Complex sentence: In the Tang dynasty, Mulian was a popular topic of "sutra lectures" by monks, who often used pictures and songs to amuse their illiterate audiences, enriching the Mulian story with many variations and making it thoroughly Chinese.
Split into simpler sentences: In the Tang dynasty, Mulian was a popular topic of "sutra lectures" by monks. They often used pictures and songs to amuse their illiterate audiences, enriching the Mulian story with many variations and making it thoroughly Chinese.