Alexander of Macedonia invaded India, 326.
3rd century.
First Buddhist Missionaries in China, 217.
A.D.
1st century.
Beginning of the Gandhara school, about 30.
Emperor Mingti's mission returned to China from India, 65.
Asvagosha wrote the Makdyana-Sraddhotanda-sastra.
2nd century.
Worship of Avalokitesvara introduced into China.
Patanjali founded the Yoga school in India.
Nagarjuna founded the Madhyamika system and expounded the Mahayana doctrine 150-200.
3rd century.
Amitdba Vyuha sutira translated in China, 222-280.
4th century.
Buddhism carried into Nepal, 350.
Buddhism entered Corea, 372.
5th century.
Fa-Hian made a pilgrimage to India, 399-414.
6th century.
Yoga school grafted on the Mahayana by Asanga, about 550.
Buddhism spread to Japan, 552.
Tantrism made its appearance.
7th century.
Shotoku Taishi, 593-621.
Worship of Avalokitesvara introduced into Japan.
Hiuen-Tsang made a pilgrimage to India, 629-645.
Buddhism introduced into Siam, 639.
Worship of Avalokitesvara and Tara introduced into Tibet.
Death of the Tibetan king, Srong-tsan-gampo, 650.
Yi-tsing travelled in India, 671-695.
8th century.
The Yoga system was introduced into China, 720.
Padmasambhava carried the Mahayana doctrine into Tibet, 747.
