Buddhism is central to understanding the globalized historical processes taking place in the Hexi Corridor,a region running northwest from the bank of the Yellow River up till the nowadays Xinjiang-Gansu border and being flanked by the Tibetan Plateau and the Gobi Desert to the south and north respectively.As part of the trade route networks conventionally designated as the Silk Road,the area has functioned as an important nexus linking China proper,China's Tibet and Central Asia in pre-modern times.Buddhism,as the region's backbone of pan-Asian importance,intermingled with the ups and downs of cultures and historical entities until the Islamic takeover.