Laozi
Scripture of Laozi Converting the Barbarians
Traditional attribution
Scripture of Laozi Converting the Barbarians
老子化胡經
The central piece of the Taoist–Buddhist controversy for almost a thousand years: if the Buddha was none other than Laozi teaching foreigners, Buddhism would be a degraded version of Taoism. The Mongol emperors ordered its destruction in 1281. It illustrates how Laozi's biography went on being written to serve the disputes of each age.
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Authorship note
A polemical work composed around 300 CE by the Taoist Wang Fu; not by Laozi. It claims that after crossing the pass Laozi went to India and taught as the Buddha. Banned and burned on several occasions; Dunhuang fragments survive.
Editions and translations
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No editions recorded yet.
Other works by Laozi
- Daodejing (Tao Te Ching). The Book of the Way and its Virtue · 300
- The Guodian Laozi (bundles A, B and C) · 300
- The Mawangdui Laozi (silk copies A and B) · 195
- Wang Bi's Commentary on the Laozi · 240
- Heshang Gong's Commentary on the Laozi · 150
- Scripture of Western Ascension · 450
- Treatise of the Most High on Action and Response · 1150
- Peking University Laozi (Western Han bamboo slips) · 100
- Scripture of Constant Purity and Stillness · 900
- Scripture of Laozi's Transformations · 185
- Xiang'er Commentary on the Laozi · 200
Sources
- Zürcher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China. Brill, Leiden, 1959 (cap. 6 sobre la teoría del huahu).
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