Lushan Huiyuan

Huiyuan was posthumously named First Patriarch of the Pure Land School of Buddhism, and founder of the White Lotus Society, an early Buddhist community devoted to Amitabha Buddha.

Members of the cultured classes came to live on Mount Lu as Huiyuan's lay disciples to take part in religious life.

At the same time, it was a religious and political text that aimed to convince monarchs and Confucian-minded ministers of state that followers of Buddhism were ultimately not subversive.

He argued that Buddhists could make good subjects in a kingdom due to their beliefs in retribution of karma and the desire to be reborn in paradise.

Despite the Buddhists' reputation of leaving their family behind for a monastic life, Huiyuan stated "those who rejoice in the Way of the Buddha invariably first serve their parents and obey their lords.