Although Siddhartha Gotama spread the religion of Buddhism in India, his teaching had a great impact on other countries. Buddhists first arrived in China via the Silk Road; it was a network of caravan zones that linked China to the rest of Central Asia and the Mediterranean region. Buddhist monks also arrived in China with Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist art in their possession. This is the first time Buddhism has had a substantial impact on the Chinese. Soon, many Chinese began to convert to the new religion introduced into China. In fact, Buddhism would become a central aspect of Chinese culture. Buddhism had a great impact on the Chinese, Chinese philosophers and emperors. In addition, Buddhism has had a great influence on Chinese art, and Buddhism has been the greatest foreign influence on the artwork of the Chinese. Chinese artists mixed their traditions with other popular Buddhist art forms from countries like India. The arrival of Buddhism in China greatly influenced Chinese art of many dynasties. According to Art in China by Craig Clunas, the Wei dynasty, which began in 386 and ended in 535, was a time when Buddhism was central to the culture of both nobles and common people. During much of the Wei dynasty, artists and sculptors were slaves of the state. Different styles of Buddhist art were popular during this period. At first, artists copied some elements of Indian Buddhist sculpture, but later developed their own style. During the Wei, most artwork produced had a connection to Buddhism, and emperors spent a large amount of resources to produce Buddhist artwork (Clunas 92-97). According to the biography of Buddha written by Karen Armstrong, B. ..... middle of paper ......rt Bulletin 23.9, Part 1 (1965): 301-24. JSTOR. Internet. May 15, 2014. “Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.” » Altarpiece dedicated to Maitreya Buddha (Mile) [China] (38.158.1a-n). Np, and Web. May 15, 2014. Whitfield, Roderick, Susan Whitfield and Neville Agnew. Cave temples of Mogao: art and history on the Silk Road. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute and J. Getty Museum, 2000. Print. Armstrong, Karen. Buddha. New York: Lipper/Penguin, 2004. 66-98. Print.Fisher, Mary Pat. “Chapter 5: Buddhism.” Living religions. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2005. 150-62. Print.Gardner, Helen and Fred S. Kleiner. “Chapter 1: South and Southeast Asia before 1200.” Gardner's Art Through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives. Boston: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010. 1-31. Print. Clunas, Craig. “Chapter 3.” Art in China. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1997. 89-131. Print.