The Religions in Dunhuang
Various religions have flourished in China because Chinese system was able to accommodate widely divergent systems of thought and belief. It is a tradition founded in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), which developed the concept that they should think and practice whatever it is good for life (for oneself, the country and the world).
Over the past two millennia, through missionaries, pilgrims, caravans and armies, several religious traditions were transmitted via the Silk Road to China. In Dunhuang, besides the Buddhist and Daoist manuscripts, many other religious artifacts were also found, such as bronze crosses and linen fabric with texts from the Old Testament in Syrian language written by the Nestorian Christians.
In ancient times, Chinese belief was based on the cumulative folk wisdom of its history.
The Chinese practiced ancestral worship in addition to numerous other gods. It was believed that the Lord of Heaven supervises all gods looking after different departments, much as the governmental system on earth. The system was able to embrace other kinds of beliefs as well. Buddhism was the first of the great missionary faiths spread into China.
The contents of Dunhuang Grottoes are mainly Buddhist.
Source: Dunhuang Academy
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