Mouzi Lihuolun

The Mouzi Lihoulun (simplified Chinese: 牟子理惑论; traditional Chinese: 牟子理惑論; pinyin: Móuzǐ lǐhuòlùn; Wade–Giles: Mou-tzu Li-huo-lün; literally: "Master Mou's Treatise Settling Doubts") is a classic Chinese Buddhist text. It comprises a purportedly autobiographical preface by Master Mou, a late 2nd-century Confucian scholar-official who converted to Buddhism, and an imaginary dialogue of questions and answers about Buddhist practices.

The Mouzi lihuolun is known under several names, including the abbreviated title Mouzi.

Mouzi compounds the uncommon Chinese surname Mou "seek; obtain" with the suffix -zi "Master" (compare Laozi). The Japanese title Bōshi riwakuron 牟氏理惑論 (Chinese Moushi lihuolun) replaces shi (zi) "Master" with shi (shi) "Mister; a certain person." Lihuolun combines li "manage; put in order; acknowledge"; huo "confusion; delusion; doubt; suspicion"; and lun "discourse; opinion; dissertation; essay."

According to Yu Jiaxi 余嘉錫 (Zürcher 2007:13), the original title Mouzi jihuolun 牟子治惑論 – with zhi "rule; research; manage; cure; eliminate" instead of li – was changed to avoid the naming taboo on Emperor Gaozong of Tang's personal name Zhi 治.

English translations of Mouzi lihuolun include:

Some renditions of shortened Lihuolun are:

The received Mouzi Lihuolun text contains a supposedly autobiographical Introduction, thirty-seven articles of Dialogue between Mouzi and an unnamed Chinese critic (or critics) questioning Buddhist practices, and a Postscript in which the critic converts to Buddhism.

The Introduction identifies the author as an Eastern Han Dynasty Confucian scholar who is not mentioned in any Han-era historical records. (Later editions give the name of Mou Rong 牟融.Compare the Tang Dynasty scholar also named Mou Rong 牟融.) After the death of Emperor Ling of Han in 189 CE, scholars, especially specialists of immortality fled the chaotic Yellow Turban Rebellion and moved to the extreme south of the empire, where Mouzi argued with them. Although very admirative of the Laozi, Mouzi, as he appears in the autobiographical introduction, was very hostile to immortality practices. He himself was born in Cangwu in Jiaozhou (present day Tonkin), where he studied the Confucian Classics, the Laozi and Buddhism.

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