BUDDHISM IN CENTRAL ASIA AND CHINA 173ogy. Interestingly enough, the Buddhist doctrine of karma and the belief in
the primacy of the mind had become so embedded in Chinese thought that
the neo-Confucians adopted these as among their basic principles. At the same
time, they quoted some of the more iconoclastic Ch'an texts to prove that
Buddhism was an amoral practice whose goal was to strip the mind down to
its most basic animal functions, instead of raising it to a higher moral plane.
The Buddhists countered with attempts to show that Buddhism, Taoism, and
Confucianism were three aspects of a single teaching-the "three legs that
supported the bronze vessel," with Buddhism at least equal to the other two-
but the neo-Confucians won the day. Neo-Confucian ideology became the
dominant intellectual standard from the fourteenth to the early twentieth cen-
tury, whereas Buddhism became more and more the religion of the untutored
masses. Thus, in a sense, Buddhism found itself under attack by a doctrine of
its own that had become basic to all Chinese thought, and it suffered a major
defeat partly because it had projected a Chinese image all too well.
Nevertheless, despite its defeat on the doctrinal level, Buddhism main-
tained its strength as an institution, a devotional religion, and a system of med-
itation training still open to all. Ch'an retained some of its intellectual
currency, serving as an individualistic alternative to the often stifling ortho-
doxy of the neo-Confucian ideology. As a result, Buddhism came to play a
role that it was best equipped to play, standing somewhat outside the social
order, offering haven to those who found that order restrictive or repressive,
but in no way threatening the peace and well-being of society.
8.3 Buddhism on the Fringes of Society
Chinese Buddhists preserved a story effectively stating that their religion was
first brought to China at the instigation of an emperor of the Later Han dy-
nasty, Ming Ti (r. 58-75 C.E.), whose curiosity about Buddhism had been
piqued by a portentous dream (Strong EB, sec. 8.1.1). Historical records, how-
ever, indicate that the religion was more likely brought into Han China by
central Asian merchants, who set up monasteries in their enclaves in the major
Chinese cities and invited central Asian monks to staff them. The first refer-
en{:e to Buddhism in imperial historical records, nevertheless, does date from
the reign of Ming Ti. The records tell of a Chinese nobleman who combined
the "gentle Buddhist rites and fasts" with Taoist practices aimed at physical
immortality. For several centuries this was Buddhism's basic role as a subcul-
ture in China: a set of rites and practices augmenting Taoism. The first refer-
ence to the appearance of Buddhist statues in the imperial court, dating from
the second century c.E., follows the same pattern. A Taoist adept added Bud-
dhist rituals to a program of Taoist rites to bless the emperor. The connection
between Buddhism and Taoism was justified by a story that began circulating
in China during this period that claimed that the Buddha was actually the