The westernization of Buddhism starts in the sixteenth century with the first Jesuit missionary letters from China and Japan reporting about the peculiar "religion of the Fo." Via these reports the Jesuits formed a picture of Buddhism, which was to influence the understanding of Buddhism in Europe until the twentieth century. The Jesuit reports on Buddhism not only comprehended information regarding the Buddhist teachings and practices, but also they were a broadside against religious and political enemies of the order in Europe. The same applies for the interpretation of Buddhism by European theologians, philosophers and academics of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The stereotypes of Buddhism resulting from this are more a mirror image of European intellectual history of religion than a serious effort to come to an understanding of Asian religions.
