Rahula,

I am not able to provide any reference to the sutta/vinaya now, maybe
Piya or someone else like to help. However, you may like to read The
Life of the Buddha: According to the Pali Canon by Bhikkhu Nanamoli.
(ISBN-10: 1928706126)

At the time Buddhism started to be widely accepted in China, the
religion has already prospered in a very wide geographical region
outside the India known to the Buddha. This is largely due to the
effort of the Mauryan emperor, King Ashoka.

Buddhism has already established itself very well in places like
Pakistan, Aghanistan and so on. And, a great deal of Chinese Buddhist
practices did not originate from India, but from these other centers
of Buddhism.

Buddhist festivals may have mixed with local cultures, and the story
of the Buddha told with the local flavour. It is in this manner that
festivals in the northern-transmission countries are celebrated on
dates different from the originals. On the other hand,
southern-transmission countries are not similarly affected due to
geographical separation.

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Ngawang Dorje wrote:

Can anyone provide reference(s) in the suttas or otherwise, that the
Buddha was born, attained enlightenment and died on Vesak full moon day?

If it's a full moon day, why are the Chinese (Hong Kong etc) does not
celebrate Vesak on the full moon day?