Liu Zhuang, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, was the son of Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty died of illness at the age of 63. Zhuang acceded to the throne, that is, Emperor Han Ming.
It is said that one night, Liu Zhuang had a very puzzling dream. He dreamed of a golden man, shining all over, with a halo like sunshine hanging around his neck. The light from his whole body is very dazzling. Jin people suddenly fell from the sky, flew around the temple before flying to the Golden Temple, and suddenly ascended to the west. In my dream, Emperor Han Ming was very happy to see such a golden man. He actually smiled. With this smile, he woke up, and then he couldn't sleep anymore. When he went to court the next day, Emperor Han Ming couldn't wait to tell all the ministers about his dreams at night, so that they could interpret them and tell them who this golden man was and what it meant. However, many ministers in North Korea can't tell who this glittering man is.
At that time, there was a minister in North Korea named Yi Fu, who was the most knowledgeable person. Hearing the emperor's strange dream, he went out to participate in the performance: "Your Majesty, I heard that there was a fairy named Buddha in Tianzhu (now India), who was light and could fly. What your majesty saw in his dream may be a Buddha. " Emperor Han Ming heard that there really was the kind of person he saw in his dream, and hurriedly asked where Tianzhu was and how far it was from the Han Dynasty. Yi Fu replied that Tianzhu was in the west of the Han Dynasty, which is said to be thousands of miles away.
This answer aroused the curiosity of Emperor Han Ming, who wanted to send someone to see the Tianzhu Kingdom written by Fu Yi. Soon, Emperor Han Ming finally turned his ideas into reality. He sent twelve people, including Qin Jing and Wang Zun, to Tianzhu.
In fact, the Tianzhu mentioned by Fu Yi is the birthplace of Buddhism, which was originally the place where the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni, was born (Tianzhu is another name of ancient India, and Sakyamuni was born in northern ancient India, now Nepal). Sakyamuni was born around 565 BC and was originally a prince. Legend has it that at the age of 29, he abandoned the comfortable life of the royal family and became a monk. He founded a religion called Buddhism.
The Buddha he refers to is the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni. Buddhism was founded in the 6th century BC, and it has been more than 600 years since the reign of Emperor Han Ming. Sakyamuni preached Buddhism everywhere. He preached for more than forty years and gained many followers. Everyone respectfully called him "Buddha". After his death, his disciples recorded his theories before his death and compiled them into scriptures.
According to historical records, Emperor Han Ming sent a mission to Tianzhu in order to see the true face of the mysterious gold man. Qin Jing, Wang Zun and so on 12 people arrived in Tianzhu after a long journey.
They were warmly welcomed in the local area, and Tianzhu was very friendly to these guests from the remote Han Dynasty and Central Plains. There are two shamans (senior monks) in Tianzhu, one is Shemoteng and the other is Zhufalan. They also helped Wang Zun and Qin Jing understand some Buddhist truths, so Wang Zun and Qin Jing took the opportunity to invite them to the Central Plains.
So when they returned to China, they not only brought a lot of Buddhist scriptures, but also brought back these two Buddhist monks from Tianzhu.
In 67 BC, Wang Zun and Qin Jing, with two Samanas, rode a white horse carrying a Buddha statue and 42 Buddhist scriptures, passing through the Western Regions and returning to Luoyang.
Emperor Han Ming didn't know the Buddhist scriptures or the truth of Buddhism, but he respected the two Samanas who came to see me off. The following year, he ordered the construction of the first temple in China in accordance with Tianzhu style in the west of Luoyang, and built a stupa as a memorial. This temple is called the White Horse Temple (now the east of Luoyang), because the white horse that released the scriptures is also there.
From then on, Buddhism was introduced into the Central Plains, took root and sprouted, and was increasingly combined with the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, eventually forming a Buddhist culture with China characteristics.
Two eminent monks who came to Han with Qin Jing and Wang Zun lived there since the White Horse Temple was built, and never returned to Tianzhu until their death. It was also buried in Baima Temple, which made great contributions to the spread of Buddhism in the Central Plains.