佛教在东汉初由西域传入中国内地，先是由人口述佛经，后来才传来佛经与佛像，建立了寺院①（本文所记述的寺院仅限于汉族地区的大乘佛教寺院，对蒙古地区的寺院、西南少数民族地区的小乘佛教寺院及西藏、青海的喇嘛教寺院概不涉及）。相传中国最早的寺院是东汉的白马寺。最初 Buddhism was introduced into the mainland by the Western Regions in the early Eastern Han Dynasty. It was first described by the population as a Buddhist scripture, and later the Sutras and Buddhist statues were introduced to establish monasteries. ① The monasteries described in this article are limited to the Mahayana Buddhist monasteries in the Han area, Theravada Buddhist temples in southwestern ethnic minority areas and Lamaism monasteries in Tibet and Qinghai are not involved). Legend has it that the earliest monastery in China is the White Horse Temple in the Eastern Han Dynasty. initial