ABSTRACT
To many, the idea that Buddhism could, within a few hundred years, become an established, state-supported religion in, say, Europe would be far-fetched to say the least. Yet, almost to its own surprise, the age-old, highly conservative and excessively xenophobic civilisation of China managed to make Buddhism its own within a short period of time. This was perhaps the greatest coup ever pulled off by Buddhism, and one without which the Indian religion would have been restricted to playing a purely peripheral role in world history once its influence in its homeland had waned.
