Mouzi Lihuolun
Chinese Buddhist apologetic work in the form of a dialogue between Mouzi and an unnamed Chinese critic questioning Buddhism, who accepts Buddhism by the end
The Mouzi Lihuolun (simplified Chinese: 牟子理惑论; traditional Chinese: 牟子理惑論; pinyin: Móuzǐ lǐhuòlùn; Wade–Giles: Mou-tzu Li-huo-lün; lit. 'Master Mou's Treatise Settling Doubts') is a classic Chinese Buddhist text. It comprises a purportedly autobiographical preface by Master Mou, a late 2nd-century Confucian scholar-official who converted to Buddhism, and an imaginary dialogue of questions and answers about Buddhist practices.
Title
The Mouzi lihuolun is known under several names, including the abbreviated title Mouzi.
Mouzi compounds the uncommon Chinese surname Mou 牟 "seek; obtain" with the suffix -zi 子 "Master" (compare Laozi). The Japanese title Bōshi riwakuron 牟氏理惑論 (Chinese Moushi lihuolun) replaces shi (zi) "Master" with shi (shi) 氏 "Mister; a certain person."
Lihuolun combines li 理 "manage; put in order; acknowledge"; huo 惑 "confusion; delusion; doubt; suspicion"; and lun 論 "discourse; opinion; dissertation; essay."
According to Yu Jiaxi 余嘉錫, the original title Mouzi jihuolun 牟子治惑論 – with zhi 治 "rule; research; manage; cure; eliminate" instead of li – was changed to avoid the naming taboo on Emperor Gaozong of Tang's personal name Zhi 治.
English translations of Mouzi lihuolun include:
"Mou-tzu on the Settling of Doubts"
"Mou-tzu's Treatise on the Removal of Doubt" or "…Elimination of Delusion"
"Master Mou’s Treatise for the Removal of Doubts"
"Mouzi's Correction of Errors"
Some renditions of shortened Lihuolun are:
"Disposing of Error"
"Dispelling Doubts"
"The Removal of Doubts"
Content
The received Mouzi Lihuolun text contains a supposedly autobiographical Introduction, thirty-seven articles of Dialogue between Mouzi and an unnamed Chinese critic (or critics) questioning Buddhist practices, and a Postscript in which the critic converts to Buddhism.
The Introduction identifies the author as an Eastern Han dynasty Confucian scholar who is not mentioned in any Han-era historical records. (Later editions give the name of Mou Rong 牟融. Compare the Tang dynasty scholar also named Mou Rong 牟融.) After the death of Emperor Ling of Han in 189 CE, scholars, especially specialists of immortality fled the chaotic Yellow Turban Rebellion and moved to the extreme south of the empire, where Mouzi argued with them.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Mouzi Lihuolun” as chinese Buddhist apologetic work in the form of a dialogue between Mouzi and an unnamed Chinese critic questioning Buddhism, who accepts Buddhism by the end. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as chinese Buddhist apologetic work in the form of a dialogue between Mouzi and an unnamed Chinese critic questioning Buddhism, who accepts Buddhism by the end. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10788077. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mouzi Lihuolun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.