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Full text of "Chinese Buddhism : a volume of sketches, historical, descriptive, and critical"

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THE FOLLOWING WORKS HAVE ALREADY APPEARED: 
Third Edition, post 8vo, cloth, pp. xvi. 428, price i6s. 

ESSAYS ON THE SACRED LANGUAGE, WRITINGS, 

AND RELIGION OF THE PARSIS. 

BY MARTIN HAUG, PH.D., 

Late of the Universities of Tiibingen, Gottingen, and Bonn ; Superintendent 
of Sanskrit Studies, and Professor of Sanskrit in the Poona College. 

EDITED AND ENLAKGED BY DR. E. W. WEST. 
To which is added a Biographical Memoir of the late Dr. HAUG 

by Prof. E. P. EVANS. 
I. History of the Researches into the Sacred Writings and Religion of the 

Parsis, from the Earliest Times down to the Present. 
II. Languages of the Parsi Scriptures. 

III. The Zend-Avesta, or the Scripture of the Par#is. 

IV. The Zoroastrian Religion, as to its Origin and Development. 

" Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsis, by the 
late Dr. Martin Hang, edited by Dr. E. W. West. The author intended, on his return 
from India, to expand the materials contained in this work into a comprehensive 
account of the Zoroastrian religion, but the design was frustrated by his untimely 
death. We have, however, in a concise and readable form, a history of the researches 
into the sacred writings and religion of the Parsis from the earliest times down to 
the present a dissertation on the languages of the Parsi Scriptures, a translation 
of the Zend-Avesta, or the Scripture of the Parsis, and a dissertation on the Zoroas- 
triau religion, with especial reference to its origin and development." Times. 



Post 8vo, cloth, pp. viii. 176, price ys. 6d. 

TEXTS FROM THE BUDDHIST CANON 

COMMONLY KNOWN AS " DHAMMAPADA." 

With Accompanying Narratives. 

Translated from the Chinese by S. BEAL, B.A., Professor of Chinese, 
University College, London. 

The Dhammapada, as hitherto known by the Pali Text Edition, as edited 
by Fausboll, by Max Miiller s English, and Albrecht Weber s German 
translations, consists only of twenty-six chapters or sections, whilst the 
Chinese version, or rather recension, as now translated by Mr. Beal, con 
sists of thirty-nine sections. The students of Pali who possess Fausboll s 
text, or either of the above-named translations, will therefore needs want 
Mr. Beal s English rendering of the Chinese version ; the thirteen above- 
named additional sections not being accessible to them in any other form ; 
for, even if they understand Chinese, the Chinese original would be un 
obtainable by them. 

"Mr. Beal s i-endering of the Chinese translation is a most valuable aid to the 
critical study of the work. It contains authentic texts gathered from ancient 
canonical books, and generally connected with some incident in the history of 
Buddha. Their great interest, however, consists in the light which they throw upon 
everyday life in India at the remote period at which they were written, and upon 
the method of teaching adopted by the founder of the religion. The method 
employed was principally parable, and the simplicity of the tales and the excellence 
of the morals inculcated, as well as the strange hold which they have retained upon 
the minds of millions of people, make them a very remarkable study." Times. 

"Mr. Beal, by making it accessible in an English dress, has added to the great ser 
vices he has already rendered to the comparative study of religious history." Academy 

"Valuable as exhibiting the doctrine of the Buddhists in its purest, least adul 
terated form, it brings themodern reader face to face with that simple creed and rule 
of conduct which won its way over the minds of myriads, and which is now nominally 
professed by 145 millions, who have overlaid its austere simplicity with innumerable 
ceremonies, forgotten its maxims, perverted its teaching, and so inverted its leading 
principle that a religion whose founder denied a God, now worships that founder as 
a god himself." Scotsman. 



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" A knowledge of the commonplace, at least, of Oriental literature, philo 
sophy, and religion is as necessary to the general reader of the present day 
as an acquaintance with the Latin and Greek classics was a generation or so 
ago. Immense strides have been made within the present century in these 
branches of learning ; Sanskrit has been brought within the range of accurate 
philology, and its invaluable ancient literature thoroughly investigated ; the 
language and sacred books of the Zoroastrians have been laid bare ; Egyptian, 
Assyrian, and other records of the remote past have been deciphered, and a 
group of scholars speak of still more recondite Accadiau and Hittite monu 
ments ; but the results of all the scholarship that has been devoted to these 
subjects have been almost inaccessible to the public because they were con 
tained for the most part in learned or expensive works, or scattered through 
out the numbers of scientific periodicals. Messrs. TRUBNER & Co., in a spirit 
of enterprise which does them infinite credit, have determined to supply the 
constantly-increasing want, and to give in a popular, or, at least, a compre 
hensive form, all this mass of knowledge to the world." Times. 



Second Edition, post 8vo, pp. xxxii. 748, with Map, cloth, price 2is. 

THE INDIAN EMPIEE : 
ITS PEOPLE, HISTORY, AND PRODUCTS. 

By the HON. SIR W. W. HUNTER, K.C.S.I., C.S.I., C.I.E., LL.D., 

Member of the Viceroy s Legislative Council, 
Director-General of Statistics to the Government of India. 

Being a Kevised Edition, brought up to date, and incorporating the general 
results of the Census of 1881. 

"It forms a volume of more than 700 pages, and is a marvellous combination of 
literary condensation and research. It gives a complete account of the Indian 
Empire, its history, peoples, and products, and forms the worthy outcome or 
seventeen years of labour with exceptional opportunities for rendering that labour 
fruitful. Nothing could be more lucid than Sir William Hunter s expositions of the 
economic and political condition of India at the present time, or more interesting 
than his scholarly history of the India of the past." The Times. 



TRUBNER S ORIENTAL SERIES. 



Second Edition, post 8vo, cloth, pp. xxiv. 360, price IDS. 6d. 

THE HISTORY OF INDIAN LITERATURE. 

BY ALBRECHT WEBER. 

Translated from the Second German Edition by JOHN MANN, M.A., and 
THEODOR ZACHARIAE, Ph.D., with the sanction of the Author. 

Dr. BUHLER, Inspector of Schools in India, writes: " When I was Pro 
fessor of Oriental Languages in Elphinstone College, I frequently felt the 
want of such a work to which I could refer the students." 

Professor CowELL, of Cambridge, writes : "It will be especially useful 
to the students in our Indian colleges and universities. I used to long for 
such a book when I was teaching in Calcutta. Hindu students are intensely 
interested in the history of Sanskrit literature, and this volume will supply 
them with all they want on the subject." 

Professor WHITNEY, Yale College, Newhaven, Conn., U.S.A., writes : 
" I was one of the class to whom the work was originally given in the form 
of academic lectures. At their first appearance they were by far the most 
learned and able treatment of their subject ; and with their recent additions 
they still maintain decidedly the same rank." 

" Is perhaps the most comprehensive and lucid survey of Sanskrit literature 
extant. The essays contained in the volume were originally delivered as academic 
lectures, and at the time of their first publication were acknowledged to be by far 
the most learned and able treatment of the subject. They have now been brought 

up to date by the addition of all the most important results of recent research " 

Times. 

Post 8vo, cloth, pp. xii. 198, accompanied by Two Language 
Maps, price ys. 6d. 

A SKETCH OF 
THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF THE EAST INDIES. 

BY ROBERT N. COST. 

The Author has attempted to fill up a vacuum, the inconvenience of 
which pressed itself on his notice. Much had been written about the 
languages of the East Indies, but the extent of our present knowledge had 
iiot even been brought to a focus. It occurred to him that it might be of 
use to others to publish in an arranged form the notes which he had collected 
for his own edification. 

" Supplies a deficiency which has long been felt." Times. 

" The book before us is then a valuable contribution to philological science. It 
passes under review a vast number of languages, and it gives, or professes to give, in 
every case the sum and substance of the opinions and judgments of the best-informed 
writers." Saturday Review. 

Second Corrected Edition, post 8vo, pp. xii. 116, cloth, price 53. 

THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD. 

A Poem. BY KALIDASA. 

Translated from the Sanskrit into English Verse by 
RALPH T. H. GRIFFITH, M.A. 

" A very spirited rendei ing of the Kumdrasambhava, which was first published 
twenty-six years ago, and which we are glad to see made once more accessible." 
Times. 

" Mr. Griffith s very spirited rendering is well known to most who are at all 
interested in Indian literature, or enjoy the tenderness of feeling and rich creative 
imagination of its author. " Indian Antiquary. 

" We are very glad to welcome a second edition of Professor Griffith s admirable 
translation. Few translations deserve a second edition better." Alhenttum. 



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Post 8vo, pp. 432, cloth, price i6s. 

A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY 

AND RELIGION, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, AND 

LITERATURE. 

BY JOHN DOWSON, M.R.A.S., 
Late Professor of Hindustani, Staff College. 

" This not only forms an indispensable book of reference to students of Indian 
literature, but is also of great general interest, as it gives in a concise and easily 
accessible form all that need be known about the personages of Hindu mythology 
whose names are so familiar, but of whom so little is known outside the limited 
circle of savants." Times. 

" It is no slight gain when such subjects are treated fairly and fully in a moderate 
space ; and we need only add that the few wants which we may hope to see supplied 
n new editions detract but little from the general excellence of Mr. Dowson s work." 
Saturday Review. _ 

Post 8vo, with View of Mecca, pp. cxii. 172, cloth, price QS. 

SELECTIONS FROM THE KORAN. 

BY EDWARD WILLIAM LANE, 

Translator of " The Thousand and One Nights ; " &c., &c. 
A New Edition, Revised and Enlarged, with an Introduction by 

STANLEY LANE POOLE. 

"... Has been Ion? esteemed in this country as the compilation of one of the 
greatest Arabic scholars of the time, the late Mr. Lane, the well-known translator of 
the Arabian Nights. . . . The present editor has enhanced the value of his 
relative s work by divesting the text of a great deal of extraneous matter introduced 
by way of comment, and prefixing an introduction." Times. 

"Mr. Poole is both a generous and a learned biographer. . . . Mr. Poole tells us 
the facts ... so far as it is possible for industry and criticism to ascertain them, 
and for literary skill to present them in a condensed and readable form." English 
man, Calcutta. __ 

Post 8vo, pp. vi. 368, cloth, price 143. 

MODERN INDIA AND THE INDIANS, 

BEING A SERIES OF IMPRESSIONS, NOTES, AND ESSAYS. 

BY MONIER WILLIAMS, D.C.L., 
Hon. LL.D. of the University of Calcutta, Hon. Member of the Bombay Asiatic 

Society, Boden Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Oxford. 
Third Edition, revised and augmented by considerable Additions, 

with Illustrations and a Map. 

" In this volume we have the thoughtful impressions of a thoughtful man on some 
of the most important questions connected witli our Indian Empire. . . . An en 
lightened observant man, travelling among an enlightened observant people, Professor 
Monier Williams has brought before the public in a pleasant form more of the manners 
and customs of the Queen s Indian subjects than we ever remember to have seen in 
any one work. He not only deserves the thanks of every Englishman for this able 
contribution to the study of Modern India a subject with which we should be 
specially familiar but he deserves the thanks of every Indian, Parsee or Hindu. 
Buddhist and Moslem, for his clear exposition of their manners, their creeds, and 
their necessities." Times. 



Post 8vo, pp. xliv. 376. cloth, price 143. 

METRICAL TRANSLATIONS FROM SANSKRIT 
WRITERS. 

With an Introduction, many Prose Versions, and Parallel Passages from 

Classical Authors. 

BY J. MUIR, C.I.E., D.C.L., LL.D., Ph.D. 
"... An agreeable introduction to Hindu poetry." Times. 

"... A volume which may be taken as a fair illustration alike of the religious 
at id moral sentiments and of the legendary lore of the best Sanskrit writers." 
Edinburgh Daily Review. 



TRUBNER S ORIENTAL SERIES. 



Second Edition, post 8vo, pp. xxvi. 244, cloth, price ics. 6d. 

THE GULISTAN; 
OB, ROSE GARDEN OF SHEKH MUSHLIU D-DIN SADI OF SHIRAZ. 

Translated for the First Time into Prose and Verse, with an Introductory 
Preface, and a Life of the Author, from the Atish Kadah, 

BY EDWARD B. EASTWICK, C.B., M.A., F.R.S., M.R.A.S. 

" It is a very fair rendering of the original." Times. 

" The new edition has long been desired, and will be welcomed by all who take 
any interest in Oriental poetry. The Gulistan is a typical Persian verse-book of the 
highest order. Mr. Eastwick s rhymed translation . . . has long established itself in 
u secure position as the best version of Sadi s finest work." Academy. 

" It is both faithfully and gracefully executed." Tablet. 



In Two Volumes, post 8vo, pp. viii. 408 and viii. 348, cloth, price 283. 

MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS RELATING TO INDIAN 
SUBJECTS. 

Br BRIAN HOUGHTON HODGSON, ESQ., F.R.S., 

Late of the Bengal Civil Service ; Corresponding Member of the Institute ; Chevalier 
of the Legion of Honour ; late British Minister at the Court of Nepal, &c., &c. 

CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 

SECTION I. On the Kocch, Bodo, and Dhimal Tribes. Part I. Vocabulary. 
Part II. Grammar. Part III. Their Origin, Location, Numbers, Creed, Customs, 
Character, and Condition, with a General Description of the Climate they dwell in 
Appendix. 

SECTION II. On Himalayan Ethnology. I. Comparative Vocabulary of the Lan 
guages of the Broken Tribes of Ne pal. II. Vocabulary of the Dialects of the Kirant 
Language. III. Grammatical Analysis of the Vayu Language. The Vayu Grammar. 
IV. Analysis of the Bahing Dialect of the Kiranti language. The Balling Gram 
mar. V. On the Vayu or Hayu Tribe of the Central Himalaya. VI. On tne Kiranti 
Tribe of the Central Himalaya. 

CONTENTS OF VOL. II. 

SECTION III. On the Aborigines of North-Eastern India. Comparative Vocabulary 
of the Tibetan, Bodo, and Garo Tongues. 

SECTION IV. Aborigines of the North-Eastern Frontier. 

SECTION V. Aborigines of the Eastern Frontier. 

SECTION VI. The Indo-Chinese Borderers, and their connection with the Hima- 
layans and Tibetans. Comparative Vocabulary of Indo-Chinese Borderers in Arakan. 
Comparative Vocabulary of Indo-Chinese Borderers in Tenasserim. 

SECTION VII. The Mongolian Affinities of the Caucasians. Comparison and Ana 
lysis of Caucasian and Mongolian Words. 

SECTION VIII. Physical Type of Tibetans. 

SECTION IX. The Aborigines of Central India. Comparative Vocabulary of the 
Aboriginal Languages of Central India. Aborigines of the Eastern Ghats. Vocabu 
lary of some of the Dialects of the Hill and Wandering Tribes in the Northern Sircars. 
Aborigines of the Nilgiris, with Remarks on their Affinities. Supplement to the 
Nilgirian Vocabularies. The Aborigines of Southern India and Ceylon. 

SECTION X. Route of Nepalese Mission to Pekin, with Remarks on the Water- 
Shed and Plateau of Tibet. 

SECTION XL Route from Kathmandu, the Capital of Nepal, to Darjeeling in 
Sikim. Memorandum relative to the Seven Cosis of Nepal. 

SECTION XII. Some Accounts of the Systems of Law and Police as recognised in 
the State of Nepal. 

SECTION XIII. The Native Method of making the Paper denominated Hindustan, 
Nepalese. 

SECTION XIV. Pre-eminence of the Vernaculars ; or, the Anglicists Answered ; 
Being Letters on the Education of the People of India. 

" For the study of the less-known races of India Mr. Brian Hodgson s Miscellane 
ous Essays will be found very valuable both to the philologist and the ethnologist." 



TRUBNER S ORIENTAL SERIES. 



Third Edition, Two Vols., post 8vo, pp. viii. 268 and viii. 326, cloth, 
price 2is. 

THE LIFE OR LEGEND OF GAUDAMA, 

THE BUDDHA OF THE BURMESE. With Annotations. 
The Ways to Neibban, and Notice on the Phongyies or Burmese Monks. 

BY THE RIGHT REV. P. BIGANDET, 
Bishop of Ramatha, Vicar- Apostolic of Ava and Pegu. 

"The work is furnished with copious notes, wnich not only illustrate the subject- 
matter, but form a perfect encyclopaedia of Buddhist lore." Times. 

"A work which will furnish European students of Buddhism with a most valuable 
help in the prosecution of their investigations." Edinburgh Daily Review. 

" Bishop Bigandet s invaluable work." Indian Antiquary. 

" Viewed in this light, its importance is sufficient to place students of the subject 
under a deep obligation to its author." Calcutta Review. 

"This work is one of the greatest authorities upon Buddhism." Dublin Review. 

Post 8vo, pp. xxiv. 420, cloth, price i8s. 

CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

A VOLUME OF SKETCHES, HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL. 
BY J. EDKINS, D.D. 

Author of "China s Place in Philology," "Religion in China," &c., &c. 

"It contains a vast deal of important information on the subject, such as is only 
to be gained by long-continued study on the spot." Athenceum. 

" Upon the whole, we know of no work comparable to it for the extent of its 
original research, and the simplicity with which this complicated system of philo 
sophy, religion, literature, and ritual is set forth." British Quarterly Review. 

" The whole volume is replete with learning. ... It deserves most careful study 
from all interested in the history of the religions of the world, and expressly of those 
who are concerned in the propagation of Christianity. Dr. Edkins notices in terms 
of just condemnation the exaggerated praise bestowed upon Buddhism by recent 
English writers." Record. 



Post 8vo, pp. 496, cloth, price xos. 6d. 
LINGUISTIC AND ORIENTAL ESSAYS. 

WRITTEN FROM THE YEAR 1846 TO 1878. 

BY ROBERT NEEDHAM GUST, 

Late Member of Her Majesty s Indian Civil Service ; Hon. Secretary to 

the Royal Asiatic Society; 
and Author of " The Modern Languages of the East Indies." 

"We know none who has described Indian life, especially the life of the natives, 
with so much learning, sympathy, and literary talent." Academy. 

" They seem to us to be full of suggestive and original remarks." --Si. James s Gazette. 

" His book contains a vast amount of information. The result of thirty-five years 
of inquiry, reflection, and speculation, and that on subjects as full of fascination as 
of food for thought." Tablet. 

" Exhibit such a thorough acquaintance with the history and antiquities of India 
as to entitle him to speak as one having authority." Edinburgh Daily Review. 

" The author speaks with the authority of personal experience It is this 

constant association with the country and the people which gives such a vividness 
to many of the pages." Athenceum. 



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Post 8vo, pp. civ. 348, cloth, price i8s. 

BUDDHIST BIRTH STORIES; or, Jataka Tales. 

The Oldest Collection of Folk-lore Extant : 

BEING THE JATAKATTHAVANNANA, 

For the first time Edited in the original Pali. 

BY V. FAUSBOLL ; 

And Translated by T. W. RHYS DAVIDS. 

Translation. Volume I. 

"These are tales supposed to have been told by the Buddha of what he had seen 
and heard in his previous births. They are probably the nearest representatives 
of the original Aryan stories from which sprang the folk-lore of Europe as well as 
India. The introduction contains a most interesting disquisition on the migrations 
of these fables, tracing their reappearance in the various groups of folk-lore legends. 
Among other old friends, we meet with a version of the Judgment of Solomon. " Times. 

" It is now some years since Mr. Rhys Davids asserted his right to be heard on 
this subject by his able article on Buddhism in the new edition of the Encyclopasdia 
Britannica. " Leeds Mercury. 

"All who are interested in Buddhist literature ought to feel deeply indebted to 
Mr. Rhys Davids. His well-established reputation as a Pali scholar is a sufficient 
guarantee for the fidelity of his version, and the styio of his translations is deserving 
of high praise." Academy. 

" No more competent expositor of Buddhism could be found than Mr. Rhys Davids. 
In the Jfitaka book we have, then, a priceless record of the earliest imaginative 
literature of our race ; and ... it presents to us a nearly complete picture of the 
social life and customs and popular beliefs of the common people of Aryan tribes, 
closely related to ourselves, just as they were passing through the first stages of 
civilisation. "St. James s Gazette. 



Post 8vo, pp. xxviii. -362, cloth, price 143. 

A TALMUDIC MISCELLANY; 
OR, A THOUSAND AND ONE EXTRACTS FKOM THE TALMUD, 

THE MIDRASHIM, AND THE KABBALAH. 

Compiled and Translated by PAUL ISAAC HERSHON, 

Author of " Genesis According to the Talmud," &c. 

With Notes and Copious Indexes. 

" To obtain in so concise and handy a form as this volume a general idea of the 
Talmud is a boon to Christians at least." Times. 

" Its peculiar and popular character will make it attractive to general readers. 
Mr. Hershon is a very competent scholar. . . . Contains samples of the good, bad, 
and indifferent, and especially extracts that throw light upon the Scriptures." 
British Quarterly Review. 

" Will convey to English readers a more complete and truthful notion of the 
Talmud than any other work that has yet appeared." Daily News. 

" Without overlooking in the slightest the several attractions of the previous 
volumes of the Oriental Series. we have no hesitation in saying that this surpasses 
them all in interest." Edinburgh Daily Review. 

" Mr. Hershon has . . . thus given English readers what is, we believe, a fair set 
of specimens which they can test for themselves." The Record. 

" This book is by far the best fitted in the present state of knowledge to enable the 
general reader to gain a fair and unbiassed conception of the multifarious contents 
of the wonderful miscellany which can only be truly understood so Jewish pride 
asserts by the life-long devotion of scholars of the Chosen People." Inquirer. 

" The value and importance of this volume consist in the fact that scarcely a single 
extract is given in its pages but throws some light, direct or refracted, upon thoso 
Scriptures which are the common heritage of Jew and Christian alike." John Bull. 

" It is a capital specimen of Hebrew scholarship ; a monument of learned, loving, 
light-giving labour." Jewish Herald. 



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Post 8vo, pp. xii. 228, cloth, price ys. 6d. 

THE CLASSICAL POETRY OF THE JAPANESE. 

BY BASIL HALL CHAMBERLAIN, 
Author of " Yeigo Henkaku Shiran." 

" A very curious volume. The author has manifestly devoted much labour to the 
task of studying the poetical literature of the Japanese, and rendering characteristic 
specimens into English verse. " Daily News. 

" Mr. Chamberlain s volume is, so far as we are aware, the first attempt which has 
been made to interpret the literature of the Japanese to the Western world. It is to 
the classical poetry of Old Japan that we must turn for indigenous Japanese thought, 
and in the volume before us we have a selection from that poetry rendered into 
graceful English verse." Tablet. 

"It is undoubtedly one of the best translations of lyric literature which has 
appeared during the close of the last year." Celestial Empire. 

"Mr. Chamberlain set himself a difficult task when he undertook to reproduce 
Japanese poetry in an English form. But he has evidently laboured con amore, and 
his efforts are successful to a degree." London and China Express. 



Post 8vo, pp. xii. 164, cloth, price IDS. 6d. 

THE HISTORY OF ESARHADDON (Son of Sennacherib), 

KING OF ASSYRIA, B.C. 681-668. 

Translated from the Cuneiform Inscriptions upon Cylinders and Tablets in 
the British Museum Collection ; together with a Grammatical Analysis 
of each Word, Explanations of the Ideographs by Extracts from the 
Bi-Lingual Syllabaries, and List of Eponyms, &c. 

Br ERNEST A. BUDGE, B.A., M.R.A.S., 
Assyrian Exhibitioner, Christ s College, Cambridge. 

11 Students of scriptural archaeology will also appreciate the History of Esar- 
haddon. " Times. 

" There is much to attract the scholar in this volume. It does not pretend to 
popularise studies which are yet in their infancy. Its primary object is to translate, 
but it does not assume to be more than tentative, and it offers both to the professed 
Assyriologist and to the ordinary non-Assyriological Semitic scholar the means of 
controlling its results." Academy. 

"Mr. Budge s book is, of course, mainly addressed to Assyrian scholars and 
students. They are not, it is to be feared, a very numerous class. But the more 
thanks are due to him on that account for the way in which he has acquitted himself 
in his laborious task." Tablet. 



Post 8vo, pp. 448, cloth, price 213. 

THE MESNEVI 

(Usually known as THE MESNEVIYI SHERIF, or HOLY MESNEVI) 

OF 
MEVLANA (OUR LORD) JELALU D-DIN MUHAMMED ER-RUMI. 

Book the First. 
Together with some Account of the Life and Acts of the Author, 

of his Ancestors, and of his Descendants. 
Illustrated by a Selection of Characteristic Anecdotes, as Collected 

by their Historian, 
MEVLANA SHEMSU- D-DIN AHMED, EL EFLAKI, EL ARIFI. 

Translated, and the Poetry Versified, in English, 
BY JAMES W. REDHOUSE, M.R.A.S., &c. 

" A complete treasury of occult Oriental lore." Saturday Review. 

This book will be a very valuable help to the reader ignorant of Persia, who is 
desirous of obtaining an insight into a very important department of the literature 
extant in that language." Tablet. 



TRUBNER S ORIENTAL SERIES. 



Post 8vo, pp. xvi. 280, cloth, price 6s. 

EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS 

ILLUSTRATING OLD TRUTHS. 

BY REV. J. LONG, 
Member of the Bengal Asiatic Society, F.R.G.S. 

" We regard the book as valuable, and wish for it a wide circulation and attentive 
reading. " Record. 

" Altogether, it is quite a feast of good things." Globe. 
" It is full of interesting matter." Antiquary. 

Post 8vo, pp. viii. 270, cloth, price 73. 6d. 

INDIAN POETRY; 

Containing a New Edition of the "Indian Song of Songs," from the Sanscrit 
of the "Gita Goviuda" of Jayadeva ; Two Books from "The Iliad of 
India" (Mahabharata), "Proverbial Wisdom " from the Shlokas of the 
Hitopadesa, and other Oriental Poems. 
BY EDWIN ARNOLD, C.S.I., Author of "The Light of Asia." 

" In this new volume of Messrs. Triibiier s Oriental Series, Mr. Edwin Arnold does 
good service by illustrating, through the medium of his musical English melodies, 
the power of Indian poetry to stir European emotions. The Indian Song of Songs 
is not unknown to scholars. Mr. Arnold will have introduced it among popular 
English poems. Nothing could be more graceful and delicate than the shades by 
which Krishna is portrayed in the gradual process of being weaned by the love of 

Beautiful Radha, jasmine-bosomed Hadha, 

from the allurements of the forest nymphs, in whom the five senses are typified." 
Times. 

" No other English poet lias ever thrown his genius and his art so thoroughly into 
the work of translating Eastern ideas as Mr. Arnold has done in his splendid para 
phrases of language contained in these mighty epics." Daily Telegraph. 

" The poem abounds with imagery of Eastern luxuriousness and sensuousnt ss ; the 
air seems laden with the spicy odours of the tropics, and the verse has a richness and 
a melody sufficient to captivate the senses of the dullest." Standard. 

" The translator, while producing a very enjoyable poem, has adhered with toler 
able fidelity to the original text." Overland Mail. 

"We certainly wish Mr. Arnold success in his attempt to popularise Indian 
classics, that being, as his preface tells us, the goal towards which he bends his 
efforts." Allen s Indian Mail. 

Post 8vo, pp. xvi. 296, cloth, price IDS. 6d. 

THE MIND OF MENCIUS ; 
OR, POLITICAL ECONOMY FOUNDED UPON MORAL 

PHILOSOPHY. 
A SYSTEMATIC DIGEST OF THE DOCTRINES OP THE CHINESE PHILOSOPHER 

MENCIUS. 
Translated from the Original Text and Classified, with 

Comments and Explanations, 
By the REV. ERNST FABER, Rhenish Mission Society. 

Translated from the German, with Additional Notes, 
By the REV. A. B. HUTCHINSON, C. M.S., Church Mission, Hong Kong. 

" Mr. Paber is already well known in the field of Chinese studies by his digest of 
the doctrines of Confucius. The value of this work will be perceived when it is 
remembered that at no time since relations commenced between China and the 
West has the former been so powerful we had almost said aggressive as now. 
For those who will give it careful study, Mr. Faber s work is one of the most 
valuable of the excellent series to which it belongs." Nature. 

A 2 



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Post 8vo, pp. 336, cloth, price 163. 

THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA. 
BY A. EARTH. 

Translated from the French with the authority and assistance of the Author. 

The author has, at the request of the publishers, considerably enlarged 
the work for the translator, and has added the literature of the subject to 
date ; the translation may, therefore, be looked upon as an equivalent of a 
new and improved edition of the original. 

" Is not only a valuable manual of the religions of India, which marks a distinct 
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admitted to present the best summary extant of the vast subject with which it 
deals." Tablet. 

" This is not only on the whole the best but the only manual of the religions of 
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for it is in reality only one, which it proposes to describe." Modern Review. 

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HINDU PHILOSOPHY. 

THE SANKHYA KARIKA OF IS WARA KRISHNA. 

An Exposition of the System of Kapila, with an Appendix on the 
Nyaya and Vais eshika Systems. 

BY JOHN DAVIES, M.A. (Cantab.), M.R.A.S. 

The system of Kapila contains nearly all that India has produced in the 
department of pure philosophy. 

"The non-Orientalist . . . finds in Mr. Davies a patient and learned guide who 
leads him into the intricacies of the philosophy of India, and supplies him with a clue, 
that he may not be lost in them. In the preface he states that the system of 
Kapila is the earliest attempt on record to give an answer, from reason alone, 
to the mysterious questions which arise in every thoughtful mind about the origin of 
the world, the nature and relations of man and his future destiny, and in his learned 
and able notes he exhibits the connection of the Sankhya system with the philo 
sophy of Spinoza, and the connection of the system of Kapila with that of Schopen 
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" Mr. Davies s volume on Hindu Philosophy is an undoubted gain to all students 
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A MANUAL OF HINDU PANTHEISM. VEDANTASARA, 

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BY MAJOR G. A. JACOB, 
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The design of this little work is to provide for missionaries, and for 
others who, like them, have little leisure for original research, an accurate 
summary of the doctrines of the Vedanta. 

" The modest title of Major Jacob s work conveys but an inadequate idea of the 
vast amount of research embodied in his notes to the text of the Vedantasara. So 
copious, indeed, are these, and so much collateral matter do they bring to bear on 
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adequate view of Hindu philosophy generally. His work ... is one of the best of 
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TSUNI I I GO AM : 

THE SUPREME BEING OF THE KHOI-KHOI. 
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of the Geogr. Society, Dresden ; Corresponding Member of the 

Anthropological Society, Vienna, &c., &c. 

"The first instalment of Dr. Halm s labours will be of interest, not at the Cape 
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what he has been able to collect himself." Prof. Max MiMer in the Nineteenth 
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THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. 

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THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM. 

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THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM. 

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THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS AND 
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A COMPARATIVE HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIAN AND 

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Vol. I. HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION. 

Translated from the Dutch with the Assistance of the Author. 

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YUSUF AND ZULAIKHA. 

A POEM BY JAMI. 

Translated from the Persian into English Verse. 
BY RALPH T. H. GRIFFITH. 

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LINGUISTIC ESSAYS. 
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THE SARVA-DARSANA-SAMGRAHA; 

OR, REVIEW OF THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF HINDU 
PHILOSOPHY. 

BY MADHAVA ACHARYA. 

Translated by E. B. COAVELL, M. A., Professor of Sanskrit in the University 
of Cambridge, and A. E. GOUGH, M.A., Professor of Philosophy 

in the Presidency College, Calcutta. 

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author successively passes in review the sixteen philosophical systems 
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appears to him to be their most important tenets. 

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thought. A th enceum. 



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TIBETAN TALES DERIVED FROM INDIAN SOURCES. 

Translated from the Tibetan of the KAH-GYDR. 

BY F. ANTON VON SCHIEFNER. 
Done into English from the German, with an Introduction, 

BY W. R. S. RALSTON, M.A. 

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divisions of the Tibetan sacred books." Academy. 

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Review. 

" Ought to interest all who care for the East, for amusing stories, or for comparative 
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UDANAVARGA. 

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BEING THE NOETHEEN BUDDHIST VEESION OF DHAMMAPADA. 

Translated from the Tibetan of Bkah-hgyur, with Notes, and 
Extracts from the Commentary of Pradjuavarman, 

By W. WOODVILLE EOCKHILL. 

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term of comparison available to us. The Udanavarga, the Thibetan version, was 
originally discovered by the late M. Schiefner, who published the Tibetan text, and 
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A SKETCH OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF AFRICA. 

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OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF RELIGION TO THE 

SPREAD OF THE UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS. 

BY C. P. TIELE, 

Doctor of Theology, Professor of the History of Eeligions in the 
University of Leyden. 

Translated from the Dutch by J. ESTLIN CARPENTER, M.A. 

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rious study, or enable the reader to gain a better bird s-eye view of the latest results 
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A HISTORY OF BURMA. 

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BY LIEUT. -GEN. SIR ARTHUR P. PHAYRE, G.C.M.G., K. C.S.I., and C.B., 

Membre Correspondant de la Societe Academique Indo-Chinoise 

de France. 

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RELIGION IN CHINA. 

By JOSEPH EDKINS, D.D., PEKING. 

Containing a Brief Account of the Three Religions of the Chinese, with 
Observations on the Prospects of Christian Conversion amongst that 
People. 

" Dr. Edkins has been most careful in noting the varied and often complex phases 

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" As a missionary, it has been part of Dr. Edkins duty to study the existing 

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" Dr. Edkins valuable work, of which this is a second and revised edition, has. 
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of which it treats." Nonconformist. 

" Dr. Edkins . . . may now be fairly regarded as among the first authorities on 
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THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA AND THE EARLY 
HISTORY OF HIS ORDER. 

Derived from Tibetan Works in the Bkah-hgyur and Bstan-hgyur. 

Followed by notices on the Early History of Tibet and Khoten. 
Translated by W. W. ROCKHILL, Second Secretary U. S. Legation in China. 

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ject." Times. 

" Will be appreciated by those who devote themselves to those Buddhist studies 
which have of late years t;iken in these Western regions so remarkable a develop 
ment. Its matter possesses a special interest as being derived from ancient Tibetan 
works, some portions of which, here analysed and translated, have not yet attracted 
the attention of scholars. The volume is rich in ancient stories bearing upon the 
world s renovation and the origin of castes, as recorded in these venerable autho 
rities." Daily News. 

Third Edition. Post 8vo, pp. viii.~464, cloth, price i6s. 

THE SANKHYA APHORISMS OF KAPILA, 

With Illustrative Extracts from the Commentaries. 
Translated by J. R. BALLANTYNE, LL.D., late Principal of the Benares 

College. 
Edited by FITZEDWARD HALL. 

The work displays a vast expenditure of labour and scholarship, for which 
students of Hindoo philosophy have every reason to be grateful to Dr. Hall and the 
publishers." Calcutta Review. 



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BUDDHIST RECORDS OF THE WESTERN WORLD, 

Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (A.D. 629). 
BY SAMUEL BEAL, B.A., 

(Trin. Coll., Camb.) ; R.N. (Retired Chaplain and N.I.) ; Professor of Chinese, 
University College, London ; Rector of Wark, Northumberland, &c. 

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THE ORDINANCES OF MANU. 

Translated from the Sanskrit, with an Introduction. 
By the late A. C. BURNELL, Ph.D., C.I.E. 

Completed and Edited by E. W. HOPKINS, Ph.D., 
of Columbia College, N.Y. 

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of religion it is full of importance. It is a great boon to get so notable a work in so 
accessible a form, admirably edited, and competently translated." Scotsman. 

"Few men were more competent than Burnell to give us a really good translation 
of this well-known law book, first rendered into English by Sir William Jones. 
Burnell was uot only an independent Sanskrit scholar, but an experienced lawyer, 
and he joined to these two important qualifications the rare faculty of being able to 
express his thoughts in clear and trenchant English. . . . We ought to feel very 
grateful to Dr. Hopkins for having given us all that could be published of the trans 
lation left by Burnell." F. MAX MULLEH in the Academy. 



