The confrontation of the ideas of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, hereafter referred to as the Three Religions, is one of the most familiar topics of research on Chinese Buddhism. This confrontation began at the time when Buddhism was introduced into China and went on until the opening of the 20th century. So that it may be called a characteristic facet of the history of Chinese Buddhism. As this is a very important subject, many scholars, whom I appreciate a lot, have already made important contributions to it. Since my concern is mostly with the thought and practice of Jingyuan (浄源1011---1088), a famous monk of the Hua-yan school (Avatamsaka sect) of the Sung dynasty, I started my research on this topic from his point of view. That is to say I focused on the connection between Jing-yuan and the problems of the confrontation of the Three Religions. This study aimed at giving a more complete picture of the social and ideological background of Jingyuan's period, and of the nature of Jingyuan's thought. It also includes a comparison between the views of Jingyuan and four other famous Buddhist scholars of different periods. This paper is meant to elucidate the historical developments within Chinese Buddhism through a study of the confrontation of the Three Religions, and their ultimate compromise.
