page_title: Mulian Rescues His Mother
section_title: Stages in the popularization of a canonical sutra
hierarchical_section_title: Mulian Rescues His Mother / Stages in the popularization of a canonical sutra
caption_attribution_description: English: 《目连救母》(Mulian jiumu), chinese book woot cut. Moggallana (Cn. Mulian), second chief disciple of the Buddha, asks from his master the way to save his mother (right-below) turned into a hungry ghost from hell. Chinese book. Français&#160;: 《目连救母》(Mulian jiumu) xylogravure d'un livre chinois. Moggallana, Mulian en chinois), second disciple du Bouddha, demande à son maître la façon de sauver sa mère (à droite en bas), changée en fantôme en colère. 中文: 《目连救母》，在中文書本的描述中，目犍連尊者（Moggallana，簡稱目連）是佛的第二隨侍，向其師佛陀請示如何救度墮入地獄餓鬼道的母親（圖中右下角）。中文書影印圖。
context_page_description: Mulian Rescues His Mother or Mulian Saves His Mother From Hell is a popular Chinese Buddhist tale first attested in a Dunhuang manuscript dating to the early 9th century CE. It is an elaboration of the canonical Yulanpen Sutra which was translated from Indic sources by Dharmarakṣa sometime between 265–311 CE. Maudgalyayana, whose abbreviated Chinese transliteration is Mulian, seeks the help of the Buddha to rescue his mother, who has been reborn in the preta world or in the Avici Hell, the karmic retribution for her transgressions. Mulian cannot rescue her by his individual effort, however, but is instructed by the Buddha to offer food and gifts to monks and monasteries on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, which established the Ghost Festival. While Mulian's devotion to his mother reassured East Asians that Buddhism did not undermine the Confucian value of filial piety and helped to make Buddhism into a Chinese religion, it also reflected strong undercurrents of filial piety that existed throughout Indian Buddhism as evidenced through its canonical texts and epigraphical remains.
  The story developed many variations and appeared in many forms.
caption: Mulian Intercedes With Buddha to Save His Mother
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