This essay aims at disclosing why the Sarvasvadisns’ way of arguments were
positively utilized in Sengzhao’s Wubuqianlun(物不遷論). Sengzhao is known a key
person to spread out the Madhyamika philosophy in China as successor of Kumārajīva.
However, it is frequently pointed out that his way of arguments seen in Wubuqianlun(物
不遷論) is very similar to the Sarvasvadins’ arguments that Nāgārjuna criticized and
overcame. This essay traced three major factors seen in early Chinese Buddhism that
might lead the Sengzhao’s way of arguments as it is a seemingly Sarvastivadins’ way.
The three conspicuous factors to be traced are a theory of the central Asian
Sarvāstivāda to give a great influence on the early Chinese Buddhist scholars, the
Neo-Taoists’ arguments of Being and Non-being in Wei Jin period, and Sengzhao’s
incomplete understanding of Zhonglun(中論). In Wubuqianlun(物不遷論), the
Sarvastivadins’ atomic beings resulted by spatio-temporl infinite division on phenomena
are interpreted by the concept of fundamental nothingness(本無) of Wangbi(王弼) which
is defined passively, negatively, and statically. Accordingly, the beings are understood as
motionless. Moreover, it was highly possible that the theory of the exclusive
development of all things(獨化論) asserted by Guoxiang(郭象) enhanced Sengzhao to
accept the Sarvastivadins’ ontology easily. In terms of the above three factors, it is very
hard to regard Sengzhao’s arguments seen in Wubuqianlun(物不遷論) as the arguments
to follow properly Nagarjuna’s Zhonglun(中論) that has resulted many misinterpretation
until now because of its difficulty of meaning decoding.