The acceptance of Buddhism varied depending on where you are from and your place in society. Some Confucian scholars agreed with the emperor in rejecting the belief as an external, uncultured cult because of its differences, while other Chinese scholars agreed with Buddha, saying that Buddhism had much to offer, and finally, a third response came from a combination of Chinese and Buddhist scholars, who tried to make the Buddhist belief fit in with the already existing Chinese ideologies of Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism.
One of the Confucian scholars that was against Buddhism was Han Yu, who wrote “Memorial on Buddhism” in 819 C.E. In this he talks about when the Buddha’s finger bone was brought to China from India. He calls the bones…