Buddhism in Vietnam (Dao Phat or Phat Giao in Vietnamese), as practised by the ethnic Vietnamese, is mainly of the Mahāyāna tradition. Buddhism may have first come to Vietnam as early as the 3-2nd century BCE from the Indian subcontinent or from China in the 1-2nd century CE. Vietnamese Buddhism has had a syncretic relationship with certain elements of Daoism, Chinese spirituality, and Vietnamese folk