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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ALEXANDER 
CSOMA DE KOROS, 

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published|Works and Essays. From Original and for most part Unpub 
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By THEODORE DUKA, M.D., F.R.C.S. (Eng.), Surgeon-Major 
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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO 
INDO-CHINA. 

Reprinted from " Dalrymple s Oriental Repertory," "Asiatic Researches," 
and the "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal." 

CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 

I. Some Accounts of Quedah. By Michael Topping. 

II. Report made to the Chief and Council of Balambangan, by Lieut. James 
Barton, of his several Surveys. 

III. Substance of a Letter to the Court of Directors from Mr. John Jesse, dated 
July 20, 1775, at Borneo Proper. 

IV. Formation of the Establishment of Poolo Peenang. 

V. The Gold of Limong. By John Macdonald. 

VI. On Three Natural Productions of Sumatra. By John Macdonald. 

VII On the Traces of the Hindu Language and Literature extant amongst the 
Malays. By William Marsden. 

VIII. Some Account of the Elastic Gum Vine of Prince-Wales Island. By James 
Howison. 

IX. A Botanical Description of Urceola Elastica, or Caoutchouc Vine of Sumatra 
and Pulo-Pinang. By William Roxburgh, M.D. 

X. An Account of the Inhabitants of the Foggy, or Nassau Islands, lying off 
Sumatra. By John Crisp. 

XI. Remarks on the Species of Pepper which are found on Prince- Wales Island. 
By William Hunter, M.D. 

XII. On the Languages and Literature of the Indo-Chinese Nations. By J. 
Leyden, M.D. 

XIII. Some Account of an Orang-Outang of remarkable height found on the Island 
of Sumatra. By Clarke Abel, M.D. 

XIV. Observations on the Geological Appearances and General Features of Por 
tions of the Malayan Peninsula. By Captain James Low. 

XV. Short Sketch of the Geology of Pulo-Pinang and the Neighbouring Islands. 
By T. Ware. 

XVI. Climate of Singapore. 

XVII. Inscription on the Jetty at Singapore. 

XVIII. Extract of a Letter from Colonel J. Low. 

XIX. Inscription at Singapore. 

XX. An Account of Several Inscriptions found in Province Wellesley. By Lieut .- 

Col. James Low. 

XXI. Note on the Inscriptions from Singapore and Province Wellesley. By J. W. 
Laidlay. 

XXII. On an Inscription from Keddah. By Lieut.-Col. Low. 

XXIII. A Notice of the Alphabets of the Philippine Islands. 

XXIV. Succinct Review of the Observations of the Tides in the Indian Archipelago. 

XXV. Report on the Tin of the Province of Mergui. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere. 

XXVI. Report on the Manganese of Mergui Province. By Capt. G. B. Tremeuheere. 

XXVII. Paragraphs to be added to Capt. G. B. Tremenheere s Report. 

XXVIII. Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere. 

XXIX. Analysis of Iron Ores from Tavoy and Mergui, and of Limestone from 
Mergui. By Dr. A. Ure. 

XXX. Report of a Visit to the Pakchan River, and of some Tin Localities in tho 

Southern Portion of the Tenasserim Provinces. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere. 

XXXI Report on a Route from the Mouth of the Pakchan to Krau, and thence 
across the Isthmus of Krau to the Gulf of Siam. By Capt. Al. Fraser and Capt. J. G. 
Forlong. 

XXXII. Report, &c. , from Capt. G. B. Tremenheere on the Price of Mergui Tin Ore. 

XXXIII. Remarks on the Different Species of Orang-utan. By E. Blyth. 

XXXIV. Further Remarks. By E. Blyth. 



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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO INDO-CHINA 
continued. 



CONTENTS OF VOL. II. 

XXXV. Catalogue of Mammalia inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands. 
By Theodore Cantor, M.D. 

XXXVI. On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore. By J. R. Logan. 

XXXVII. Catalogue of Reptiles inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands. 
By Theodore Cantor, M.D. 

XXXVIII. Some Account of the Botanical Collection brought from the Eastward, 
in 1841, by Dr. Cantor. By the late W. Griffith. 

XXXIX. On the Flat-Horned Taurine Cattle of S.E. Asia. By E. Blyth. 

XL. Note, by Major-General G. B. Tremenheere. 

General Index. 

Index of Vernacular Terms. 

Index of Zoological Genera and Sub-Genera occurring in Vol. II. 

"The papers treat of almost every aspect of Indo-China its philology, economy, 
geography, geology and constitute a very material and important contribution to 
our accessible information regarding that country and its people." Contemporary 
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Post 8vo, pp. xii.-72, cloth, price 53. 

THE SATAKAS OF BHARTRIHARI. 

Translated from the Sanskrit 

By the REV. B. HALE WORTHAM, M.R.A.S., 

Rector of Eggesford, North Devon. 

" A very interesting addition to Triibner s Oriental Series." Saturday Review. 
"Many of the Maxims in the book have a Biblical ring and beauty of expression." 
St. James Gazette. 

Post 8vo, pp. xii.-i8o, cloth, price 6s. 

ANCIENT PROVERBS AND MAXIMS FROM BURMESE 

SOURCES ; 

OR, THE NITI LITERATURE OF BURMA. 
BY JAMES GRAY, 

Author of "Elements of Pali Grammar," "Translation of the 
Dhammapada," &c. 

The Sanscrit-Pali word Niti is equivalent to "conduct" in its abstract, 
and "guide" in its concrete signification. As applied to books, it is a 
general term for a treatise which includes maxims, pithy sayings, and 
didactic stories, intended as a guide to such matters of every-day life as 
form the character of an individual and influence him in his relations to his 
fellow-men. Treatises of this kind have been popular in all ages, and have 
served as a most effective medium of instruction. 



Post 8vo, pp. xxxii. and 330, cloth, price ys. 6d. 
MASNAVI I MA NAVI: 

THE SPIRITUAL COUPLETS OP MAULANA JALALU- D-DIN 
MUHAMMAD I RUMI. 

Translated and Abridged by E. H. WHINFIELD, M.A., 
Late of H.M. Bengal Civil Service. 



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Post 8vo, pp. viii. and 346, cloth, price IDS. 6d. 

MANAVA-DHARMA-CASTRA: 
THE CODE OF MANU. 

ORIGINAL SANSKBIT TEXT, WITH CRITICAL NOTES. 
BY J. JOLLY, Ph.D., 

Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Wurzburg ; late Tagore Professor 
of Law in the University of Calcutta. 

The date assigned by Sir William Jones to this Code the well-known 
Great Law Book of the Hindus is 1250-500 B.C., although the rules and 
precepts contained in it had probably existed as tradition for countless ages 
before. There has been no reliable edition of the Text for Students for 
many years past, and it is believed, therefore, that Prof. Jolly s work will 
supply a want long felt. 



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LEAVES FROM MY CHINESE SCRAP-BOOK. 

BY FREDERIC HENRY BALFOUR. 

Author of "Waifs and Strays from the Far East," "Taoist Texts," 
Idiomatic Phrases iu the Peking Colloquial," &c. &c. 



Post 8vo, pp. xvi.~548, with Six Maps, cloth, price 2is. 

LINGUISTIC AND ORIENTAL ESSAYS. 

WRITTEN FROM THE YEAR 1847 TO 1887. Second Scries. 
BY ROBERT NEEDHAM CUST, LL.D., 

Barrister-at-Law ; Honorary Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society ; 
Late Member of Her Majesty s Indian Civil Service. 



In Two Volumes, post 8vo, pp. x.~3o8 and vi.-3i4, cloth, price 258. 

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CHINESE BUDDHISM 



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HISTORICAL, DESCRIPTIVE, AND CRITICAL, 



REV. JOSEPH EDKINS, D.D., 

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debted to him for the preparation of the copious and valu 
able index appended to it. 






PREFACE. 



WHEN the first Hindoo missionaries arrived at the capital 
of China and were admitted to see the emperor, it was, 
the Buddhists tell us, in the last month of the year A.D. 
68, and the 3Oth day of that month. By imperial com 
mand they were entertained in a building called Pe-ma 
sn,, "Office of the white horses;" so named because they 
had ridden on white horses on their way from Cabul. 
The two Brahmans enjoyed the imperial favour, and one 
of the books they translated has remained popular to the 
present time. 

Thirteen years before these men reached China, the first 
missionaries of Christianity crossed the ^Egean Sea and 
entered Europe. Instead of being received, however, with 
the smiles of those in power and enjoying imperial hospi 
tality, they were publicly whipped and imprisoned by 
the magistrates of a Eoman colony, and ignominiously 
dismissed. 

Buddhism covered China with monasteries and images ; 
Christianity covered Europe with churches and charitable 
institutions. A hundred authors have written on the his 
tory of the spread of Christianity in the various countries 
of Europe. Very few have ever studied the history of 
Buddhism as it has spread through China, and taught its 



viii PREFACE. 

doctrines in every part of that empire. There is room for 
new information on the entrance, progress, and charac 
teristics of Chinese belief in the religion founded by 
Shaky amuni. 

Especially is there a need for facts on the history of 
Buddhism, because it is that one among the world s 
religions which has acquired the greatest multitude of 
adherents, and has also above any other carried out most 
systematically the monastic institute. 

Isaac Taylor drew attention in his Ancient Christianity 
to the knowledge of Hindoo monasticism possessed by 
Clement of Alexandria, and traced the origin of the 
monasticism of Christianity to that of India. 

Buddhism never became the State religion of China. It 
has grown side by side with the State religion, and obtained 
only the partial faith of the people. In this it differed 
from Christianity, which in Europe took the place of the 
old State religions of the various countries, after first 
vanquishing them all. 

One of the titles of Buddha is "the Lion;" another 
is " the Great hero ; " another is " Honoured one of the 
world ; " another is " King of the Law." His followers love 
to represent him as completely victorious over metaphy 
sical opponents by argument, and as gaining a thorough and 
final conquest over temptation impersonated by demons. 
He is also spoken of as victorious in saving from their 
unbelief all sorts of heretics, of men sunk in pleasure, and 
every class of adversaries. He has infinite pity, as well as 
infinite wisdom. 

Such is the ideal of Buddha. Let it be compared with 
that of the Christian Saviour. Let the result of the 
teaching of Shakyamuni on the Chinese be compared with 
that of the teaching of Christ on Europe. Is China as 



PREFACE. ix 

much better for Buddhism as Europe is for Christianity ? 
If the beginnings of the world s religions are very interest 
ing and important subjects of inquiry, their progress and 
development are not less so. The various causes which 
operated to aid the spread of Buddhism, if carefully inves 
tigated, will be a valuable contribution to the history of 
humanity. Koeppen has said that, at the time of Alex 
ander s conquests, while there was a tendency imparted by 
him to the races he conquered, which led to the breaking 
up of a restrictive nationalism, and to the welding of 
various peoples, formerly separated by blood, customs, 
religions, and culture, into a higher unity in the conscious 
ness of a common humanity, so also India was, by the 
propagators of Buddhism, putting forth vigorous efforts in 
the same cause. Alexander sought to make all mankind 
one. So did Buddhism. The Greek spirit and the spirit of 
Buddhism sympathised with each other and helped each 
other. In this way he finds an explanation of the rapid 
spread of the Buddhist religion in the Punjab, Afghan 
istan, Bactria, and the countries near. He then proceeds 
to compare Buddhism with Christianity, which he speaks 
of as cosmopolitan Judaism to which had been added 
Alexandrian and Essene elements. Just as Christianity 
conquered the Western world, so Buddhism the Eastern ; 
and this it was able to do because it rejected caste and 
taught the brotherhood of humanity. 

It must ever be regarded as a noble instinct of the 
Hindoo race, which prompted them to throw off the yoke 
of caste. But it should not be supposed that the yoke of 
caste was so strong then as it now is. It was easier then 
than now for a Hindoo to visit foreign countries. The 
social tyranny of caste was then less powerful. 

What gave the first Buddhists their popularity ? In 



x PREFACE. 

part, doubtless, the doctrine of the common brotherhood 
of men; but there were several other principles in their 
teaching which rapidly won adherents, and must also be 
taken into account. 

They taught the universal misery of man, and offered 
a remedy. They met the yearning of humanity for a 
redemption by giving instruction, which they said came 
from the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas, each of whom was a 
powerful saviour to the devotee. 

These saviours, instead of being members of the Hindoo 
hierarchy of popular gods, like those of Olympus, were 
either human beings or incarnations of ideas, and combin 
ing wisdom with mercy in their acts and teaching. 

The early Buddhists surrounded death with a halo of 
lofty spiritual glory, and called it the Nirvana. Death 
became synonymous with absolute peace, and so was 
looked on with less dread and dislike. 

When the Buddhists began to teach races to whom the 
subtle Hindoo metaphysics were a riddle beyond their 
comprehension, they taught, for the Nirvana, a Western 
. Heaven ruled by a newly-invented Buddha, and additional 
to the paradises of the Devas. This is a new doctrine of a 
future life which is commonly accepted by the Northern 
Buddhists, from the Himalayas to the Altai mountains, 
and from Thibet to Japan. 

Another popular element was communism joined with 
the monastic institute. The monastery is a refuge for the 
unhappy, for those who have not succeeded in trade, for 
sickly children, for all who feel a call to enter on a monastic 
life. In the monastery they subsist on the common fund 
supplied by the gifts of the charitable. A home, a quiet life, 
and very little to do, was the prospect held out to those whom 
society can very well spare, and is not unwilling to part with. 



PREFACE. xi 

Another popular element was the charm of nobleness 
attached to the monastic life. Self-denial becomes attrac 
tive, and not at all difficult to those who are sensible of 
this charm. The renunciation of the world, and the absorb 
ing occupation of a religious life, seem to many who enter 
the gates of the monastery a pleasant dream, and very 
desirable. 

Another attractive element in Buddhism has been the 
social character of the worship. The monks meet for 
morning and evening prayers in the presence of the images. 
To this should be added the agree ableuess to the eye of 
dressed altars, lofty gilt images, and the encouraged belief 
that they are representative of powerful beings, who will 
afford substantial protection to the devotee who faithfully 
discharges his duty as a disciple. 

Then there is the doctrine of the Karma. Every act 
of worship, every Buddhist ceremony, every book of devo 
tion read, every gift to a monastery or a begging priest, 
every mass for the dead, every invocation of a Buddha 
or Bodhisattwa, every wish for the good of others, infal 
libly causes great good, through the necessary operation 
of the law of cause and effect in the moral sphere. 

How far these and other causes have helped to spread 
Buddhism through the many countries where it now pre 
vails deserves the careful thought of the European student 
of the history of religions. Next to India itself, China 
has done more for the development of Buddhist thought 
than any other Buddhist country. This is a remarkable 
fact and very useful ; showing, as it does, that, judging 
from the past, the Chinese are susceptible to a very con 
siderable degree of a foreign religion. They will also use 
intellectual energy in teaching and expanding it. Let 
any one who doubts this look over Kaempfer s account of 



xii PREFACE. 

Japanese Buddhism. He will there find nearly all the 
Chinese sects described in this volume occurring again. 
They have been transplanted entire with their books and 
discipline into that island empire, a striking proof of the 
vigour of Chinese Buddhism. 

Why should they not accept Christianity with the 
same zeal, and apply to the task of teaching it as much 
mental force ? 

Dr. Draper says, 1 " From this we may also infer how 
unphilosophical and vain is the expectation of those who 
would attempt to restore the aged populations of Asia 
to our state. Their intellectual condition has passed 
onward never more to return." 

My own conviction is, that so far as this theory of 
despair affects China, it is not warranted. The eras of 
intellectual expansion in that country may be briefly enu 
merated in the following way : After the Chow period, 
the most famous of all, came that of Han, when classical 
studies, history, and Tauist philosophy flourished together. 
Then followed a Buddhist age. Then came an age of 
poetry and elegant literature, that of the T ang dynasty. 
After this came the time of the Sung philosophers, who 
were most prolific in moral and critical writings tinctured 
with a peculiarly bad philosophy of nature. The present 
is an age of classical criticism, a reaction from that of the 
Sung writers. 

We have six distinct periods of intellectual vigour, 
covering nearly three thousand years, and what do we now 
see? The intellectual vigour connected with Buddhism 
and Tauism dead, past any hope of a resurrection. Con 
fucianism is still living, but it is not very strong. The 
people have an excellent physique,- adapting them for 

1 Draper s Intellectual Development of Europe, vol. i. p. 57. 



PREFACE. xiii 

various climates. They emigrate extensively. They have 
at home an autonomous empire of immense dimensions, 
administered by printed codes of laws, and such a mode 
of governing as to enable them to keep that empire from 
falling to pieces in a time of foreign wars and rebellions. 

They are not then to be despaired of intellectually. 
What they need is to be educated in the mass, to be ele 
vated by the diffusion of a living Christianity, to have 
improvements in the physical condition of the poor, with 
a system of scientific instruction in every province, and 
a development of the mineral and manufacturing resources 
of the country. 

No one need despair of the intellectual progress of the 
people, or of their susceptibility of spiritual development. 
Christianity fosters mental growth, and the science of the 
West is eminently stimulating to thought. The descen 
dants of the men whose mariners sailed with the compass 
seven hundred years ago, and whose schoolmasters were at 
the same time making use of printed books in education, 
will not fail to respond to these powerful influences. 

That Buddhism has affected Chinese literature and 
thought to a considerable extent, is shown in the follow 
ing pages. It taught them charity, but it did not impart 
a healthy stimulus to the national mind. It made them 
indeed more sceptical and materialistic than, they were 
before, and weakened their morality. 

But since Buddhism has had among the Chinese its 
age of faith, prompting them to metaphysical authorship, 
and the formation of schools of religious thought, and 
also impelling them to undertake distant and perilous 
journeys, to visit the spots where Shaky amuni passed his 
life, it must be admitted that there is a very promising 
prospect for Christianity, and that the beneficial effect on 



xiv PREFACE. 

the people must be in proportion to the excellence of the 
Christian religion. 

Perhaps Dr. Draper, in view of the facts contained in 
this book, would not be unwilling to modify his theory of 
the necessary decline of nations so far as it appertains to 
China, or at least allow the people of that country a 
further tenure of national life, till Christianity and educa 
tion have had a trial. 

The present volume is the fruit of many years studies. 
Some parts of it were written nearly twenty-five years 
ago ; nearly all is the fruit of Chinese reading. 

Dr. Eitel of Hongkong and Mr. Thomas Watters have 
since written ably and extensively on the same subject. 
But my mode of treatment differs from theirs, and in my 
revision it has been an advantage to have the results of 
their researches before me. My own collection of native 
books on Buddhism has increased, while my acquaintance 
with the actual form of this religion in its popular 
development at the present time has been considerably 
enlarged. 

The facts here collected on the esoteric sects are adapted 
to throw light on the history of Buddhism in India, 
and will help, it may be, to define the position of the 
Jains. 

In the section on Feng-shui, I ask attention to the view 
there given on the influence of Buddhism in producing 
the modern Chinese doctrine of the physical influences of 
nature, and the part that, through the Buddhists, India 
and Greece have both had in producing the superstitious 
materialism of the Chinese in its modern shape. 

PEKING, October 1879. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

PAfJK 

Buddhism deserves examination Researches of Remusat, Burnouf, 
Koeppen, and St. Hilaire Sanscrit manuscripts from Nepaul 
Buddhist books reveal to view the ancient Hindoo world The 
opening scene of the Kin-kang-king, *-9 



A LIFE OF B UDDHA, 

IN FOUR CHAPTERS. 

CHAPTER I. 

LIFE OF SHAKYAMUNI TILL HIS APPEARANCE AT BENARES 
AS A TEACHER. 

Previous lives Chronology The seventh Buddha Birth Early life 
Becomes a hermit Becomes Buddha Legendary stories 
his early preaching Hwa-y en-king Extramundane teaching^ 
Appearance at Benares, ..... . . / 11-26 

CHAPTER II. 

LIFE OF BUDDHA FROM HIS APPEARANCE AS A TEACHER AT 
BENARES TO THE CONVERSION OF RAHULA. 

The four truths- Godinia and his four companions The first monas 
tic community The first lay brother Conversion of five hundred 
fire-worshippers in the kingdom of Magadha Buddha at Raja- 
griha At Shravasti, in Jeta s garden Appoints punishments for 
crimes of monks Goes to see his father after twelve years absence 
Story of his son Rahula 27-33 



xvi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF RAHULA s RELIGIOUS LIFE TILL 
THE NEAR APPROACH OF THE NIRVANA. 

PAGE 

Buddha sends for Rahula Arrangements for instructing Rahula 
and other boys Tutors Boys admitted to the vows Nuns 
Rapid spread of monasticism Disciplinary rules Education in 
metaphysics Ananda and the Leng-yen-king Buddha in these 
works like Socrates in Plato Buddha said to have gone to Cey 
lon Also to the paradise of desire Offer of Devas to protect 
Buddhism Protectors of China Relation of Buddhism to Hin 
doo polytheism Prajna-paramita King Prasenajit Sutra of 
the Benevolent King Daily liturgy Ananda becomes Buddha s 
attendant disciple Intrusted with the Sutras in twelve divisions 
Buddha teaches his esoteric system Virtually contained in the 
"Lotus Sutra" In this the sun of Buddha culminated His 
father s approaching death announced Buddha reaches the 
forty-ninth year of his public preaching, 34~45 

CHAPTER IV. 

LAST DISCOURSES AND DEATH OF BUDDHA. 

Buddha s immortality in his teaching Death real and final Object of 
Nirvana teaching Buddha visits the Tau-li heaven Descends 
again by Indra s staircase The first images Death of Buddha s 
aunt Death of Shariputra Buddha at Kushinagara Between 
the Sala trees Last instructions Kashiapa made patriarch 
Flesh prohibited Relieves the king of Magadha Sends for 
Ananda Answers to four questions Brahma comes Buddha s 
last words Death Gold coffin Maya comes Cremation His 
relics Pagodas, .......... 4^-59 

CHAPTER V. 

THE PATRIARCHS OF THE NORTHERN BUDDHISTS. 

Features of Asiatic life in the time of the patriarchs Character, 
powers, and intellectual qualities of the patriarchs Series of 
thirty-three patriarchs Appointment of Kashiapa by Shakya- 
muni The Svastika Council of Rajagriha, for writing out the 
books of Buddha, and settling what should be received as canonical 
The part taken by Ananda in the authorship of the Buddhist 
books Ananda, second patriarch The third was Shangnavasu 
Remarks on samadhi and reverie Fourth, Upagupta Conversion 
of a wicked woman when dying Fifth, sixth, and seventh patri 
archsBuddha s prophecy regarding Buddhanandi, the seventh 
Struggle between filial love and Buddhist conviction in Buddha- 



CONTENTS. xv ii 

PAGE 

mitra The way in which he subdued an unbelieving king Ma 
nning given to the king of the Getse to induce him to raise the siege 
of Pataliputra Kapimara, the thirteenth Nagarjuna, the four 
teenthConverts ten thousand Brahmans Writes the Ta-chl-tu- 
lun Vigorous defence of Buddhism by Kanadeva Assassination 
of Kanadeva Sanghanandi, precocious as a boy Prophecy re 
specting him llahulata ascends to heaven Sangkayasheta s dis 
cussion on the nature of sound Converts five hundred hermits 
Kumarada s views on the inequality of present retribution Diffi 
culties met with by Manura in teaching Buddhism in Southern 
and Western India A patriarch s power over birds Haklena 
converts Singhalaputra, who succeeded him as patriarch (the 
twenty-fourth), but was killed by the king of Candahar The 
orthodox school has only twenty-four patriarchs The contempla 
tive school has twenty-eight Pradjnyatara, the twenty-seventh, 
converts Bodhidharma, the twenty-eighth, who proceeds to China 
Hindoo knowledge of the Roman empire, .... 60-86 



CHAPTER VI, 



A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN CHINA. 

The emperor Ming-ti sends an embassy to India for images, A.D. 61 
Kashiapmadanga arrives in China Spread of Buddhism, A.D. 335 
Buddojanga A pagoda at Nanking, A.D. 381 The translator 
Kumarajiva, A.D. 405 The Chinese traveller, Fa-hien, visits India 
His book Persecution, A.D. 426 Buddhism prosperous, 451 
Indian embassies to China in the Sung dynasty Opposition of the 
Confucianists to Buddhism Discussions on doctrine Buddhist 
prosperity in the Northern Wei kingdom and the Liang kingdom 
Bodhidharma Sung-yun sent to India Bodhidharma leaves Liang 
Wu-ti and goes to Northern China His latter years and death- 
Embassies from Buddhist countries in the south Relics The 
Liang emperor Wu-ti becomes a monk Embassies from India and 
Ceylon Influence of Sanscrit writing in giving the Chinese the 
knowledge of an alphabet Syllabic spelling Confucian opposition 
to Buddhism in the T ang dynasty The five successors of Bodhi 
dharma Hiuen-tsang s travels in India Work as a translator 
Persecution, A.D. 714 Hindoo calendar in China Amoghaintro- 
duces the festival for hungry ghosts- Opposition of Han Yii to 
Buddhism Persecution of 845 Teaching of Ma-tsu Triumph of 
the Mahayana Bodhiruchi Persecution by the Cheu dynasty 
Extensive erection of pagodas in the Sung dynasty Encouragement 
of Sanscrit studies Places of pilgrimage P u-to Regulations 
for receiving the vows Hindoo Buddhists in China in the Sung 
dynasty The Mongol dynasty favoured Buddhism The last 
Chinese Buddhist who visited India The Ming dynasty limits the 
right of accumulating land Roman Catholic controversy witli 
Buddhists Kang-hi of the Manchu dynasty opposes Buddhism 
The literati still condemn Buddhism, ..... 87-154 



CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER VII. 

THE SCHOOLS OF CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

PAGE 

The growth of esoteric sects in India The Jains Their series of 
twenty-four patriarchs Bodhidharma headed a new school in 
Southern India, and was heretical as viewed from the Jains stand 
pointHe founded the contemplative school in China Nagarjuna, 
the author of the most revered books of this school Tsung-men 
Kiau-men Divisions of Tsung-men The Tsung-men sects are 
heretical in the view of the old orthodoxy Specimen of the teach 
ing of the Tsung-men Lin-tsi school Professes strict discipline 
Its founder died A.D. 868 His monument on the bank of the 
Hu-to river in Chi-li Resemblance to European speculation on 
the absolute Is Buddhism pantheistic? Exoteric sects Lu-men 
( Vinaya) Yogachara Fa-siang Madhyamika Fa-sing Tsing- 
tu, or sect of the " Pure land " or "Western heaven " T ien-t ai 
Poetry of the Tsing-tu school, --. 155-174 

CHAPTER VIII. 
ON CHI-K AI AND THE T IEN-T AI SCHOOL OF BUDDHISM. 

T ien-t ai, a place of great note in Chinese Buddhism Chi-k ai resided 
there in the sixth century His cloak and rice bowl Fu-lung feng 
Fang-kwang s i and the rock bridge Legend of the Lo-hans 
Twelve monasteries founded He taught the Fa-hwa-king 
System of threefold contemplation Six connectives Eight 
modes of characterising Buddhism Ten steps in progress- 
Derived much from Nagarjuna T ien-t ai, a middle system 
Regulations, 175-187 

- CHAPTER IX. 

THE BUDDHIST MORAL SYSTEM. 

The Ten virtues and Ten vices The cause of human stupidity is in 
the passions The Five prohibitions The Ten prohibitions Klap- 
roth s praise of Buddhism But it is atheistic, and therefore this 
praise should be qualified Kindness to animals based on the 
fiction of transmigration Buddhism teaches compassion for suffer 
ing without inculcating obedience to Divine law Story of Shak- 
yamuni Sin not distinguished from misery Buddhists teach that 
the moral sense is innate They assign a moral nature to animals 
The Six paths of the metempsychosis Hindoo notions of heaven 
and hell Countless ages of joy and suffering Examples Exemp 
tion from punishment gained by meritorious actions Ten kings 
of future judgment Fate or Karma Buddhism depreciates 



CONTENTS. xix 

PAGB 

heaven and the gods Buddha not God, but a Saviour Moral 
influence of the Paradise of the Western heaven Figurative inter 
pretation of this legend The contemplative school identifies good 
and evil No moral distinctions in the Nirvana Buddhism has 
failed to produce high morality The Confucianist condemnation 
of the Buddhists Mr. P. Hordern s praise of Buddhism in Birmah 
The Birmese intellectually inferior to the Chinese Kindness to 
animals known to the Chinese before they received Buddhism 
Buddha s reasons for not eating flesh, 188-204 



CHAPTER X. 
THE BUDDHIST CALENDAR. 

National festivals Festivals in honour of celestial beings In honour 
of the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas In honour of characters in 
Chinese Buddhist history Supplemental anniversaries Sin 
ghalese Buddhists keep a different day for Buddha s birthday 
In the T ang dynasty Hindoo astronomers reformed the calendar 
Gaudamsiddha The -week of India and Babylon known to the 
Chinese Word mil for Sunday Peacock Sutra The Hindoo 
Rahu and Ketu, 205-212 

CHAPTER XL 

RELATION OF BUDDHISM TO THE OLDER HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 

Buddhism accepted the Hindoo mythology, with the sacred books of 
the Brahmans, so far as it agreed with its own dogmas The gods 
Indra, Brahma, and Ishwara listen as disciples to Buddha Eight 
classes of Devas Four kings of Devas Yakshas Mahoragas 
Pretas Maras Yama, king of the dead Creation is denied to 
the Hindoo gods in the Chung-lun and other works, . . 213-220 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 

The universe passes through incessant changes Kalpas of various 
lengths Kalpas of establishment, of destruction, &c. Saha world 
Sumeru mountain The Southern continent is Jambudvipa 
Heaven of the thirty-three Tushita paradise Upper tier of para 
disesHeavens of form and of desire Heavens without form- 
Brahma s paradise No wise man is born there, because Brahma 
says he created the universe The hells Story from the "Ti-tsang 
Sutra," 221-227 



xx CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE EXTENDED UNIVERSE OF THE NORTHERN BUDDHISTS. 

PAGE 

Primitive Buddhism aimed at moral improvement and the Nirvana 
Its mythology was of popular growth The Mahayana mythology 
was introduced by the metaphysicians of Buddhism itself Nagar- 
juna the chief inventor Hica-y en-king An extended universe 
invented to illustrate dogma Ten worlds beyond the Saha world 
in ten different directions New divinities to worship Amitabha 
His world in the West Kwan-yin and Ta-shi-chi The world 
of Ach obhya Buddha in the East World of Yo-sh i Fo, the heal 
ing teacher Mercy, wisdom, &c., are symbolised in the Bodhi- 
sattwas Wu-t ai shan iu China is introduced in the Hwa-yen- 
king, 228-238 

CHAPTER XIV. 

BUDDHIST IMAGES AND IMAGE-WORSHIP. 

Temples Entering hall, Si-ta-t ien-wang These four kings described 
The laughing Buddha, Mi-li Fo Behind him, Wei-to Chief 
hall, Ta-hiung-pau-tien Shakyamuni Ananda Kashiapa 
Kwan-yin, Wen-shu, and other Bodhisattwas Buddha repre 
sented as teaching Buddha of the past, present, and future 
Chapels to O-mi-to Fo, Ti-tsang, and the Ten kings Representa 
tion of the eight miseries from which Kwan-yin delivers Temples 
in Ceylon Images in temples near Peking Tan-cho s i snake 
Pi-yiin s i Hall of Lo-hans Diamond throne of Buddha Colossal 
images of Maitreya Musical instruments Reflections, . . 239-258 

CHAPTER XV. 

MONASTERIES AT P U-TO. 

This establishment more modern than T ien-t ai and Wu-t ai Many 
Thibetan inscriptions Frequent visits of Peking lamas Dedi 
cated to Kwan-yin Gifts by Kang-hi Images Caves Pagodas 
Inscriptions Resident defenders of Buddhism The Potala of 
Jehol in Mongolia It is also the name of the palace Temple of 
the Dalai Lama In China an island was preferred to be the tau- 
ch ang of Kwan-yin, 259-267 

CHAPTER XVI. 

BUDDHIST PROCESSIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, PILGRIMAGES, AND 
CEREMONIES FOR THE DEAD. 

Yii-lan-hwei, "Association forgiving food to the dead" Worship of 
ancestors Liturgical services in the houses of the rich, for the 
liberation of the souls of the dead from hell Village processions 



CONTENTS. xx i 

PAGK 

Based on the old rural processions of classical times Masquerades 
Plays Pilgrimages to Miau-feng sban Pilgrims wearing iron 
chains Supposed efficacy of the prayers of the priests Zeal of 
the laity in promoting pilgrimages to celebrated shrines, . 268-272 

CHAPTER XVII. 

BUDDHIST LITERATURE. 

Buddhist libraries presented to monasteries by emperors Ch eng-tsu, 
of the Ming dynasty, was the first to print the entire series of the 
Buddhist accepted books Prajna-paramita, eighty times as large 
as our New Testament The Pei-tsang, or second printed edition, 
dates from the sixteenth century The Kia-hing edition of the 
Pei-tsang Division into King, Lu, Lun First Council Work of 
Ananda The Mahayana of Northern Buddhism - Council of Cash 
mereAuthors of the Mahayana Lung-shu wrote the Hwa-yen- 
king Contrasts between the primitive and Mahayana books List 
of translators, A.D. 70 to A.D. 705 Sixteen hundred works are 
classified, inclusive of those by Chinese authors On the councils 
for settling the canon Translations by Burnouf and others 
Lotus Book of Forty-two Sections Character of this and other 
early works Stories illustrative of ancient life Fan-wang-king 
Chan-tsi-king translated by Beal Pratimoksha, . . . 273-288 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE LENG-YEN-KING FIRST CHAPTER. 

The Sutra of firm establishment in all doctrine, describing clearly the 
secret merit and attainments in the religious life of Tathagata, who 
appears as Buddha in his great and unsurpassed stature ; also the 
many acts of the Bodhisatt was, ...... 289-301 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE EKASHLOKA SH ASTRA. 

The " Ekashloka Shastra," translated from the Chinese, with an 

analysis and notes, ......... 3 02 ~3 r 7 

CHAPTER XX. 

EFFECT OF BUDDHISM ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SUNG DYNASTY. 

The Sung philosophers differ from Confucius Five periods of Chinese 
intellectual development The Sung writers changed the old cos 
mogony The Han writers had already done so Diagram of the 
Great Extreme Other pictorial illustrations Avoidance of the 
doctrine of a personal God Materialistic philosophy of nature 
New view of divination, 3 l ^ 3 2 ^ 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

^ FENG-SHUI, OR THE WIND AND WATER SUPERSTITION 
OF THE CHINESE. 

PACK 

An obstacle to civilisation Meaning of Feng, ""Wind" Of Shui, 
"Water "Use of cyclic characters Meaning of Lung, "Dragon " 
Names of the geomancers Hindoo nomenclature Sha-ch i, 
"Destructive vapour" Dark arrow C/ien-wu, or "Protecting 
shield" Feng-shui professedly based on the "Book of Changes" 
Modern Feng-shui is based on the Han-lung -king Buddhist 
element in Feng-shui The four elements of the Greeks The 
Hindoo "Air and water" is Feng-shui Earth, water, fire, and 
air are creative forces, existing in successive kalpas, and forming 
successive worlds Resemblance to the theories of the Ionian 
philosophers Geomancy in the T ang dynasty Rahu and^eto 
The Feng-shui system grew out of Buddhism Native element in 
Feng-shui Nine fancied stars Causes of the contour of hills and 
plains Stars of the six houses Feng-shui inconsistent with 
genuine Confucianism, 327-352 

CHAPTER XXII. 

BDDDHIST PHRASEOLOGY IN RELATION TO CHRISTIAN 
TEACHING. 

