Currently, a series of global transcultural projects related to the terrestrial, maritime, arctic, digital, etc. perspectives known under the general name «Belt - Road»; is being implemented. The basis of the modern grandiose infrastructural plans is the idea of reviving the Silk Road that has provided for more than one and a half thousand years the transit of goods, cultural practices, and the dissemination of meanings and values. The main acquisition for the Celestial Empire in this respect was, probably, the adoption of Buddhism. Although it is traditionally believed that in China mostly the Mahayana Buddhism was flourishing, it is not entirely true. The authors of the article are confident that China has received the full transmission of the Buddhist Dharma. This article examines the Theravada Buddhist traditions formed in frames of Lǜ zōng, Chéng shí zōng, and Jù shè zōng schools and subsequently transferred from China to Japan and Korea. The development of philosophical traditions and ascetic practices that came from India made a significant contribution to the development of Chinese culture. With their emphasis on the importance of self- improvement and the growth of self-awareness, they influenced the worldview of many peoples. The implementation of the new Silk Road ideas is not possible without taking into account the history lessons. Leafing through its pages, we see that the most fundamental impact on the cultures of peoples connected and developed through these ways was not the success of commodity exchange but ideological diffusion, adaptation of meanings and reappraisal of values.