 Emperor Wu’s subsequent persecutions of Buddhism, in 574 and 577, disrupted Buddhist institutions. Many monks fled to rural areas, seeking forms of Buddhism better suited to a Chinese context. Searching for ways to make Buddhism more accessible to laity, for more amenable practices and more achievable ideals, they also began exploring in earnest scriptures that receive little if any attention in the well-established schools of Indian Buddhism. The lack of definitive commentaries on these scriptures from established Indian traditions, together with political disruptions to the inertia of extant scholarly traditions of Buddhism, permitted a freedom of creative appropriation and innovation that resulted in traditions of Buddhism unique to the Chinese context. 