This study investigates the ways in which the worship of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is assimilated to the Chinese philosophy of saving the dead and the alive human beings, based primarily on the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra (a.k.a. Earth Treasury Bodhisattva Sutra) along with the references of two important sutras, the Sutra of Divination and Observation of Wholesome and Evil Retribution Commentary and Daśacakrakṣitigarbha. Beyond the self-practice of Hīnayāna Buddhism, the belief in Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva becomes the Mahāyāna Buddhism, which emphasizes on saving oneself as well as others. Overall, the view of saving the dead and the alive human beings in Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra is accepted by the public as a concrete example of how the Indian Buddhism was Sinicized, and has become the core of the worship of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. This study attempts to construct the two cores if Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s vows: one is the rescue theory and the other is the rescue practice. It is divided into 4 chapters as follows: Chapter Two demonstrates that during its development in China, the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra fuses with the ideas of filial piety, reincarnation, and karma, distinguishes the good from the evil, and establishes the basic Buddhist principles of “creating no evil, and cultivating all good”. Chapter Three, saving the dead, discusses the dimensions of the vow, merits, and repent of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s spirit, “not attaining Buddhahood if he cannot save all the sentient beings in the entire Hell” is accomplished through many kalpas of cultivation. Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva inspires the public to repent on the sins they committed in the past, purifies their physical, verbal and mental karmas, and makes them have the perception of honoring their parents as the merits to make offerings to Buddha. Chapter Four, saving the alive beings, discusses the reincarnation, karma, and filial piety, and proposes that studying Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra not only can kill afflictions, but also can help the deceased to overcome the pain of six realms of reincarnation. Furthermore, the nation and the society will set up good ethical and moral standards. Chapter Five concludes that worshiping Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva is a method worth promoting in both the mundane and trans-mundane worlds.
