Mahayana literally Great Vehicle; is one of the major branches of Buddhism. Scholars believe that Mahayana (chin.: dachengfojiao大乘佛教) as a distinct movement began around the 1st century BCE, in the North-western Indian subcontinent, estimating a formative period of about three centuries before it was transmitted in a highly evolved form to China in the 2nd century CE.
The first known Mahayana texts (chin.: fojing 佛经) are translations (chin.: yichu 译出) made into Chinese by the Kushan (chin.: Guishuang 貴霜) monk Lokaksema (chin.: Zhi Lou Jia Chen 支娄迦谶) in the Chinese capital of Luoyang (洛阳 - A city in east central China; the capital of ancient China during several dynasties) between 178 and 189 CE.
The Pratyutpanna Sutra contains the first known mentions of the Buddha Amitabha and his Pure Land, said to be at the origin of Pure Land practice in China:
Bodhisattvas (chin.: pusa 菩萨) hear about…