Use of Buddhist terms in the Nestorian inscription, A.D. 781 Mo, 
"demon;" in Sanscrit, mara Ti-yii, "hell," is naraka Ten 
judges of hell Among them Pau Cheng, the famous judge of the 
Sung dynasty The Sung philosophers encouraged the popular 
belief in future retribution This prepares for Christianity T ( ien- 
f ang, " heaven" Defects of this term Ming-kung, &c., as names 
for "heaven" Buddhist paradises possibly borrowed from West 
ern Asia or some other country farther west Redemption Ti- 
tsang and Kwan-yin Pity Instruction Effect of sin Decreed 
forgiveness to penitents Secret merit Happiness and merit 
confounded Sin and misery confounded Illustration from the 
narrative of a Christian convert, ...... 353-370 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

NOTICE OF THE WU-WEI-KIAU, A REFORMED BUDDHIST 
SECT. 

Originated two hundred and seventy years ago by a native of Shan 
tungNo showy ceremonial No images Sacred books six in 
number Interview of the founder with the emperor of the 
period, Cheng-te Discussion with opponents Victory One of 
their leaders was crucified, 37^-379 



CONTENTS. xxiii 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

BUDDHISM AND TAUISM IN THEIR POPULAR ASPECTS. 

The popularity of Buddhism rests on its doctrine of retribution, and 
not on its ethics Magical claims of the Tauists Kwan-yin, since 
the twelfth century, usually a female Powers and claims of 
Kwan-yin Popular Buddhism loves to have prayers said for the 
dead Hopes for paradise hereafter Popular Tauism believes in 
haunted houses, in charms, and in the efficacy of the wizard in control 
ling demons The present head of the Tauists and chief magician 
Went from Western China to Kiang-si, where he has ever since 
resided as hereditary Pope The Tauist divinity Yii-hwang shang- 
ti has incarnations assigned to him Chang Sien the bowman, a 
physician Tail-cutting delusion Tauist prayers for the dead 
The Buddhist Yen-lo-wang, " God of death " The eight genii 
The eighteen Lo-haus The Tauist delusions dangerous politically 
T ien-tsin massacre Need of the light of education The effect 
of the assault of Christianity on these religions, . . . 380-397 



CHAPTER XXV. 

ON THE USE OF SANSCRIT BY THE CHINESE BUDDHISTS. 

Changes in Chinese sounds since the time of the Buddhist translitera 
tion of Indian words Examples of Sanscrit words in old and new 
Chinese The importance of translations made in A.D. 60 to A.D. 
76 for reading the Four Books The Hindoo translators did not 
speak pure Sanscrit Sanscrit was the language of the books No 
Pali books in China The translators spoke Pracrit The term po- 
li, "glass" Use of Sanscrit words in magic Dharani Inscrip 
tion in six languages at Kii-yung kwan, 398-407 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

BOOKS AND PAPERS THAT MAT BE CONSULTED FOR THE 
STUDY OF CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

FoS koue ki by Eemusat Works of Julien Interesting passage from 
Fa-hien Translations by Beal Schott, Ueber den Buddhaismus in 
Hoch Asien und in China Writings of Palladius Eitel s Handbook 
for the Student of Chinese Buddhism Watters account of Chinese 
Buddhism Eitel s Three Lectures, and article on Nirv&na, . 408-419 

ALPHABETICAL INDEX OP PROPER NAMES AND SUBJECTS, . . 422-443 
ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF TITLES OF BOOKS MENTIONED, . . 445-453 



E E E A T A. 



Page 



3, note, line i,forMeau-fa-lien-hwa- 
king, ; 


? ? ead Miau-fa-lien-hwa-king. 


4, ,, ,, 8, K ang-he, 


K ang-hi. 


14, Hue 6, for Shichi, 


Shi-chi. 


J 5, 5 , 37, Fu-tsu-t ung-ki, 


,, Fo-tsu-t ung-ki. 


16, ,, 19, ,, Tai-tsung, 


,, T ai-tsung. 


19, ,, ii, ,, Pradjna, 


,, Prajna. 


20, ,, 10, ,, Pradjna paramita, 


, , Prajna paramita. 


20, ,, 27, ,, Pu-hien, 


,, P u-hien. 


21, 15, King-kang-king, 


, , Kin-kang-king. 


2I 34> j> Pu-hien, 


P u-hien. 


32, 2, Ft, 


,, Fo-tsu-t ung-ki. 


40, ,, 5, ,, Tien, 


Tien. 


40, ,, 29, ,, Kumaradjiva, 


,, Kumarajiva. 


4, ,, 34, ,, Nagardjuna, 


,, Nagarjuna. 


43, 6, Do. 


Do. 


51, 2, Pradjna, 


,, Prajna. 


58, 13, Che-p an, 


,, Ch i-p an. 


68, ,, 27, ,, Sil-to-hwan, 


,, Sii-t o-hwan. 


72, ,, 31, ,, Chi-p an, 


,, Chi-p an. 


73, 6, ,, Do. 


Do. 


74. )> 33> >, Ashvagosha, 


,, Ashwagosha. 


77, ,, 20, ,, Ta-chi-tu-lun, 


,, Ta-chi-tu-lun. 


83, ,, 23, ,, Hiung-noo, 


Hiung-nu. 


83, ,, 24, ,, Puenjab, 


,, Punjab. 


86, 35, ,, Ta-t sin, 


Ta-ts in. 


88, ,, 15, Foe-koue-ki, 


Follkoueki. 


9, 3> ?, Pei-chi-li, 


Pe-chi-li. 


90, ,, 14, ,, K u-tsi, 


,, Kui-tsi. 


91, ,, 12, ,, Chang-an, 


,, Ch aug-an. 


91, note, line i, for Foe-kou8-ki, 


Fo8 kouS ki. 


too, line 9, for T ung-kien-kang-mu, 


,, T l ung-kien-kang-muh. 


105, ,, 22, ,, Do. 


Do. 


108, ,, 2, ,, An-sih, 


,, An-si. 


109, 4, Seng-ki-lii, 


,, Seng-ki-lii 


1 10, note, line 3, for Shih-sung-lu, 


,, Skih-sung-lii. 


124, line 31, for Tae-tsung, 


,, T ai-tsung. 


126, ,, 24, ,, Fu-kuh-piau, 


,, Fo-ku-piau. 


128, ,, 24, ,, S i-ch uen, 


,, Si-ch wen. 


132, note, line 2, for Asangha, 


,, Asengha. 


137, line 16, for Kwo-t sing, 


,, Kwo-ts ing. 


X 39, i4 j, Si -ch uen, 


Si-ch wen. 



Pago 



i39 ? li ne J 5> f r Ti-t sang, read Ti-tsang. 


139, ,, 19, Wcn-chu, 


Wen-shu. 


143, ,, 29, ,, Hang-chow, ,, 


Hang-cheu. 


146, 27, ,, Si-ngan, ,, 


Si-an. 


146, note, line i, for Yu-p ian, ,, 


Yii-p ien. 


147, line 13, for Mongul, ,, 


Mongol. 


I 55 55 3 2 5 55 Kwan-shi-yiu, ,, 


Kwan-shi-yin. 


162, ,, 6, ,, Shen-sieu, ,, 


Shin-sieu. 


168, ,, 18, ,, Sangharama, ,, 


Sangarama. 


168, ,, 19, ,, Chu Fa-Ian, ,, 


Chu-fa-lan. 


168, ,, 22, ,, Kieu-mo-lo-shi, ,, 


Kieu-mo-lo-shl. 


169, n, Tai-ping, 


T ai-ping. 


169, note, line i, for Asanga, ,, 


Asengha. 


171, line n, for Tai-tsung, ,, 


T ai-tsung. 


J 7 8 5 55 35 55 Cheh-kiang, ,, 


Che-kiang. 


181, ,, 26, ,, Prajna, ,, 


Prajna. 


189, 4, Senga, 


Sanga. 


198, ,, 8, ,, Yiin-tsi, ,, 


Yiin-ts i. 


2 75 55 X 35 55 Fo2-kou8-ki, ,, 


FoZ koue ki. 


207, ,, 1 6, ,, Naga-rajah, ,, 


Naga-raja. 


210, ,, 28, ,, Dtpamkara, ,, 


Dipankara. 


215, ,, 28, ,, Fa-yuan-chu-lin, ,, 


Fa-yuen-chu-lin. 


216, ,, 28, ,, Vaishravana, 


Vaishramana. 


227, ,, n, ,, Ts ai-sheu, ,, 


Tsai-sheu. 


2 35 55 2 7s 55 San-t l sang, ,, 


San-tsang. 


2 3 T 5 55 X 35 55 Fa-hwa-hwei yi, ,, 


Fa-hiva-hivei-i. 


2 345 55 6 5 55 Kwan-shi-yin, ,, 


Kwan-shi-yin. 


239, ,, 10, ,, S : i-ta-tien-wang, ,, 


S i-ta-t ien-wang. 


242, ,, 6, ,, Shan-tsai, ,, 


Shan-ts ai. 


245, ,, 22, ,, Sangharama, ,, 


Sangarama. 


2 54, 55 l6 5 55 Pi-y un-si, ,, 


Pe-yiin si. 


2 55j 55 6, ,, Pu-hien, 


P u-hien. 


2 S7, 9, Kceppen, 


Koeppen. 


264, 32, Yu-hwapg, 


Yli-hwang. 


266, ,, 32, AvalokiteshVara, ,, 


Avalokiteshwara. 


271, ,, 16, ,, Tanist, ,, 


Tauist. 


275, ,, 22, T ai-p ing, 


T ai-ping. 


2 75 5 55 2 35 55 Che-keang, ,, 


Che-kiang. 


279, ,, 4, ,, Ch l enr/-wei-shih-lun, ,^ 


Ch eng-ivei-shi-lun. 


284, ,, 5, ,, Wei-mo Sutra, ,, 


Wei-ma Sutra. 


284, ,, 6, ,, Vaishali, ,, 


Vaishali. 


293, ii, Teh-ts ing, ,, 


Te-ts ing. 


306, 29, Yuen-kio, 


Yuen-kioh. 


322, 25, Ts an-t ung-k i, 


Ts an-t ung-ki. 


347, 6, Yau- ki, ,, 


Yau-k i. 


353, ,, 13, ,, Ts l i-hang, 


Ts i-hang. 


399, ,, 22, ,, Sanghadeva, 


Sangadeva. 



CHINESE BUDDHISM. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Buddhism deserves examination Researches of Remusat, Burnouf, 
Koeppen, and St. Hilaire Sanscrit manuscripts from Nepaul 

Buddhist books reveal to view the ancient Hindoo world 

The opening scene of the Kin-Jcang-king. 

AT the present time, when foreign intercourse with China 
is increasing every year, and our knowledge of that country 
is extending in proportion, an account of the history and 
literature of Buddhism in that land will perhaps find more 
readers than at any former period. The traveller will not 
fail to inquire why this Indian religion has sunk into 
such helplessness and decay as he observes. The philo 
sophical historian naturally will wish to know the causes 
of the vast extension of Buddhism, and of its present 
decline. The Christian missionary would willingly learn 
the amount and nature of the religious feeling possessed 
by the monks, and the strength of the opposition which 
the religion of Christ has to expect during its propagation, 
from them and from the Buddhist laity. Especially the 
statesman needs to be informed how far the Chinese 
people are likely to be offended by the introduction of 
Christianity, and whether the opposition to idolatry 
which it excites will strike at any of their most dearly- 
cherished prejudices and beliefs. 

A religion that has extended its sway over so many 
Eastern nations, and whose converts far outnumber those 

A 



2 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

of any other sect in the world, deserves minute investiga 
tion. The present sketch will be necessarily too brief to do 
justice to the subject, but it is hoped some results will 
be brought forward that may assist the foreign observer 
to explain the great and long-continued success of the 
Buddhistic system, the causes of its growing weakness, 
and the many indications of its hopeless decay. 

Among European scholars Eemusat and his successors in 
the study of Chinese literature have bestowed considerable 
attention on Buddhism, and their labours have been re 
warded with many interesting and valuable results. Espe 
cially is the world indebted to Burnouf and St. Hilaire for 
their work in this field of Buddhist inquiry, and lucid 
exposition of their results. The aid to be derived from 
their investigations has not been neglected in the account 
now given to the reader. Further, the most direct means of 
gaining information is to study some parts of the volu 
minous works extant in Chinese on this subject. The 
numerous Indian priests who came to China early in the 
Christian era were indefatigable translators, as is shown 
by what they have bequeathed to their disciples. These 
monuments of the highly civilised race that spoke the 
Sanscrit language, give to the inquiry a special literary 
interest. They were till lately inaccessible in their 
original form. The European students of Sanscrit for 
a long period sought in vain for an account of Buddhist 
doctrines and traditions, except in the writings of their 
adversaries. The orthodox Indians destroyed the sacred 
books of their heretical brethren with assiduous care. The 
representations they give of the views of their opponents 
are necessarily partial, and it may be expected that what 
Colebrooke and others have done in elucidating Buddhism 
from the polemical writings of the Brahmans, would receive 
useful corrections and additions as well from Chinese 
sources as from the Sanscrit manuscripts of Buddhist 
books obtained by Hodgson. 1 

1 During his residence in Nepaul. Of these works, the Lotus of the Good 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

An extended critique of the Buddhist literature of 
China and the other countries professing Buddhism, such as 
Burnouf planned and partly accomplished for India, would 
be a valuable contribution to the history of the Hindoo 
race. The power of this religion to chain the human 
mind, the peculiar principles of its philosophy, its mytho 
logical characteristics, its mode of viewing human life, its 
monastic and ascetic usages, all result from the early intel 
lectual development of the nation whose home is south of 
the Himalayas. In the Buddhist classics it is not the life 
of China that is depicted, but that of Hindostan, and that 
not as it is now, but as it was two thousand years ago. 
The words and grammatical forms that occur in their 
perusal, when deciphered from the hieroglyphic Chinese 
form that they have been made to assume, remind the 
reader that they spring from the same stem of which 
the classical languages of Europe are branches. Much 
of their native literature the Buddhist missionaries left 
untouched for example, the highly -wrought epic poems 
and dramas that have recently attracted the admiring 
notice of Europeans; but a large number of fables and 
tales with a moral are found in Chinese Buddhist books. 
Many specimens of this peculiar mode of composition, 
which, originating in Greece, was adopted by the Hindoos, 
and spread into the various literatures of modern Europe 
and Asia, have long since been made to wear a Chinese 
garb. 1 Further, the elements of grammar and the know 
ledge of the alphabet, with some important contributions 
from mathematical science, have reached China through 
the same medium. Several openings are thus presented 
into the old Hindoo world. The country where specula 
tive philosophy, with grammatical and arithmetical science, 

Law, in Chinese Meau-fa-lien-hwa- tures, and The Romantic Legend of 

king, has been translated by Bur- Sdkya Buddha. 

nouf, Paris, 1852. The Eev. S. Beal, 1 Of these works Stanislas Julieu 
Professor of Chinese in University has translated Les Avadanas, con- 
College, London, has translated from sisting of tales and apologues. 1859. 
Chinese A Catena of Buddhist Swip- 



4 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

attained greater perfection than anywhere else in ancient 
times, is seen spreading its civilisation into the neighbour 
ing countries, and producing remarkable and permanent 
changes in the national life of China. To witness this, as 
may be done in the Buddhist books, cannot be regarded 
as devoid of attraction. The very existence of Buddhism 
is sufficient evidence of the energy of the Indian race as 
it was long ago. The Mongols, Thibetans, and Singhalese, 
with the inhabitants of the Indo-Chinese peninsula, com 
bine with the Chinese and Japanese to prove by the faith 
they still maintain in Buddhism the enthusiasm of its 
first missionaries, and their power to influence mankind. 
Buddhism was not always that decrepit and worn-out 
superstition that it now appears. 

Having said thus much by way of preface, it is time to 
introduce to the reader s attention the founder of the re 
ligion. No way of doing this suggests itself as more suit 
able than to translate from the opening scene of a popular 
Buddhist work called the "Diamond Classic" afew passages, 
where he appears in the midst of his disciples, instructing 
them in some of the principles of his system. The time, 
according to the Singhalese chronology, was in the sixth 
century before Christ. The place is Sha-wei, 1 a city in 
Central India. The hero is Shakyamuni himself, i.e., Bud 
dha or Julai. The subordinate characters are the Bikshu 2 or 
religious mendicants, who are so denominated because they 
beg instruction for the mind and food for the body. They 
consist of two classes, says the editor of the Diamond 
Classic. Those who have abandoned vice and are aiming 
at virtue are the small Bikshu. Those who are released 
from both alike are qreat Bikshu. Among the latter, who 



1 Sha-wei was on the north of the according to K ang-he Bi-Jc u. The 

Ganges, about 200 miles above Ben- orthography here adopted for Chinese 

ares. It is also written Shravasti. and Sanscrit words, agrees nearly with 

All the upper part of the valley of that of Sir T. Wade and of the 

the Ganges was embraced in what French writers on kindred subjects, 

was known as Central India. For ou, the oo of Morrison, u is here 

" This Sanscrit word is pronounced written. 



INTRODUCTION, 5 

have gone deeper than the others into the profundities of 
Buddhist doctrine, are included those called Bosat and 
Lahan, or, as these characters are now pronounced by the 
Chinese, P usa and Lohan. 

The chief minister of the king having at Eajagriha heard 
Buddha s instructions, and been deeply impressed by them, 
wished to invite him to some suitable dwelling. Jeta, 
the king s son, had a garden. The minister offered to buy 
it. The prince said by way of jest that he was willing if 
he would cover it with gold. The minister, who was child 
less, obtained gold-leaf and spread it over the garden. 
The prince then gave it him free of cost. According to 
another account the minister ordered eighty elephants 
loaded with gold to come immediately. The prince, admir 
ing the doctrine which had so affected the minister as to 
make him willing to give all this gold for a hall to teach it, 
gave it for nothing. In a house " in this garden, which lay 
outside the city Sha-wei, Buddha with his disciples, 1250 
in number, assembled. It was the time of taking food. 
Buddha put on the robe " called seng-gha-li, and with his 
pat l or " mendicant s rice bowl " in his hand, entered the 
city to beg for food. When having gone from door to 
door he had finished his task, he returned to his lodging- 
place. " His meal being ended, he put his robe and 
rice vessel aside, and washed his feet," for it was the 
practice of this religious reformer to walk with naked 
feet. "He then sat cross-legged on a raised platform," 
remaining some time in meditation before he began to 
teach. 

" At that time the aged Subhuti, who was sitting among 
the crowd of disciples, arose. With his right shoulder un 
covered, and kneeling on his right knee, he raised his 
joined hands respectfully, and addressed Buddha in the 
following words :" Eare is it to meet with the world s 



o 



1 In modern Chinese the t is dropped and the a (a in father) changed to &. 
In Sanscrit the word is pdtra. 



6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

honoured one, 1 Julai, 2 who in the best manner protects 
his disciples (Bosat), keeps them in his thoughts, and gives 
them his instructions. World-honoured sage ! (Shl-tsuri) 
if good men and good women exhibit the unsurpassed just 
and enlightened heart, how should they place it firmly, 
and how should the evil risings of the heart be suppressed 
and subdued ? " The words in italics, corresponding to 
the Sanscrit anutara samyaksambuddhi? are written with 
Chinese characters in the text, and are explained by the 
commentator as consisting of an, " not," utara, " superior," 
samya, " right and equal," sambodi, " rightly knowing." 
Buddha replied, " The question is a good one, and you have 
truly described my disposition. It is thus that a resting- 
place can be found and the heart controlled." The words 
ju-sfci, " thus," says the commentator, refer not to what 
precedes, as in Chinese syntax, but to what follows, ac 
cording to the usage of Sanscrit grammar. Subhuti 
then expresses his anxious desire to hear the instructions 
of the sage, who consequently addresses his disciples 
called Bosat and Great Bosat (Ma-ha-sat). "All men, 
whether they resemble in their nature oviparous animals," 
that are light and fly, or imitate the moral dispositions 
and reflecting habits of " the mammalia, or are like the 
fish," sprung from spawn, instinctively following the mul 
titude in the path of evil, " or are of the same class with 
animals born by transformation," and pass through re 
markable changes, should enter that state which is final 
and unchangeable 4 the Nirvana, 5 " Whether they still 

1 A title of Buddha Shi-tsun; 3 These words are pronounced in 
in Sanscrit, Lokes varardja (Eitel s old Chinese a nu-ta-la sam-mia sam- 
Handbook of Chinese Buddhism), or bo-di, and in Mandarin a neu-to-lo 
Lokadjyesht a, v. Remusat s Melanges san-miau san-p u-t i. 

Asiatiques, vol. i. p. 164. 4 Without remainder, Wu-yu. 

2 Julai is the Chinese translation 5 Nit is translated by the commen- 
of Tathagata. It means literally tator "go out if," and ban, "harass- 
"thus come, "and is explained, "bring- ment." By the French Sinologues 
ing human nature as it truly is, with it is identified with Nirvana, the 
perfect knowledge and high intelli- happy condition of perfect rest at 
gence, he comes and manifests him- which the Hindoos aim. The diction- 
self." ary Ching-tsz-t ung, says, that "the 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

think " on the phenomena of the sensuous world " or have 
ceased to think," i.e., become so far enlightened as to pay 
no attention to passing scenes, " or are neither with thought 
nor without thought," that is, have become entirely indiffer 
ent to life or death, appetite or aversion, love or hatred, 
" they should thus seek salvation in destruction." Why 
do not all living men obtain this immeasurably great re 
lease? "If the Bodhisattwa (Bosat, he who knows and 
feels) has for his aim self, or man, or the world of living 
things, or old age, he is not a true Bodhisattwa." Buddha 
now bade Subhuti resume his seat, and went on to in 
form him concerning the fixed place of rest for which he 
had inquired. "The Bodhisattwa in action should have 
no fixed resting-place for his thoughts. In what he does 
he should not rest on colour, sound, smell, taste, collision, 
or any particular action. He should not rest in forms of 
things, that is, allow himself to attend to any special 
sensational phenomena. If he thus acts, his happiness 
and virtue will be boundless." Buddha is asked by his 
disciple for a further explanation of this doctrine. He 
replies by inquiring if the four quarters of space can be 
measured by thought. Receiving a negative answer, he 
says that the same is true of the doctrine that the Bodhi 
sattwa in acting without regard to particular objects 
obtains great happiness and virtue. He then asks if with 
the material body and its senses Julai or Buddha can be 
truly perceived. No, says the disciple, for body and form 
are not truly body and form. Buddha himself replies by 
denying the existence of all matter in the words " what 
ever has form is an empty delusion. If any one sees that 
all things having forms are not forms, i.e., nothing, he then 

Chinese equivalent of this Sanscrit may be, by a Hindoo who pronounced 

term is, to announce that he is at the word Nirbana. It is called in 

rest, and that it is applied to describe some translations Nif wan. The Hin- 

the death of Buddha, because his is doo translator would pronounce Nir- 

not a true death like that of other wana. The Chinese character used 

men, whose tsing-shin (soul) does not for ni was called nit in some parts 

die." The sound 6an was selected, it of China, and nir in others. 



8 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

truly perceives Julai" in his formless and matterless 
reality ; that is, has attained to a profound understanding 
of Buddhist doctrines. 

In these few passages from the Kin-kang-king or 
" Diamond Sutra," some of the most prominent doctrines of 
Buddhism are brought to view, viz. : (i.) The happiness of 
the Nirvana or state of unconsciousness which frees him 
who attains it from the miseries of existence. (2.) The 
mischievous influence of human life, with its struggles 
after particular forms of happiness, and of the sensuous 
world with its deceptive phenomena. (3.) The non-exist 
ence of matter, to be convinced of which is to take the 
first grand step on the road to enlightenment. 

This introduction into the Buddhist sphere of thought 
makes the system appear to be based rather on philosophy 
than on any religious principle. More will subsequently 
occur to confirm the correctness of this opinion. With 
regard to the real character of Buddhism, piety towards 
the Euler of the world does not form either its foundation 
or the result to which it aims to elevate its votaries. It 
will be seen that, while striving to escape from the evils 
incident to life, and from every selfish aim, it is nothing 
but selfishness in an abstract philosophical form, stripped 
of the grosser qualities which are manifested in the com 
mon course of human history. 

In enumerating the various kinds of sensations conveyed 
to our minds by the senses, a verb "to strike or pierce," ctiu, 
is employed in place of "touch," the familiar term of our own 
popular philosophy. All these sensations are said by the 
Buddhists to be produced by the respective organs with 
which they are connected. They are called the six kinds 
of " dust " or " worldly things " the unwelcome accretions 
that attach themselves to our garments as we walk througli 
the world. " Action," fa, said to emanate from the "will," 
yi, is classed with them as the sixth mode assumed by 
worldly phenomena. 

The preceding specimen of Buddha s teaching, sur- 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

rounded by his disciples in a city of ancient India, is 
sufficient to introduce the subject. The principal facts in 
the life of that sage will now be detailed. Buddha will be 
here represented as he appears in the Chinese biographies. 
They describe him as a sort of divine man, possessed of 
unbounded magical power, and visiting the most distant 
spots, as, for example, the paradises of the gods, in an 
instant of time. 

In giving an account of Chinese Buddhism, I feel the 
importance of exhibiting Shakyamuni in the form which 
is familiar to the Chinese devotee. It is well, in our pic 
ture, to retain the details of a marvellous nature which 
have been so abundantly added by the Northern Bud 
dhists to the simplicity of the first narrative. Man cannot 
live without God. This was an effort to recover the divine. 
When God, through the absurdities of polytheism, was 
pushed out of view, the substitute was Buddha, the perfect 
sage, the model ascetic, the patient and loving teacher, the 
wonder-working magician, the acknowledged superior of 
gods and men. Such was the conception worked out by 
the Hindoo mind to take the place of the old polytheism 
of India, and accepted by all the Buddhist nations north 
of Shakyamuni s birthplace. In the history of religions 
it is of extreme importance that this fact should be 
recognised and appreciated. 



A LIFE OF BUDDHA 

IN FOUR CHAPTERS. 

CHAPTER I. 

LIFE OF SHAKYAMUNI TILL HIS APPEAKANCE AT BENARES 
AS A TEACHER. 

Previous lives Chronology The seventh Buddha Birth 
Early life Becomes a hermit Becomes Buddha Legendary 
stories of his early preaching Hwa-yen-king Extramundane 
teaching Appearance at Benares. 

IN examining the Buddhist writings, the reader is at once 
reminded that he has entered a field where he is deprived 
of the trustworthy guidance and careful adherence to facts 
and dates of native Chinese authors. Not only is this true 
of works that contain the wilder extravagances of Indian 
mythology, and introduce the wondering disciple to the 
scenery and inhabitants of numberless other worlds, even 
those that wear an historical look, and yield the most in 
formation, do not fail thus to betray their foreign origin. 
The doctrine of transmigrations, and an eternal succession 
of kalpas past and future, is tempting to the biographer 
who wishes for variety of incident. He can place his hero 
wherever he pleases, in the universe boundless in space and 
time of the Indian imagination. The founder of Buddhism, 
Shakyamuni, or the " Sage of the house of Shakya," is a 
case in point. It is said of him that before his birth more 
than two thousand years since in the present Jcalpa, he 
had during many previous ones taken religious vows, 



12 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

and honoured the Buddhas who then instructed the 
world. His name is associated particularly with Dipan- 
kara, in Chinese, Janteng, a fictitious Buddha, who re 
ceived him as his disciple, and foretold that he would in 
a subsequent kalpa become Buddha, and bear the name 
by which he is now known. The time when this hap 
pened was too long ago to be expressed by common 
Chinese numerals. It was at a distance of numberless 
Jcalpas. 1 In modern Chinese temples, an image behind 
that of Julai sometimes represents Janteng. In the 
kalpa immediately preceding the present, Shakya is 
said to have risen to the rank of Bodhisattwa. He 
was then born in the heaven called Tushita, 2 and when 
the time was come his soul descended to our world. He 
came on a white elephant having six tusks. The date of 
Shakya s birth is very variously given. The Siamese, 
Peguans, and Singhalese, all using the Pali versions of 
the Buddhist classics, differ among themselves. The 
numbers as stated by them are B.C. 744, 638, and 624? 
The Chinese historian, Ma Twan-lin, mentions two dates 
as assigned by various authorities to this event, viz., 
1027 and 668. The former is what is commonly given 
in Chinese books. Burnouf rightly prefers the chrono 
logy of the Southern Buddhists. Their discrepancies 
between themselves form an objection, but not at all a 
fatal one, to such a conclusion. The uncertainty that 
involves this question is an instance of the difficulty 
attending researches in Indian chronology and history, 
as contrasted with the fulness and accuracy of Chinese 
writers. What was the original language of Buddhism 
is another point not yet fully determined. The settle 
ment of it would throw light on the chronology. Only 
one of the dates can be right, for there is no doubt as 

1 A-seng-gi-kap. The Sanscrit word 2 Tushita now pronounced Tushito. 

Asankhyd means "innumerable." s See Klaproth s Life of Buddha, 

%alpa is applied to periods of time and Tumour s Examination of the 

varying from a few hundreds to many Pali JBuddhistical Annals. 
thousand years. 



CHRONOLOGY. 13 

to Buddha s identity. If Sanscrit was the language in 
which he taught his disciples, it must have "been just 
dying out at the time, for the old Buddhist inscriptions, 
in the countries watered by the Ganges, are in a dialect 
derived from the Sanscrit and differing little from Pali. 
The mother- tongue of the Hindoos must then have been 
already supplanted by a derived dialect in the time of 
Ashoka, king of Central India, who reigned near Patna, 
as both the Northern and Southern Buddhists inform us, 
about 150 or 200 years after Buddha s death. It is to 
his age that those monuments are ascribed. Perhaps a 
discussion as to whether the Sanscrit or Pali versions of 
the sacred books were the earlier, may have led to a 
designed altering of dates by the Northern or Southern 
school of Buddhism. The deception was an elaborate 
one, by whichever party it was practised, for the interval 
from the death of Buddha until modern times is in the 
writings of both schools filled up by a series of events 
and dates. 1 The lives of some of the patriarchs, as given 
in Chinese books, appear too long. Ananda, a favourite 
disciple of Buddha, is made to die eighty-three years after 
him. Of his successors in the office of patriarch, the first 
two held it for sixty-two and sixty-six years respec 
tively. The average of the first fourteen patriarchs is 
more than fifty-two years to each. Without forgetting 
the simple and abstemious habits of these ancient ascetics, 
their lives must be regarded as prolonged beyond proba 
bility. Perhaps the most convincing argument for the 
claim of the Pali to be that which was spoken by Buddha 
himself, is that the ascertained interval between him and 
Ashoka is too short for the formation of a new language. 

The work called San- kiau-yi-su 2 places the Buddha 
called Shaky amuni in the seventh place among those whom 

1 The suggestion of Tumour to This throws light on the design of 

account for the sixty-five years dis- the Northern Buddhists in antedating 

crepancy of the Singhalese and Greek Buddha s birth by 447 years, 

dates is, that dates were altered to re- a San-kiau-yi-su, "Supplementary 

concileBuddha sprophecieswithfacts. account of the three religions." 



14 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

it commemorates as having, on account of their perfect 
enlightenment, received that title. The list begins with the 
ninety-eighth Buddha of a preceding kalpa. He is called 
the Biba Buddha. The two next, who are supposed to live 
toward the close of the same vast period of time, are called 
Shichi and Baishevu. The three first Buddhas of the pre 
sent Jcalpa are said to have been named Kulusan, Kuna- 
shemuni, and Kashiapa. In Ward s Mythology of the 
Hindoos, it is said, " The Buddhists assign to their hero 
ten incarnations, and designate the histories of these in 
carnations by the names of ten Hindoo sages." But the 
true history of the religion begins with Shakyamuni. 

Where all is fictitious, it matters not very much whether 
the preceding six Buddhas were incarnations of Shakya 
muni Buddha, or were separate in their personality. There 
appears to be no ground for believing in any Buddhism 
before Buddha. Given a hero, it is easy to invent for him 
six preliminary lives, or six predecessors in the same dig 
nity. One would like to know whether the Mohammedan 
series of seven sages, selected out of the Jewish and Chris 
tian Scriptures, from Adam to Christ, is imitated from this 
Hindoo series of seven sages. 

The effects of the teaching of each of the past Buddhas 
are recorded. The most ancient of the seven is said to 
have saved 34,800 men. The figures diminish, step by 
step, to 20,000, the number attributed to the immediate 
predecessor of the historical Buddha. 

The names of the most faithful, and also the two pro 
ficient disciples, are given in the case of each Buddha. 
The city in which they lived is also mentioned, and the 
tree under which they were fond of delivering instruction. 
The favourite city of Shakyamuni was Shravasti, and his 
tree, the Bodhi tree. His disciples were too many to 
number. His faithful disciple was Eahula, his son, and 
his two most proficient pupils were Shariputra and Maud- 
galyayana. 

The true history of the Buddhist religion begins with 



BIRTH. 15 

Shakyamuni. He was the son of Suddhodana, king of the 
city Kapilavastu, near the boundary of Nepaul. The king 
of Kapilavastu was subject to the king of Magadha, a 
country in Southern Bahar, to which the Ganges provinces 
were then tributary. Suddhodana is called in Chinese 
Tsing-/<m " He who eats food freed from impurities." 

Buddha was born B.C. 623, and attained the rank of 
Buddha at thirty- five years of age, in B.C. 588, the sixteenth 
year of the reign of Bimbisara. He died at seventy-nine, 
in the eighth year of the reign of Ajatashatru, B.C. 543. 
These are Ceylonese dates, and are, says Tumour, too late 
by sixty-five years. According to the Siamese and Birmese 
chronology, the birth and death of Buddha are assigned to 
the years B.C. 653 and B.C. 628. Koeppen prefers the 
former dates, on the ground that they are usually accepted 
by the Southern Buddhists, and the date of the Nirvana is 
sanctioned by a very extended official use. He suggests 
that the Buddhists of China and other northern countries 
were influenced by the prophecy uttered by Shakyamuni, 
which stated that his doctrines would spread in China a 
thousand years after his death. It was in A.D. 64 that 
Buddhism entered China. The Nirvana, therefore, should 
have its date a thousand years earlier. From this we may 
understand why the Chinese Buddhists place the life of 
Buddha so much earlier than do their brother believers in 
the south. Koeppen also remarks that Ceylon was con 
verted to Buddhism much earlier than countries north of 
India, and that historical events are, therefore, more likely 
to be correctly recorded in Ceylon. The events in Buddha s 
life were fresher in remembrance when the early Buddhist 
literature of Ceylon was compiled, than when Buddhism 
spread in China and other northern countries. 

The accepted date in China for Buddha s birth is B.C. 
1027. His name was Siddharta, and that of his mother 
was Maya. She died ten days after his birth. The ques 
tion in regard to this date is thus treated by the author of 
Fu-tsu-t ung-ki. He first gives six grounds for accepting 



16 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

the older chronology, i. A portent in the year B.C. 1027. 
According to a work called Cheu-shu-yi-ld, a bright light 
of five colours was seen to pierce the constellation Tai-wei, 
and pass over the whole west. On seeing it, the historian 
Su Yen remarked that a great sage was born in the west. 
Seventy- nine years later, a white rainbow was seen, having 
twelve stripes stretching from south to north. The his 
torian Hu To, seeing it, said, " It is the sign of the death of 
a great sage in the west." 2. Kashiapmadanga said to 
the Han emperor, Ming-ti, who introduced Buddhism into 
China, that it was in the year B.C. 1027, on the eighth day 
of -the fourth month, that Buddha was born. 3. The 
statement of the third Chinese patriarch in the sixth 
century, that it was in the fifty-first year of the cycle, on 
the fourth month and eighth day. 4. Another early work 
of a Chinese Buddhist gives the year B.C. 1027, the 
month and day agreeing. 5. The same is true of a state 
ment by a Buddhist in the History of the Wei, an imperial 
work. 6. Early in the seventh century, the emperor Tai- 
tsung ordered an investigation into the date of Buddha s 
birth. Lieu Te-wei, a minister of State, inquired of a 
famous Buddhist named Fa-lin the reason of the dis 
crepancy in the current accounts. The consequence was 
that Fa-lin settled it to be B.C. 1027. 

