In Letters between Huiyuan and Liu Yimin, it suggests that Huiyuan identified with the doctrines of atyanta-sunyata, the Madhyamika thought of Buddhism. And he recognized that dharmata belongs to the thing without nature, which cannot be perceived. Nonetheless, Huiyuan attempted to regard dharmata and phenomenal world as two subject matters of relativity, which defined the former as foundation while the latter as end results. Though Huiyuan had traced his own philosophy and Madhyamika thought to their origins, he still defended his stance on anatyantika. The analysis of his reasons is also the principal part of the thesis. The title of the thesis is A The Research of Lushan Huiyuan’s Philosophy in the Discussion on the Indestructibility of the Spirit after the Dissolution of the Body. Based on modern research on Huiyuan’s philosophy, the author will analyze the texts and metaphysical thought of Huiyuan’s Discussion on the Indestructibility of the Spirit after the Dissolution of the Body. Along with concerning texts of Huiyuan’s metaphysics, the author will further generalize what drove Huiyuan to accomplish assimilation of Chinese and Indian Buddhist philosophies. From early development to integration into Chinese culture, the assimilation of Indian Buddhist cultures and Chinese cultures must be credited to the venerable Buddhist masters who had contributed a great deal to the diffusion of Buddhism. They strived to extend the intrinsic Chinese cultures and embrace the foreign cultures, which successfully aroused the attention of the development of Buddhism. And the unique Chinese Buddhism has been born through great depth based on the development. Huiyuan was one of the great contributors at the time. The thesis can be divided into three parts: The first part consists of introduction of Huiyuan and the ideology dominating the society, which helps systematize metaphysics of Cao Wei and Jin Dynasty, Geyi Buddhist studies and the philosophy of Huiyuan and clarify the whole course of philosophical development. The second part comprises the discussion of conventional concept of body and spirit rooted in China prior to Huiyuan’s era and the brief introduction of Karma and Samsara as well as the main part of Samsara. The third part encompasses textual analysis of Huiyuan’s Discussion on the Indestructibility of the Spirit after the Dissolution of the Body, along with studies on texts of Huiyuan’s dharmata philosophy, generalizing the structure and development of Huiyuan’s metaphysics.
