TIMELINE (many early dates are very approximate)
c.6th-4th C BCE Laozi (Lao Tzu / Lao Tze) Legendary philosopher and poet – ‘founder’ of Daoism/Taoism
551-479 BCE Confucius
5th C BCE Democritus
c.490-410 Buddha (these very provisional dates are based on contemporary scholarship)
469-399 Socrates
427-347 Plato
c.4th C BCE Zhuang Zhou (Zhuangzi/Chuang Tzu) Influential Daoist philosopher (and name of Daoist text)
c. 3rd C Spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burma – Theravada Schools
384-322 Aristotle
c.360-c.270 Pyrrho (reputed to have started out as a painter)
356-323 Alexander the Great (Pyrrho may have been on Alexander’s Indian expedition, c.327)
341-270 Epicurus
c.320-c.230 Timon of Phlius (poet, writer and student of Pyrrho)
272-231 Asoka reigns as Buddhist Emperor of most of India (except far south)
died c.50 Lucretius (author of On the Nature of Things)
c.7 BCE – 33CE Life of Jesus Christ Development of Mahayana Schools (c 100BCE – 100CE)
c. 2nd C CE Buddhism travels along Silk Road to China + first translations of texts into Chinese
2nd C CE Nagarjuna (influential figure in Madhyamika School of Buddhism)
2nd-3rd C Buddhism migrates from India to Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos – reaching Korea in 4th C
2nd or 3rd C Sextus Empiricus (physician and writer of Outlines of Pyrrhonism)
5th C Bodhidharma (legend: brought Buddhism to China, taught at Shaolin temple, 1st Zen patriarch)
c.570-632 Life of Muhammad
c.580 C Development of a form of Chinese Chan Buddhism in Vietnam (known as Thien Buddhism)
c.635-713 Hui Neng (6th patriarch in Chinese Zen/Chan Buddhism – very influential)
c.8th C Buddhism spreads from India into Tibet and eventually Mongolia – Zen/Seon develops in Korea
c.8th-9th C Han Shan (famous Chinese poet and Buddhist, friend of Shi Te – Kanzan and Jittoku in Japanese)
died c.850 Huang Po / Huangbo (influential Chinese Zen teacher)
11th C founding of Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism
1133-1212 Honen (founder of Pure Land School of Japanese Buddhism)
1141-1215 Eisai (founder of Rinzai Zen School of Japanese Buddhism)
1200-1253 Dogen (influential teacher in Japanese Soto Zen tradition
1533-1592 Michel de Montaigne (writer of famous essays – humanist and Christian sceptic)
c.1564-1616 Shakespeare
1622-1693 Bankei – influential Rinzai Zen teacher – used the term, the Unborn (sunyata or anutpāda)
1661 Founding of Obaku School of Zen – a small School, related to Rinzai in practice
1686-1768 Hakuin (very influential Japanese Rinzai Zen teacher)
1711-1776 David Hume (Scottish sceptical philosopher)
1813-1855 Soren Kierkegaard (Danish Christian sceptical theologian)
1870-1966 D T Suzuki – influential writer and advocate for Zen Buddhism
1905-1971 Shunryu Suzuki (Soto Zen teacher – taught about ‘beginner’s mind’)
1912-1998 Kosho Uchiyama (Soto Zen teacher – also known as ‘homeless’ Kodo)
1915-1968 Thomas Merton – Trappist monk (Catholic) – wrote about Zen and Christian mysticism
1915-1973 Alan Watts – influential writer on Zen – author of The Way of Zen
1926- Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Zen Buddhist teacher and writer)
1927-2004 Seung Sahn (Korean Zen teacher – taught about ‘don’t know mind’)
1927- Henepola Gunaratana (Sri Lankan Buddhist teacher of vipassana or ‘insight’ meditation – writer of Mindfulness in Plain English)
Map: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/schools1.htm
Please see below for a Word file of the above Timeline: