Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s8.t2.11

v1.c7.s8.t2.11

**The spread and influence in China** - Samsara concept was introduced in China with Buddhism. In ancient China, the most famous representative who advocates that there is a subject in Samsara is Hui Yuan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He thinks that "the body can be destroyed, but the spirit cannot be". In *Disrespect of Sramana to King*, he says that "desire is the mother of life, while spirit is the root of desire. Desire can change things from one form to another, while spirit can also be transmitted with it", "firewood is burned to ashes, while fire can spread from one firewood to another, never extinguished Similarly, the body is destroyed, while the spirit can move from one body to another". Hui Yuan thinks that there exists an immortal "spirit" in life phenomenon, and that once the human body is dead, the "spirit" is still alive, because it can move to another body, which is a typical theory of Atman. Hui Yuan advocating such theory is related to the influence of the original traditional culture in ancient China, (e.g., theory of Chuang tzu and Yellow Emperor).