This paper explains that the early Mahayana Buddhist sutras showed the close intermingling of lay and monastic lives guided
by the Mahayana scripture, which later matured into the patriarchal Chan lineage of the 8th century. The author relates that the Mahayana concepts influenced the roles of monks as renunciants and advocates of the Bodhisattva path: the idea of emptiness and salvation as a means of encouraging withdrawal from the household life and embracing the way of the
renunciant. The paper points out that the scriptural translators were incorporating
beliefs in filial piety coming from India with the indigenous beliefs of China.