Han Yu believed that many Buddhist devotees among China's emperors died ahead of their time and caused the nation great harm: "They served Buddha to seek happiness, but in the end found only disaster," he wrote, and recommended that the Tang emperor Xianzong "cast the Buddha's remains into the fire, and thereby eliminate the roots of the problem."
韓愈認為許多事佛虔誠的帝王反而早夭亡國，「事佛求福，乃更得禍。」建議唐憲宗最好將佛骨「投諸水火，永絕根本。」