The Confucian Reading of Buddhist Teaching : Two Truths, Li Shizheng and the Intellectual Milieu of Buddhism in the Early Tang=初唐文人作品中的援儒入佛以及佛教漢化之思想背景 -- 以二諦論與李師政《內德論》為中心之探討
We sometimes recognize a curious mixture of Daoist jargons, Buddhist teachings and Confucian spirit in the writings of non-Buddhist elite. Such a mixture invites us to think about the level of familiarity with Buddhist thought on the part of these non-Buddhist elite, and the implication of such familiarity on the reception and development of Buddhism in China. Addressing these questions, this paper focuses on the non-Buddhist treatment of the Buddhist concept of Two Truth in the 7th-century China, and examines, as a case study, a treatise on Buddhism by a scholar official. It argues that the apparently flawed understanding of Buddhism on the part of the non-Buddhist elite should not be dismissed as simply the result of an inadequate doctrinal training, but must also be seen as reflecting a conscious effort to read Confucianism into Buddhism – a tendency that both underlies and shapes the indigenization of Buddhism in China.
A. An External Look 116 B. An Internal Look 121 1. The Buddhist Theory of Two Truths 2. The Confucian Reading of the Two Truths C. Li Shizheng and His “Treatise on Internal Virtues”(Neide lun 內德論) 131 1. The Content of “The Treatise on the Internal Virtues” 2. A Thematic Analysis of the Treatise Conclusion 143
