Because when Lao Tzu left Hangu Pass, he went to the Western Regions. At that time, I had a disciple named Buddha. This Buddha had a very high status in Buddhism, so the relationship between Buddha and Lao Tzu was that of a teacher. Buddhist, Buddhism was probably founded by Laozi.
According to historical records and modern research, Buddhism originated in ancient India in the sixth century BC. Its founder was the royal prince Siddhartha Gautama, who we often call Sakyamuni. Buddha. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced to China. Since then, Buddhism has taken root in China. Not only has more and more people believe in it, but it has also merged with Chinese Taoism and Confucianism to develop China's unique Zen, Pure Land, and Consciousness-only Sects. and ten other sects of Chinese Buddhism.
But the Chinese before ancient times believed that Buddhism was founded by our Chinese Laozi. Emperor Xiaoming held a separate meeting on this issue and called Taoist Jiang Bin and monk Tan Mo together to study where Buddhism came from.
Taoist Jiang Bin’s point of view is: when Lao Tzu rode a green ox out of Hangu Pass to the Western Regions, the Buddha in the Buddhist scriptures was just Lao Tzu’s attendant. So Buddha and Lao Tzu were contemporaries. Is the Buddha a follower of Lao Tzu? According to this inference, the founder of Buddhism is Laozi, and Buddhism becomes a branch of Taoism. This is also recorded in the "Laozi Kaitian Jing".
Monk Tan Mo’s point of view is: In the two books "Yiji of Zhou Shu" and "Hanfa Benneizhuan", it is said that Lao Tzu was born four hundred and twenty-five years after the Buddha's nirvana. There was a gap of more than 400 years. How could I be the teacher of the Buddha?
Later, in order to prove whether their two views were correct, Emperor Xiaoming asked other ministers to repeatedly demonstrate the three books, and finally concluded that "Laozi Kaitian Jing" was a fake book. It is not worth adopting. Monk Tan Mo’s statement is valid.
In fact, the real fact is that these three books are all fake books, but under the circumstances at that time, these three books were the most beneficial books and the best proof at the time.
Another reason why we think it was Laozi who founded Buddhism is that the seeds of Buddhism were planted by himself. At that time, Buddhism was not trusted by the Chinese, so they added the incarnation of Laozi to it, which was quickly accepted and trusted by the Chinese.