Editing Jin dynasty (266–420) (section)

=== Religion ===
[[File:Ku K'ai-chih 001.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Scene of the ''[[Admonitions Scroll]]'', traditionally considered as a Jin court painting by [[Gu Kaizhi]] ({{circa|345}}–406)]]
Taoism was polarised in the Jin dynasty. The Jin emperors repressed Taoists harshly, but also tried to exploit it, given the way it had been used near the end of the [[Han dynasty|Han era]] in the [[Yellow Turban Rebellion]]. Amidst the political turmoil of the era, many successful merchants, small landowners, and other moderately comfortable people found great solace in Taoist teachings and a number of major clans and military officers also took up the faith. [[Ge Hong]] emphasized loyalty to the emperor as a Taoist virtue; he even taught that rebels could never be Taoist immortals,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%8A%B1%E6%9C%B4%E5%AD%90/%E5%8D%B703|title=Baopuzi, Vol. 3|quote=欲求仙者，要當以忠孝和順仁信為本。若德行不修，而但務方術，皆不得長生也。}}</ref> which made Taoism more palatable to the imperial hierarchy. As a result, popular Taoist religions were considered [[heterodoxy]] while the official schools of the court were supported, but the popular schools like Tianshi [[Taoism]] were still secretly held dear and promulgated amongst ordinary people.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Disunity, disintegration, and chaos also made Buddhism more popular, in part due to the focus on addressing suffering. The Jin dynasty marked a critical era for the [[Mahayana]] school in China. [[Dharmarakṣa]]'s 286 translation of the ''[[Lotus Sutra]]'' was the most important one before [[Kumārajīva]]'s 5th-century translation. It was said that there were 1,768 Buddhist temples in the Eastern Jin.<ref>「東晉偏安一百四載，立寺乃一千七百六十有八，可謂侈盛……」Liu Shiheng (劉世珩,1874–1926) ''南朝寺考'' quoted from ''釋迦氏譜''</ref>

Furthermore, Taoism advanced [[chemistry]] and medicine in China, whereas the contribution of Mahayana was concentrated in [[philosophy]] and literature.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

{{wide image|Gu Kaizhi 001.jpg|3000px|The [[British Museum]] copy of ''The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies'', attributed to [[Gu Kaizhi]] ({{circa|344}}–406), but likely a [[Tang-era]] copy|dir=rtl}}