Several other events caused Buddhism to spread in China. One was the political reunification
(making whole again) of China.
The person who did this was Emperor Wendi.
He started a new
dynasty called the Sui (pronounced “sway”) in 581 CE. He became a Buddhist and promoted the
spread of Buddhism in China.
For example, he sent statues of the Buddha to Buddhist temples throughout China.
Those statues had an inscription saying that all people could reach
enlightenment.
Emperor Wendi was a clever ruler: he kept Confucianism as the “official” belief
system to help remind the Chinese of the old, strong, and long-lasting Han empire.
