Document 1- From about the first century BC, Buddhism began its spread along the Silk Road. Buddhist monks also travelled with the traders along the way and soon Buddhist monasteries were everywhere along the route between India and China. The monasteries were used by travellers as safe places to rest overnight, and sometimes for longer periods to recuperate from an illness. Donations were generously given and the monasteries flourished. Later, with the spread of Islam into the regions around the Silk Road, many of the stupas and temples were destroyed.
In the middle of the first century AD, a Han Chinese Emperor became interested in Buddhism. He sent envoys to India and in 67 AD they returned with Buddhist writings. He then proceeded to have these texts translated into Chinese. Monks, missionaries and pilgrims began travelling from India to Central Asia and then on to China, bringing Buddhist writings and paintings, while converts followed the Silk Road West."
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