<P> Generations of scholars have debated whether Buddhist missionaries first reached Han China via the maritime or overland routes of the Silk Road . The maritime route hypothesis , favored by Liang Qichao and Paul Pelliot , proposed that Buddhism was originally practiced in southern China , the Yangtze River and Huai River region , where prince Ying of Chu ( present day Jiangsu ) was jointly worshipping the Yellow Emperor , Laozi , and Buddha in 65 CE . The overland route hypothesis , favored by Tang Yongtong , proposed that Buddhism disseminated eastward through Yuezhi and was originally practiced in western China , at the Han capital Luoyang ( present day Henan ) , where Emperor Ming of Han established the White Horse Temple in 68 CE . Rong Xinjiang , a history professor at Peking University , reexamined the overland and maritime hypotheses through a multi-disciplinary review of recent discoveries and research , including the Gandhāran Buddhist Texts , and concluded : </P>
an influential religion to enter china along the silk route during the han dynasty was
Buddhism