The same author proceeds to give several other epochs, 
believed in by as many authorities. I. Inscription on a 
stone pillar. This gives B.C. 718. 2. The statement of 
the pilgrim Fa-hien, B.C. 1197. 3. The statement of the 
work Siang-cheng-ki, B.C. 75 3. 4. Another statement places 
it in the time of Hia-kie, B.C. 1800. The fifth authority, 
Chung-sheng-tien-U, gives the date B.C. 457. The sixth 
states that B.C. 687 was the year in question, and that 
then, according to the Tso-cliwen, there was a shower of 
falling stars. This phenomenon is supposed to indicate 
Buddha s birth. A learned Buddhist, Ku-shan, argues 
that the birth must have taken place in the second month 
of the modern Chinese calendar, because in the Cheu 



EARLY LIFE. 17 

dynasty the year began two months later. To this the 
defenders of the orthodox Chinese view say in reply, that 
in three Sutras the birth of Buddha is said to have taken 
place in the fourth month, and as they were all translated 
since the modern calendar was adopted, a century before 
the Christian era, it is not open to us to say that it took 
place in the second month. 

At fifteen years of age he was, in an assembly of nobles 
and Brahmans, formally invested with the rank of heir- 
apparent. The nobles presented to his royal father basins 
filled with water from the four seas, and ornamented with 
the seven precious things. They also sprinkled water on 
the prince s head, and gave him the seal of the seven 
precious things. 

At seventeen he was married to a Brahman maiden 
of the Shakya family called Yashodara. He was taught in 
his youth every possible accomplishment, and was supplied 
with all the delights that high position and riches could 
afford, but he soon learned to despise them. 

At eighteen years of age he left the palace to visit cer 
tain pleasure gardens and groves. Passing the east gate 
of the city he saw there a Deva who had assumed "the 
form of an old man, with white hairs and crooked back. 
He thought sadly on the rapidity with which men grow 
old. They become aged like lightning, and yet are not 
afraid. Going out again, the same divinity presented him 
self at the south gate in the disguise of a sick man, witli 
languid features and swelled paunch. At the west gate 
he saw a dead man, and the members of his family laugh 
ing as they followed him to the grave. He went out once 
more, and saw at the north gate a begging priest, a Biksliu 
in fact. He wore the garb of an ascetic, and carried a 
bowl. A staff was in his hand. The prince asked him 
who he was. He replied, " I am a Biksliu, practising 
sacred duties, and always obtaining the reward of freedom 
from action." As he finished these words he rose into the 
air, and was soon out of sight. The prince thought, " I fear 

B 



!8 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

lest I may be pressed down by old age, sickness, death, 
the miseries I have witnessed. This Bikshu has arrived 
at the perception of my feelings. He shows me the path 
of deliverance." From this time the prince began to desire 
the ascetic life. 

At twenty-five years old he sought an interview with 
his father, and said, "Kindness and affection, multiplied as 
they may be, lead but to partings. Allow me to enter 
on the ascetic life, that I may learn what wisdom is." His 
father tried in vain to detain him. On the seventh day 
of the second month the prince, while reflecting on the 
life of the recluse, emitted from his body a light which 
shone to all the palaces of the Devas. These beings then 
knew that Siddharta had become a recluse, and came to 
congratulate him. He asked their aid, and left his father s 
palace in the night-time under their escort, resolved to be 
a hermit, and saying, "If the eight miseries "viz., birth, 
death, sickness, love, hatred, &c. " be not abandoned, wis 
dom cannot be attained." He refused to return to his 
father s palace, and lived on the Himalaya Mountains in 
solitary spots, trying various methods to attain mental 
satisfaction, but in vain. He lived on hemp and barley, 
and assuaged his thirst with snow, till at thirty years of 
age he came to the perception of the true condition and 
wants of mankind. "He sighed, and said, It is strange 
that all men while they have within them Julai (the capa 
city of perceiving the true nature of life and worldly 
phenomena), and possess knowledge and virtue as the 
original property of their nature, should be entangled by 
deceptive thoughts and remain in ignorance of these 
things/ After this he lived forty-nine years, and delivered 
thirty-five discourses of special importance." 

There were, during Buddha s life, five principal periods 
of instruction. 

I. The time of delivering the Hwa-yen-Ung. The 
scene was mostly in the paradises of the Devas, and the 
audience was composed of mythological personages. This 



EARL Y PREA CHING. 19 

was the first grand outburst of Buddhist thought, and it 
belongs to the " Greater development." 

II. The deer garden period. Buddha now becomes 
historical. His teaching and his audience are human. 
This is the period of instruction in the four miseries, 
examples of which we have in the Sutra of Forty-two Sec 
tions, and other works. 

III. The teaching of squareness and equality ; where 
all the principles of Shakyamurii s philosophy appear in 
symmetry, as in the Leng-yen-king. 

IV. The period of the Pradjna. Here Shakyamuni 
becomes most coldly metaphysical, and expounds the 
doctrine of salvation for man and all living beings in the 
triumphant tone of an icy logic. The miseries of society 
are to be terminated by minute hair-splitting and belief 
in certain profound abstractions, which, after all that may 
be said for them, are simply impossibilities. 

Y. The closing period of Buddha s public life included 
the announcement of the Lotus of the Good Law, and the 
doctrine of Nirvana. Here, in prospect of death, the 
warmth of human feeling returns. Shakyamuni becomes 
sympathetic and touching, as in the days of youth when 
he founded the Hindoo monastic societies, and when, as 
an enthusiastic preacher, he visited one after another the 
great cities of Oude and Bahar. 

At first Buddha appeared like the sun in the east 
illuminating the tops of the western hills. Bodhisattwas 
from immense distances were attracted, and came to re 
cognise him as the teacher whose instructions would guide 
mankind to the highest truth. This was the Hwa-yen 
period. Next the sun shone on the valleys, and then 
upon the wide plains. After the Bodhisattwas had been 
taught, the first disciples of the human race, the SJira- 
manas, or " listeners," were instructed in the valleys, and 
then all mankind in the plains. The changes of milk are 
referred to in illustration. The first teaching was like 
milk fresh from the cow. There are four subsequent 



20 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

stages, cream, ordinary butter, rich butter, and the oil 
which appears on the surface in the last boiling process. 
In Mongolia and North China milk is boiled to make 
butter. 

The Hwa-yen doctrine is described also as tun, "an 
abrupt outburst." The teaching of the Bikshus is 
"gradual and elementary" (tsieri), proceeding step by 
step from the Book of the Forty -two Sections to the 
Leng-yen, or "Square and equal," and from thence to the 
Pradjna paramita. Beyond that, in the later years of 
his life, Buddha unfolded the " secret " (pi-mi) and " un 
fixed " (pu-ting] aspects of his doctrine. 

The scene of the delivery of the Hwa-yen Sutra was 
laid in nine places. The first was under the Bodhi tree 
of Aranya in the kingdom of Magadha. This is different 
from the Bodhi tree of the Agama Sutras of the Small 
Development school. Aranya is " wild," " a quiet place," 
" belonging to the woods ; " and Aranyakah " a forester," 
" a hermit," " living in seclusion " (see Eitel). The addition 
of ka marks an agent. Before Buddha s time, and during 
his youth, the hermit life had already become a fashion 
in India. He would, when a young and enthusiastic 
hermit, find himself more at home with men of this class 
than any other. In some green glade of the forests that 
skirt the mighty Himalayas, Shakyamuni is pictured by 
his northern followers with numberless mythological per 
sonages assembled before him. Pu-hien, or, as he is called 
in Sanscrit, Samantabhadra, is the principal speaker. He 
is one of the fabulous Bodhisattwas. Manjusiri, another, 
follows him. 

The scene is then suddenly changed to the paradises 
of the Devas. Indra receives Buddha in one of his palaces l 

1 The Tau-li-t ien, or " Heaven of ble su, likeeZ, is a prefix. If this sup- 

the number 33 ; " in Sanscrit, Triyas- position be correct, the Hindoo race, 

trimsas. Sumeru is probably Elburz, when forming its legends of the Deva 

an isolated mountain of the Caucasus worlds in their first form, must have 

range, 18,000 feet in height, and sur- lived in the vicinity of the Caucasus. 

rounded by low ground. The sylla- Su = El; Me = Bu ; Ru = r. 



HWA-YEN-KING. 21 

on the Sumeru Mountain, and utters an encomium upon 
him in a speech in which he states that Kashiapa Buddha 
had discoursed on the same spot. He is followed by 
ten Bodhisattwas, who all speak in praise of Buddha s 
wisdom. 

Buddha is next found in the heaven of Yama, the 
Indian Pluto, and after this in that called Tushita, liter 
ally " the happy," where his mother Maya resides. After 
this, the scene of the instructions and encomiums of the 
Bodhisattwas in the presence of Buddha is transferred to 
other Deva paradises, where Indra and other gods of the 
Brahmanical mythology hold conference with them. 

Last of all, at the close of this long Sutra, the scene is laid 
in the garden of Jeta as in the " Sutra of the Diamond," 
King -kang -king. Shariputra and other disciples are there 
by anticipation, but do not see Buddha, nor the magnifi 
cent assemblage of Bodhisattwas. Before the assembly 
breaks up, Manjusiri takes his farewell of Buddha, and 
sets forth on a southward journey among mankind. 
Shariputra and 6000 Bikshus went to him for instruction. 
He exhorted them to practise the duties of the Bodhisatt 
was, that they might obtain the samadhi of faultless vision, 
and see the Buddha regions and all the Buddhas. Man 
jusiri then proceeded to the " city of happiness," on the 
east of which he met the youth familiarly known among 
the Northern Buddhists as Shan-ts ai-t f ung-tsi, who be 
came his disciple and learned from him the knowledge 
of Bodhi. He also traversed Southern India, where he 
taught in no cities. 

Shaky amuni himself says very little in the course of 
.this Sutra. It is intended rather for developing the my 
thology of the great Bodhisattwas. As such, it is highly 
valued in China, where the images of Wen-shu (Manjusiri) 
and Pu-hien are common in the temples. Pu-hien in one 
speech mentions China under the name Chen-tan, 1 as a 

1 Hiva-y en-king, chap. xxvi. Tan means "country," as in Hiudostan, 
Afghanistan. 



22 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

region where many Bodhisattwas have been engaged in 
past times in instructing the people. 

But the time had arrived when Shakyamuni must be 
come a teacher of mankind, and we now find him suddenly 
making his appearance at Benares. 

Legend having resolved to exalt Shakyamuni to the 
utmost extent of her resources, busied herself particularly 
with the year when he attained that perfect vision of truth 
which is called the state of Buddha. 

He had passed six years in the exercises of severe absti 
nence and meditation. One day he thought, " I had better 
eat, lest the heretics should say that Nirvana is attained 
in famishing the body. Let me eat, and then attain to 
perfect knowledge." He went to the Nairanjana river to 
bathe. Here a shepherdess gave him food which suddenly 
grew on a lotus-flower at her feet. He took it, and felt 
his strength return. He went to sit under a banyan tree 
(Pippala), or tree of Bodhi. The god Indra brought him 
a straw seat. He sat here, resolved not to move till the 
transformation he was about to undergo should be com 
pleted. 

The king of the Maras, perceiving that the walls and 
foundations of his palace were shaking, thought in him 
self, " Gautama is now attaining perfect knowledge. Before 
he has reached the height of wisdom, I will go and trouble 
him." He went with bow and arrows, and attendant 
demons, to the tree where the object of his attack was 
sitting. He then addressed him " Bodhisattwa ! give up 
the monastic principle (c hu-kia fa), and become a wheel 
king/ l If you rise not, I will shoot my darts at you." 
The Bodhisattwa was unmoved. The darts, as they fell, 
became lotus flowers. The king of the Maras then offered 
him his three daughters to attend on him. Shakyamuni 
said, "You attained, by a small act of virtue, the body 

1 A king who rales the world, and ChaJcravarti in Sanscrit, from Ckakra, 

causes the wheel of doctrine every- "wheel," the symbol of activity, 

where to revolve. The great Ashoka whether of Buddha in preaching, or 

was a wheel king. The word is of kings like Ashoka in ruling. 



RANK OF BUDDHA ATTAINED. 23 

of a Deva. You think not on the perishing, but seek to 
tempt me. You may leave me ; I need you not." The 
king of the Maras again said, " I will resign to you my 
throne as a Deva, with the instruments of all the five 
pleasures." "No," replied the Bodhisattwa, "you attained 
the rank of Ishwara by some charitable deed. But this 
happiness has an end. I wish it not." 

An army of spirits now issued from the ground and 
rebuked the tempter, who, as his last device, summoned a 
host of demons to assault the unconquerable youth. The 
air was filled with grim faces, gnashing teeth, and bristling 
spears. The Bodhisattwa looked on this scene as if it 
were child s play. A spirit in the air was now suddenly 
heard to say, " The Bodhisattwa attains this day, under 
the Bodhi tree, the perfection of knowledge. Here stands 
the diamond throne of many past Buddhas. It is not for 
you to disturb him. Cease your hostility, and wait upon 
him with respect." The king of the Maras then returned 
to his palace. 

It was on the seventh day of the second month that 
Shakyamuni, after this victory, attained the rank of 
Buddha. This is described as entering into a state of 
reverie, emitting a bright light, and reflecting on the four 
modes of truth. 1 It is added, that he comes to the com 
plete knowledge of the unreality of all- he once knew as 
good and evil acting, long and short life, and the five paths 
of the metempsychosis, leading all living beings into a 
perpetual interchange of sorrow and joy. As the morning 
star of the eighth day of the month appeared, he suddenly 
awoke to this consciousness, and attained the perfect view 
of the highest truth. 

As soon as Shakyamuni had risen from the state of 

1 These are, Ku, "misery," Tsi, separation from the ties of passion, 

"assembling," Mie, "destruction," the possibility of destroying the de- 

:vnd Tau, "the path," consisting in sires, and the path of salvation as 

knowledge of misery, truth, and regards the practical Buddhist life, 
oppressive restraints, the need of 



24 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

P usa to that of Fo, the assembly of the forty-one great 
teachers embodying the law, and of innumerable Devas, 
Nagas, and other supernatural beings, gathered round him, 
as the clouds gather round the moon. 

To them he discoursed, as already described, in the Hwa- 
yen-ldng. 

While he was meditating on the hopelessness of attempt 
ing the instruction of mankind, none but a Buddha being 
able to comprehend what Buddha knew, it first appeared 
better that he should enter at once into the Nirvana. But 
from this wish he was dissuaded by Brahma and Indra, 
who came to intercede for mortals, and induce Buddha to 
become a public teacher. During seven days he received 
in silence Brahma s entreaties. In the second week he 
reflected on the sufferings and sorrows of man. In the 
third week, he said, " I ought to open the gate of the sweet 
law. Who should first hear it ? The hermit Arara, who 
desired the perfect knowledge of truth ? Let me first save 
him." A voice in the air said, " He died yesterday." Again 
he thought, " Then let the hermit Nalana be the first." The 
voice again said, " He died last night." He thought once 
more, " The five messengers sent by the minister of state 
had a like wish. Let them first hear the law." Buddha 
accordingly set out for Benares. 

On the way, he sat by a pool in a state of samadhi for 
seven days. A blind Naga (snake or dragon) that lay in 
the pool felt the light that shone from Buddha restore his 
vision. He came out of the water, was transformed into 
a youth, and received the vows as a disciple. 

On the seventh day of the third month, the spirit of the 
tree under which Buddha had for seven days been in a 
state of samadhi, took notice of Buddha s long abstinence 
from food. Five hundred travelling merchants passed at 
the moment, and the oxen that drew their waggons proved 
unable to pull the vehicles over the obstacles that lay in 
the road. Two of the merchants came to the tree to ask 



APPEARANCE A T BENARES. 2 5 

the spirit s aid. The spirit advised them of the presence 
of Buddha near the pool, and said they should offer him 
food. They gave him barley mixed with honey. The 
four kings of the Devas (who are seen in the front hall of 
Buddhist temples) took from the mountain stones four 
sweet-smelling bowls, which they found there by a happy 
chance. In these they offered the food. Buddha took all 
the bowls, for fear of giving offence to any of the kings. 
He then piled them up on his left hand, and, with his 
right (by magical manipulation), formed them into one, 
holding it so that all present might see it. Then, after 
uttering a charm, he ate the food, and proceeded at once 
to administer the vows to the two merchants, who, with 
their companions, all attained high grades in Buddhist 
knowledge. 

Buddha, in this instance, imposed on the neophytes the 
ordinary five prohibitions suited for men and Devas. This 
must be regarded, therefore, as exoteric teaching. But as 
the grade attained was high in proportion to the amount 
of training, it belongs so far to the unfixed or arbitrary 
division of the exoteric doctrine Hien-lu-cln-pu-ting-ltiau, 
"manifested, and not fixed teaching." 

It is at this point in Shakya s biography that a new 
section begins. 

Mankind were not at this time in a state to receive the 
doctrine of the Greater development, and Buddha must 
be content to leave the brilliantly-illuminated regions of 
the great Bodhisattwas and shine upon the retired valleys, 
where he will, by a gradual process of teaching, reform 
and make happy such groups as he may meet of ordinary 
mortals in their wretchedness and desolation. He will, 
for the time, postpone his more elevated discourses, and 
proceed to Benares to teach the rudiments of his system. 
The shining robes of the recognised Buddha must be 
exchanged for the tattered garb of the ascetic. This is to 
him a temporary disguise. 



26 



CHINESE BUDDHISM. 



The Northern school, with all the looseness of its chrono 
logy, professes great exactness in dates. 



Month. 


Day. 


Event. 


r> 


8 


Shakyamuni becomes Buddha. 




29 


Teaches the Hwa-yen doctrine. 


7 


6 


In reverie bv the pool. 




7 


Receives food from the merchants. 


3) 


8 


In the garden at Benares. 



In these dates, says the biographer, intervals of three, 
four, and five weeks may be observed. 



CHAPTEE II. 

LIFE OF BUDDHA FROM HIS APPEARANCE AS A TEACHER AT 
BENARES TO THE CONVERSION OF RAHULA. 

The four truths Godinia aud his four companions The first 
monastic community The first lay brother Conversion of five 
hundred fire-worshippers in the kingdom of Magadha Buddha 
at Kajagriha At Shravasti, in Jeta s garden Appoints punish 
ments for crimes of monks Goes to see his father after twelve 
years absence Story of his son Rahula. 

IT was exactly thirty-five days after his arriving at perfect 
wisdom that Buddha opened his public life at Benares, by 
discoursing to Godinia and others on the four truths. 
"You should know," he said to his auditors, "the fact 
of misery (DUK A), and the need of becoming separated from 
the accumulation of entanglements caused by the passions 
(SAMUDAYA). These two truths belong to the world from 
which you are now exhorted to take your departure. You 
should also experience the extinction of these miseries 
and entanglements (NiRODA), and the path of reformation 
(MARGA). These two truths belong to the monastic life on 
which you should now enter." 

Having these subjects to discourse on, Buddha went 
forth to appeal to the youth of India, the hermits, the 
followers of the Zoroastrian fire -worship, the Brahman 
who studied the Vedas, and to men of every class. 

The wheel of doctrine revolved thrice. There was first 
didactic statement, then exhortation, and lastly appeal to 
evidence and personal experience. The image is that 
of grinding. The chaff and refuse are forced from the 



28 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

good flour by repeated revolutions of the wheel. The 
statement of facts, the urgent appeal, and the proof are 
repeated in the inculcation of each of the " four truths." 
The wheel of Buddhist preaching was thus made to per 
form twelve revolutions. 1 

Having once launched the subject under these four 
heads, it was natural that the Hindoo minds of the time, 
fond as they were of dialectical hair-splitting, should ramify 
them into numberless subdivisions. They talked of the 
eighty-one states of misery, the eighty-eight varieties of 
deception, the thirty-seven methods of reformation, &c. 

One of Buddha s earliest converts was Godinia, who 
was attracted by his teaching upon the four truths, and 
attained the first grade of clear vision. It was at Benares, 
the ancient Varanasi, in the Mrigadava garden (Lu-ye-yueri), 
that this conversion and that of four others took place. 
Thus began the revolving of the wheel of the Buddhist 
law, which was destined to spread the new doctrine over 
so wide a portion of Asia, and to continue for so many 
centuries. These new disciples asked to be permitted to 
commence the monkish life. This Shakya allowed, say 
ing, " Bikshus ! it is for you to take off your hair, wear 
the kasha, and become Shramanas." He discoursed of the 
non-permanence of human actions, of the emptiness of the 
external world, the non-existence of the Ego, the deliver 
ance of the mind from thraldom by the cessation of faults, 
and the consequent attainment of the moral and intellec 
tual rank of Arhan. 

"Thus," adds the delighted Buddhist historian, "the 
world for the first time had six Arhaus, and (including 
the new doctrine) the Three Precious Ones (San Pau). The 
first was Buddha, the second was the revolving of the 
wheel of the doctrine of the four truths (DJiarma), and 
the third was the company of the five Arhans (Sanga). 
Well might that garden be regarded as the happy land of 
men and Devas (Tien}" 

1 Sh%-er-Mng-fa-lun. 



THE FIRST LA Y BROTHER. 29 

This was the foundation of the spiritual communities of 
Buddhism. The Sanga, or assembly of believers, distin 
guished by common vows of abstinence from marriage, 
from animal food, and the occupations of social life, now 
commenced. The Sangarama and Vihara, 1 or monastery, 
was soon rendered necessary for the residence of the 
voluntary coenobites, who daily grew in numbers, and the 
greatest social revolution that ever took place in India 
was fairly begun. 

Soon afterwards, a youth of great intelligence saw in 
the night-time a light. He opened the door of the house, 
and went out in search of the light. He soon reached 
Buddha s garden, was taught, became an Arhan, and re 
quested permission to take the vows, to which Buddha at 
once consented. The father of this youth came in search 
of him, and was also taught by Buddha. He became a 
convert ; with purged vision took the vows of adherence 
to the Three Precious Ones, and returned home to become 
the first Upasaka, or lay brother, keeping the rules, but 
living at his own house. It was permitted to the neophyte, 
if he preferred it, to continue in the position which he held 
in social life, and not to join the monastic community. 

As soon as the number had increased to fifty-six, another 
great step was taken by Shakyamuni. He broke up the 
community, and dismissed all its members to travel every 
where, giving instruction in the doctrine of the four 
miseries to all persons with whom they met. This occu 
pation was connected with begging for food. At this 
time the Buddhist community had no property. It was 
supported by the liberality of the new members, or by the 
gifts of rich persons. Whether the monks were in the 
monastery or upon their travels, the normal mode of gain 
ing support was by the charity of neighbours, of passers- 
by, of kings and nobles, and all the kindly disposed. The 
system was thus gradually, in the early years of Shakya- 

1 Sanga, "assembly;" ardma, "garden;" Vihura, " a place for walking 
about in." 



30 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

muni s teaching, assuming the form it has taken in all 
Buddhist countries. Monastic vows, living in spiritual 
communities, voluntary poverty, and universal preaching 
these formed the basis on which the great Buddhist 
structure was erected. We cannot but admire the won 
derful practical genius of the man who conceived the 
system, and carried it out with such triumphant success. 
In a few years India was covered, through the labours 
of the Buddhist preachers, with flourishing communities 
of monks, and in the cool season of the year the Bik- 
shus, or religious mendicants, were everywhere seen on 
the roads and in the cities teaching the true path to the 
Nirvana. 

As Shakyamuni was the first in time of the founders of 
monastic communities, so he surpassed them all in the 
originality of his conceptions, in the success of his system, 
and in the force of his influence. 

The Buddhist preachers left their master, who proceeded 
from Benares to Magadha. At evening he slept in the 
house of Uluvilva Kashiapa. He there subdued a fiery 
snake, and administered to him the vows of adherence to 
Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood. To produce an 
impression on Kashiapa s mind, he enclosed the snake in 
a rice bowl. Kashiapa was still deficient in knowledge, 
but from this time he ripened and progressed visibly. 

On the banks of the Nairanjana river, Shakyamuni had 
an interview, says the legend, with his old enemy, the king of 
the Maras (the Chinese mo in mo-Jewei, " devil "), who wished 
to enter the Nirvana. But Buddha refused his thrice re 
peated request, on the ground that he was not mentally pre 
pared for the change. Thus, legend which was never more 
active in inventing wonderful stories about any one than 
about Shakyamuni makes him sovereign over the most 
powerful supernatural beings. He did not, however, 
always refuse applicants for salvation from other worlds. 
He is said to have gone up to the Tushita paradise to 
instruct his mother Maya in the new law. 



JE TA S GA RDEN A T SHRA VAST I. 31 

On the banks of the same river, five hundred fire-wor 
shippers, after hearing his discourse on the four miseries, 
became Arhans, and threw their implements of worship 
into the river. This religion frequently mentioned in 
early Buddhist history was, as it would appear, propa 
gated from India to Persia not long before the time of 
Cyrus, and there succeeded in destroying the old Magian 
worship of the heavenly bodies. But while fire-worship 
triumphed in Persia, it was destined to be expelled from 
India by Buddhism. With these new converts, Buddha 
went to the city of Eajagriha, and was received there with 
perfect confidence and admiration. The king Vimbasara, 
Ajatashatru s father, 1 and all the principal persons in the 
city, Brahmans, officers, and people, became his disciples. 

The ruins of this city are still visited by the Jains, at a 
spot sixteen miles south-west of Bahar. 2 It was the metro 
polis of the Magadha princes till the era of Ashoka, the 
Buddhist monarch who ruled all India about two hundred 
years after the time of Shakyamuni. Here Buddha taught 
for many years, and received some of his most celebrated 
disciples, such as Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, and Ka- 
shiapa. At this time Buddha began to appoint the wear 
ing of the shangati, or upper robe, reaching to the knees. 
It is worn outside the kasha, or long robe, which was in 
use from the commencement of the monastic institute. 

Three years later, Shakya was invited to Shravasti, to 
occupy a house and garden expressly provided for him by 
the king s eldest son and a rich noble, as already described. 
It was the Jetavana Vihara, or Monastery of Jeta s Garden. 
Here he was in the kingdom of Kosala, then ruled by Pra- 
senajit, who, with the chief persons of influence, were all 
in favour of the new doctrine. 

Buddha was obliged to become a legislator. As thefts, 
assassination, and evil-speaking occurred in his community, 

1 From Vimba, "shadow;" sara, 2 Eitel s Handbook of Chinese 
"strength." In old Chinese, Bimba- Buddhism, 
sala. 



32 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

he made special rules for the punishment of such crimes 
(Ft. iii. 30). 

His father sent a messenger to him, after he had been 
absent from home for twelve years, to inform him that he 
wished to see him, and to invite him to come for a visit. 
The messenger was a Brahmachari (a religious student 
or observer of Brahmanical rules of purity), named Udaya. 
On hearing Buddha discourse, Udaya at once attained to 
the state of Arhan (Lohan). Buddha now resolved to go 
to see his father, and attempt, by teaching, to save both 
him and his mother. He sent forward Udaya to inform 
the king, and perform before him the eighteen changes 
a series of magical effects. The king was delighted, and 
went out of the city thirteen miles, accompanied with an 
escort of ten thousand persons, to welcome Shakyamuni, 
who was conspicuous for his stature being sixteen feet in 
height and his brilliant golden colour. He appeared like 
the moon among the clouds. Around him were many 
Brahmachari who had long been in the woods and moun 
tains, and whose bodies were black. They seemed like 
those black- winged birds that fly round the purple-golden 
mountain. The king then ordered five hundred youths 
of distinguished families to become monks and attend 
on Buddha, like phoenixes round Mount Sumeru. 

The hermit life in India preceded the monastic life. 
Buddha himself was at first a hermit, like the Brahmachari 
of the time. But while they aimed at the old Brahmanical 
purity, his mind swelled with new thoughts and aims. 
They were content to avoid the stains of a secular life. 
He was bent on saving multitudes by teaching. 

When Buddha was come to see his father after twelve 
years absence, his wife brought his little son, Eahula, 
to see him. The boy was just six years old, and the 
courtiers doubted if Buddha was his father. Buddha said 
to the doubters, " Yashodara has been true to her duty. 
I will give proof of it." He then, by his magical power, 
caused the monks present all to become Buddhas in 



STORY OF RAHULA. 



33 



appearance. Yashodara then took a signet ring and gave 
it to the boy, saying to him, This is your father s ; ai ve 
it to him." Eahula took it and gave it at once to Buddha 
The king and all the courtiers said, " Good ! this bov is 
truly the son of Buddha." l 



( 34 ) 



CHAPTEE III. 

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF RAHULA s RELIGIOUS LIFE TILL 
THE NEAR APPROACH OF THE NIRVANA. 

Buddha sends for Rahula Arrangements for instructing Rahula and 
other boys Tutors Boys admitted to the vows Nuns Rapid 
spread of monasticism Disciplinary rules Education in meta 
physics Ananda and the Leng-y en-king Buddha in these 
works like Socrates in Plato Buddha said to have gone to 
Ceylon Also to the paradise of desire Offer of Devas to pro 
tect Buddhism Protectors of China Relation of Buddhism to 
Hindoo polytheism Pradjna Paramita King Prasenajit 
Sutra of the Benevolent King Daily liturgy Ananda becomes 
Buddha s attendant disciple Intrusted with the Sutras in 
twelve divisions Buddha teaches his esoteric system Virtually 
contained in the " Lotus Sutra " In this the sun of Buddha 
culminated His father s approaching death announced 
Buddha reaches the forty-ninth year of his public preaching. 

WHEN Buddha was forty-four years old lie sent a messen 
ger to his father and wife to say that his son Rahula was 
now nine years of age, and ought to commence the reli 
gious life. Maudgalyayana was the messenger. The 
mother replied, "When Julai (TatMgata) was a prince 
he married me, and before we had been married three 
years he went away to lead a mountain life. Having 
after six years become Buddha, and returned to visit his 
country, he now wishes me to give him my son. What 
misery can be so great as this?" She was, however, 
persuaded to consent to this sacrifice, and committed 
him to the care of the messenger. With him the king 



BOYS AND NUNS ADMITTED. 35 

sent fifty sons of noble families to be his companions 
in taking the vows and receiving instruction. 

They were placed, says the legend, under the care of 
Shariputra and Maudgalyayana as their tutors Ho-shang 
(Ujpdsaka), and A-che-li (Acharya). 1 The original meaning 
of the ordinary Chinese term for Buddhist priest thus 
appears to be " tutor." The primary duty of the Ho-shany 
was to be the guide of young monks. The term was 
afterwards extended in Eastern Turkestan to all rnonks. 
From that country it was introduced into China, where 
it is still used in the wider sense, all monks being called 
Ho-shang. 

It was now arranged by Buddha that while boys might 
be received into the community, if the parents were will 
ing, when still of tender years, as from twelve to seventeen, 
they should not receive the full vows till they were twenty. 
He also ordered the erection of an altar for administer 
ing the vows. It is called Kiai-t an, " Vow altar." It is 
ascended by three nights of steps. On the top sit the 
officiating priest and his assessors. The flights of steps 
are so arranged that the neophyte passes three times 
round the altar on his way up, to indicate his triple sub 
mission to Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood. 

Women began to ask and received permission to take 
the vows. They were called in India Bikshuni, and in 
China Niku. Ni is the Sanscrit feminine termination 
of Bikshu, and Jcu is a common respectful term used of 
aunts, young girls, &c. 

In twelve years from the commencement of his public 
teaching Buddha s doctrines had spread over sixteen Indian 
kingdoms, the monastic system was founded, and the out 
line of the regulations for the monks and nuns was already 
drawn. 

Shakyamuni taught morality by rules. He hedged 

1 Eitel s Handbook. The -word From Turkestan it was introduced 
Ho-shang is translated from Updsaka into China. (Fan-yi-ming-i). 
into the former language of Khoten. 



3 6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

round his community with the strictest regulations, but 
he made metaphysics the staple article of his oral instruc 
tions. He tried first to bring his disciples out of danger 
from the world s temptations by introducing them to the 
spiritual association of the Bikshus. Here there was 
community of goods, brotherhood, the absence of secular 
cares, strict moral discipline, and regular instruction. The 
only respite was when the whole community went out 
into the streets of the city to receive the alms of the 
householders in the form of money or food. The instruc 
tion consisted of high metaphysics and a morality which 
speaks chiefly of mercy, and only looks at duty on its 
human side. Obedience to the law of God is in Shakya- 
muni s morality kept assiduously out of view. Instead 
of theology he taught metaphysics, and instead of a his 
tory of God s dealings with mankind, such as the Bible is 
to the Christian, he supplied them with an unlimited 
series of the benevolent actions of the Buddhas and Bodhi- 
sattwas. 

This is true of Northern and Southern Buddhism, but 
the system prevailing in Ceylon and Siam has perhaps 
somewhat less of the metaphysical and more of the moral 
element than that found in China and Mongolia. 

One of the most striking examples of the use of meta 
physics as a cure for moral weakness, is found in the 
Leng-y en-king. The incident, which is of course legendary, 
is placed by Buddha s biographers in the forty-fifth year 
of his age and in the city Shravasti. Ananda, the fa 
vourite disciple, lingered one evening in the streets, where 
he proceeded alone from door to door begging. He acci 
dentally met a wicked woman named Matenga. The god 
Brahma had already resolved to injure Ananda, and now 
drew him by a spell into the house of Matenga. Buddha, 
knowing of the spell, after the evening meal returned 
from the house of the rich man who entertained him, 
sent forth a bright lotus light from his head and received 
a charm. He then directed Manjusiri to take the charm 



AN AND A AND THE LENG-YEN-KING. 37 

with which he had thus been miraculously furnished, and 
go to save Ananda. By means of it he was told to bring 
Ananda and Matenga for instruction. Ananda on arriving 
made his bow and wept, blaming himself that he had not 
come before, and that after much teaching his " strength " 
(tau-li) was so far from perfect. Earnestly he asked the 
aid of the Buddhas of the ten regions that he might obtain 
the first benefits of knowledge (Bodhi). Buddha in agree 
ing to his desire announced to him the doctrine of the 
Leng-y en-king. The attempt is made to strengthen the 
disciple against temptation by a grand display of meta 
physical skill. The man who founded the monastic in 
stitute as a cure for worldliness, might consistently teach 
philosophical negations as a remedy against bad morality. 
But it is for ever to be regretted that Shakyamuni failed 
to see the true foundations of morality. Confucius was 
able to uncover the secret of the origin of virtue and 
duty so far as to trace it to conscience and natural light. 
Judaism found it in the revealed law of God. Christian 
ity combined the law written on the heart with the re 
vealed law of the Divine Euler. But Shakyamuni failed 
to express rightly the relation of morality to God or to 
human nature. Here is the most grievous failure of his 
system. He knew the longing of humanity for deliver 
ance from misery, and the struggle which takes place 
perpetually in the heart of mankind between good and 
evil ; but he misunderstood them because he was destitute 
not only of Christian and Jewish, but even of Confucian 
light. Fortunately, however, all the imperfect teaching 
in the world cannot destroy the witness which conscience 
in every land bears to the distinctions of eternal and 
immutable morality, or Buddha s teaching would have 
been still more harmful. 

The occurrence of the Leng-yen-king early in Buddha s 
public life constitutes a difficulty to the Buddhist com 
mentators. Buddha is perfect. He commences with the 
superficial, and finishes with the profound. How was it 



3 3 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

that this most polished specimen of his acumen, acknow 
ledged to be so by noted Chinese Confucianists like Chu- 
fu-tsi, should equal the Sutras which were delivered at 
the end of his life ? They therefore deny its equality 
with the Fa-liwa-king, "The Lotus of the Good Law," 
delivered, so they say, when Shakyamuni was an old 
man. 

