This paper discusses the sinification of Buddhist causation theory. First of all，it points out the fact that the causation theory forms the fundamental doctrines of Buddhism and that early Buddhist causation theory is based on the Hinayana notion of "dependent origination by karmic influence." Historically，two lines of causation theory developed in China after Buddhism had entered into China. The first，resulting from the efforts of Lushan Huiyuan，was a hybrid of sanbao (retribution in three periods)，which comes from the Buddhist concept of karma, and tianbao (retribution from heaven)，which is the traditional Chinese concept of retribution. The second，due to the hard work of Xianshou Fazang，was an integration of four kinds of dependent origination with special emphasis on the causal arising by dharmadhatu. While the latter refined the Hinayana theory of the twelve links of dependent origination，thus smacking of rationalism，it was not commonly known. The former，on the contrary，was widely accepted because it blended the idea of "stimulus and response" based on the Book of Changes, the Confucian concept of the Way of Heaven，and the Buddhist theory of karma. In the meantime，it offers explanations to the occurrences of "being struck by calamities while accumulating merits" and "reaping rewards while performing bad deeds. "Although this sinicized causation theory betrays the Buddhist principle of karmic retribution that professes that the doers are the ones who meet the consequences of their actions, it spread widely and became the causation theory of the masses. Traditional Chinese fiction that promoted this popular causation theory to edify commoners —from the Zhiguai story of the six dynasties to the so-called sanyan erpai tale of the ming-qing period— was primarily based on the causation theory belonging to the huiyuan line. For generations, there were monks who questioned the validity of heaven being the administrator in charge of retribution or of extending retribution to family members and posterity. However，their discourse could not change the already popular theory. Neo-confucians from the song dynasty on also urged people not to be obsessed with the causation theory. However，there were still many of them encouraging people to trust in it. Scholars and writers like Hong Mai，Feng Menglong，and Ling Mengchu wrote stories and tales to propagates this popular theory of causation. They did this to urge people to do good so as to avoid misfortune. The promotion of this sinicized causation theory through fiction writing helped them maintain traditional Chinese moral and ethical values.
