RT Article T1 A critical analysis and debate on the origins of the Lingbao fast JF Studies in Chinese Religions VO 8 IS 3 SP 339 OP 366 A1 Lü, Pengzhi 1969- LA English PB Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group YR 2022 UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1820791297 AB According to the author’s previous studies, the Daoist Lingbao fast, which appeared around 400, is a collective ritual that has the rite of Walking the Way as its core and that requires participants to observe a series of rules much like those of Buddhism. Building on the Sinified uposatha of Indian Buddhism, in combination with the Daoist rituals of the Heavenly Masters and the fangshi tradition, this ritual was created by the ancient Lingbao scriptures. However, in his recent work Han Jin daojiao yishi yu gu Lingbao jing yanjiu, Wang Chengwen holds an exactly opposite view of the origins of this ritual. He insists that the periodic fasts or the Lingbao fast derives from native Chinese religion, and that the periodic fasts in Chinese Buddhism imitate the latter. This article critiques Wang’s view from three angles with a large amount of textual evidence, aiming at developing the study on the Buddho-Daoist interaction in medieval China. K1 Buddhism K1 Daoism K1 uposatha K1 ancient Lingbao scriptures K1 Lingbao fast DO 10.1080/23729988.2022.2116855