It has cost much labour to reduce the Sutras into a 
self-consistent chronological order. The Northern Bud 
dhists when they added the literature of the Mahayana 
to that which was composed by Shakyamuni s immediate 
disciples, felt obliged to show in a harmonious scheme of 
his long life, to what years the various Sutras of the Hina- 
yana and Maliayana, or " Smaller " and " Greater Develop 
ment," should be assigned. 

Imagine a life of Socrates composed by a modern author 
on the hypothesis that he really spoke all that Xenophon 
and Plato said in his name. Each of these authors im 
parted his own colouring to his account, and introduced 
his own thoughts in various proportion ; and Plato s works 
certainly constitute the record of his own intellectual life 
rather than that of Socrates. His rambles in the world 
of thought have ever since his time been regarded as his 
own much more than they were those of his revered 
teacher. How foolish and useless would be the endeavour 
to construct a biography of Socrates on the principle that 
he wrote Plato, that the Platonic dialogues were all the 
products of his mind, that the incidents real or fictitious 
they record were all capable of arrangement in a self- 
consistent scheme, and that the philosophical principles 
they contain were all developed in a symmetrical succes 
sion, and at definite epochs in the life of Socrates ! Such 
is the hopeless task undertaken by Buddha s Northern 
biographers. 

Buddha, in the eighteenth year of his public teaching, 
is said to have gone to Ceylon, called in the Sutras Lenga 
Island. He went to the top of Adam s Peak, and here 



THE PARADISE OF DESIRE. 39 

delivered the Lenga Sutra. A Bodhisattwa said to him, 
" Heretics prohibit the eating of flesh. How much more 
should Buddha enforce abstinence from flesh ! " Buddha 
assented, and gave several reasons why Bodhisattwas and 
others should conform to this rule. Lenga Island is de 
scribed as inhabited by Yakshas, and as unapproachable 
by men except by those who are endowed with magical 
power. 

During the next year Buddha is said to have visited 
one of the heavenly paradises, in the middle of the second 
range of the heaven of colour and desire, where an assem 
blage of Buddhas and Bodhisattwas from the ten regions 
gathered before him. Here he delivered the Ta-t si-king. 
Each P usa appeared in the form of the element he governed, 
whether it were " air " (k ung), water, or any other. The 
Devas and Nagas now came forward, and said, "We will 
henceforth protect correct doctrine. If any kings scourge 
members of the monkish community, we will not protect 
their kingdoms. The disciples of Buddha will abandon 
their inhospitable territories, which will then remain un 
blessed. Not having the religious establishments which 
bring happiness on a country, pestilence, famine, and war 
will commence, while wind, and rain, and drought will 
bring ruin on the agriculture." 

After the gods and dragons had finished this speech, 
Buddha addressed himself to a son of a Deva called 
Vishvakarma, the patron of artisans, 1 the Yaksha Kapila, 
and fifteen daughters of Devas, having eyes with two 
pupils, and directed them to become the patrons of 
China. Each of them was told to take 5000 followers 
and wherever there was strife, litigation, war, or pestil 
ence, to put a stop to those evils, so that the eye of 
Buddha s law might long remain in that land. 

The mythology of India appears in this description in 
its true light. The aboriginal inhabitants of a distant 

1 Eitel s Handbook. 



40 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

island like Ceylon were thought of as a race of demons. 
The beings called Devas, the Theoi of Greece, and the 
Dei .of the Latins, were a class subordinate to Buddha, 
the self-elevated sage. For want of a better word, the 
Chinese term for Heaven," Tien, is applied to them. The 
" dragons," or nagas, with which the Hebrew nahash * and 
English snake may be compared, are here viewed as a 
class of celestial beings. 

All these beings, however exalted, are regarded by the 
Buddhists as subject to the commands of their sage. Con 
tinuing to rule the world, they do so in the interest of the 
new law which Shakyamuni has introduced. Hence in 
Buddhist temples they are placed at the door, and are 
worshipped as invisible protectors of all faithful Bud 
dhists. 

When the legend says that "gods" (Devas) and "drains" 
(Nagas) agreed to protect Buddhism, the meanin^ isthat 
at this period in Buddha s life the Indian kings be4n to 
favour his religion in a more public and extended nTanner 
than before. 

Shakyamuni next delivered according to the Chinese 
account of him the Prajna Paramita (Pat-no-pa-la-mit- 
ta). Prajna is "wisdom." Para is "the farther side" of 
a river. Mita is "known," "measured," "arrived at." There 
are six means of arriving at the farther shore of the sea of 
misery. They constitute the six Paramitas. Of these that 
called the Prajna is the highest. The original works con 
taining this system were thought too voluminous to be 
translated in full by Kumaradjiva. It was not till the 
seventh century that Hiuen-tsang the traveller, after his 
return from India, undertook the laborious task of trans 
lating one of these works, which extended to six hundred 
chapters, and one hundred and twenty volumes. Nagar- 
djuna, the most noted writer among the twenty-eight 
patriarchs, founded on some of these works the Shastra 



T ." na d from the hissing sound of the 

To utter incantations, " is nahash or la/iash. 



KING PRASENAJ1T. 41 

of the "Measure of Wisdom." 1 The Chinese Clvirttai, 
the sage of T ien-t ai, made much use of the Prajna 
in constructing his system. He had only Kumara- 
jiva s fragmentary translations, such as the "Diamond 
Classic." 

The " Benevolent King " (Jen-wang), here takes his place 
in the Chinese narrative of Shakyamuni s life. This oft- 
mentioned personage was Prasenajit, king of Shravasti. 
It was to him that Buddha is said to have delivered one 
of the Prajna discourses, and to have given the advice 
that he should, for the avoidance of national calamities, 
invite a hundred priests to recite this Sutra upon a hundred 
elevated seats twice in one day. Thus he would be able 
to prevent rebellion, the invasion of hostile armies, portents 
in the sun, moon, and stars, great fires, inundations, dearth, 
destructive winds, and drought. The king, when travel 
ling, should have the Sutra placed upon a table ornamented 
with the Seven Precious Things, viz., articles of gold, silver, 
crystal, glass, cornelian, coral, and pearls, and it should be 
fully a hundred paces in advance of himself. When at 
home, it should be kept on an elevated throne, over which 
hang curtains ornamented with the same precious things. 
It should be honoured daily with reverential bows, as a 
man would honour his father and mother. 

Here is the first mention of the daily service, and of 
the superstitious reverence for the sacred books called 
Sutras common among the Buddhists of all countries. 
The possession of a "Sutra" or nom among the Mongols, and 
a king among the Chinese, is believed to bring good luck 
to the family and the state. They are often written in 
gilt letters, and occupy an honourable position near the 
domestic idol. The rulers of nature will protect those 
who honour Buddha s true words. Such is the Asiatic 
fetishism. Buddha himself, and the books containing his 
teaching, become worshipped objects ; and the grand litur 
gical services performed by large companies of priests at 

1 Ch i-tu-lun. See Fo-tsu-f ung-ki, xxx. 13. 



42 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

the call of emperors and rich men in times of drought, 
sickness, death, and other calamities, are believed by the 
people to be beneficial on the ground of such passages as 
that just given. 

When the same Sutra tTzePrajna Paramita was heard 
by the kings of sixteen Indian States, they were, says the 
enthusiastic but evidently not truthful narrator, so de 
lighted, that they gave over the affairs of their govern 
ments to their brothers, adopted the monastic life, and 
became devoted seekers after Buddhist perfection. The 
names of the countries or cities they ruled were Shra- 
vasti, Magadha, Paranai or Benares, Vaishali the seat of 
the second synod, Kapilavastu Buddha s birthplace, Kushi- 
nara the city where he died, Kosala the modern Oude and 
Berar, Cophen the modern Cabul, Kulu, Gatakana, Kucha, 
&c. (Fo-tsu-t ung-ki). 

In the sixtieth year of his age, Ananda was selected to 
be the personal attendant of Shakyamuni, and in his care 
were deposited the Sutras in twelve great divisions. This 
statement means that Ananda was the most active of the 
disciples in preserving the sayings of his teacher, and 
perhaps in composing the older Sutras. Godinia s offer 
of service was declined on account of his age. Maudgal- 
yayana, in a state of reverie, saw that Shakyamuni s 
thoughts were on Ananda. He told Godinia, who per 
suaded Ananda to accept the duty. 

In temples Ananda is placed on the right hand of 
Buddha, for, says the legend, Shakyamuni set his heart 
upon him, as the sun at his rising sheds his light straight 
on the western wall. In Singhalese temples Ananda s 
image is not placed in that close proximity to Buddha 
which is common in China. 1 This circumstance suggests 
that he does not, among the Southern Buddhists, occupy 
so prominent a position as keeper of the Sutras and per 
sonal attendant on Shakyamuni as he is entitled to in the 
opinion of their Northern brethren. In the sentence "Thus 

1 When at Galle in 1858 I noticed this. 



ESOTERIC SYSTEM. 43 

have I heard," which opens all the Sutras, the person who 
speaks is Ananda. 

At seventy-one years of age, Buddha gave instruction 
in his esoteric or mystic doctrine. It was in answer to 
thirty-six questions propounded to him by Kashiapa. 
Nagardjuna lays it down as a rule that "every Buddha 
has both a revealed and a mystic doctrine." The exoteric 
is for the multitude of new disciples. The esoteric is for 
the Bodhisattwas and advanced pupils, such as Kashiapa. 
It is not communicated in the form of definite language, 
and could not, therefore, be transmitted by Ananda as 
definite doctrine among the Sutras. Yet it is virtually 
contained in the Sutras. Tor example, the Fa-hwa-king, or 
" Sutra of the Lotus of the Good Law," which is regarded 
as containing the cream of the revealed doctrine, is to 
be viewed as a sort of original document of the esoteric 
teaching, while it is in form exoteric. 

This work, the Saddharma Pundarika, or " Great Lotus 
of the Good Law," takes its name from the illustrations 
employed in it. The good law is made plain by flowers 
of rhetoric. For example, in the fifth chapter, Maitreya 
rises in the assembly and addresses Buddha, reminding 
him of the time, forty and more years before, when he 
became an ascetic, left the palace of the Shakya clan, and 
lived near the city of Gaya as a hermit. He then points 
to the multitude of immeasurably exalted Bodhisattwas, 
the fruit of his teaching. " The wonderful result is," he 
says, " to men incredible. It is as if a man of beautiful 
countenance and black hair, about twenty-five years of 
age, should say, pointing to an old man of a hundred, 
This is my son ; and the old man should point to the 
young man and say, This is my father. Their words 
would be hard to believe, but it is not less so to credit 
the fact of the marvellous results of Buddha s exertions in 
so short a space of time. How is it, too," he asks, " that 
these innumerable disciples have, during past periods of 
boundless time, been practising Buddha s law, exercising 
magical powers, studying the doctrines of the Bodhisattwas, 



44 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

escaping the stains of the world, emerging, like the lotus 
from its miry bed, and now appear here with reverence in 
the presence of the World s Honoured one ? " 

This Sutra marks the time when, say the biographers, 
Buddha s sun reached the zenith and cast no shadow. 
They take the opportunity to remark here that Central 
India, where Buddha lived, is in fact the Middle kingdom, 
as shown by the gnomon, which, at the summer solstice, 
in that latitude casts no shadow. China, they say, cannot 
so well be called the Central kingdom, because there is a 
shadow there on the day mentioned. 

When Buddha s fatherwas an old man, and was seized with 
a threatening sickness, the son sent him a comforting mes 
sage by Ananda. Having, by attending to the prohibitions 
of purity, caused the removal of pollution from his heart, he 
should rejoice and meditate on the doctrine of the Sutras. 
The messenger was directed first to leap in the air, so as 
to produce a supernatural light, which should shine upon 
the sick king, causing relief from pain. Then he was to 
put his hand upon his forehead, and state the message. 
Immediately afterwards, the king, placing his hand on his 
heart in an attitude of worship, suddenly took his de 
parture preparatory to his next transmigration. Members 
of the Shakya clan placed him in his coffin, and set him 
upon the throne ornamented with lions. At the .funeral, 
the four kings of the Devas, at their own request, officiated 
as coffin-bearers, having for this purpose assumed the 
human form. Buddha himself went in front carrying an 
incense-holder. The coffin was burnt, with sandal-wood 
for fuel, and the bones were collected in gold caskets by 
various kings, who afterwards erected Dagobas and Stupas 
over them. Buddha informed his followers that the de 
ceased, on account of his purity of life, had been born into 
one of the higher paradises above the Sumeru mountain. 

Early Buddhism favoured no castes. Persons of all 
castes were equal in the eyes of Buddha. This circum 
stance made the new religion very popular with men of 
humble origin. This, perhaps, was the cause of the pre- 



APPROACHING END. 45 

servation of Buddha and Ananda when the clan of Shakya, 
to which they belonged, was massacred. Prasenajit had a 
son by a woman of low caste. This boy, when eight years 
old, had been insulted by the Shakya clan. He was learn 
ing archery in the house of a tutor. A new house for 
Buddha to discourse in had just been completed, and the 
sage had been invited with his followers. Euli, the young 
prince, mounted the lion throne, when he was sarcastically 
reviled by members of the Shakya clan for presuming to 
sit on the throne, he being of ignoble birth. On succeeding 
to the kingdom, he went to make war on the Shaky as, and 
had an immense number of them trodden to death by 
elephants in pits. His brother, Jeta, giver of the garden 
of that name, was also killed by him for refusing to take 
part in this cruel act. 

Buddha told his followers that Jeta was born anew in 
the Paradise of Indra, usually called in Chinese "The 
thirty-three heavens." He also foretold the early destruc 
tion of Euli and his soldiers in a thunder-storm, which took 
place, it is said, according to the prediction, when they all 
went to the hell called Avichi. Buddha also said that the 
unhappy fate of the Shaky as was due to their mode of life. 
They were fishermen, and, as they had been destroyers of 
life, so were they destroyed. 

In the view of Shakyamuni, a moral fate rules the 
world. Innumerable causes are constantly working out 
their retributive effects. These are the yin-yuen of which 
we hear the Chinese Buddhists say so much. This moral 
fate is impersonal, but it operates with rigid justice. Every 
good action is a good yin-yuen, securing at some future 
time an infallible reward. All virtuous and wise persons 
are supposed to be so, as the result of good actions accumu 
lated in former lives. 

Buddha was now approaching the last year of his 
life. In the eleventh month he said to the Bikshus 
gathered round him in the city Vaishali, " I shall enter 
the Mirvana in the third month of next year." 



CHAPTER IV. 

LAST DISCOURSES AND DEATH OF BUDDHA. 

Buddha s immortality in his teaching Death real and final Object 
of Nirvana teaching Buddha visits the Tau-li heaven Descends 
again by Indra s staircase The first images Death of Buddha s 
aunt Death of Shariputra Buddha at Kushinagara Between 
the Sala trees Last instructions Kashiapa made patriarch 
Flesh prohibited Relieves the king of Magadha Sends for 
Ananda Answers to four questions Brahma conies Buddha s 
last words Death Gold coffin Maya comes Cremation His 
relics Pagodas. 

THE fifth period of development in the discourses of Buddha 
embraces those books which belong to the "Lotus of the Good 
Law," and the " Nirvana." They close his public life as a 
teacher, and are regarded as the mellowest and richest of his 
productions. They were adapted to excite the longing of his 
disciples for higher attainments. This was his meaning when 
he said, " I am not to be destroyed, but shall be constantly 
on the mountain of instruction (ling-slian, efficacious 
mountain )." This, says the writer, is what is intended by 
Buddha entering the Nirvana, where there is neither life 
nor death. He is not dead, because he lives in his teaching. 

Thus interpreted, the claim of the Northern Buddhists 
on behalf of their sage amounts to an immortality in the 
results of his instructions. This is the Buddhist non 
omnis moriar. It is consistent with much scepticism, 
and may amount by implication to a denial of the future 
life, and the continued existence of the soul in any form. 

We must not forget that the enthusiastic Buddhists 



BUDDHA S IMMORTALITY. 47 

who wrote the treatises we are now examining belonged 
to the same actual waking, moving world with ourselves. 
They fell back, not seldom, from a state of metaphysical 
reverie into the condition of common men under the do 
minion of the senses. Then they took a firm grasp of the 
world. Metaphysics vanished. Death they looked on as 
a real death. The destruction of the material organisation 
is real. As for the soul, it lives in its actions. A great 
hero like Buddha lives only in the results of his life work. 
Perhaps our Sung dynasty author of six centuries ago felt 
satisfaction occasionally in resting the truth of his philo 
sophy, as an expounder of the Mahayana, on the reality 
of visible things. In this case he finds the Nirvana of 
Shakyamuni in the unbroken continuance of the results 
of his teaching. 

The same tendency to look out on the actual world 
accounts for the view here taken of the Nirvana as a 
system of ultimate doctrine adapted to correct the faults 
of negligent and misguided monks and others. After the 
earlier instructions had been delivered, down to the period 
of the " Lotus of the Good Law," there were still some men 
who failed to comprehend the full sense of Buddha s teach 
ing. To them it was necessary still to discourse on the 
true nature of Buddha, that they might learn what is 
" really permanent " (chcn-Jhang), and so enter the Nirvana, 
As the farmer has the early and the late harvest, so 
Buddha, when the first sowing of instruction had been 
followed by the ripening and the harvest, proceeded to a 
later sowing and harvest. It was then that a multitude of 
disciples, high and low in attainment, came to see, as never 
before, the true nature of Tathagata, and to bear the fruit 
of a ripe experience. After their autumn harvesting and 
winter garnering, there was no more for them to do. Among 
them were those who advanced from the Prajna Paramita 
to the Fa-liwa (lotus), and others who, their perceptions 
still blunted, found the Fa-Jiwa beyond their reach, and 
were only capable of being reduced to a state of mental 



48 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

and moral submission by the Nirvana. They find in the 
Nirvana doctrine that which enables them to see Buddha s 
nature. 

The historian has his eye upon those monks of later 
times who like to read other books than those of Buddha 
himself, and cease to use the books of Buddha for their 
instruction. They learn to encourage injurious and de 
structive thoughts, even when under the control of 
Buddha s law. They shorten wisdom s life, and let go 
completely from their possession the " embodiment of the 
law" (fa-shen). It is for such backsliders that the doc 
trine of permanence was introduced. Its fulness and 
reality were to furnish them with a firm support. This 
was why, near the close of his life, Shakyamuni dis 
coursed specially on the Nirvana before himself enter 
ing into that state of blissful extinction. By this means 
he is stated to have strengthened the authority of the 
monkish system of rules, and with it that of the three 
divisions of the Buddhist library. 

We see the teaching of the Nirvana to be the doctrine 
of Buddha in his old age, when his experience was ripe. 
It was the result of his observation of the needs of the 
Buddhist community. It was the completing process in 
the development of doctrine, and was adapted to affect 
minds which remained unmoved under earlier and simpler 
forms of teaching. 

In the year 947 B.C., according to the chronology of the 
Northern school, Buddha went to the Tau-li heaven, and re 
mained three months. He sent Manjusiri to his mother to 
ask her for a time to bend before the Three Precious Things. 
She came. Immediately milk flowed from her and reached 
Buddha s mouth. She came with Manjusiri to the place 
where Buddha was, who instructed her. She attained the 
Su-da-wan fruit. In the third month, when Buddha was 
about to enter Nirvana, Indra made three flights of steps. 
By these Buddha, after saying farewell to his mother, 
descended to the world, led by a multitude of disciples, 



DEA TH OF BUDDHA S A UNT. 49 

and went to the Jetavana garden in the city of Shravasti. 
The king Udayana, of Kaushambi, felt for Buddha a lov 
ing admiration, and made a golden image. Hearing that 
Buddha was about to descend by the steps Indra had made, 
he came with the image and bowed before Buddha. The 
image was of " sandal- wood " (chan-tan), and five feet high. 
When the king Prasenajit heard of it, he also caused an 
image to be made of purple gold. It was five feet high. 
These were the first two images of Buddha known to have 
been made in the world of Jambudvipa. These images 
radiated light while the sky rained flowers. 

Buddha joined his hands, and said to the image, " After 
my entrance into the state of extinction and salvation, I 
give into your charge my disciples." 

Buddha s aunt, Mahaprajapati, could not bear the thought 
of seeing Buddha s entering the state of extinction and sal 
vation that would hide him from mortal view for ever. She 
took with her five hundred women and girls under vows of 
fasting, and made obeisance to Buddha. They then re 
turned to the house, where they resided according to their 
rules, and each then exhibited the eighteen movements, 
attitudes, and marvellous performances. Some walked on 
the water as on dry land; others, leaving the ground, 
walked in the air, or sat, or lay down, or stood still, all in 
the same element. Fire and water were seen flowing from 
the right side of some, and from the left side of others. In 
others it was seen issuing from their mouths. They then 
all together entered the Nirvana. 

Buddha now ordered Ananda to go into the city, and 
announce to all the resident Buddhist householders, that 
it would be proper for them to make five hundred coffins. 
When the burning of the bodies with the coffins was com 
pleted, the relics were gathered and placed in temples 
erected for the purpose, where they might be continually 
honoured with worship. 

Shariputra and Maudgalyayana were also grieved at the 
prospect of witnessing the entrance of their master into 

D 



50 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

the Nirvana, and themselves died first. At the same time 
70,000 Lohans also entered the state of extinction. Buddha, 
seeing that his disciples of all four classes were also exceed 
ingly disturbed in mind, made use of his magical power, 
and changed the two proficient ones into the form of two 
attendant disciples, one on his right and the other on his 
left. All living beings rejoiced when they saw this, and 
were at once liberated from every anxiety and vexation. 

On the fifteenth day of the second month, Buddha was 
at the city Kushinagara. He went to a spot between two 
Sala trees, and here in a short time entered Nirvana. A 
great voice was heard proclaiming to all the assembly, 
" To-day the World s Honoured One is about to enter the 
Nirvana. Whoever has any doubts, now let him come 
forward and ask for a solution of them. It is the last 
opportunity of asking Buddha for instruction." 

At this time the great Bodhisattwas, the various kings 
of the Jambudvipa continent, the kings of the Devas, the 
kings of the mountains and rivers, and of the birds and 
beasts, with the personal disciples of Buddha, all arrived 
with offerings, wishing to administer to the wants of the 
World s Honoured One. In silence he firmly declined to 
receive anything. Chunda, a "lay disciple" (UpdsaJca), 
addressed him in the words, " We look to Julai for food 
in the future. Now we desire to receive sorrowfully the 
vows of the obedient, and to make our small offering." 
Buddha replied, " I accept your offering, for it is the last 
offering you will present to me." 

Chunda said in reply, " Though I know the benefit that 
is derived to mankind from Buddha entering the Nirvana 
in a public manner, yet I cannot but grieve." For this 
Buddha commended him. 

At this time the kings of the Devas and Nagas urged 
Shakyamuni, but in vain, not to enter the Nirvana at 
present. In reply, the World s Honoured One discoursed 
on the symbol " I," written with three dots (/.), arranged as 
a triangle resting on its base. This he used as a symbol 



KASHIAPA MADE PATRIARCH. 51 

of the embodied form of Tathagata when released from 
the three methods of the Pradjna. All the assembly of 
Bikshus then invited him to discourse on the cessation of 
permanence, on misery, on emptiness, and on the negation 
of self. Buddha, in consequence, gave them instruction 
in the four antitheses, viz., the permanence which is not 
permanent, the joy that involves sorrow, the I that is not 
I, and the purity that contains impurity. 

The vast audience of Bikshus said, " Julai being with 
out these four contradictions, why will he not remain with 
us for a kalpa or half a kalpa, that we may be informed 
how to escape from the four contradictions ? " 

Buddha said in answer, " I have already committed to 
Maha Kashiapa the complete and unsurpassed doctrine, 
to keep in trust, that you may all have a form of teaching 
on which you can rely. It will be the same as if you had 
Buddha himself." He then added, " I also intrust to you, 
kings of countries and leaders of supernatural armies, the 
deposit of sound doctrine that you may defend it by punish 
ments and lawful force, in case of want of diligence, negli 
gence, or wilful breaking of monkish rules." 

The prohibition of animal food is referred by the Great 
Development school to this period. The compiler takes 
the opportunity here to throw blame on the Lesser 
Development school, because it allows fish and flesh to 
be eaten on certain occasions. This refers to the teaching 
of Shakyamuni in the Deer garden at Benares, where the 
Agama Sutras of the Lesser Development school were 
delivered. 

In the first Sutras, those of the Hwa-yen and Fan-wang 
class, the Bodhisattwas could not eat animal food. This 
was the state of the question also at the time of the teach 
ing in Benares. It occurs again in the Lenga Sutra, as a 
restriction on the Bodhisattwa. In the work called Shih 
tsien, " Tallies of the Shakya communities," it is said, that 
the restriction on the entire Buddhist community began 
subsequent to the Agama period. In the Nirvana teach- 



52 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

ing of Buddha it was that the law was first made binding 
on all disciples of the Buddhist religion. Thus the 
Nirvana teaching made an important addition to the 
Buddhist code of discipline. 

Ajatashatru, king of Magadha, had killed his father, and 
in consequence, by natural retribution, suffered from a 
painful ulcer. He had six ministers of depraved minds 
who counselled him, in their deceptive way, to apply for 
relief to the six heretical teachers, Purana Kashiapa, &c., 
who taught that there is no need to honour prince or 
parents, and that happiness and misery do not depend on 
the moral character of actions, but come by chance. 

Another adviser informed the king that Buddha could 
cure him. While the king was lamenting that Buddha 
was about to enter the Nirvana, Shakyamuni himself 
went into a remarkable state of samadhi, by which he 
was enabled to radiate pure and cool light as far as to 
the body of the king, whose ulcer was at once healed. 
The king, with the queen and 580,000 of his subjects, then 
proceeded to Kushinagara to see the sage, who there taught 
them. In consequence, the heavy crime of Ajatashatru 
became much lightened. He, his wife and daughters, made 
high attainments in the Bodhi wisdom, and then bade 
farewell to the sage, and returned to their palace. 

Buddha now said to Godinia, " Where is Ananda ? " 
Godinia replied, that he was beyond Salaribhu, involved 
in the delusions of sixty-four thousand millions of de 
mons. These demons had transformed themselves into 
so many Buddhas, discoursing on the law and displaying 
marvellous powers. Ananda was led to think himself 
receiving instruction from true Buddhas, while he was at 
the same time entangled in a demon thrall. Consequently 
he did not come, and remained in this state of great 
unhappiness. Buddha then addressed Manjusiri in the 
words, " Ananda has been my disciple and has served me 
for more than twenty years. My teaching of the law has 
been heard by him in its entireness. As water flows into 



BUDDHA SENDS FOR ANANDA. 53 

a vessel, so he received my instructions. Therefore, I ask, 
Where is he ? I wish him to hear from me the Nirvdna 
Sutra. He is now vexed with demons. Take in your 
hand this charm (dharani) of mighty power, and go and 
save him." Manjusiri took it and went. The kings of 
the Maras, on hearing the charm recited, at once began 
to feel "wise thoughts" (Bodhi) stirring within them. They 
immediately abandoned the devices of Maras, and released 
Ananda, who returned to Buddha. 

Buddha now informed Ananda that Subhadra, an " as 
cetic " (Brahmachdri) of a hundred and twenty years old, 
who lived beyond the Salaribhu kingdom, although he 
had acquired the eyesight and hearing of a Deva, and the 
power to search into other persons minds and purposes, 
had not been able to put away his pride. He directed 
Ananda to go to him and say that Buddha, who came into 
the world like the "Udumbara tree" (Finis glomerata)?- 
would to-night enter the Mrvana. If he would do any 
thing he should do it quickly. 

Ananda went as commanded. Subhadra came with 
him to see Buddha, who discoursed to him so effectively 
that he attained the rank of Arhan, and immediately used 
his endeavours to induce Buddha to delay entering the 
Nirvana. The sage made silent signs that his resolution 
was unchanged, and Subhadra, not able to bear the pain 
of witnessing the entrance into the Mrvana, himself first 
entered the state of destruction. On this, Buddha said to 
the assembled multitude, " From the time that I attained 
wisdom I have been engaged in saving men. The first 
was Godinia, the last was Subhadra. I have now nothing 
more to do." 

Ananda, at the instance of Anuruddha, asked him four 
questions : " With whom should we live ? Whom shall 
we take as our teacher? Where shall we live? What 
words shall we use as a sign ? " 

1 This tree, a fig-bearing fruit without distinct flowers, is said to bloom 
once in three thousand years. 



54 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Buddha replied, " In regard to your first question, my 
judgment is that, after my death (entrance into the Nir 
vana), such men as Chandaka, belonging to the six classes 
of unreformed Bikshus, must come under the yoke, and 
put away their evil dispositions. 

" As to the question, "Whom after Buddha s death you 
should take as your teacher ? I reply that your teacher 
will be the Skipara system of discipline. 

" As to the question, Where shall you reside ? I reply, 
In the four places of meditation, i. Meditation on the 
body. The body and the moral nature are identical in 
vacancy. 2. Meditation on receptiveness. Reception is 
not inside ; nor is it outside ; nor is it in the middle. 
3. Meditation on the heart. It is only a name. The 
name differs from the nature. 4. Meditation on the 
Law (Dharma). The good Dharma cannot be attained; 
nor can the evil Dharma be attained. 

" As to the words you should regard as a sign, there 
should be in all Sutras, at the beginning, the sentence 
Ju-shi-wo-wen Thus have I heard. This should be 
followed by an announcement of the place where Buddha 
was teaching, and of whom his audience was composed." 

Ananda again asked, "After Julai has entered the Nir 
vana, how should the burial be conducted?" Answer, 
"Like that of the wheel kings. The body should be 
wrapped in fine white hair-cloth, 1 and coated with a pulp 
of odoriferous dust. The inner coffin should be of gold, 
the outer of iron. When the body of the king is placed 
in it, it should be sprinkled with melted butter and burned 
with fragrant wood. When the burning is completed, let 
the remaining fragments of bone be taken up and placed 
under a pagoda, tower, or other monumental building. 
Those who see it will both rejoice and grieve as they think 
of the king who ruled his country justly. In this our 
land the multitudes of men still to live will continue 
to bury with washing, and with burning, and construct 

1 Tie, 8, dip, "Fine hair-cloth," cf. tapis, tapestry. 



BRAHMA COMES. 55 

tombs and pagodas with a great variety of customary 
practices." 

" Within the Jambu continent is the kingdom of China. 
I will send three sages to renovate and instruct the people 
there, so that in pity and sympathy, and in the institution 
of all needful ceremonies, there may be completeness." 

This passage is founded on statements in the Sutra 
Tsung-mu-yin-yuen-king, " Sutra of Tombs in connection 
with sympathetically operating causes." The three sages 
are Confucius, Laou-tsi, and Yen Hwei. They are called 
the Bodhisattwa of light and purity, the Kashiapa Bodhi- 
sattwa and the Bodhisattwa of moonlight. 

Northern Buddhism gives its approval to the morality 
of Confucius, the ascetic philosophy of Li Laou-tan, and 
the high purpose of Yen Hwei. It also looks benevolently 
on the funeral customs of the Chinese. 

Brahma not appearing in the assembly when Buddha 
was about to enter the Nirvana, was sent for by the angry 
multitude, who appointed the immortal man of a hundred 
thousand charms to go on this mission. Brahma s city 
was found to be in a filthy condition. Filthy things filled 
the moat, and the hermit died. 

Buddha created a diamond king by the exercise of his 
magical power, who went to Brahma s abode, and pointing 
to the filth, transformed the moat into good land. He 
then pointed to Brahma, and made use of a small portion 
of his adamantine and indestructible strength. This had 
its effect in inducing Brahma to come to the place where 
Buddha was. 

Buddha then proceeded to tell his disciples that they 
must follow the instructions of the book of discipline 
called Pratimoksha Sutra. This work details the laws 
by which the priests are to conduct their lives. They 
must not trade, or tell fortunes, or make profit by land, 
or train slaves and serving girls for families. They must 
not cultivate plantations for gain, or concoct medicines, or 
study astrology. The rules he ordered them to maintain 



56 CHINESE BUDDHISM 

were of this kind. This treatise was to be their teacher 
in place of himself. 

The last words ascribed to Buddha by the author of 
Fo-tsu-Vung-ld (iv. 12) are, "While I have been in this 
continent of Jambudvipa, I have appeared several times ; 
and though I have entered the Nirvana, it has not been a 
complete Nirvana. Therefore you ought to know the Law 
(Dharma) that constantly remains, the unchanging law." 

Buddha then, as he lay on the couch of the Seven 
Precious Things, reclined on his right side, with his head 
to the north, his feet to the south, his face to the west, 
and his back to the east. At midnight, without a sound, 
he entered the Paranirvdna. He lay between eight Sala 
trees, arranged in four pairs. When he had entered the 
Nirvana, the two pairs that lay east and west became 
one tree, as did also the two pairs that lay north and 
south. They united to spread their shade over Buddha, 
and through extreme grief changed to a .storklike 
whiteness. 

The grief of the multitude, manifested in loud cries, 
now filled the universe with sadness. A large number 
going into the city made a gold coffin, ornamented with 
the Seven Precious Things. They also prepared banners 
and canopies of sandal-wood, aloes, and other fragrant 
substances. They came to where Buddha was, and pre 
sented them respectfully. With sincere grief the multi 
tude raised Buddha and placed him in the coffin of gold. 
Four strong men were appointed to invite the coffin to 
enter the city. They could not raise it. Then sixteen 
strong men tried to lift it, but failed. 

Anuruddha now said, "If all the people in the city 
were to try to lift it, they would be unable. The Devas 
must be appealed to, for they can do it." Before he had 
finished speaking, Indra Shakra appeared in the air carry 
ing a magnificent canopy. A host of Devas of the visible 
heavens came with Shakra offering service. Buddha was 
moved with pity. He himself lifted the coffin into the 



MAYA COMES. 57 

air to the height of a Sala tree. The coffin of itself entered 
the west gate, and came out by the east. It then entered 
the south gate, and came out by the north. In this way 
Buddha went the round of the city gates seven times, and 
arrived at last slowly at the place of cremation. 

When the coffin reached the grove of the Seven Pre 
cious Things, the four kings of the Devas arrived carrying 
branches of sandal-wood and aloes. 

On the twenty-second of the second month, Buddha, hav 
ing entered the Nirvana seven days, wished to leave his 
coffin. His disciples carried him weeping to the grove of 
the Seven Precious Things. They then took odoriferous 
waters and sprinkled him with it, and wrapped him from 
head to foot in silk and fine hair-cloth. After this they 
lifted him into the coffin, and placed him as he lay in 
the coffin upon a high framework constructed of fragrant 
wood. Each of them then took a torch of fragrant wood, 
proceeded to the wooden structure, and all was consumed. 

Anuruddha went up to the Tushita heaven to announce 
these events to Maya, the mother of Buddha. Maya at 
once came down, and the coffin opened of itself. The 
Honoured One of the world rose up, joined his hands, and 
said, "You have condescended to come down here from 
your abode far away." Then he said to Auanda, " You 
should know that it is for an example to the unfilial 
of after ages that I have risen from my coffin to address 
inquiries to my mother." 

Kashiapa was instructing five hundred disciples at the 
Gridhrakuta mountain when an earthquake occurred, from 
which he knew that Buddha had entered the Nirvana. 
At once he set out with his disciples to go to the spot 
where the coffin was. Buddha compassionated him. The 
coffin opened of itself, and presented to view the golden 
and purple body of Buddha, strong and beautiful. Ka 
shiapa, weeping, sprinkled it with fragrant water, and 
wrapped it again with the hair-cloth. 

The coffin again closed, and a Gallia was chanted by 



58 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Kashiapa, when the feet of Buddha became again visible, 
and the representations of the wheel of a thousand spokes 
(on which Buddha sits) appeared outside of the coffin. 
Kashiapa performed reverent salutations to the feet indes 
tructible as the diamond, and saw them return within the 
coffin. Another wonder was added. Flame from the 
heart and bones of Buddha was seen extending out of the 
coffin. The process of cremation went gradually on till 
the seventli day, when the entire frame of fragrant wood 
on which the coffin rested was consumed. 

