On the Magic-monks and Anti-monks in the Stories of the Tang Dynasty

In the stories of the Tang Dynasty, there are few eminent monk images and little Buddhist thoughts. The image of service type magic monks lacks Buddhist colour, and the image of monks who match magic powers merely symbolizes the defeat of Buddhism in its competition with Chinese traditional culture. The image of anti monks highlights the keynote of anti Buddhism. All these reflect the general trend of anti Buddhism in the stories of the Tang Dynasty.In the Six Dynasties, there are more pro Buddhism stories than anti Buddhism ones. In the Tang Dynasty, an opposite trend of anti buddhism exists owing to the imperial examinations that strenthen the affinity links between Chinese scholars and Chinese traditional culture.