The Buddha as Sage-King

Early Buddhists in China had to explain the nature of the Buddha and the tenets of Buddhism using vocabulary and context that would make sense to a Chinese audience new to the Buddha’s teachings. This article will examine how the compilers of the Liudu ji jing (T152), a compendium of jataka stories traditionally dated to the mid-third century CE, used allusions and anecdotes found in the Chinese classics to present the Buddha as analogous to familiar Chinese figures, and suggest a connection between the Buddha, the Bodhisattva, and Chinese sage-kings of antiquity. The Liudu ji jing contains versions of stories familiar from Indic contexts, but frequently with very different emphases. These provide us with insights into early Buddhism in China in general, and deepen our understanding of how the nature of the Buddha was explained and understood in the first centuries of the Common Era.