The dispute between immortality and immortality began in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and it was even more heated in the early Liu and Song Dynasties.
The controversy was caused by Saman Huilin's black-and-white theory (also known as the theory of all goodness). Black-and-white theory holds that the emptiness mentioned by Buddhism is fictitious, and that good and evil are rewarded is also untrue, thus denying the theory of immortality.
Confucian scholar He Chengtian appreciated the theory of black and white and gave it to the layman Zong Bing. Zong Bing, on the other hand, opposed it, wrote a reply to refute it, wrote many letters to argue with He Chengtian, and wrote "On Buddhism in Ming Dynasty" to prove that people can't die, and reincarnation will be rewarded. He Chengtian also wrote "Asking about Karma", denying the theory of Karma, saying that those who kill have no retribution, and those who are blessed have no retribution. Liu Shaofu's answer to He Hengyang also opposed He Chengtian's theory and affirmed karma. Because it is impossible to prove whether what Buddhism calls karma will come true in the afterlife or in the afterlife, He Chengtian has nothing to say.
He Chengtian also wrote "On Tao", which opposed the Buddhist theory of karma from another angle. Buddhism believes that people who do good can be human beings and go to heaven in the afterlife, while those who do evil will be animals, hungry ghosts or go to hell. This is the so-called five samsaras (or six divisions in the wheel of karma theory). He Chengtian explains the absurdity of the theory of reincarnation from the fundamental difference between human beings and animals. He thinks that life is bound to die, but the shape is scattered, and spring flourishes and autumn declines, and the four seasons change, especially Xi! (1) He Chengtian theory, caused Yan Yanzhi's retort. They argued repeatedly, which attracted Song Wendi's attention. Song Wendi once said: After reading Yan Yanzhi's "On Achievement" and Zong Bingnan's "On White and Black" recently, it is clear that Buddhism is profound and famous, and winning the lottery is enough. (2) However, He Chengtian's theory is limited to the Confucian tradition, and there are loopholes in theory. For example, He Chengtian opposed the immortal theory of God, saying that life must die, and the form must be scattered, just as the disadvantages of salary are small, salary must be destroyed.
But at the same time, he said: in three days, in the sky, it is said that elves will rise and fall. (4) This was caught by Yan Yanzhi, who retorted that God's persistence is different from withering and withering, just like vegetation, it is easy to be smoked out. And after the third cloud, it rises and the elves are in the sky. If the spirit must exist and the fruit is different from the vegetation, it is subject to the theory of form, let alone nothing. Go through the essence of good three times and report it in the birth of evil! Therefore, the representative of Confucianism, He Chengtian, failed in this debate.
The debate between the immortality of the gods and the extinction of the gods in the Southern Dynasties coincided with the Qi and Liang Dynasties. This is an argument about Fan Zhen's deism.
Fan is really a guest of Qi Jingling, Wang Xiaoliang and Zixi House. Because he didn't believe in the theory of karma, he had an argument with Xiao. After the first draft of The Extinction of Immortals came out, Xiaoliangzi called monks to debate with Fan Zhen, but no one could make him give in. After Liang Wudi acceded to the throne, Fan Zhen's theory of "god extinction" was widely circulated among relatives and friends, and Liang Wudi organized his men to besiege him. Participants * * * include 63 people including Linchuan Wang Xiaohong. From the very beginning, theism put forward that God is both a form and a form. It is the existence of form that makes God exist, and the gratitude of form makes God disappear. (2) Affirmed the relationship between God and form. God depends on form, and form is the foundation of God. Once form does not exist, God will become extinct. Opponents believe that God and form are two different beings. God is knowledgeable and form is ignorant, and the two names are different. How can they be one? Fan Zhen said with certainty: Different names have the same body. Compare the relationship between form and god to the relationship between blade and sharpness. He said: God is for quality, not for blade, shape is for use, and blade is for profit. The name of profit is not sharp, and the name of blade is unfavorable. But the relic has no blade, and it is useless to give up the blade. It is unheard of that blades exist without advantages. How can you let God die when he is around? This proves that the relationship between form and spirit is the relationship between things and their attributes, not the relationship between two things. Fan Zhen's basic argument is correct. Although there are still some shortcomings and loopholes in argument and theory, the refutor cannot fundamentally refute Fan Zhen. At that time, there were as many as 63 famous ministers, celebrities and monks who participated in the siege of Fanzhen, of which the most important were Cao and San.
Xiao Chen wrote an article "The Theory of Difficult Deity Extinction"; Cao wrote two books: On the Extinction of Difficult Gods and On the Extinction of Difficult Gods. Shen Yue wrote an article about Fan Zhen's immortality, and there are two related articles: Theory of Form and Spirit and Theory of Immortality. But none of these papers can refute Fan Zhen's theory. Liang Wudi finally had to use power to ban Fan Zhen's theory. He wrote a letter saying that Fan Zhen had rebelled by chanting scriptures. He was very obedient. It is difficult to take responsibility for destroying saints and to reason. In this case, the theory of words will have a little breath. The argument between God's extinction and God's immortality will go away.