Buddhism Chronology

before 550 BC: The Hindu Background: India Chronology
c. 563-483 BC: The Life and Teaching of Sidhartha Gautama, the Buddha: India Chronology
c. 273-237 BC: The Reign of Asoka India Chonology
c. 150 BC: The Buddhism Canon is reduced to writing
100BC-AD 100: Rise of Mahayana Buddhism

AD 25: Buddhism introduced to China: Later Han Dynasty
399-414: Fa-hsien travels to India
476-542: T'an-luan is first master of the Pure Land School
538-597: Chih-i organizes the T-ien-t'ai School
574-622: Prince Shotuku, the "founder" of Buddhism in Japan
c. 675: Development of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism
868: The oldest printed book in the world: a Chinese translation of the Diamond-Cutter Sutra
1200: Zen Buddhism (Ch'an) introduced to Japan. Japan Chronology

Resources

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources