During the Liu Song dynasty, Mt. Sheshan located in the northeast region outside the capital city Jiankang was sparsely polulated because it was still much inhabited by venomous snakes and wild animals. In the early Southern Qi dynasty, a recluse scholar Ming Sengshao（明僧紹） began to invite monks to abide together and to propagate the teachings of Buddha. Thus Sheshan Buddhism started to grow. Thereafter, under the management of monks like Fadu（法度）, Senglang（僧朗）, Sengquan（僧詮）, Huibu（慧布）and Baogong（保恭）, the famous Qixia Temple at Mt. Sheshan began to take shape.
Sheshan was widely recognized as the ancestor court of Sanlunzong（三論宗）. Senglang （僧朗） had expounded teaching of Sanlun（三論）there, which sparked off the revival of the study of Sanlun in southern China and resulted in the establishment of Sanlunzong by Jiaxiang Jizang（嘉祥吉藏）during the Sui dynasty. Nevertheless, Sheshan Buddhism was not confined to the teaching of Sanlunzong. When the study of Sanlun spread from countryside to urban areas, centered around Huibu and Baogong, Sheshan Buddhism was heavily colored by dhyāna, integrating the dhyāna of Damo（達摩） in the north and the dhyāna technique of Zhiyi（智顗）and Zhendi（真諦）in the south. In other words, Sheshan Buddhism was the guiding spirit of both the study of Sanlun and the teachings of dhyāna in the history of the Buddhism in the Jiangnan area. Besides, due to the changes in political situation and the removal of capital city from Jiankang in the Tang dynasty, the financial support from the royal house and rich families decreased and Sheshan Buddhism gradually associated itself with local population more closely.
