The Mahāyāna arose in India around the beginning of the common era with new sūtras that presented the bodhisattva ideal, the doctrine of emptiness, and many buddhas and buddha-fields. It became the dominant Buddhism of China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and, in its Vajrayāna form, Tibet and Mongolia.
Mahāyāna
The “Great Vehicle”: the Buddhist movement centred on the bodhisattva’s path to buddhahood for the sake of all beings.
Also: Mahayana, Great Vehicle