Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies 불교학연구 ISSN:1598-0642(Print)

In ancient society, religion interpreted fates of human beings or communities, and thereby prayed for the wellbeing of human society. This was the case for Buddhism in Ancient China as well. Ancient Chinese thought that human fate was generally determined from birth. They thought that human fate was determined and fixed by the “qi” that each individual was born with. However, they did not explain why everyone was born with different qi. They just said that it was by chance that one was born with certain kind of qi. In this sense, it could be said that the traditional view of fate in China was a combination of determinism and accidentalism. On the other hand, Buddhism interprets human fate through the theory of karma. It argues that present life is an effect of one’s former or past life, and the present life will, in turn, affect the future life. In interpreting one’s life, Buddhism does not restrict the interpretation to a single lifetime. Master Huiyuan (334-416) of Mount Lushan, an eminent monk who represented Southern Buddhism during the Period of Southern and Northern Dynasties, divided karmic retribution into three elements: xianbao, shengbao and houbao. He maintained that one’s actions would not only affect one’s present life, but the next life and the subsequent lives. Also, he defied the traditional Chinese view of karmic retribution, which insisted that ancestor’s deeds would affect the descendent. Instead, he asserted that the agent of karma and the recipient of retribution are the same. Thereupon, a new way of understanding human fate came to settle in China.