Samgiti

While talking about the early history of Buddhism, it may have skipped your eyes its relation with the chronology of scientific development.

First, let's get the numbers right. Gautama Buddha (釋迦牟尼) was born in 563 BC and died in 483 BC. His theory was organized in the First Buddhist Council (第一次结集) shortly after his death, and perpetuated as Buddhism in the following centuries.

The catch is: Buddhist Council is the modern English translation of what happened, which, together with the traditional translation in Chinese (结集), implies that a group of experts came together, reached a conclusion, and - in modern sense - published a conference report.

However, the technology of having a written record (pen and paper) did not reach India before 100 BC. (The exact time is actually unknown; most authorities believe it was actually after the birth of Jesus.) The original Council was called Samgiti in Pali (巴利文), which means gathering and reciting together. What happened was, in reality, Buddha's teaching was declaimed by two of his senior students, Ananda (阿難) and Upali (優婆離), checked by the Mahakassapa (摩訶迦葉) - the chairman and also the most senior student of Buddha, and then rehearsed by all 500 delegates of the Council.

You see the problem here ? For nearly 500 years, the Buddhism theory passed from one generation to another by verbal teaching - without a written record. If you have ever try the megaphone game (傳聲筒遊戲), the implication is obvious.