{{See also|Buddhism and Eastern religions#Taoism}}
Since the fall of the [[Han Dynasty]], Chinese [[Taoism]] and [[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhism]] have accused each other of copying their texts. Since at least 166, Taoism hashad been propagating the idea that [[Laozi]] or one of his disciples went to India to become the Buddha in order to subdue the barbarians in the west. The Buddhists also fought back, and these debates continued until about the middle of the 9th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Auerback |first1=Micah L. |title=A storied sage: canon and creation in the making of a Japanese Buddha |date=2016 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago (Ill.) London |isbn=9780226286419 |pages=120-125 |url=https://academic.oup.com/chicago-scholarship-online/book/14387}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Raz |first1=Gil |title='Conversion of the Barbarians' [Huahu] Discourse as Proto Han Nationalism |journal=[[The Medieval History Journal]] |date=October 2014 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=255–294 |doi=10.1177/0971945814545862 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0971945814545862 |access-date=23 April 2024 |language=en |issn=0971-9458}}</ref>
