Abstract:
Many eminent monks in the Sui and the Tang Dynasty studied both Confucian works and foreign volumes. Thus they kept different backgrounds of Confucianism, some following family schooling and commanding Confucian classics thoroughly, some having been to local schools to study Confucian classics before they were converted to Buddhism and others studying Confucian classics in Buddhist temples. In their practice of translating Buddhist classics, preaching Buddhist ideas and composing their own works, the eminent monks in those days played a distinct role in Chinesizing Buddhism by referring to Confucian classics. This double learning of Confucianism and Buddhism in eminent monks in the Sui and the Tang Dynasty can be regarded as a typical presentation of fusion between the two religions and an important landmark of Chinesization of Buddhism.