According to another account, Kashiapa took fire and 
lit the pile of fragrant wood. The Sung dynasty author, 
Che-p an, prefers the statement that the cremation was 
caused by a flame issuing from Buddha s own body. 

Seven days had passed after the death (literally de 
struction and extrication) of Buddha, when Kashiapa 
announced to 500 Arhans that they should go to all 
worlds and gather Arhans who possess the six powers of 
penetration. 1 No fewer than 808,000 came and received 
instruction in Dharma near the two trees. 

On the twenty-ninth of the second month, seven days 
after the cremation of Buddha, Indra Shakra opened the 
coffin and took out a right tooth of Buddha. He caused 
two pagodas to be erected in his paradise. A Kaksha also 
took two teeth. The people of the city came and filled eight 
golden pots with relics. They took them into the city, and 
made offerings to them for seven days in succession. 

There was much contention among those who desired 
a share in the relics. Those who struggled were the 
kings of the Devas, the kings of the Nagas, and eight kings 
of India. To end the strife, Upakutta proposed a division 
into three parts for the Devas, the dragon kings, and the 
Indian kings respectively. His advice was followed. 

King Ashoka obtained 84,000 relics, and also the mous- 

1 These are such as the power of ties of form, life, death, and retribu- 
distinguishing all sounds, the feel- tion, &c. 
iu^s and aims of all persons, varie- 



PAGODAS. 59 

taches of Buddha. On his way home he met Nanda, a 
king of the ISTagas, who begged relics from him, threaten 
ing to destroy his kingdom if he refused. Ashoka gave 
him a hair of Buddha s moustaches, which he took to the 
Sumeru mountain. He there erected a pagoda of rock- 
crystal for its safe keeping. In various parts of the 
Jambudvipa continent ten pagodas were soon erected 
with a similar object in view. 



60 



CHAPTER V. 

THE PATRIARCHS OF THE NORTHERN BUDDHISTS. 

Features of Asiatic life in the time of the patriarchs Character, 
powers, and intellectual qualities of the patriarchs Series of 
thirty-three patriarchs Appointment of Kashiapa by Shakya- 
muni The Svastika council of Eajagriha, for writing out the 
books of Buddha, and settling what should be received as 
canonical The part taken by Ananda in the authorship of the 
Buddhist books Ananda, second patriarch The third was 
Shangnavasu Remarks on samadhi and reverie Fourth, 

Upagupta Conversion of a wicked woman when dying Fifth, 

sixth, and seventh patriarchs Buddha s prophecy regarding 
Buddhanandi, the seventh Struggle between filial love and 
Buddhist conviction in Buddhamitra The way in which he 
subdued an unbelieving king Maming given to the king of the 
GetsD to induce him to raise the siege of Pataliputra Kapiniara, 
the thirteenth Nagarjuna, the fourteenth Converts ten thou 
sand Brahmans Writes the Ta-chi-tu-lun Vigorous defence of 
Buddhism by Kanadeva Assassination of Kanadeva Sangha- 
nandi, precocious as a boy Prophecy respecting him Rahulata 
ascends to heaven Sangkayasheta s discussion on the nature of 
sound Converts fifre hundred hermits Kumarada s views on 
the inequality of present retribution Difficulties met with by 
Manura in teaching Buddhism in Southern and Western India 
A patriarch s power over birds Haklena converts Singhala- 
putra, who succeeded him as patriarch (the twenty-fourth), but 
was killed by the king of Candahar The orthodox school has 
only twenty-four patriarchs The contemplative school has 
twenty-eight Pradjnyatara, the twenty-seventh converts Bodhi- 
dharma, the twenty-eighth, who proceeds to China Hindoo 
knowledge of the Roman empire. 

WE are now in the midst of the Asiatic world of two thousand 
and sixteen hundred years ago. In India, in Afghanistan, and 



FEA TURES OF A SI A TIC LIFE. 6 1 

in Turkestan, Buddhist priests had entered actively on that 
pilgrim life to which monasticism inevitably gives origin. 
With the object either of instructing, or of worshipping at 
some celebrated shrine, travellers were constantly seen on 
each foot- worn mountain path proceeding to some distant 
monastery. Such scenes as the following, illustrating the 
beliefs of the time and locality, would not seldom occur. 
A wayfarer in the country of the Geta3 (Afghanistan) 
knocks at the door of a Brahman family. A young man 
within answers, "There is no one in this house." The 
traveller was too well taught in Buddhism not to know 
the meaning of this philosophical nihilism, and at once 
answered, " Who is no one ? " The young man, when he 
heard this, felt that he was understood. A kindred spirit 
was outside. Hurriedly he opened the door, and invited 
the stranger to enter. The visitor was the patriarch of 
the time (seventeenth), with staff and rice bowl, travelling 
to teach and make new disciples. On his entrance, he at 
once proceeded to utter a statement that this young man 
was the object of a long foretold destiny. A thousand 
years after Buddha s death, a distinguished teacher would 
appear in the country of the Getoe, who would reform his 
contemporaries, and follow up the work of illustrious pre 
decessors. This meant that he was to become patriarch. 
He is eighteenth in the series. 

A patriarch is represented as one who does not look at 
evil and dislike it ; nor does he, when he sees that which 
is good, make a strong effort to attain it. He does not 
put wisdom aside and approach folly ; nor does he fling 
away delusion and aim at comprehending truth. Yet he 
has an acquaintance with great truths which is beyond 
being measured, and he penetrates into Buddha s mind to 
a depth that cannot be fathomed. His lodging is not 
with the sage, nor with the common class. Because he 
is above every one else in his attainments, he is called 
a patriarch. 

A patriarch has magical powers. He can fly through 



62 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

the air, cross rivers on a boat of leaves, rain inilk l at will 
from the air, and enter into a very great variety of trances 
or samadhi. 

A patriarch has the keenest intellectual perception. He 
can dive into men s thoughts, and explain the meaning of 
the longest and most obscure compositions. The superiority 
of his mental faculties to those of common men is most 
marked. He can accomplish intellectual feats where 
others fail. 

A patriarch is the chief defender of Buddhism against 
the heretics and opposers of his time. Selected by the 
last patriarch from the crowd of common disciples, he 
takes the chief place ever after as champion of the Bud 
dhist law and discipline. 

He lives poorly, is meanly clad, and keeps up the dignity 
of his position by the influence of mind, of character, and 
of supernatural acts. 

The succession was broken at the fifth Chinese patriarch, 
and has never been restored. 

The rank of patriarch could be the more easily dis 
continued because he had no ruling power. He was simply 
a defender, teacher, and example of the Buddhist doctrine 
and life. 

The following paragraphs are taken from papers I wrote 
many years ago. 

After the death of Shakyamuni, or, to speak honorifi- 
cally, his entrance into the Nirvana at Kushinagara, a 
series of thirty-three patriarchs, if we include five Chinese 
holders of the dignity, superintended in succession the affairs 
of the religious community he had founded. Eemusat has 
given an abstract of the biography of the patriarchs taken 
from a Japanese encyclopaedia. He says, Buddha, before 
his death, committed the secret of his mysteries to his 
disciple, Maha Kashiapa. He was a Brahman, born in the 

1 This is stated in the life of grant milk." This is the name of a 
Shangnavasu, the third patriarch, milky plant, Esch^choltzia cristata, 
The word used is hiang-ju, "fra- allied to the vervain. Williams. 



APPOINTMENT OF KASHIAPA. 63 

kingdom Magadha, in Central India. To him was intrusted 
the deposit of esoteric doctrine, called Cheng-fa-yen-tsang, 
" the pure secret of the eye of right doctrine," The symbol 
of this esoteric principle, communicated orally without 
books, is ^man or wan. This, in Chinese, means " 10,000," 
and implies the possession of 10,000 perfections. It is 
usually placed on the heart of Buddha in images and 
pictures of that divinity. It 13 sometimes called sin-yin, 
" heart s seal." It contains within it the whole mind of 
Buddha. In Sanscrit it is called svastilca. It was tho 
monogram of Vishnu and Shiva, the battle-axe of Thor in 
Scandinavian inscriptions, an ornament on the crowns of 
the Bonpa deities in Thibet, and a favourite symbol with 
the Peruvians. 

The appointment of Kashiapa to be successor of Buddha 
and patriarch is described in the following manner : " The 
World-honoured teacher ascended the platform from which 
he gave his instructions, holding in his hand a flower, the 
gift of a king. His disciples were all regardless of his 
teaching. Only Kashiapa showed attention and pleasure 
in his countenance. Buddha understood what was passing 
in his mind, and gave him the pure mystery of right doc 
trine, the secret heart of the Nirvana, that true know 
ledge of existing things which consists in knowing them 
not to exist, and the method of enlightenment and refor 
mation." 

Kashiapa distinguished himself by severely ascetic prac 
tices. Buddha knew his excellence, and wished him to 
F it on the same seat with himself, as being not inferior in 
merit. But to this he would not consent. He also easily 
comprehended the ideas of Buddha. Buddha, on one 
occasion, used the following illustration: "A notable 
man s house took fire. He brought goat-carts, drawn by 
goats, deer, and bullocks, to rescue his sons. He after 
wards gave them a lofty, broad waggon, drawn by white 
bullocks. The first are the methods of Hinayana. The 
last is that of Mahayana." Kashiapa understood that 



64 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Buddha, when lie thus alluded to the various modes of 
teaching employed by him to save men, wished to point 
out that the Mahayana is superior to the others in capacity, 
adaptability, and utility. 

He taught at Eajagriha after the Nirvana. The king, 
Ajatashatru, supplied daily with food for a whole summer 
a thousand Arhans, who were engaged under Kashiapa in 
collecting the boots containing the sayings of Buddha, i.e., 
the Tripitaka. This is what is called by Koeppen the First 
Buddhist council. 

Kashiapa taught after this for twenty years, and then 
intrusted to Ananda the secret of pure doctrine. After 
this we hear of his proceeding to the four places of pil 
grimage to worship. These were the place of Shakya- 
muni leaving his home to become a recluse, the place of 
his becoming Buddha, of first preaching, and of entering 
the Nirvana. 

The second patriarch, Ananda, figures in many narra 
tives as the constant attendant and disciple of Buddha. 
In temples he is represented as the corresponding figure 
to the old man Kashiapa, where he stands on Buddha s 
right hand. He was the second son of Shakyamuni s 
uncle, and was therefore first cousin of the sage. His 
name means " joy." His face was like the full moon, and 
his eyes like the lotus flower. He became a disciple at 
eight years old. 

At the assembly of the Lotus of the Good Law, Buddha 
foretold of Ananda that he would ultimately become 
Buddha. This was to be a reward for his joy at hearing 
the law, and his diligent listening to it. Buddha obtained 
knowledge and taught the law. The Bodhi was perceived ; 
and the Dharma became its embodiment. The part of 
Ananda was to grasp, hold firmly, and save from destruc 
tion the Dharma as uttered by Buddha. In so doing 
he also saved from oblivion the Dharma which will be 
uttered by coming Buddhas, as foretold by Shaky amuni. 

Kashiapa appointed that Ananda should sit on the lion 



AN AND A, SECOND PATRIARCH. 65 

throne, with a thousand secretaries before him. They 
took down his words while he repeated the Dharma as he 
had heard it from Buddha. Evidently he had a good 
memory. Kashiapa was an old man, and Ananda was 
comparatively young. Both were alike anxious to pre 
serve the teaching of Buddha ; and the thousand Arhans, 
who received the sacred Dharma, were selected from a vast 
multitude of those who had accepted Buddha as the lion of 
the law, the mighty hero of the new and popular religion. 

It is not said that they wrote. They may have com 
mitted to memory the sacred Dharma as Ananda gave 
it, but writing became the common mode of preserving 
Buddhist teaching so soon after, that this narrative may 
describe actual dictation and the work of a diligent secre 
tariat, or company of disciples, who acted as scribes. 

The aged patriarch, Kashiapa, when he died, intrusted 
to Ananda the very victorious law, and told him the 
following story, which throws light on ancient Buddhism 
as represented by the Northern school. " Anciently, 
when Ting-kwang Fo was a Shamen (Shramana), he 
had under his protection a Shami (Shramanera) whom 
he required to recite prayers and meditations constantly, 
reproving him severely if he failed in reading the whole 
of his tasks. The Shami sometimes went out to beg for 
his instructor; but if he delayed beyond the due time, 
and did not complete his daily readings, he had to bear 
heavy blame from that very instructor for whom he 
begged. This led him to feel unhappy, and he com 
menced reciting on the road as he went his rounds. A 
kind and friendly man asked him the reason, and finding 
how matters stood, addressed him as follows : Do not 
be sad. In future I will provide for your wants. The 
Shami ceased to beg, and gave his whole attention to 
recitations of the sacred books, and was never deficient 
in the number of pages read. This Shami afterwards 
became Shaky amuni Buddha. His kind friend became 
Ananda in a later birth, and his sagacity, his power of 

E 



66 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

retention, and diligence in learning resulted from his 
meritorious treatment of the Shanii." 

The third patriarch was Shangnavasu of Eajagriha. 
In a former life he had been a merchant. On the road, 
as he travelled, he had met a Pratyeka Buddha, very sick, 
and poorly clad. He gave him medicine, and clothing of 
a beautiful grass-cloth. 1 

This is what, by Buddhists, is called sowing the " field 
of happiness " (fu-t ( ieri). Other ways of acting so as to reap 
happiness are improving roads, building bridges, respect 
to parents, care of the poor, and opening common wells. 

The Pratyeka Buddha said, " This is called the Shangna 
robe. With it the acquirement of wisdom can be made, 
and with it the Nirvana of destruction should be entered." 
He then took wing, performed the eighteen movements 
in the air, and entered the Nirvana, 

Shangnavasu collected fragrant wood, burned the body, 
and raised a dagoba over the relics. He also, as he wept, 
uttered a wish that in five hundred future births he might 
always wear a robe of ,this kind, and have a merit equal 
to that of his present life. 

He went to sea, obtained valuable pearls, and became 
a rich man. He then invited large numbers to a free 
feasting assembly in a forest, such as was held once in 
three years. He built a tower at the entrance of the 
place of meeting. Ananda said to him, " You should learn 
our doctrine, and live to benefit mankind." To this he 
consented. He took the vows and became an Arhan. 

Going away to the Manda mountain, he there by means 
of the samadhi of mercy, changed two poisonous young 
Nagas into beings having a good disposition. 

Samadhi means ecstatic reverie, and as there is some 
uncertainty as to its nature in some writers on Buddhism, 



1 This cloth was brought to China plant of which it was made had nine 

from Thibet and other western coun- stalks. When an Arhan is born this 

tries in the T ang dynasty. It was plant is found growing in some clean 

white, fine, thick, and strong. The spot. 



REMARKS ON SAMADHI AND REVERIE. 67 

it may be well to draw attention to this instance of snake- 
charming. It means a mesmerising power, a fixing O f the 
mind and eye which has an effect on the snake. To fix 
the faculties in Buddhist contemplation is to enter into 
san-mei or samadki. Those phenomena which we call 
trance, brown study, reverie, are examples of an inactive 
samadki. The addition of an effort of will makes an 
active samadki, as that used in snake charming by Bud 
dhists, and as that of mesmerists. 

He founded a house to be used by monks as a con 
templation hall at the spot, and perhaps the snakes he 
tamed may have been kept there in a box, as is sometimes 
done now in China. But the account does not say. 

He went thence to Candahar, at that time called Kipin, 
and there propagated the doctrines of Buddhism about 
eighty years before the conquests of Alexander. He lived 
in the Siang- (elephant) pe (white) mountain, sat on his 
chair, and entered into a trance. While this was happen 
ing, Upagupta, his successor, was being much troubled with 
five hundred pupils, who were self-opinionated and proud. 
He felt that they were beyond his power to guide and 
elevate. There was not existing between him and them the 
" secret link of influence " (yuen, " cause." Sansc. nidana) 
that would have overcome this difficulty. This conviction 
he acquired in a samadki, and learned or rather thought 
at the same time, while still in the ecstatic state, that 
only Shangnavasu could reform them. The samadki here 
appears to be an elevated state of inspiration. But it has 
also a magical power. The next point in the narrative 
is the arrival of Shangnavasu himself flying through the 
air. He was habited most shabbily, and when he sat 
down on Upagupta s chair, the pupils stared angrily at him 
for daring to do this. But Upagupta came before him and 
bowed to him most respectfully. Shangnavasu pointed 
to the air, and fragrant milk fell as if from a spring on the 
side of a high mountain. 

This was the result of a samadki, which the patriarch 
said was the samadki of a Naga rushing eagerly forward. 



68 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

He then exhibited five hundred different kinds of samadhi. 
At the same time he observed to Upagupta, that when 
Buddha performed any magical act by samadhi, his pupil 
Maudgalyayana did not know what samadhi it was. Nor 
did inferior disciples know the name of any samadhi by 
help of which Maudgalyayana might do anything won 
derful. " Nor do I," he said, " understand that of Ananda. 
Nor do you understand mine." 

When I enter the Nirvana," he continued, "77,000 
Sutras will perish with me; also 10,000 Shastras and 
8D,ooo works of the class of discipline." 

After this the five hundred pupils bitterly repented, 
received the patriarch s instructions, and became Arhans. 
Upon this the patriarch entered into the Nirvana. 

Upagupta, the fourth patriarch, was a native of the Ma 
dura country. He had a noble countenance which indi 
cated his integrity, and was highly intelligent and eloquent. 
His instructor, Shangnavasu, the third patriarch, told him 
to keep black and white pebbles. When he had a bad 
thought he was to throw down into a basket a black pebble ; 
when he had a good thought he was to throw down a 
white pebble. Upagupta did as he was told. At first bad 
thoughts abounded, and black pebbles were very nume 
rous. Then the white and black were about equal. On 
the seventh day there were only white pebbles. Shang 
navasu then undertook to expound to him the four truths. 
He at once attained the fruit " Srotapanna " (Sii-to-hwari). 

At that time a woman of wicked life in the same city 
with Upagupta, hearing of his upright conduct, sent mes 
sengers to invite him to go and see her. He refused. The 
son of a citizen in good repute at about the same time 
went to stay with her. This youth she slew, because a 
rich traveller came witli presents of valuable precious 
stones and pearls, which he offered for her acceptance. 
She buried the youth in a court of her house. His rela 
tions came to seek him and dug up the body. The king, 
informed of what had occurred, ordered the woman to have 
her arms and legs cut off, and also her nose and ears. She 



CONVERSION OF A WICKED WOMAN. 69 

was then thrown out among graves in the open ground 
beyond the city. When Upagupta went out on his begging 
round he arrived at the spot. She said to him, " When I 
invited you to come and see me I had a beautiful face, 
but you refused. Now that I am maimed, my beauty 
gone, and my death near, you have come to see me. Why 
is this ? " He replied, " I have come to see you from a 
wish to know what you truly are, and not through evil 
desire. You have by your beauty corrupted and ruined 
many. You were like a painted vase always giving out 
evil odours. It was no pleasure to the truly enlightened 
to approach you. They knew that this beauty would not 
be permanent. Now all miseries have gathered on you 
like numberless boils and ulcers. You ought diligently to 
seek liberation by means which are in your power." The 
woman as she listened opened the eye of Dharma, and 
obtained the purification of her heart. At death she was 
born anew in paradise. 

Upagupta, when still a youth, saw that all the common 
methods of redemption were marked by bitterness, empti 
ness, and non-permanence, and at once attained the fruit 
Anagamin, the third degree of saintship, or that from 
which there is "no" (ana) "return" (gamin). He was then 
seventeen. Shangnavasu at once received him to the 
vows on his application, and he became an Arhan. 

He was contemporary during the later years of his patri 
archate with king Ashoka, who, hearing that he was on 
Mount Uda discoursing to a large audience of believers, 
sent messengers to him, inviting him to come to the city 
where the king was, and bless him, by touching him on the 
crown of the head. The king much desired to learn at 
what spots he should erect pagodas in honour of Buddha. 
To this the patriarch responded, by pointing out to him all 
the places where Buddha had done anything remarkable 
during his life. 

The number of converts was immense. Each of them 
threw down a tally four inches long. The tallies filled a 
storehouse which was sixteen feet high. Upagupta became ; 



70 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

in virtue and wisdom, almost a Buddha, lacking, however, 
the thirty-two points of characteristic beauty. When he 
had finished his journeys for reforming others, and the 
accomplishment of destiny in meetings with them " (hwa- 
yuen-yi-pi, " renovating destiny already ended "), he per 
formed the eighteen metamorphoses, and seized on the sal 
vation that consists in destruction, i.e., he died. The tallies 
in the house were used as offerings, ya-zun (yadjna), to 
burn. The people all wept aloud, collected the " relics " 
(sharira), erected a t a (stupa), and performed regular wor 
ship before it. 

In this example of the saint worship of Buddhism may 
be observed the upgrowth of superstitious practices. It 
aptly illustrates the way in which the religious principle 
in man works outward. Buddha, a sort of human god, 
was first worshipped. Other highly venerated men of a 
secondary type were in succession added, and became the 
inferior gods of a new pantheon. 

Drikata, the fifth patriarch, was given by his father to 
Upagupta as a disciple, to be in constant attendance on 
him as Ananda was upon Shakyamuni. Upagupta received 
him to the vows at twenty years old. It was in this way. 
Upagupta was on a religious journey. He came to the 
door of an elderly man, who asked him, " Why do you, a 
holy sage, travel unattended ? " He replied, " I have left the 
world, and am without family ties. No one has given me 
an attendant disciple. It may be you who will bestow 
this kindness." The elderly man replied, " If I have a son 
I will respectfully offer him to you." He afterwards had 
a son whom he named Drikata, who devoted himself in 
youth to the study of the Sutras and other books, and 
then went in search of Upagupta. 

When Upagupta was old, he said to Drikata, " My time 
for entering the Nirvana is come. The Dharma which I 
have taught I intrust to you. It will be your duty to 
teach it in regions far and near." This he did in Central 
India, and when he died (seized on the Nirvana) Devas 
and men were sad. 



SE VENTH PA TRIARCH. 7 1 

Michaka was the sixth patriarch. When he met first 
with Drikata, he said to him, " I was formerly born with 
you in the heaven of Brahma. I met with Asita, 1 who taught 
me the doctrine of the Eishis. You met with good and wise 
teachers who instructed you in the principles of Buddhism. 
So your path differed from mine for a period of six kalpas. 
The record of the Eishis said, After six Tcalpas you shall 
meet with a fellow learner. Through him you shall 
obtain the holy fruit. To-day, in meeting with you, is it 
not the fulfilment of destiny ? " 

Drikata then instructed him in Dharma, and he made 
eminent attainments. The Eishis, his companions, did 
not believe, until Drikata performed before them various 
magical transformations, when they all believed and ob 
tained the fruit of doctrine. When Drikata died, Michaka 
took his place in renovating mankind by teaching the 
Nirvana. 

The seventh (should be eighth) patriarch was Buddha- 
nandi, a native of Northern India. When Michaka came 
to his country, Buddhanandi saw on the city battlements 
a golden-coloured cloud. He thought that there must be a 
sage beneath the cloud, who would transmit the Dharma. 
He went to search, and found Buddhanandi in the street 
leading to the market-place. Michaka said, " Formerly 
Buddha, when travelling in Northern India, said to An- 
anda, Three hundred years after my death there will be a 
sage named Buddhanandi. He will make the Dharma 
great in this region/ " Buddhanandi replied, " I remember 
that in a former kalpa I presented to Buddha a throne. 
It was on this account that he made reference to me, and 
foretold that I should in the kalpa of the sages (Bhadra- 
kalpa) spread the Dharma far and wide. Since this agrees 
exactly with what you have said, I wish to become a disciple." 
He at once obtained the four fruits of enlightenment. 

The ninth patriarch, Buddhamitra, was found by his 

1 A Eishi who was able to detect the marks of Buddha on a child. 
Shakyamuni was his slave in a former birth. Eitel. 



72 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

predecessor in the patriarchate in the following manner. 
Buddhanandi came to his country to teach. Seeing a 
white light over a house, he said to his disciples, " There is 
a sage here, who has a mouth, but does not speak, and has 
feet, but does not walk." He went to the door, and was 
asked by an old man why he came. The answer was, " In 
search of a disciple." The old man replied, " I have a son 
just fifty. He neither speaks nor walks." " That," said 
Buddhanandi, " is my disciple." 

Buddhamitra rose, made obeisance, walked seven steps, 
and then pronounced the following Gatlia : " If my father 
and mother are not my nearest of kin, who is so ? If the 
Buddhas are not my teachers, who are my teachers ? " 
Buddhanandi replied, " You speak of your nearest relative 
being the heart. To this your love for your parents is not 
comparable. Your acting in accordance with doctrine 
(tau) is the mind of the Buddhas. The Buddha of the 
wai tau (heretical teachers) belongs to the world of forms. 
Their Buddha and you are not alike. You should know 
that your real mind is neither closely attached nor sepa 
rated." He further said to the father: " Your son formerly 
met with Buddha, and, stimulated by compassion, had 
great longings to benefit others. But because he has 
thought too much of his father s and mother s love, who 
could not let him go, he has not spoken nor walked." 
The aged father hearing this, at once let him leave the 
family to become a monk. 

When Michaka (in Eitel, Mikkaka ; in San-kiau-yi-su, 
Misuchaka) was about to die, he intrusted to Buddhanandi 
the correct Dharma to teach to mankind. 

Such is the statement of Chi-p an of the Kiau-men in 
Fo-tsu-t ung-ki, He rejects Vasumitra, the seventh patri 
arch of the contemplatist school. He does not even men 
tion Vasumitra, who yet was very distinguished. He 
took a chief part in the last revision of the canon, as pre 
sident of the third or fourth synod, under Kanishka, Eajah 
of Cashmere, B.C. 153. See in Eitel, who adds, that he 



SUBMISSION OF AN UNBELIEVING KING. 73 

must have died soon after, though Chinese chronology 
places his death in B.C. 590. 

The Kiau-men writers apparently say little about the 
synods or councils, perhaps because they were presided 
over by the patriarchs, who favoured the contempla- 
tist school. Can this be the reason that Chi-p an has 
neglected the seventh patriarch and caused Michaka to 
nominate Buddhanandi (the eighth) as his successor, 
making him the seventh ? 

From this point I prefer to follow San-kiau-yi-su and 
Eitel in numbering the patriarchs, while continuing to 
take the story of their lives from the interesting pages of 
Fo-tsu-t ung-ki, because the author is full of anecdote. 

Chi-p f an, to fill the vacancy caused by the omission of 
Vasumitra, mentions Madhyantika, a disciple of Aiianda, 
who converted Cashmere. He was contemporary with 
Shangnavasu. Buddhamitra passed at once through the 
steps of enlightenment, and began to teach the correct 
Dharma. 

There was a king then reigning who followed another 
school, and wished to destroy the influence of Buddhism, 
a religion which he despised. Buddhamitra, wishing to 
bring this king to submission, took a red flag in his hand, 
and carried it before the king for twelve years. The king 
at last asked who this man was. Buddhamitra replied, 
"I am a man of knowledge, who can discuss religion." 
The king ordered an assembly of Brahmans to meet him 
in a large hall, and discuss religion with him. Buddha 
mitra took his seat, and delivered a discourse. A man 
weak in knowledge was pitted against him, whose reason 
ings he at once subverted. The rest declined to argue. 
The king then entered himself into argument with him, 
but soon gave way, and announced his intention to follow 
the Buddhist religion. 

In the same kingdom was a " ISTirgrantha " (Nikan}, who 
reviled Buddhism, and was an expert calculator. Nirgrantlia 
means a devotee who has cut the ties of food and clothing, 



74 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

and can live without feeling hungry or cold. It is from 
grantha, " tie." Buddhamitra went to him and received 
information in regard to his calculations. The Nirgrantha 
spared no abuse in speaking of Buddha. The Buddhist 
then said, "You are now working 1 out punishment to 
yourself, and will fall into hell. If you do not believe 
what I say, try your calculations, and you will find 
whether it is so or not." The heretic calculated, and found 
that it was so. He then said to the Buddhist teacher, 
" How can I avoid this calamity ? " 

The reply was, "You should become a believer in 
Buddha. You may then have this demerit annulled." 
Nirgrantha (or the Nirgrantha) upon this, pronounced five 
hundred sentences in praise of Buddha, and repented of 
his former faults. 

Buddhamitra then said, " Having performed these meri 
torious actions, you will certainly be born in one of the 
heavenly paradises. If you doubt this, make the calcula 
tions, that you may know it to be so." He did this, and 
found that his demerit was gone, and that he would be 
born in heaven. He and five hundred of his followers 
joyfully enrolled themselves as Buddhist monks, shaved 
their locks, and placed themselves under the protection of 
the Three Precious Things. 

The tenth patriarch was Parshva, and the eleventh 
Punayaja. Parshva came to the city of " Pataliputra " 
(Chinese, Hwa-shti), and rested under a tree. He pointed to 
the ground and said, " If this earth should change to a 
golden colour, a sage must be here." As soon as he had 
said this, the ground changed its colour, and immediately 
Punayaja arrived. He was received to the vows by 
Parshva, and became his successor. 

The twelfth patriarch was Ashvagosha, or Maming, " a 
horse neighing." In the city of Pataliputra, five hundred 
youths of princely families became at one time converts 

1 Tsau-tsui, "creating sin," i.e., the punishment of sin. Sin and its 
punishment are confused and loosely identified. 



MAMIXG GIVEN TO THE KING OF THE GET^E. 75 

to his doctrine, and took the tonsure. The king feared 
that his kingdom would become depopulated, and issued 
an order that there should be no more chanting. This 
decree was levelled against the use of some very popular 
and sweet music introduced by Maming. The music 
must have excited great attention, and must have had its 
effect in leading many persons to resolve on leading the 
Buddhist life. This would lead to diminution in popula 
tion. The country would become poorer. There would 
be fewer workers, fewer tax-payers, fewer soldiers, and 
fewer traders. 

At this juncture the king of the Getse led his army tc 
besiege Pataliputra. There were 900,000 men in the city, 
and the besieging king required 900,000 pieces of gold as 
a ransom. The king of Pataliputra gave him Maming, a 
Buddha s rice bowl, and a cock, observing that each of 
these gifts was worth 300,000 gold pieces. Maming s 
wisdom was unrivalled. Buddha had boundless virtue, 
and a merciful heart. The cock would not drink water 
that had insects in it. All three would be able to drive 
away enemies. 

The king of the Getse was delighted, drew back his 
troops, and returned to his country. After a time, the 
Parthians attacked him. He gained a victory, and killed 
900,000 of the enemy. 

Maming was born at Benares, but taught chiefly at 
Pataliputra. One day, while he was causing the wheel of 
the wonderful law to revolve, an old man suddenly fell 
on the ground just before him. The patriarch said, " This 
is no ordinary person. There will be some remarkable 
appearance." No sooner was this said than he vanished. 
Then, in a trice, a man with a golden skin rose out of the 
ground. He soon became changed into a young woman, 
who pointed with her right hand at Maming and said, " I 
bow to the aged and honoured patriarch. Let me receive 
the mark of Julai." She disappeared. The patriarch 
said, "A demon must be coming to struggle with me." 



76 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

There was a violent wind and heavy rain. The sky 
became dark. The patriarch remarked, "The demon is 
indeed come. I must expel him." 

When he pointed into the air, a golden dragon appeared, 
who showed marvellous power, and shook the mountains. 
The patriarch sat calmly, and the demon s agency came to 
an end. 

After seven days, a small insect appeared, which hid 
itself under the chair of the patriarch, who took it up and 
said to the assembly, "This is the demon in an assumed 
shape come stealthily to hear my teaching." 

He set the insect free, and told it to go, but the demon 
in it could not move. The patriarch then said to the 
demon, " If you only place yourself under the direction of 
the Three Precious Things, you may at once obtain mar 
vellous powers." The demon at once returned to his ori 
ginal shape, made a prostration and a penitent confession. 

The patriarch, asking him his name, he replied, " Kapi- 
mara." When the inquiry, what was the extent of his 
powers, was addressed to him, he replied that to transform 
the sea was easy to him. " Can you," asked the patriarch, 
" transform the sea of the moral nature (sing-hai) ? " He 
answered that he did not know what was meant. Maming 
explained that the physical world rests on this moral 
nature for its existence. So also the powers of samadhi, 
and of far-reaching perception on the part of Buddhist 
proficients, also depend on this for all their value. 

Kapimara became a believer, and three thousand of his 
adherents all entered the ranks of the shaven monks. 
The patriarch called in five thousand Arhans to aid in 
administering the vows to this large crowd of applicants. 

Kapimara became the thirteenth patriarch. His nume 
rous followers spread the Buddhist religion in Southern 
India. He compiled a Shastra (Luri), called the " Shastra 
of the Non-ego." It extended to the length of 100 G-athas 
(Kie). Wherever this Shastra came, the demons and 
heretics were pitiably discomfited. 



NAGARJUNA, THE FOURTEENTH PATRIARCH. 77 

Lung-shu, or "Nagarjuna," was the fourteenth patriarch. 
He belonged to Southern India. A king there was very 
much opposed to Buddhism, and influenced by what that 
religion calls "depraved views" (sie-Jcien). Lung shu wished 
to convert him, and for seven years carried a red banner 
before him when travelling. The Eajah asked, " Who is 
this man ? " He replied for himself, " I am a man pos 
sessing all kinds of knowledge." The Eajah asked, 
" What are the Devas now doing ? " He replied, " Just 
now the Devas are fighting with the Asuras." In a 
moment they became aware of the conflict of swords in 
the sky, and, to the Eajah s astonishment, some ears and 
noses of the giants fell on the ground. The Eajah reve 
rentially performed a prostration before Lung-shu. Ten 
thousand Brahmans who were at the time in the hall of 
audience all joined in praising the marvellous virtue of 
the patriarch, and at once submitted themselves to the 
tonsure, and entered on the monkish life. 

Lung-shu wrote several important Shastras. Among 
them was that one called Ta-chi-tu-lun, " Shastra of the 
Method of Great Wisdom." He was one of the most prolific 
authors of the Mahayana school. On this account he be 
came the object of the jealous dislike of the older school 
of the Lesser Conveyance. 

When drawing near the end of his life, he unexpectedly 
fell one day into the trance called the samadhi of the 
moon s wheel, in which he only heard words of the 
Dharma, but saw no forms. His pupil, Deva, compre 
hended him, and said, " The Buddha nature which you. 
my teacher, make known to us, does not consist in sights 
and sounds." Lung-shu intrusted to him the care of the 
Dharma, and entered a vacant room. As he did not come 
out for a day, the pupils broke open the door. He had 
gone into a state of samadhi, and died. In all the king 
doms of India, temples were erected for him, and he was 
honoured as if he were Buddha. 

The fifteenth patriarch was Kanadeva, a native of South 



78 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

India. Tlie king of his country followed a form of depraved 
doctrine. When men were invited to act as guards, Kana- 
deva responded to the call, and took his place, spear in 
hand, in the front rank, discharging his duties in so regular 
and exemplary a manner that the king s attention was 
attracted. In reply to the king s inquiries, he said he was 
a man who studied wisdom and practised argumentative 
oratory. The king opened for him a discussion hall. Here 
Kanadeva proposed three theses : (i.) Buddha is the most 
excellent of sages ; (2.) No law can compare with the law 
of Buddha ; (3.) There is no happiness (or merit) on earth 
equal to that of the Buddhist monk. "If any one can 
vanquish me in regard to these three theses, I consent to 
have my head taken off." In the discussion that ensued, 
all the heretics were worsted, and asked permission to 
become monks. 

