sentences:  A third reason was the rise of the Neo-Confucians who wrote manifests against the foreign religion, believing its monastic and egalitarian philosophies destroyed the social system of duty and rights of the upper and lower classes.In 955, Emperor Shizong (r. 954-959) of the Later Zhou (951-960), due to the need for copper, ordered that Buddha statues be destroyed so that copper could be used to mint coins.His edict was issued at the threat of death (if one illegally continued to possess more than five "jin" (斤) (roughly 2.5 kilograms) of copper; lesser weights brought lesser penalties), but it is unclear how many Buddhist monks, nuns, or lay persons were executed under the requirements of the edicts.