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Before Bodhidharma came to China, Chinese Buddhism mostly belonged to the 'lesser vehicle' of Theravada (which aimed at personal salvation) and the 'middle vehicle' (concerned largely with personal salvation but also partly for others), which had also been transmitted by the Buddha and so were commonly known as the Meditation of Tathagata (literally 'thus gone', another name for the Buddha; i.e. the Buddha's Meditation) but which might better be called the Meditation of Buddha's Stillness and Seeing. 

The method transmitted by Bodhidharma was the Dharma of Buddha's Heart. It is simple and direct, transcending the Buddha's traditional teachings. It points directly into the heart, and, through seeing one's self-nature, one then becomes a Buddha. This dharma teaching is called Tathagata Spiritual Communion Chan. At that time, however, these supreme teachings were not widely accepted, because of which, Bodhidharma meditated facing a wall in the cave by the Shaolin Temple on Mount Songshan for nine years as he waited for a successor. He subsequently transmitted the dharma to the Second Patriarch Hui Ke (慧可), who in turn passed the dharma down to the Third Patriarch Seng Can (僧璨) , Fourth Patriarch Dao Xin (道信), the Fifth Patriarch Hong Ren (弘忍), and Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng (慧能). Forty-three disciples of Master Hui Neng attained perfect enlightenment and disseminated the dharma in numerous locations. Thus, the School of Chan flourished.