Greco-Buddhism is the term used to describe the cultural syncretism
between the culture of Classical Greece and Buddhism, which developed
over a period of close to 800 years in Central Asia in the area
corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, between the 4th
century BCE and the 5th century CE. Greco-Buddhism influenced the
artistic (and, possibly, conceptual) development of Budhism, and in
particular Mahayana Buddhism, before it was adopted by Central and
Northeastern Asia from the 1st century CE, ultimately spreading to
China, Korea and Japan. Numerous Greco-Buddhist works of art display
the intermixing of Greek and Buddhist influences, around such
creation centers as Gandhara. The subject matter of Gandharan art was
definitely Buddhist, while most motifs were of Western Asiatic or
Hellenistic origin. The interraction between Hellenistic Greece and
Buddhism started when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor and
Central Asia in 334 BCE, going as far as the Indus, thus establishing
direct contact with India, the birthplace of Buddhism.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco%2dBuddhism
Today's selected anniversaries:
312 Constantine the Great adopted Christianity and defeated
Maxentius in the Battle of Milvian Bridge.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Milvian_Bridge)
1886 In New York Harbor, U.S. President Grover Cleveland
dedicated the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France to
commemorate the centennial of the United States Declaration
of Independence.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty)
1918 Czechoslovakia gained its independence from Austria-Hungary.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Republic_of_Czechoslovakia)
1922 Fascist armed squads marched on Rome to take over the
Italian government.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Rome)
Wikiquote of the day:
"The antagonism between science and religion, about which we hear
so much, appears to me to be purely factitious - fabricated, on the
one hand, by short-sighted religious people who confound a certain
branch of science, theology, with religion; and, on the other, by
equally short-sighted scientific people who forget that science
takes for its province only that which is susceptible of clear
intellectual comprehension; and that, outside the boundaries of
that province, they must be content with imagination, with hope,
and with ignorance." ~ T. H. Huxley
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Henry_Huxley)