Tao Yuanming And Eastern Buddhism: Cultural Filtering Problem

This dissertation is dedicated to prove that Yuanming Tao was effected by Buddhism and to explore the cultural filtration issues within it. It is commonly agreed that in the East Jin Dynasty, the metaphysics was greatly influenced by Buddhism, and Liezi is a work which combines Daoism and Buddhism. This dissertation shows how Liezi spread Buddhism to Yuanming after filtering it. Besides, this dissertation also finds out what Yuanming accepted from Buddhism and what he rejected, and explores the effects of several elements during the cultural filtration such as the circumstances, the culture background, the language, and the recipient himself.In the first section, I summarized the research done by Yinque Chen about Yuanming. Chen argued that Yuanming discarded Buddhism and believed in Daoism. I found the weak points in his argument and asserted that there was no proof that Yuanming believed in Dao or he rejected Buddhism.The second section shows proof that Yuanming was effected by Buddhism:he used the words "huan"("幻") and "kong"("空"), the meaning of which was definitely Buddhist. And in that poem which he expressed his opinions about life and death, he quoted Liezi which was greatly effected by Buddhism.The third section reveals how Liezi absorbed some Buddhist ideas and infected Yuanming. Besides, it also finds out through the filtration by elements such as the circumstances, the culture background, the language, and the recipient himself, what Yuanming accepted from Buddhism and what he rejected.