During the twentieth century Buddhism became globally distributed and established. Buddhists have set foot in Australia and New Zealand, in the southern region of Africa, and in most countries of Europe, as well as in South and North America. Buddhism outside of Asia is marked by a heterogeneity and diversity that is observable in all thus-denoted "Western" countries. The entire range of Buddhism's main traditions and subtraditions can be found outside of Asia, often in one country and sometimes even in one major city, with some forty, fifty, or more different Buddhist groups in a single place. Buddhists of divergent traditions and schools have become neighbors¡ªa rarity in Asia itself. Additionally, new Western Buddhist orders and organizations have been founded, signaling ambitious moves to create indigenized variations of Buddhist forms, practices, and interpretations. As the Western institutionalization of Buddhism rapidly accelerated in the closing three decades of the twentieth century, its research matured and became a recognized subject with numerous studies.


Early Encounters

Very early information about Buddhist concepts can be traced to the records of the Greek philosopher Plutarch (first century CE). Plutarch writes about the Indo-Greek king Menander (Menandros, c. 155¨C130 BCE) and his conversation with the Buddhist monk N¨¡gasena, documented in the Pali text Milindapañha (Questions of King Milinda). The rise of Christianity and later of Islam blocked further exchange until Franciscan friars traveled to Mongolia in the thirteenth century. From the sixteenth century onwards, travelers and Jesuit missionaries to Tibet, China, and Japan left fragmentary accounts of Buddhist rituals and concepts. In the course of European colonial expansion, information was gathered about the customs and history of the peoples and regions that were subjected to British, Portuguese, and Dutch domination. Texts and descriptions began to be collected and translated in the late eighteenth century, although a distinction had not yet been clearly made between Hindu and Buddhist treatises. Simultaneously, in Europe the Romantic movement gave rise to a glorifying enthusiasm for the East and for India in particular. The Asian world and its religious and philosophical traditions were discovered along with efforts aimed at tracing a genuine and pure spirituality that was supposedly lost in Europe through the victory of rationalism.

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About Xian

. A sub-provincial . This article concerns places that serve as centers of government and politics. For alternative meanings see capital (disambiguation) . Encyclopedia of Modern Asia© on Xi¡¯an . Wade-Giles ( . A province, . The Chinese phrase Four Great Ancient Capitals of China (Traditional Chinese: ÖЇøËÄ´ó¹Å¶¼; Simplified Chinese: ÖйúËÄ´ó¹Å¶¼; pinyin: Zh¨­nggu¨® S¨¬ D¨¤ G¨³d¨±) traditionally refers to Beijing, Nanjing, Luoyang, and Xi¡¯an. . Zhou Dynasty . Early career . Western and Eastern Zhou . Xi??an West Peak (Xi Feng) . Qin Dynasty . Oppression During Zheng¡¯s Rule . Qin Shi Huang . Xianyang

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