佛教的傳入及其對傳統命論的改造：以李師政的《內德論通命篇》為例=Reforms to the Traditional Chinese Concepts on Fate from the Influence of Buddhism: In the Case of Li Shizheng's "Explanations on Fate" (Tong Ming, 通命)
Before Buddhism spread into China, the most influential Chinese concept on fate is advocated by Confucianism, it is the concept of Destiny (Tian Ming, 天命). According to the Confucianism, Destiny is the political-ethical foundation of the human society, and it also act as the only legal basis of human beings. Say in brief, Destiny determines anything for human society, and it also has a political-ethical function for blessing the good and publishing the evil. But such explanation of fate is just a ideal thought, the reality is quite different from this. Just as we have often seen, good persons always have bad rewards while bad persons may always live a good life. Such difference between Destiny and reality lead people to question about the Confucianism concept of Destiny. Meanwhile, Confucianism couldn't give a perfect explanation for this till the time. While the entrance of Buddhism did give an answer to such questions, it was no doubt a serious challenge to the traditional Chinese concept on fate. According to Buddhism, all the things come after the role of Karma, the individual reality of one's life depends on his Karma, that is to say, what one done before decided which kind of life he will live now, and what he did now can decide the life of his afterlife. What kind of life one will take only depend on his Karma, the Heaven is fair, and we just decide the life by ourselves. Such theory can give the foregoing questions some reasonable answers, and also people ca n feel comfortable under the Karma explanation. As the disciple of Master Fa Lin (法琳) in early Tang Dynasty, Li Shizheng's "Explanations on Fate" (Tong Ming, 通命) is just a Buddhism article that question and challenges the traditional Confucianism concept of Destiny. From which we can see clearly the problems that the Destiny concept has as well as the Buddhist solution based on karma. Buddhist solution to fate and retribution is not only the promotion for the widely spread of Buddhism in China, but also give a great shock to traditional Chinese thought, especially Confucianism. The response to the challenge of Buddhism leads to the innovation of Confucianism.