A follower of one of the scholars who were vanquished 
in argument felt ashamed for his master, was much enraged, 
and resolved to kill Kanadeva. He attacked him while 
engaged in writing a controversial work, and with his 
sword pierced him through. Before life was extinct, the 
patriarch said, " You can take my robe and rice bowl, and 
go quickly to my disciples and inform them, that if any 
among them have not made progress, they should keep 
firmly to their purpose without despairing." The pupils 
came to see their master with loud lamentation. He 
said to them, " All methods and systems are empty. I do 
not exist, and cannot be injured. I do not receive love or 
hatred from any. What that man has injured is the form 
of retribution for my past. It is not I myself." He then 
cast off the body, as a cicada does its outer covering. 

His disciples collected the relics after his cremation, 
erected a dagoba, and paid him the regular honours of 
worship. 

The sixteenth patriarch was Eahulata, a native of Ka- 
pila. When a certain Brahman wrote a work of ico,ooo 
Gathas, extremely difficult to explain, Nagarjuna was able 



SANGHANANDI PRECOCIOUS AS A BOY. 79 

to understand the whole at first hearing, and Kanadeva 
at the second hearing. Rahulata was able to comprehend 
the whole when he had heard Kanadeva s explanation. 
On this, the Brahman said, under the influence of great 
astonishment, " The Shramana knows it as clearly as if 
he had known it all of old." He then became a believer. 

After his destined work of reformation and instruction 
was done, Rahulata entered (the word is " took," c: seized 
on ") the Nirvana. 

The seventeenth patriarch, Sanglianandi, of the city 
Shravasti, was the son of the king. He could speak as 
soon as he was born, and read the books of Buddha when 
an infant. At seven years old he formed a dislike to a 
worldly life. His parents tried in vain to check him in 
resolving to be a monk. Two years later, Rahulata came 
to the banks of the Golden-water river and said, pointing 
with his finger, " At a distance of five hundred li from this 
spot, there is a holy person, named Sanghanandi, who will, 
a thousand years after Buddha, succeed him on the throne 
of purity." Rahulata led his disciples to see him. He 
had just awaked from a trance of twenty-one days, and at 
once desired to take the monastic vows. He very soon 
understood the principles of Buddha s teaching, and be 
came himself an instructor. 

One day Rahulata ascended to the heaven of Brahma 
with a golden rice bowl in his hand to obtain rice for a 
multitude of believing Buddhists. On a sudden they dis 
liked its taste. Rahulata said, " The fault is not in me. 
It is in yourselves." He then desired Sanghanandi to dis 
tribute the food and eat with the others. All wondered. 
Rahulata then said, " He is a Buddha of bygone times, 
and you also were disciples of the law of Buddha in ages 
long past. However, you had not attained to the rank of 
Arhan, but only realised the first three fruits of the monastic 
life." They replied, " The marvellous power of our teacher 
can lead to faith. This Buddha of the past has still secret 
doubts." Sanghanandi observed that when Buddha was 



8o CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

living, the earth was at peace and the waters made every 
thing beautiful ; but after his death, when eight hundred 
years had passed, men had lost faith. They did not believe 
the true form of beauty. They only loved marvellous 
powers and deeds that astonish. 

He had no sooner ended, than he seized a crystal jar, 
and slowly entered the earth. He went with it to the 
boundary of the diamond wheel region, and filled it with 
the "drink of the immortals" (kan-lu). This he brought 
back to the assembly, and placed it before them. They 
all repented of their thought, and thanked him. 

An Arhan, full of all virtue and merit, came there. 
Sanghanandi tried his powers by a question. " One born 
of the race of the wheel kings was neither Buddha nor 
an Arhan. He was not received by after ages as real, 
nor was he a Pratyeka Buddha." The Arhan, unable to 
solve this problem, went to the paradises of the Devas, 
and asked Maitreya, who replied, " The custom of the 
world is to form a lump of clay, and with a wheel make 
it into a porcelain image. How can this image compare 
with the sages or be continued to later generations ? " 

The Arhan came back with this answer. Sanghanandi 
replied, " It must have been Maitreya that told you this." 

When his destined course was finished, he grasped a 
tree with his right hand, and entered the state of destruc 
tion and salvation. The corpse could not be removed by 
his disciples on account of its great weight. A large ele 
phant also came to try his strength, but was unable to 
move it. The disciples then piled up fragrant wood 
against the tree, and performed the process of cremation. 
The tree became still more luxuriantly beautiful. A 
dagoba was erected, and the relics were worshipped. 

The eighteenth patriarch was named Sangkayasheta. 
When he heard the bells of a temple ringing on account 
of the wind blowing, his teacher asked him, " Is it the 
bells that make the sound, or the wind?" The youth 
replied, " It is neither the bells nor the wind, it is my 



CONVERSION OF FIVE HUNDRED HERMITS. Si 

mind." "Walking on the sea-side, lie came to a temple and 
went into it to beg food, saying, " Hunger is the greatest 
eviL Action is the greatest suffering. He who knows the 
reality of Dharma that there is in this statement, may 
enter the path of Nirvana." He was invited to enter and 
supplied with food. 

Sangkayasheta saw in the house two hungry ghosts, 
naked and chained. :< What is the meaning of this ? " he 
asked. His host said, " These ghosts were in a former 
life my son-in-law and daughter-in-law. They were angry 
because I gave away food in charity, and when I instructed 
them they refused to listen. I then took an oath and 
said, ( When you suffer the penalty of your sin T will cer 
tainly come and see you. Accordingly, at the time of 
their suffering their retribution, I arrived at a certain 
place where monks, at the sound of the bell, had assembled 
for food. When the food was nearly all eaten, it changed 
to blood, and the monks began to use their bowls and 
other utensils employed at meals, in fighting with one 
another, and said, Why are you saving of food ? The 
misery we bear now is a recompense for the past/ I asked 
them to tell me what they had done. They replied, that 
in the time of Kashiapa Buddha, they had been guilty on 
one occasion, when Bikshus came asking food, of conceal 
ing their store and angrily refusing to share it with them. 
This was the cause of their present retribution." 

Sangkayasheta went on the sea and saw all the five hun 
dred hells. This taught him fear, and the desire to avoid, by 
some means, such a fate as to be condemned to live there. 

He attained the rank of Arhan, and finding in a wood 
five hundred " hermits " (sieri) who were practising ascetic 
rules, he converted them to Buddhism by praising Buddha, 
the Law, and the Priesthood. When his destined course 
was run, he entered the Nirvana, B.C. 13. 

In the account of Kumarada, the nineteenth patriarch, 
is included an answer he gave to a youth who was puzzled 
at the inequality of rewards and punishments in the pre- 

F 



82 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

sent life. The youth s parents were devout Buddhists, 
but in very feeble health. Their neighbour was a butcher, 
and enjoyed an immunity from all sickness and pain. 
Why should a man whose business it was to take animal 
life escape retribution from this sin ? 

Kumarada told him that the inequality of men s con 
dition in the present life is mainly on account of sins and 
virtuous acts in a former life. Virtue and vice belong to 
the present. Happiness and misery are the recompense 
of the virtue and vice of the past. The virtue and vice of 
the present will be rewarded in the future life. Jayata 
was charmed with this conversation. His doubts were dissi 
pated. He subsequently became the twentieth patriarch. 
Kumarada also said to him, " Activity, in which you have 
hitherto believed, comes from doubt, doubt from knowledge, 
knowledge from a man s not possessing the perceptive power, 
and the absence of perception from the mind s being in a 
morbid state. Let your mind be pure and at rest, and with 
out life or death, victory or defeat, action or retribution, and 
you will then have attained the same eminence as the Bud- 
dhas of the past. All vice and virtue, action and inaction, 
are a dream and a delusion." Kumarada died A.D. 23. 

The work of the patriarchs was to engage in a perpetual 
argument against unbelief. There were differences in loca 
lities. Some parts of India were more favourable to Budd 
hism than others. In the account of the life of Manura, 
the "twenty-first" patriarch, in Fo-tsu-t ung-ki (but 
really the twenty-second), it is said that in the two Indias 
south of the Ganges, "Western and Southern India, there 
was great perversity of view. Manura was well skilled 
in the analysis of alphabetic sounds, and was recommended 
by a learned Buddhist named Yaja, to proceed to Western 
and Southern India to teach Buddhism. Evidently he 
would aid in giving alphabets to the Tamil and other lan 
guages, which at that time were first committed to writing. 
On the other hand, in Northern, Central, and Eastern 
India, all stated to be to the north of the Ganges, the work 



DIFFICULTIES MET WITH BY MANURA. 83 

of Buddhist teaching is said to be easy. Yaja undertook 
to teach in this part of India. 

The campaign of Manura is described as a long struggle 
with errors and heresies. He specially made use of a book 
by the twelfth patriarch called the Sutra of the Not-mc. 
He found Western India under the control of king Teda, 
who one day when travelling passed a small pagoda. His 
attendants could not say what was the occasion of its 
being erected. He asked the " Brahmans of pure life " (Fan- 
liing\ the " contemplatists " (ch un-kwan), and the "utterers 
of charms " (cheu-shii), who formed three classes of the 
community of that day. They did not know. 

Manura was then asked; who said it was a pagoda 
erected by king Ashoka, and which had now come to 
light through the good fortune of the king. 1 The king was 
much impressed with Manura s teaching, and became a 
disciple. He gave over his royal authority to his son, and 
himself took vows as a monk. In seven days he advanced to 
the fourth grade of the understanding of Buddhist doctrine. 

Manura gave the work of reforming the kingdom by 
Buddhist teaching into the hands of the king, and went 
himself to the kingdom of the Indian Getse, who retreat 
ing westward before the Hiung-noo, B.C. 180 conquered 
the Puenjab and Cashmere in A.D. 126. Manura taught in 
Western India and in Ferghana in the third Christian 
century. He is author of the ViWiaslia Shastra. 

The twenty-third patriarch was Haklena. He was of 
the country of the Getaj (Candahar). At seven years old 
he began to rebuke those people who visited temples to 
sacrifice to the gods. He said they were deceivers of the 
people, by wrong statements of the causes of calamities 
and of happiness. " Besides, you are," he said, " wasting 
the lives of innocent cattle, which is a very great evil." 
On a sudden the temple and images fell down in ruins. 
At thirty-eight years of age he met with Manura, and was 

1 "Good fortune," fu-li, "power fortune is always deserved by some 

of the king s merit." jFu, "happi- good action done, either in the present 

ness," is in a Buddhist sense "merit." or in some former life. 
By the law of hidden causation, good 



84 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

instructed. Manura told him that formerly five hundred 
of his disciples had, on account of small merit, been born 
as storks. " These are the flock that are now following 
you, wishing to delude you into showing them favour." 

Haklena asked him, " How can they be removed ? " 
Manura spoke some sentences in the form of Gathas. 
" The mind follows the ten thousand forms in their revo 
lutions. At the turning-points of revolution, there really 
must be darkness. By following the stream and recog 
nising the true nature, you attain a position where there 
is no joy or sorrow." 

The birds hearing these words, flew away with loud cries. 
This is inserted by the Chinese biographer as an example 
of a patriarch s power over the animal creation. 

Haklena \vent to Central India. While he was teaching 
in the presence of a Bajah, two men appeared dressed in 
dark red mantles and white togas. They came to worship, 
and stayed a long time. Suddenly they went away. The 
Eajah asked, " Who are they ? " Haklena replied, " They 
are the sons of the Devas of the sun and moon." 

His most promising disciple was Singhalaputra (Lion 
son ; in Chinese, Sh i-ts i\ who had formerly believed in 
Brahmanism, and abandoned it in favour of the Buddhist 
faith. He asked Haklena, " To what must I give my chief 
attention if I would attain the true knowledge of things ?" 
" Do nothing," was the reply. " If you do anything there 
is no merit in it. By doing nothing, you will comply with 
the system of Buddha." Haklena died A.D. 209 (Chinese 
chronology). 

The twenty-fourth patriarch was Singhalaputra, a 
native of Central India. He went to Candahar (Ki-pin), 
and there brought over very many persons to Buddhism. 
Some heretics were guilty of gross crimes, and took the 
name of Buddhists. The king became angry against 
Buddhism, and cut off the head of the patriarch. 

On account of this unhappy fate of the patriarch, the 
succession, according to some authors, was broken off at 
this point. Another reason for terminating the list of 



THE CONTEMPLATIVE SCHOOL. 85 

patriarchs here, is said, by the author of Fo-tsu-Vung-ki, 
to have been that the remaining patriarchs were not fore 
told by Buddha by name, and did not equal in gifts 
and honour those that preceded. 

The contemplative school, or school of Bodhidharma, 
however, have retained the twenty-eight names, and re 
cognise no superiority in the twenty-four universally 
acknowledged patriarchs over the remaining four. For 
many centuries there was an active discussion on the 
claims of the last four and the Chinese patriarchs to the 
honour of the name. Chi-p an, writing in A.D. 1269, at 
Ningpo, decides against them. Some of the friends who 
reviewed his work, and whose names are given, belonged 
to the contemplative school. The difference of views 
would not therefore be an unfriendly one. 

The twenty-fifth patriarch, according to the contem 
plative school, was Basiasita. He was a Brahman, and 
a native of Candahar. He travelled into Central and 
Southern India, and died A.D. 328. 

Putnomita was the next (twenty-sixth) that received the 
cloak and secret symbols of the patriarchs. He was a 
Kshatrya of Southern India. He visited Eastern India, 
where he found the king under the influence of heretical 
doctrine, and converted him. He died in A.D. 388. 

His successor, the twenty-seventh patriarch, was Pradj- 
natara, a native of Central India, who travelled to the 
southern part of the peninsula, and there took under his 
instructions Bodhidharma, the second son of the king. 
He died A.D. 457, and left as his successor the pupil just 
mentioned, who, he foretold, would visit China sixty-nine 
years afterwards. Bodhidharma asked him, when under 
instruction, what he had to say about precious things, 
pearls, and doctrines, which are round and bright. The 
patriarch answered, " Among all precious things the 
Buddhist Dharma is the most precious. Among all bright 
things, knowledge is the brightest. Among all clear 
things, a clear mind is the clearest. Among all things, 



86 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

other men and I are the highest. Among all things, the 
" essential nature " (sing) of Dharma is the greatest." 

Bodhidharma was the twenty-eighth patriarch. He 
represents a school that despises books and reduces Bud 
dhist teaching to the simplest possible principles. He 
was an ascetic of the first water. 

In A.D. 526, Bodhidharma left Southern India for China 
by sea. The sixty-nine years that passed between the 
death of his predecessor and his departure from India 
formed the basis of the prediction above mentioned, con 
structed we must suppose after the event. The cause of 
his departure was probably persecution and disaster. He 
was a sectarian even in Buddhism, and possibly his ene 
mies were not only the Brahmans, but also fellow- 
Buddhists. The reading of books was the life arid soul 
of many monasteries. Bodhidharma decried book reading. 
His system made the monasteries much less educational 
and much more mystical and meditative than before. 
Lovers of knowledge among the Buddhists would dislike 
his system. This would be the case in China and in India. 
In China the dogmatic reason given for not acknowledg 
ing the last four patriarchs was that, in the " Dharmapitaka 
Sutra," Buddha had said, " After my entering the Nirvana, 
there will be twenty-four honourable teachers, who will ap 
pear in the world and teach my law " (Fo-tsu-t ung-ki, v. i). 
After this what could be done but take the statement 
as a final answer to the inquiry, How many patriarchs 
could there be ? 

Bodhidharma wished to return to India, but died in 
China before accomplishing this purpose. 

The " Getse " mentioned in the account of Haklena are 
called Tue-ti by the Chinese. In the Cyclopaedia Fa- 
yuen-chu-lin, it is said that the great kingdoms to the east, 
north, and west of India, are China, the Getse, and the 
" Eoman empire," Ta-t sin. By the kingdom of the Getse 
seems to be meant some great empire between Home and 
China. This is an Indian statement. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN CHINA. 

The emperor Ming-ti sends an embassy to India for images, A.D. 61 
Kashiapmadanga arrives in China Spread of Buddhism in 
A.D. 335 Buddojanga A pagoda at Nanking, A.D. 381 The 
translator Kumarajiva, A.D. 405 The Chinese traveller, Fa- 
hien visits India His book Persecution, A.D. 426 Buddhism 
prosperous, 451 Indian embassies to China in the Sung dynasty 
Opposition of the Confucianists to Buddhism Discussions on 
doctrine Buddhist prosperity in the Northern Wei kingdom 
and the Liang kingdom Bodhidharma Sung - yiin sent to 
India Bodhidharma leaves Liang Wu-ti and goes to Northern 
China His latter years and death Embassies from Buddhist 
countries in the south Relics The Liang emperor Wu-ti 
becomes a monk Embassies from India and Ceylon Influence 
of Sanscrit writing in giving the Chinese the knowledge of an 
alphabet Syllabic spelling Confucian opposition to Buddhism 
in the T ang dynasty The five successors of Bodhidharma 
Hiuen-tsang s travels in India Work as a translator Persecu 
tion, A.D. 714 Hindoo calendar in China Amogha introduces 
the festival for hungry ghosts Opposition of Han Yii to Bud 
dhism Persecution of 845 Teaching of Matsu Triumph of 
the Mahayana Budhiruchi Persecution by the Cheu dynasty 
Extensive erection of pagodas in the Sung dynasty Encourage 
ment of Sanscrit studies Places of pilgrimage P uto Regula 
tions for receiving the vows Hindoo Buddhists in China in 
the Sung dynasty The Mongol dynasty favoured Buddhism 
The last Chinese Buddhist who visited India The Ming dynasty 
limits the right of accumulating land Roman Catholic contro 
versy with Buddhists Kang-hi of the Manchu dynasty opposes 
Buddhism The literati still condemn Buddhism. 

IT was in the year A.D. 61, that the Chinese emperor 
Ming-ti, in consequence of a dream, in which he saw the 
image of a foreign god, sent messengers to India to ask for 



83 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

country several thousand miles to the south-east of the 
Buddhist books and teachers. 1 A native of Central India 
named Kashiapmadanga, with others, accompanied them 
back. He translated a small but important Sutra, called 
the Sutra of Forty-two Sections, and died at Lo-yang. The 
religion had now long been established in Nepaul and 
Independent Tartary, as the travels of the patriarchs 
indicate. It had also extended itself throughout India 
and Ceylon, and the persecution of the Brahmans insti 
gated partly by controversial feeling, and more by a desire 
to increase their caste influence, had not yet commenced. 
Long before this, it is stated that in B.C. 217, Indians had 
arrived at the capital of China in Shen-si, in order to 
propagate their religion. Eemusat, after mentioning this 
in ihe Foe-koue-Jci, adds that, towards the year B.C. 122, a 
warlike expedition of the Chinese led them to Hieou-thou, 
a country beyond Yarkand. Here a golden statue was 
taken, and brought to the emperor. The Chinese author 
states that this was the origin of the statues of Buddha 
that were afterwards in use. 

At this period the geographical knowledge of the Chinese 
rapidly increased. The name of India now occurs for the 
first time in their annals. In the year B.C. 122 Chang 
K ien, a Chinese ambassador, returned from the country 
of the Getse, and informed the Han emperor Wu-ti, of the 
kingdoms and customs existing in the west. Among other 
things, he said, "When I was in the country of the Dahas, 2 
12,000 Chinese miles distant to the south-west, I saw 
bamboo staves from K iung and cloth from Si-ch uen. On 
asking whence they came, I was told that they were 
articles of traffic at Shin-do ( Scinde/ taken for India), a 

i He had the dream in A.D. 61. the twelfth month they saw the em- 

Eighteen men were sent. They went peror. 

to the country of the Getse, bor- 2 Ta-hia, in old Chinese Dai-he. It 

dering on India, and there they met was 207 years earlier that the : Dahse 

the two Brahmans. They came rid- and Getse were defeated m battle by 

in- on white horses, with pictures, Alexander. Dahistan borders on the 

images, and books ; and arrived Caspian, forming the south-east coast 

in A.D. 67. On the thirtieth day of of that sea. 



BUDDOJANCA, 89 

Dahae." It is added in the commentary to the T ung-lden- 
kang-muli, from which this account is taken, that the name 
is also pronounced, Kan-do and Tin-do, and that it is the 
country of the barbarians called Buddha. 

Early in the fourth century, native Chinese began to take 
the Buddhist monastic vows. Their history says, under 
the year 335, that the prince of the Ch au kingdom in the 
time of the Eastern Ts in dynasty, permitted his subjects 
to do so. He was influenced by an Indian named Buddo- 
janga, 1 who pretended to magical powers. Before this, 
natives of India had been allowed to build temples in 
the large cities, but it was now for the first time that the 
people of the country were suffered to become " Shamen " : 
(Shramanas), or disciples of Buddha. The first translations 
of the Buddhist books had been already made, for we 
read that at the close of the second century, an Indian 
residing at Ch ang-an, the modern Si-an fu, produced the 
first version of the " Lotus of the Good Law." The emperor 
Hiau Wu, of the Ts in dynasty, in the year A.D. 381, erected 
a pagoda in his palace at Nanking. 

At this period, large monasteries began to be established 
in North China, and nine-tenths of the common people, 
says the historian, followed the faith of the great Indian 
sage. 

Under the year A.D. 405, the Chinese chronicles record 
that the king of the Ts in country gave a high office to 
Kumarajiva, an Indian Buddhist. This is an important 
epoch for the history of Chinese Buddhist literature. Kuma 
rajiva was commanded by the emperor to translate the 
sacred books of India, and to the present day his name may 
be seen on the first page of the principal Buddhist classics. 
The seat of the ancient kingdom of Ts in was in the southern 

1 He foretold future events by 2 The syllables Sang-mun are also 

interpreting the sound of pagoda employed. Shramana means the 

bells as they were blown by the "quieting of the passions." Sih-siti, 

wind. On one occasion he placed "to put the mind at rest," is the 

water in an empty flower-pot, and Chinese translation of it. 
burned incense, when a blue lotus 
sprang into view in full bloom. 



90 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

part of the provinces Slien-si and Kan-su. Ch au, another 
kingdom where, a few years previously Buddhism was in 
favour at court, was in the modern Pei-chi-li and Shan-si. 
That this religion was then flourishing in the most 
northerly provinces of the empire, and that the date, place 
(Ch ang-an), and other circumstances of the translations 
are preserved, are facts that should be remembered in con 
nection with the history of the Chinese language. The 
numerous proper names and other words transferred from 
Sanscrit, and written with the Chinese characters, are of 
great assistance in ascertaining what sounds were then 
given to those characters in the region where Mandarin is 
now spoken. 

Kumarajiva was brought to China from K u-tsi, a 
kingdom in Thibet, east of the Ts ung-ling mountains. 
The king of Ts in had sent an army to invade that country, 
with directions not to return without the Indian whose 
fame had spread among all the neighbouring nations. 
The former translations of the Buddhist sacred books 
were to a great extent erroneous. To produce them in a 
form more accurate and complete was the task under 
taken by the learned Buddhist just mentioned, at the 
desire of the king. More than eight hundred priests 
were called to assist, and the king himself, an ardent 
disciple of the new faith, was present at the conference, 
holding the old copies in his hand as the work of correc 
tion proceeded. More than three hundred volumes were 
thus prepared. 1 

While this work, so favourable to the progress of Bud 
dhism, was proceeding, a Chinese traveller, Fa-hien, was 
exploring India and collecting books. The extension of 
the religion that was then propagated with such zeal and 
fervour very much promoted the mutual intercourse of 
Asiatic countries. The road between Eastern Persia and 
China was frequently traversed, and a succession of 
Chinese Buddhists thus found their way to the parent 

1 See the Ts in history. 



FA- HI EN S BOOK. 91 

land of the legends and superstitions in which they be 
lieved. Several of them on their return wrote narratives 
of what they had seen. Among those that have been 
preserved, the oldest of them, the Account of Buddhist 
Kingdoms, l by Fa-hien, is perhaps the most interesting 
and valuable. He describes the flourishing condition of 
Buddhism in the steppes of Tartary, among the Ouighours 
and the tribes residing west of the Caspian Sea, in Afghan 
istan where the language and customs of Central India 
then prevailed, and the other lands watered by the Indus 
and its tributary rivers, in Central India and in Ceylon. 
Going back by sea from Ceylon, he reached Chang-an in the 
year 414, after fifteen years absence. He then undertook 
with the help of Palats anga, a native of India, the task of 
editing the works he had brought with him, and it was 
not till several years had elapsed that at the request of 
Kumarajiva, his religious instructor, he published his 
travels. The earnestness and vigour of the Chinese 
Buddhists at that early period, is shown sufficiently by the 
repeated journeys that they made along the tedious and 
dangerous route by Central Asia to India. Neither re 
ligion nor the love of seeing foreign lands, are now enough, 
unless the emperor commands it, to induce any of the 
educated class among them to leave their homes. Fa- 
hien had several companions, but death and other causes 
gradually deprived him of them all. 

The Ts in dynasty now fell (A.D. 420), and with it in 
quick succession the petty kingdoms into which China 
was at that time divided. The northern provinces became 
the possession of a powerful Tartar family, known in 
history as the Wei dynasty. A native dynasty, the first 
of the name Sung, ruled in the southern provinces. The 
princes of these kingdoms were at first hostile to Buddhism. 

1 V. Fo8-kou2-ki, translated by Re- nated Shwo-fu, a Ts ung-shu (selec- 

musat ; from the preface to which, tion of extracts and books old and 

some of the facts given above are new) of the reign of Shtin-ch i. Also 

taken. The original work, Fo-kwo-ki, in the Han-wei-ts ung-shu. 
is contained in the collection denomi- 



92 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

linage making and the building of temples were forbidden, 
and in the north professors of the prohibited religion were 
subjected to severe persecution. The people were warned 
against giving them shelter, and in the year 426 an edict 
was issued against them, in accordance with which the 
books and images of Buddha were destroyed, and many 
priests put to death. To worship foreign divinities, or 
construct images of earth or brass, was made a capital 
crime. The eldest son of the Tartar chief of the Wei 
kingdom made many attempts to induce his father to deal 
less harshly towards a religion to which he himself was 
strongly attached, but in vain. 

The work of this king was undone by his successor who ? 
in the year A.D. 451, issued an edict permitting a Buddhist 
temple to be erected in each city, and forty or fifty of the 
inhabitants to become priests. The emperor himself 
performed the tonsure for some who took the monastic 
vows. 

The rapid advancement of Buddhism in China was not 
unnoticed in neighbouring kingdoms. The same prosperity 
that awoke the jealousy of the civil government in the 
country itself, occasioned sympathy elsewhere. Many 
embassies came from the countries lying between India 
and China during the time of Sung Wen-ti, whose reign of 
more than thirty years closed in 453. Their chief object 
was to congratulate the ruling emperor on the prosperity 
of Buddhism in his dominions, and to pave the way for 
frequent intercourse on the ground of identity in religion. 
Two letters of Pishabarma, king of Aratan, to this emperor 
are preserved in the history of this dynasty. He describes 
his kingdom as lying in the shadow of the Himalayas, 
whose snows fed the streams that watered it. He praises 
China 1 as the most prosperous of kingdoms, and its rulers 

1 The common Indian name of these characters, that the Indians 

"China," written in Chinese Chen- who translated into Chinese at that 

tan, is here employed. Another or- early period, did not rrgard the word 

thography found in Buddhist books "China" as the name of a dynasty, but 

is Chi-na. It is clear from the use of as the proper name of the country to 



INDIAN EMBASSIES TO CHINA. 93 

as the benefactors and civilisers of the world. The letter 
of the king of Jebabada, another Indian monarch, ex 
presses his admiration of the same emperor in glowing 
language. He had given rest to the inhabitants of heaven 
and earth, subjected the four demons, attained the state of 
perfect perception, caused the wheel of the honoured law 
to revolve, saved multitudes of living beings, and by the 
renovating power of the Buddhist religion brought them 
into the happiness of the Nirvana. Eelics of Buddha were 
widely spread numberless pagodas erected. All the trea 
sures of the religion (Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood) 
were as beautiful in appearance, and firm in their founda 
tions as the Sumeru mountain. The diffusion of the sacred 
books and the law of Buddha was like the bright shining 
of the sun, and the assembly of priests, pure in their lives, 
was like the marshalled constellations of heaven. The 
royal palaces and walls were like those of the Tauli heaven. 
In the whole Jambu continent, there were no kingdoms 
from which embassies did not come with tribute to the 
great Sung emperor of the Yang-cheu 1 kingdom. He 
adds, that though separated by a wide sea, it was his wish 

which it was applied. This leaves in traders coming from Kashgar, Samar- 
great uncertainty the usual derivation cand, and Persia. Chen-tan, the 
of the term "China " from the Dzin other Hindoo name of " China " used 
dynasty, B.C. 250, or that of IV in, A.I), in the Buddhist books, may be the 
300. The occurrence of the word as Thince of Ptolemy. When the first 
the name of a nation in the " Laws of Buddhists reached China, the charac- 
Manu," supposed to date from some ter used for writing the first of these 
time between B.C. 1000 and B.C. 500, two syllables would be called Tin, and 
with the use of the term. " Sinim " in soon afterwards Ckin. In Julien s 
the "Prophecies of Isaiah," indicate a Methode, &c., its Sanscrit equiva- 
greater antiquity than either of these lent is Chin. This would be some- 
dynasties extends to. Some have what late. Would it not be better, 
supposed that the powerful feudatory having traced the term to India, to 
kingdom, Dzin, that afterwards grew make that country responsible for its 
into the dynasty of that name, may etymology? 

have originated the appellation by x At that time the territory of 

which the whole country subject to Yang-cheu embraced Kiang-nan, with 

the Cheu emperors was known to parts of Ho-nan and Kiang-si. Jam- 

the Hindoos. Dzin occupied the bu, the southern continent, is one of 

north-western tract now called Shen- the four Indian divisions of the 

si and Kan-su. It was that part of world. India is in its centre. 
China that would be first reached by 



94. CHINESE BUDDHISM, 

to have embassies passing and repassing between the two 
countries. 

The extensive intercourse that then began to exist be 
tween China, and India may be gathered from the fact that 
Ceylon 1 also sent an embassy and a letter to Sung Wen-ti. 
In this letter it is said, that though the countries are dis 
tant three years journey by sea and land, there are constant 
communications between them. The king also mentions 
the attachment of his ancestors to the worship of Buddha. 

The next of these curious memorials from Buddhist 
kings preserved in the annals of the same Chinese emperor, 
is that from "Kapili" (Kapilavastu), the birthplace of 
Shakyamuni, situated to the north-west of Benares. 

The compiler of the Sung annals, after inserting this 
document, alludes to the nourishing state of Buddhism in 
the countries from which these embassies came, and in 
China itself. He then introduces a memorial from a 
magistrate representing the disorders that had sprung from 
the wide-spread influence of this religion, and recom 
mending imperial interference. That document says that 
" Buddhism had during four dynasties been multiplying its 
images and sacred edifices. Pagodas and temples were 
upwards of a thousand in number. On entering them the 
visitor s heart was affected, and when he departed he felt 
desirous to invite others to the practices of piety. Lately, 
however, these sentiments of reverence had given place to 
frivolity. Instead of aiming at sincerity and purity of 
life, gaudy finery and mutual jealousies prevailed. While 
many new temples were erected for the sake of display, in 
the most splendid manner, no one thought of rebuilding 
the old ones. Official inquiries should be instituted to 
prevent further evils, and whoever wished to cast brazen 
statues should first obtain permission from the authorities." 
A few years afterwards (A.D. 458) a conspiracy was 
detected in which a chief party was a Buddhist priest. 

1 Shi ts i-kwo, the "Lion kingdom," translated from the Sanscrit name 
Sinhala, whence " Singhalese." 



CQNFUCIAKIST OPPOSITION TO BUDDHISM. 95 

An edict issued on the occasion by the emperor says, that 
among the priests many were men who had fled from 
justice and took the monastic vows for safety. They took 
advantage of their assumed character to contrive new 
modes of doing mischief. The fresh troubles thus con 
stantly occurring excite the indignation of gods and men. 
The constituted authorities, it is added, must examine 
narrowly into the conduct of the monks. Those who are 
guilty must be put to death. It was afterwards enacted 
that such monks as would not keep their vows of absti 
nence and self-denial should return to their families and 
previous occupations. Nuns were also forbidden to enter 
the palace and converse with the emperor s wives. 

The advances of Buddhism later in the fifth century 
were too rapid not to excite much opposition from the 
literati of the time, and a religious controversy was the 
result. 

In the biography of Tsi Liang, a minister of state under 
the emperor Ts i Wu-ti (A.D. 483), there are some fragments 
of a discussion he maintained in favour of Buddhism. He 
says, " If you do not believe in retribution of moral actions 
(yin-Jcwo) } ihQii how can you account for the difference in the 
condition of the rich and the poor ? " His opponent says, 
" Men are like flowers on trees, growing together and bent 
and scattered by the same breeze. Some fall upon curtains 
and carpets, like those whose lot is cast in palaces, while 
others drop among heaps of filth, representing men who 
are born in humble life. Eiches and poverty, then, can be 
accounted for without the doctrine of retribution." To this 
the advocate of Buddhism is said to have been unable to reply. 
He also wrote on the destruction of the soul. Personating the 
Confucianists, he says that, " The soul (shin) is to the body 
(king) as sharpness to the knife. The soul cannot continue 
to exist after the destruction of the body, more than sharp 
ness can remain when the knife is no more." These ex 
tracts show that some of the Confucianists of that age 
denied any providential retribution in the present or a 



96 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

future life. Whatever may be thought of notions con 
nected with ancestral worship, and the passages in the 
classical books that seem to indicate the knowledge of a 
separate life for the soul after death, they were too imper 
fect and indistinct to restrain the literati from the most 
direct antagonism on this subject with the early Buddhists. 
Holding such cheerless views as they did of the destiny of 
man, it is not to be wondered at that the common people 
should desert their standard, and adopt a more congenial 
system. The language of daily life is now thoroughly 
impregnated with the phraseology of retribution and a 
separate state. All classes make use of very many ex 
pressions in common intercourse which have been origi 
nated by Buddhism, thus attesting the extent of its influ 
ence on the nation at large. And, as the Buddhist 
immortality embraces the past as well as the future, the 
popular notions and language of China extend to a pre 
ceding life as much as to a coming one. 

A distinct conception of the controversy as it then 
existed may be obtained from the following extracts from 
an account of a native Buddhist, contained in the biogra 
phical section of the History of the, Sung dynasty : " The 

instructions of Confucius include only a single life ; they 
do not reach to a future state of existence, with its inter 
minable results. His disciple, in multiplying virtuous 
actions, only brings happiness to his posterity. Vices do 
but entail greater present sufferings as their punishment. 
The rewards of the good do not, according to this system, 
go beyond worldly honour, nor does the recompense of 
guilt include anything worse than obscurity and poverty. 
Beyond the ken of the senses nothing is known; such 
ignorance is melancholy. The aims of the doctrine of 
Shakya, on the other hand, are illimitable. It saves from 
the greatest dangers, and removes every care from the 
heart. Heaven and earth are not sufficient to bound its 
knowledge. Having as its one sentiment, mercy seeking 
to save, the renovation of all living beings cannot satisfy 



DISCUSSIONS ON DOCTRINE, 97 

it. It speaks of hell ; and the people fear to sin ; of heaven, 
and they all desire its happiness. It points to the Nirvana 
as the spirit s final home (ch ang-Jcwei, lit. long return ), 
and tells him of the bodily form of the law (fa-sken), 1 
as that last, best spectacle, on which the eye can^ gaze. 
There is no region to which its influence does not reach. 
It soars in thought into the upper world. Beginning from 
a space no larger than the well s mouth in a courtyard, it 
extends its knowledge to the whole adjacent mansion." 
These sentiments are replied to, in the imaginary dialogue 
in which they occur, by a Confucian, who says, " To be 
urged by the desire of heaven to the performance of virtue, 
cannot bear comparison with doing what is right for its 
own sake. To keep the body under restraint from the fear 
of hell, is not so good as to govern the heart from a feeling 
of duty. Acts of worship, performed for the sake of ob 
taining forgiveness of sins, do not spring from piety. A 
gift, made to secure a hundredfold recompense to the 
giver, cannot come from pure inward sincerity. To praise 
the happiness of the Nirvana promotes a lazy inactivity. 
To speak highly of the beauty of the embodied ideal re 
presentation of Buddhist doctrine, seen by the advanced 
disciple, tends to produce in men a love of the marvellous. 
By your system, distant good is looked for, while the 
desires of the animal nature, which are close at hand, are 
unchecked. Though you say that the Bodhisattwa is freed 
from these desires, yet all beings, without exception, have 
them." To these arguments for the older Chinese system, 
the Buddhist comes forward with a rejoinder: "Your 
conclusions are wrong. Motives derived from a future 
state are necessary to lead men to virtue. Otherwise how 
could the evil tendencies of the present life be adjusted ? 
Men will not act spontaneously and immediately without 

1 When the Buddhist has become as in the " Diamond Sutra," it is 

sufficiently enlightened, an ideal spoken of as a state that can be ar- 

picture of Buddhistic doctrine pre- rived at, but here it seems rather to 

sents itself to his mind. It is called mean an object of mental vision. 
Fa-shen or Fa-siany, Elsewhere, 



98 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

something to hope for. The countryman is diligent in 
ploughing his land, because he expects a harvest. If he 
had no such hope, he would sit idle at home, and soon go 
down for ever below the nine fountains. " * The Confucian 
answers that "religion" (tau) consisting in the repression of 
all desires, it is inconsistent to use the desire of heaven as 
a motive to virtue. 

