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

Since Beiwei was built by the Tuoba people, who were not the main people in China like the Han race, the sinicization of Beiwei was regarded reasonable. As the state grew, the emperors tried to adopt Han Chinese administrative systems and penal codes. The suppression of Buddhism must have been affected by the sinicization in a way. However, if the rulers of Beiwei had tried to sinicize not only law and order but also religion and culture, it would not have been possible for Buddhism to be the state religion two decades after the suppression. Buddhism seems to have been suppressed just to unify social policies and ideologies, not because of any conflict with Confucianism and Taoism. From the fact that Beiwei kept diplomatic exchanges with Khotan, the suppression of Buddhism cannot be regarded as meant to eliminate the religion. Even though there was suppression, Buddhism kept developing. After the change of the capital from Pingcheng to Luoyang, the state made economic exchanges with the countries in the western region of China. It is possible to assume that Beiwei took Buddhism as the state religion in this process. As seen in Luoyang Qielanji, the temples in Luoyang built by monks were the center of the people from western countries of China. The sinicization should be studied from a different point of view, and the development of Buddhism in Beiwei should be also reviewed with a new approach.