Through the modernization of the Tang and Song dynasties, Buddhism in the Song dynasty was within a “systemic society.” In response to a legitimation crisis, Tiantai Buddhism in the early Song, through the debate between the internal and external school, developed very early the idea of “self-awareness.” From then, the position of Buddhism was set, and thus resulted in its participation in the construction of the systemic society. In contrast to the “practice of repentance” from Zhi Li’s internal school, Zhi Yuan used the study of “governing the mind” to position the function of Buddhism. Therefore, it completely demonstrated the theory of “dispelling of the demons.” Zhi Yuan’s theory of sequence, was intended to respond to the work on modernization. However, not only does it have the value of study in terms of history of thoughts, but also the revelation of contemporary Humanistic Buddhism in response to modernity issues.
