
The Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyangīlue-eyed Central Asian monk teaching an East Asian monk. Sometimes it was used more generally to refer to other regions to the west of China as well, such as the Indian subcontinent (as in the novel Journey to the West). Altishahr or the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang). The Western Regions was a historical name specified in the Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of Yumen Pass, most often Central Asia or sometimes more specifically the easternmost portion of it (e.g. According to these sources, Bodhidharma came from the Western Regions, and is described as either a "Persian Central Asian" or a "South Indian the third son of a great Indian king." Later sources draw on these two sources, adding additional details, including a change to being descendent from a Brahmin king, which accords with the reign of the Pallavas, who "claim to belong to a brahmin lineage." There are two known extant accounts written by contemporaries of Bodhidharma. The Western Regions in the first century BCE.

Īccording to the principal Chinese sources, Bodhidharma came from the Western Regions, which typically refers to Central Asia but can also include the Indian subcontinent, and is described as either a " Persian Central Asian" or a " South Indian the third son of a great Indian king." Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend and unreliable details.

His name means " dharma of awakening ( bodhi)" in Sanskrit. He is known as Dámó in China and as Daruma in Japan. According to Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu.

He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century.
