History of Buddhist Music

Buddhist music is music (Sanskrit: vàdita, saṅgīta) created for or inspired by Buddhism and includes numerous ritual and non-ritual musical forms.[2] As a Buddhist art form, music has been used by Buddhists since the time of early Buddhism, as attested by artistic depictions in Indian sites like Sanchi. While certain early Buddhist sources contain negative attitudes to music, Mahayana sources tend to be much more positive to music, seeing it as a suitable offering to the Buddhas and as a skillful means to bring sentient beings to Buddhism.

Popular forms of Buddhist music were influenced by Central Asian music of the Western regions and also drew on local Chinese folk and popular music traditions. Buddhist music played a key role in Chinese Buddhist efforts to proselytize to laypersons.