How did the Han emperor bring Buddhism to China?
Answers
By the time of the Later Han Dynasty Buddhism spread into China after the Silk Route and other trade routes. One account of Buddhism's entry into China describes Emperor Han's dream during the first century CE. It is said that Han Emperor saw Buddha in his dream. The next day he ordered officials to travel West in search of finding what caused his vision. While travelling, the officials saw two monks riding white horses. They had the Buddha's pictures and Buddhist scriptures on their horses. These officials invited the monks to the Chang'an, China's capital to introduce Buddhism to the emperor.
When the Chinese officials returned with the monks, Emperor Han identified the Buddha's picture. Emperor asked them to translate the scriptures into Chinese. He built a temple for the monks for their stay so that they could translate all the scriptures. They temple was named White Horse Temple in honour of the horses on which the two monks came to China.
No one knows if this is the correct description of the myth but there are historical facts that prove prove that Buddhism was practiced in China by the middle of second century CE.