Theory of God's Destruction (English spelling)

Japanese: 神滅論 - しんめつろん（英語表記）shén miè lùn

This is an argument that maintains that not only does the "form" or body disappear with death, but also the "god" or soul. Many thinkers from the Later Han Dynasty, such as Huan Tan and Wang Chong, and Taoist thinkers from the Wei and Jin Dynasties, held this position, but since Buddhists from the Six Dynasties believed in the existence of eternal and immortal "gods" who were the subject of reincarnation and advocated the theory of the immortality of gods, the theory of the extinction of gods became a form of anti-Buddhism. The "theory of the extinction of gods" by Fan Jin of the Southern Dynasties is particularly famous. [Yoshikawa Tadao]

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

死とともに〈形〉すなわち肉体が消滅するだけでなく，〈神〉すなわち霊魂も消滅すると主張する議論。後漢の桓譚（かんたん）や王充，また魏･晋の道家の思想家たちのなかにはその立場をとるものが多かったが，六朝の仏家は輪廻転生（りんねてんしよう）の主体となる常住不滅の〈神〉の存在を考え，神不滅論をとなえたため，神滅論は一つの排仏論となった。なかでも南朝の范縝（はんしん）の《神滅論》は有名である。【吉川忠夫】

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Symmetry (English spelling)

>>: New and righteous path - Shinmei Masamichi