In this Partially Examined Life podcast the presenters stated that when Buddhism moved into Chinese it naturally was influenced by the pre-existing Taoist philosophy which is uncontroversial. However they then when on to make thethis stronger claim that it was the influence of Taoism that was responsible for the development of Mahayana.
it was the influence of Taoism that was responsible for the development of Mahayana.
That is quite a claim and obviously the real position is more complex. However is there any truth in that statement? Was Taoism instrumental in the development of Mahayana Buddhism?