The discussion is continued with great spirit through 
several pages, turning entirely on the advantage to be 
derived from the doctrine of the future state for the in 
culcation of virtue. The Buddhist champion is called the 
teacher of the " black doctrine," and his opponent that of 
" the white." The author, a Buddhist, has given its full 
force to the Confucian reasoning, while he condemns with 
out flinching the difficulties that he sees in the system he 
opposes. The whole is preserved in a beautifully finished 
style of composition, and is a specimen of the valuable 
materials contained in the Chinese dynastic histories for 
special inquiries on many subjects not concerned with the 
general history of the country. It was with fair words 
like these, the darker shades of Buddhism being kept out 
of view, that the contest was maintained in those days by 
such as would introduce a foreign form of worship, against 
the adherents to the maxims of Confucius. The author 
of the piece was rewarded for it by the reigning emperor. 

In the northern provinces Buddhism was now flourish 
ing. The prince of the Wei kingdom spared no expense in 
promoting it. History says, that in the year 467 he caused 
an image to be constructed " forty-three feet " in height 
(fifty English feet). A hundred peculs of brass, or more 
than five tons, were used, and six peculs of gold. Four years 
after, he resigned his throne to his son, and became a monk. 
When, about the same time, the Sung emperor erected a 
magnificent Buddhist temple, he was severely rebuked by 
some of his mandarins. 

The time of Wu-ti, the first emperor of the Liang 

1 Kiew-ts euen-chl-hia, a common phrase for " death." 



BUDDHIST PROSPERITY IN WEI AND LIANG. 99 

dynasty, forms an era in the history of Chinese Buddhism, 
marked as it was by the arrival in China of Ta-mo (Bodhi- 
dharma), the twenty-eighth of the patriarchs, and by the 
extraordinary prosperity of the Buddhist religion under 
the imperial favour. 

At the beginning of the sixth century, the number of 
Indians in China was upwards of three thousand. The 
prince of the Wei kingdom exerted himself greatly to pro 
vide maintenance for them in monasteries, erected on the 
most beautiful sites. Many of them resided at Lo-yang, 
the modern Ho-nan fu. The temples had multiplied to 
thirteen thousand. The decline of Buddhism in its 
motherland drove many of the Hindoos to the north of the 
Himalayas. They came as refugees from the Brahmanical 
persecution, and their great number will assist materially 
in accounting for the growth of the religion they propagated 
in China. The prince of the Wei country is recorded to 
have discoursed publicly on the Buddhist classics. At the 
same time, he refused to treat for peace with the ambas 
sadors of his southern neighbour, the Liang kingdom. Of 
this the Confucian historian takes advantage, charging him 
with inconsistency in being attached to a religion that for 
bids cruelty and bloodshed, while he showed such fondness 
for war. 

Soon after this, several priests were put to death (A.D. 
5 1 5) for practising magical arts. This is an offence attri 
buted more than once by the Chinese historians to the 
early Buddhists. The use of charms, and the claim to 
magical powers, do not appear to have belonged to the 
system as it was left by Shakyamuni. His teaching, as 
Burnouf has shown, was occupied simply with morals and 
his peculiar philosophy. After a few centuries, however, 
among the additions made by the Northern Buddhists to 
popularise the religion, and give greater power to the 
priests, were many narratives full of marvels and impossi 
bilities, falsely attributed to primitive Buddhism. These 
wcrks are called the Ta-cJieng, or " Great Development " 



joo CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Sutras. Another novelty was the pretence of working 
enchantments by means of unintelligible formulae, which 
a.re preserved in the books of the Chinese Buddhists, as in 
those of Nepaul, without attempt at explanation. These 
charms are called Dharani. They occur in the Great 
Development classics, such as the "Lotus of the Good 
Law," Miau-fa-lien-hwa-king (Fa-liwa-ldng), and in various 
Buddhist works. The account given in the T ung-kien- 
kang-mu of the professed magician who led the priests 
referred to above, says that he styled himself Ta-cJieng, used 
wild music to win followers, taught them to dissolve all the 
ties of kindred, and aimed only at murder and disturbance. 
The native annotator says that Ta-ch eng is the highest 
of three states of intelligence to which a disciple of Buddha 
can attain, and that the corresponding Sanscrit word, Maha- 
yana, means " Boundless revolution and unsurpassed know- 
led<re." It is here that the resemblance is most striking 

O O 

between the Buddhism of China and that of other countries 
where it is professed in the north. These countries having 
the same additions to the creed of Shakya, the division of 
Buddhism by Burnouf into a Northern and Southern school 
has been rightly made. The superadded mythology and 
claim to magical powers of the Buddhists, who revere the 
Sanscrit as their sacred language, distinguish them from 
their co-religionists who preserve their traditions in the 
Pali tongue. 

In the year A.D. 5 1 8, Sung-yiin was sent to India by the 
prince of the Wei country for Buddhist books. He was 
accompanied by Hwei-slieng, a priest. He travelled to 
Candahar, stayed two years in Udyana, and returned with 
175 Buddhist works. His narrative has been translated 
by Professor Neumann into German. 

In A.D. 526, Bodhidharma, after having grown old in 
Southern India, reached Canton by sea. The propagation 
of Buddhism in his native country he gave in charge to one 
of his disciples during his absence. He was received with 
the honour due to his age and character, and immediately 



BODHIDHARMA. i or 

invited to Nanking, where the emperor of Southern China, 

Liang Wu-ti, held his court. The emperor said to him 

"From my accession to the throne, I have been incessantly 
building temples, transcribing sacred books, and admitting 
new monks to take the vows. How much merit may I be 
supposed to have accumulated?" The reply was, "None." 
The emperor : " And why no merit ? " The patriarch : "All 
this is but the insignificant effect of an imperfect cause not 
complete in itself. It is the shadow that follows the sub 
stance, and is without real existence." The emperor: "Then 
what is true merit?" The patriarch: "It consists in purity 
and enlightenment, depth and completeness, and in being 
wrapped in thought while surrounded by vacancy and 
stillness. Merit such as this cannot be sought by worldly 
means." The emperor: "Which is the most important of 
the holy doctrines ? " The patriarch: " Where all is empti 
ness, nothing can be called holy (shcng)." The emperor : 
" Who is he that thus replies to me ? " The patriarch : " I 
do not know." The emperor says the Buddhist narrator- 
still remained unenlightened. This extract exhibits Bud 
dhism very distinctly in its mystic phase. Mysticism can 
attach itself to the most abstract philosophical dogmas, 
just as well as to those of a properly religious kind. This 
state of mind, allying itself indifferently to error and to 
truth, is thus shown to be of purely subjective origin. The 
objective doctrines that call it into existence may be of the 
most opposite kind. It grows, therefore, out of the mind 
itself. Its appearance may be more naturally expected in 
the history of a religion like Christianity, which awakens 
the human emotions to their intensest exercise, while, in 
many ways, it favours the extended use of the contem 
plative faculties, and hence the numerous mystic sects of 
Church history. Its occurrence in Buddhism, and its kin 
dred systems, might with more reason occasion surprise, 
founded as they are on philosophical meditations eminently 
abstract. It was reserved for the fantastic genius of India 
to construct a religion out of three such elements as 



102 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

atheism, annihilation, and the non-reality of the material 
world ; and, by the encouragement of mysticism and the 
monastic life, to make these most ultimate of negations 
palatable and popular. The subsequent addition of a 
mythology suited to the taste of the common people was, 
it should be remembered, another powerful cause, contri 
buting, in conjunction with these quietist and ascetic ten 
dencies, to spread Buddhism through so great a mass of 
humankind. In carrying out his mystic views, Ta-mo 
discouraged the use of the sacred books. He represented 
the attainment of the Buddhist s aim as being entirely the 
work of the heart. Though he professed not to make use 
of books, his followers preserved his apophthegms in writ 
ing, and, by the wide diffusion of them, a numerous school 
of contemplatists was originated, under the name of Ch an- 
hio and Ch an-men. 

Bodhidharma, not being satisfied with the result of his 
interview with royalty, crossed the Yang-tsze keang into 
the "Wei kingdom and remained at Lo-yang. Here, the 
narrative says, he sat with his face to a wall for nine years. 
The people called him the "Wall -gazing Brahman." 1 
When it was represented to the Liang emperor, that the 
great teacher, who possessed the precious heirloom of 
Shaky a, the symbol of the hidden law of Buddha, was lost 
to his kingdom, he repented and sent messengers to invite 
him to return. They failed in their errand. The pre 
sence of the Indian sage excited the more ardent Chinese 
Buddhists to make great efforts to conquer the sensations. 
Thus one of them, we are told, said to himself, " Formerly, 
for the sake of religion, men broke open their bones and 
extracted the marrow, took blood from their arms to give 
to the hungry, rolled their hair in the mud, or threw them 
selves down a precipice to feed a famishing tiger. What 
can I do ? " Accordingly, while snow was falling, he ex 
posed himself to it till it had risen above his knees, when 
the patriarch observing him, asked him what he hoped to 

1 Pi-kwan "p o-lo-men" (in old Chinese. JBa-la-men). 



BODHIDHARMA S LA TTER YEARS AND DEA TH. 103 

gain by it. The young aspirant to the victory over self 
wept at the question, and said, " I only desire that mercy 
may open a path to save the whole race of mankind." 
The patriarch replied, that such an act was not worthy of 
comparison with the acts of the Buddhas. It required, he 
told him, very little virtue or resolution. His disciple, 
stung with the answer, says the legend, took a sharp knife, 
severed his arm, and placed it before the patriarch. The 
latter expressed his high approval of the deed, and when, 
after nine years absence, he determined to return to India, 
he appointed the disciple who had performed it to succeed 
him as patriarch in China. He said to him on this occasion, 
" I give you the seal of the law as the sign of your adherence 
to the true doctrine inwardly, and the kasha (robe worn by 
Buddhists) as the symbol of your outward teaching. These 
symbols must be delivered down from one to another for two 
hundred years after my death, and then, the law of Buddha 
having spread through the whole nation, the succession of 
patriarchs will cease." He further said, " I also consign to 
you the Lenga Sutra in four sections, which opens the door 
to the heart of Buddha, and is fitted to enlighten all living 
men." Ta-mo s further instructions to his successor as to 
the nature and duties of the patriarchate are fully detailed 
in the CJii-yue-luh. He died of old age after five attempts 
to poison him, and was buried at the Hiuug-er mountains 
between Ho-nan and Shen-si. At this juncture Sung-yiin, 
who had been sent to India a few years previously for 
Buddhist books, returned, and inspected the remains of 
Bodhidharma. As he lay in his coffin he held one shoe 
in his hand. Sung-yiin asked him whither he was going. 
" To the Western heaven," was the reply. Sung-yiin then 
returned home. The coffin was afterwards opened and 
found empty, excepting that one of the patriarch s shoes 
was lying there. By imperial command, the shoe was 
preserved as a sacred relic in the monastery. Afterwards 
in the T ang dynasty it was stolen, and now no one knows 
where it is. 



104 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

The embassies from Buddhist kingdoms in the time of 
Liang Wu-ti afford other illustrations of the passion for 
relics and mementoes of venerated personages, encouraged 
by the Buddhist priests. The king of Bunam, the ancient 
Siam, wrote to the emperor that he had a hair of Buddha, 
twelve feet in length, to give him. Priests were sent from 
the Chinese court to meet it, and bring it home. Three 
years before this, as the History of the Liang dynasty in 
forms us, in building, by imperial command, a monastery 
and pagoda to king A-yo (Ashoka), a skarira, or " relic of 
Buddha," had been found under the old pagoda, with a hair 
of a blue lavender colour. This hair was so elastic that 
when the priests pulled it, it lengthened ad libitum, and 
when let alone curled into a spiral form. The historian 
quotes two Buddhist works in illustration. The " Seng-ga 
Sutra" (king) says, that Buddha s hair was blue and fine. 
In the San-mei-king, Shakya himself says, " When I was 
formerly in my father s palace, I combed my hair, and 
measuring it, found that it was twelve feet in length. 
When let go, it curled into a spiral form." This descrip 
tion agrees, it is added, with that of the hair found by 
the emperor. 

In A.D. 523, the king of Lanban sent as his tributary 
offering, a true " sharira " (she-li) with pictures and minia 
ture pagodas ; also leaves of the Bodhi, Buddha s favourite 
tree. The king of another country in the Birmese penin 
sula had a dream, in which a priest appeared to him and 
foretold to him that the new prince of the Liang dynasty 
would soon raise Buddhism to the summit of prosperity, 
and that he would do wisely if he sent him an embassy. 
The king paying no attention to the warning, the priest 
appeared again in a second dream, and conducted the 
monarch to the court of Liang Wu-ti. On awaking, the 
king, who was himself an accomplished painter, drew the 
likeness of the emperor as he had seen him in his dream. 
He now sent ambassadors and an artist with instructions 
to paint a likeness of the Chinese monarch from life. On 



RELICS. 105 

comparing it with his own picture, the similarity was 
found to be perfect. 

This emperor, so zealous a promoter of Buddhism, in 
the year A.D. 527, the twenty-sixth of his reign, became a 
monk and entered the T ung-tai monastery in Nanking. 
The same record is made in the history two years after 
wards. As might be expected, this event calls forth a 
long and severe critique from the Confucian historian. 
The preface to the history of the dynasty established by 
this prince, consists solely of a lament over the sad neces 
sity of adverting to Buddhism in the imperial annals of 
the nation, with an argument for the old national system, 
which is so clearly right, that the wish to deviate from it 
shows a man to be wrong. In reference to the emperor s 
becoming a priest, the critic says, " that not only would 
the man of common intelligence condemn such conduct 
in the ruler of a commonwealth, but even men like Bodhi- 
dharma would withhold their approval." 

A few years afterwards, the same emperor rebuilt the 
Ch ang-ts ien monastery five le to the south of " Nanking," 
in which was the tope (shrine for relics) of A-yo or Ashoka. 
The writer in the T ung-kien-kang-mu adds, that a true 
relic of Buddha s body is preserved near " Ming-cheu" (now 
Ningpo). Ashoka erected 80,000 topes, of which one- 
nineteenth were assigned to China. The tope and relic 
here alluded to are those of the hill Yo-wang slian, well 
known to foreign visitors, and situated fifty- two li east 
ward of Ningpo. To Buddhist pilgrims coming from far 
and near to this sacred spot, the she-li is an object of 
reverential worship, but to unbelieving eyes it presents a 
rather insignificant appearance. The small, reddish, bead- 
like substance that constitutes the relic, is so placed in 
its lantern-shaped receptacle, that it does not admit of 
much light being thrown upon it. The colour is said to 
x vary with the state of mind of the visitor. Yellow is 
that of happiest omen. The theory is a safe one, for 
there is just obscurity enough to render the tint of the 



106 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

precious remains of Shakya s burnt body somewhat un 
certain. 

King Ashoka, to whom this temple is dedicated, was 
one of the most celebrated of the Buddhist kings of India. 
Burnouf in his Introduction a I Histoire du Buddliisme 
Indien, has translated a long legend of which Ashoka is 
the hero, and which is also contained in the Chinese work, 
Fa-yuen-chu-lin. The commencement in the latter differs 
a little from that given by Burnouf. Buddha says to 
Ananda, " You should know that in the city Palinput 
(Pataliputra), there will be a king named The moon pro 
tected (Yue-hu; in Sanscrit, Chandragupta). He will have 
a son named Bindupala, and he again will have a son 
Susima." Ashoka was the son of Bindupala by another 
wife, and succeeded his father as king. The Indian king 
Sandracottus, who concluded a treaty with Seleucus Nica- 
tor, the Greek king of Syria, B.C. 305, was identified with 
Chandragupta by Schlegel and Wilson. According to 
the Mahavanso, the Pali history of the Buddhist patriarchs, 
there was an interval of 154 years from Buddha s death 
to the accession of Chandragupta, making that event to be 
in B.C. 389, which is more than half a century too soon. 
Tumour thinks the discrepancy cannot be accounted for 
but by supposing a wilful perversion of the chronology. 
These statements are quoted in Hardy s Eastern Monachism, 
from Wilson s Vishnu Purana. By this synchronism of 
Greek and Indian literature, it is satisfactorily shown that 
Ashoka lived in the second century before Christ, and Bud 
dha in the fourth and fifth. The commonly received chrono 
logy of the Chinese Buddhists is too long, therefore, by more 
than five hundred years. 1 Probably this fraud was effected 
to verify predictions found in certain Sutras, in which 
Buddha is made to say that in a definite number of years 
after his death, such and such things would happen. The 

1 The Northern Wei History gives common date, to the time required by 
the date of Shakyamuni s birth, B.C. the evidence. 
688, which is much nearer than the 



THE EMPEROR WU-TI A MONK. 107 

Northern Buddhists wrote in Sanscrit, made use of Sanscrit 
Sutras, and were anxious to vindicate the correctness of 
all predictions found in them. Burnouf supposes that the 
disciples of Buddha, would naturally publish their sacred 
books in more than one language ; Sanscrit being then, 
and long afterwards, spoken by the literati, while derived 
dialects were used by the common people. By Fa-hien 
Ashoka is called A-yo Wang, as at the monastery near 
Ningpo. In Hiuen-tsang s narrative, the name Wu-yeu 
wang, the " Sorrowless king," a translation of the Sanscrit 
word, is applied to him. 

The Liang emperor Wu-ti, after three times assuming 
the Buddhist VOW T S and expounding the Sutras to his 
assembled courtiers, was succeeded by a son who favoured 
Tauism. A few years after, the sovereign of the Ts i king 
dom endeavoured to combine these two religions. He 
put to death four Tauist priests for refusing to submit to 
the tonsure and become worshippers of Buddha. After 
this there was no more resistance. In A.D. 558 it is re 
lated that Wu-ti, an emperor of the Ch in dynasty, became 
a monk. Some years afterwards, the prince of the Cheu 
kingdom issued an edict prohibiting both Buddhism and 
Tauism. Books and images were destroyed, and all pro 
fessors of these religions compelled to abandon them. 

The History of the Northern Wei dynasty contains some 
details on the early Sanscrit translations in addition to 
what has been already inserted in this narrative. 1 The 
pioneers in the work of translation were Kashiapmadanga 
and Chu-fa-lan, who worked conjointly in the time of 

1 Of the interest felt by Sanscrit by that traveller to his native 

scholars in this subject, the letter land. 

of Professor Wilson, formerly San- Of the Chinese translations I col- 
scrit Professor at Oxford, to Sir lected more than fifty while residing 
John Bowring is evidence. He in- at Shanghai, for the library of the 
vited the attention of the "China India House. Recently Rev. S. Beal 
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society " has published an interesting account 
to the translations made by Hiuen- of these translations in the Transac 
ting in the T ang dynasty, and tions of the Oriental Congress, held in 
the Sanscrit original works brought London, 1874. 



loS CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Ming-ti. The latter also translated the " Sutra of the ten 
points of rest." In A.D. 150, a priest of the "An-sih" 
(Arsse ?) country in Eastern Persia is noticed as an excellent 
translator. About A.D. 170, Chitsin, a priest of the Getse 
nation, produced a version of the Nirvana Sutra. Sun 
K iuen, prince of the Wu state, one of the Three Kingdoms, 
who, some time after the embassy of Marcus Aurelius 
Antoninus, the Eoman emperor, to China, received with 
great respect a Eoman merchant at his court, 1 treated with 
equal regard an Indian priest who translated for him some 
of the books of Buddha. The next Indian mentioned is 
Dharmakakala, who translated the "Vinaya" or Kiai-lu 
(Discipline) at Lo-yang. About A.D. 300, Chi-kung-ming, 
a foreign priest, translated the Wei-ma and Fa-hwa? 
"Lotus of the Good Law Sutras," but the work was im 
perfectly done. Tau-an, a Chinese Buddhist, finding the 
sacred books disfigured by errors, applied himself to cor 
rect them. He derived instruction from Buddojanga and 
wished much to converse with Kumarajiva, noticed in a 
previous page. The latter, himself a man of high intelli 
gence, had conceived an extraordinary regard for him, and 
lamented much when he came to Ch ang-an from Liang- 
cheu at the north-western corner of China where he had long 
resided, that Tau-an was dead. Kumarajiva found that 
in the corrections he proposed to make in the sacred books, 
he had been completely anticipated by his Chinese fellow- 
religionist. Kumarajiva is commended for his accurate 
knowledge of the Chinese language as well as of his own. 
With his assistants he made clear the sense of many pro 
found and extensive " Sutras " (King] and " Shastras " 
(Lun), twelve works in all. The divisions into sections and 
sentences were formed with care. The finishing touch to 
the Chinese composition of these translations was given 

1 In A.D. 226. This Roman was translated. See the " Liang History " 

named Dzinlon. After describing India. 

his country to the Chinese prince, he 2 In Sanscrit, Saddharma Pundn- 

was sent back honourably. His name rika Sutra. 
looks in its Chinese form as if it were 



BUDDHIST WORKS TRANSLATED. 109 

by Seng-cliau. Fa-bien in his travels did his utmost to 
procure copies of the Discipline and the other sacred 
books. On his return, with the aid of an Indian named 
Bhadra, he translated the Seng-ki -lu (Asangkhyea 
Vinaya), which has since been regarded as a standard 
work. 

Before Fa-hien s time, about A.D. 290, a Chinese named 
Chu Si-hing went to Northern India for Buddhist books. 
He reached Udin or Khodin, identified by Eernusat with 
Khoten, and obtained a Sutra of ninety sections. He 
translated it in Ho-nan, with the title Fang-kwang-pat- 
nia-king (Light-emitting Prajna Sutra). Many of these 
books at that time so coveted, were brought to Lo-yang, 
and translated there by Chufahu, a priest of the Getse 
nation, who had travelled to India, and was a contem 
porary of the Chinese just mentioned. Fa -ling was an 
other Chinese who proceeded from " Yang-cheu " (Kiang- 
nan) to Northern India and brought back the Sutra 
llvia-y en-king and the Pen-tin g-lil, a work on discipline. 
Versions of the " Nirvana Sutra " (Ni-wan-king\ and the 
Seng-ki-lu were made by Chi-meng in the country Kau- 
ctiang, or what is now " Eastern Thibet." The translator 
had obtained them at Hwa-slti or " Pataliputra," a city 
to the westward. The Indian Dharmaraksha brought to 
China a new Sanscrit copy of the Nirvana Sutra and 
going to Kau-ch ang, compared it with Chi-meng s copy 
for critical purposes. The latter was afterwards brought 
to Ch ang-an and published in thirty chapters. The Indian 
here mentioned, professed to foretell political events by the 
use of charms. He also translated the Kin-kwang-king, 
or " Golden Light Sutra," and the Ming-king, " Bright 
Sutra." At this time there were several tens of foreign 
priests at Ch ang-an, but the most distinguished among 
them for ability was Kumarajiva. His translations of 
the Wei-ma, Fa-hwa, and C lieng-shili (complete) Sutras, 
\vith the three just mentioned, by Dharmaraksha and 
some others, together form the Great Development course of 



i io CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

instruction. The "Longer Agama Sutra 5>1 and the " Discip 
line of the Four Divisions " 2 were translated by Buddha- 
yasha, a native of India, the " Discipline of the Ten 
Chants " 3 by Kumarajiva, the " Additional Agama Sutra " 
by Dharmanandi, and the " Shastra of Metaphysics " (Ab- 
hidharma-lun) by Dharmayagama. These together formed 
the Smaller Development course. In some monasteries the 
former works were studied by the recluses ; in others the 
latter. Thus a metaphysical theology, subdivided into 
schools, formed the subject of study in the Asiatic monkish 
establishments, as in the days of the European school 
men. The Chinese travellers in India, and in the chain 
of Buddhist kingdoms extending before the inroads of 
Mohammedanism from their native land into Persia, 
give us the opportunity of knowing how widely there 
as well as in China the monastic life and study of these 
books was spread. About A.D. 400, Sangadeva, a native of 
" Cophen " (Kipin), translated two of the Agama Sutras. 
The " Hwa-yen Sutra " was soon afterwards brought from 
Udin by Chi Fa-ling, a Chinese Buddhist, and a version of 
it made at Nanking. He also procured the Pen-ting-lu, 
a work in the Vinaya or " Discipline " branch of Buddhist 
books. Ma Twan-lin also mentions a Hindoo who, about 
A.D. 502, translated some Shastras of the Great Develop 
ment (Ta-ch eng) school, called Ti-ch irlun (fixed position), 
and Shi-ti-lun (the ten positions). 

The Hindoo Buddhists in China, whose literary labours 
down to the middle of the sixth century are here recorded, 
while they sometimes enjoyed the imperial favour, had 
to bear their part in the reverses to which their religion 
was exposed. Dharmaraksha was put to death for refus 
ing to come to court on the requisition of one of the Wei 
emperors. Sihien, a priest of the royal family of the 
Kipin kingdom in Northern India, in times of persecution 
assumed the disguise of a physician, and when the very 
severe penal laws then enacted against Buddhism weie 

1 Ch ang-a-han-king. 2 Si-/un-lu. 3 Shih-sung-lZ. 



BUDDHISTS ARRIVE FROM CEYLON. 1 1 1 

remitted, returned to his former mode of life as a monk. 
Some other names might be added to the list of Hindoo 
translators, were it not already sufficiently long. 

About the year 460 it appears from the history that 
five Buddhists from Ceylon arrived in China by the 
Thibetan route. Two of them were Yashaita and Buda- 
nandi. They brought images. Those constructed by the 
latter had the property of diminishing in apparent size 
as the visitor drew nearer, and looking brighter as he 
went farther away. Though a literary character is not 
attributed to them, the Southern Buddhist traditions 
might, through their means, have been communicated 
at this time to the Chinese. This may account for the 
d a te nearly correct assigned to the birth of Buddha in 
the History of the Wei dynasty, from which these facts 
are taken, and in that of the Sui dynasty which soon 
followed. 

According to the same history there were then in China 
two millions of priests and thirty thousand temples. This 
account must be exaggerated ; for if we allow a thousand 
to each district, which is probably over the mark, there 
will be but that number at the present time, although the 
population has increased very greatly in the interval. 1 

Buddhism received no check from the Sui emperors, 
who ruled China for the short period of thirty-seven 
years. The first of them, on assuming the title of emperor 
in 581, issued an edict giving full toleration to this sect. 
Towards the close of his reign he prohibited the destruc 
tion or maltreatment of any of the images of the Buddhist 
or Tauist sects. It was the weakness of age, says the 
Confucian historian, giving way to superstitions that led 
him to such an act as this. The same commentator on 
the history of the period says, that the Buddhist books 
were at this time ten times more numerous than the Con- 

1 Mr. "VVatters, citing the "Mirror those -who had taken the vows was 

of History," Tung-kien, chap, cccxvi., so great that the labours of the field 

says, "Every household almost had were frequently neglected for lack of 

been converted, and the number of workmen." 



112 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

fucian classics. The Sui History in the digest it gives 
of all the books of the time, states those of the Buddhist 
sect to be 1950 distinct works. Many of the titles are 
given, and among them are not a few treating of the mode 
of writing by alphabetic symbols used in the kingdoms 
from whence Buddhism came. The first alphabet that was 
thus introduced appears to have been one of fourteen sym 
bols. It is called Si-yo Jm-slm or " Foreign Writing of the 
Western countries," and also Ba-la-men-shu, " Brahmanical 
writing." The tables of initials and finals found in the 
Chinese native dictionaries were first formed in the third 
century, but more fully early in the sixth century, in the 
Liang dynasty. It was then that the Hindoos, who had 
come to China, assisted in forming, according to the model of 
the Sanscrit alphabet, a system of thirty-six initial letters, 
and described the vocal organs by which they are formed. 
They also constructed tables, in which, by means of two 
sets of representative characters, one for the initials and 
another for the finals, a mode of spelling words was 
exhibited. The Chinese were now taught for the first time 
that monosyllabic sounds are divisible into parts, but 
alphabetic symbols were not adopted to write the sepa 
rated elements. It was thought better to use characters 
already known to the people. A serious defect attended 
this method. The analysis was not carried far enough. 
Intelligent Chinese understand that a sound, such as man, 
can be divided into two parts, m and an ; for they have 
been long accustomed to the system of phonetic bisection 
here alluded to, but they usually refuse to believe that a 
trisection of the sound is practicable. At the same time 
the system was much easier to learn than if foreign sym 
bols had been employed, and it was very soon universally 
adopted. Shen-kung, a priest, is said to have been the 
author of the system, and the dictionary Yu-p ien was one 
of the first extensive works in which it was employed. 1 
That the Hindoo Buddhists should have taught the Chinese 

1 See my Introduction to the Study of the Chinese characters. 



S YLLABIC SPELLING. 1 1 3 

how to write the sounds of this language by an artifice 
which required nothing but their own hieroglyphics, and 
rendered unnecessary the introduction of new symbols, is 
sufficient evidence of their ingenuity, and is not the least 
of the services they have done to the sons of Han. It 
answered well for several centuries, and was made use of 
in all dictionaries and educational works. But the lan 
guage changed, the old sounds were broken up, and now 
the words thus spelt are read correctly only by those 
natives who happen to speak the dialects that most nearly 
resemble in sound the old pronunciation. 

To Shen Yo, the historian of two dynasties, and author 
of several detached historical pieces, is attributed the dis 
covery of the four tones. His biographer says of him in 
the "Liang History:" " He wrote his Treatise on the Four 
Tones, to make known what men for thousands of years 
had not understood the wonderful fact which he alone 
in the silence of his breast came to perceive." It may be 
well doubted if the credit of arriving unassisted at the 
knowledge of this fact is due to him. He resided at 
the court of Liang Wu-ti, the great patron of the Indian 
strangers. They, accustomed to the unrivalled accuracy 
in phonetic analysis of the Sanscrit alphabet, would 
readily distinguish a new phenomenon like this, while to 
a native speaker, who had never known articulate sounds 
to be without it, it would almost necessarily be undetected. 
In the syllabic spelling that they formed, the tones are 
duly represented, by being embraced in every instance in 
the final. 

The extent of influence which this nomenclature for 
sounds has attained in the native literature is known to 
all who are familiar with its dictionaries, and the common 
editions of the classical books. In this way it is that the 
traditions of old sounds needed to explain the rhymes and 
metre of the ancient national poetry are preserved. By 
the same method the sounds of modern dialects that have 
deviated extensively from the old type have been com- 

H 



ii4 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

mitted to writing. The dialects of the Mandarin provinces, 
of Northern and Southern Fu-kien, and Canton have been 
written down by native authors each with its one system 
of tones and alphabetic elements, and they have all taken 
the method introduced by the Buddhists as their guide. 
The Chinese have since become acquainted with several 
alphabets with foreign symbols, but when they need to 
write phonetically they prefer the system, imperfect as it 
is, that does not oblige them to abandon the hieroglyphic 
signs transmitted by their ancestors. Never, perhaps, 
since the days of Cadmus, was a philological impulse more 
successful than that thus communicated from India to the 
Chinese, if the extent of its adoption be the criterion. 
They have not only by the use of the syllabic spelling 
thus taught them, collected the materials for philological 
research afforded by the modern dialects, but, by patient 
industry, have discovered the early history of the language, 
showing how the number of tones increased from two to 
three by the time of Confucius, to four in the sixth cen 
tury of our era, and so on to their present state. Few 
foreign investigators have yet entered on this field of re 
search, but it may be suggested that the philology of the 
Eastern languages must without it be necessarily incom 
plete, and that the Chinese, by patience and a true scien 
tific instinct, have placed the materials in such a form 
that little labour is needed to gather from them the facts 
that they contain. 

The Thibetans, and, probably, the Coreans also, owe 
their alphabets, which are both arranged in the Sanscrit 
mode, to the Buddhists. Corean ambassadors came in the 
reign of Liang Wu-ti to ask for the " Mrvana " and other 
Buddhistic classics. It may then have been as early as 
this that they had an alphabet, but we cannot say yet to 
what century their writing belongs. 1 

1 Remusat supposed that this al- had invented a writing of their own, 
phabet was borrowed by the Coreans and ruled in Corea in the eleventh and 
from the Nu-chih and Kie-tan, who twelfth centuries ; but such an hypo- 



CONFUCIAN OPPOSITION TO BUDDHISM. 115 

The first emperor of the T ang dynasty was induced by 
the representations of Fu Yi, one of his ministers, to call a 
council for deliberation on the mode of action to be adopted 
in regard to Buddhism. Fu Yi, a stern enemy of the new 
religion, proposed that the monks and nuns should be com 
pelled to marry and bring up families. The reason that 
they adopted the ascetic life, he said, was to avoid con 
tributing to the revenue. What they held about the fate of 
mankind depending on the will of Buddha was false. Life 
and death were regulated by a " natural necessity " with 
which man had nothing to do (yeu-u-ts i-jan). The retri 
bution of vice and virtue was the province of the prince, 
while riches and poverty were the recompense provoked 
by our own actions. The public manners had degenerated 
lamentably through the influence of Buddhism. The " six 
states of being " 1 into which the souls of men might be 
born were entirely fictitious. The monks lived an idle 
life, and were unprofitable members of the commonwealth. 
To this it was replied in the council, by Siau U, a friend of 
the Buddhists, that Buddha was a " sage " (sliing-jeri), and 
that Fu Yi having spoken ill of a sage, was guilty of a great 
crime. To this Fu Yi answered, that the highest of the 
virtues were loyalty and filial piety, and the monks, cast 
ing off as they did their prince and their parents, dis 
regarded them both. As for Siau U, he added, he was 
beino- the advocate of such a system as destitute as they 



thesis is incompatible with the fact 
that the Corean letters are more like 
the Thibetan and Sanscrit letters. 

1 The lu-tau here alluded to are the 
modes of existence into which, in the 
revolutions of the metempsychosis, all 
will be born who have not been saved 
by the teaching of Buddha. They 
are : (i.) T ien, the Devas of the Hin 
doos (Lat. dcus) ; (2.) Man ; (3.) Asurct 
and Mara, superior classes of demons. 
Both these words are transferred. The 
former is transliterated by characters 
now read sieu-lo (in old Chinese, su- 
la), the latter by mo (ma), a character 



invented for the occasion by Liang 
Wu-ti, and which has passed into 
familiar colloquial in some dialects 
as mo-kwei, in the sense of " demon." 
(4.) " Hell," the prison of the lost, ti- 
yu; (5.) JV^ro-izm, wandering "hungry 
spirits ; " (6.) Animals. 

The use of T ien, " Heaven," in a 
personal sense, as the translation of 
the Sanscrit Deva, whether in the 
singular or plural, is, perhaps, more 
common in Buddhist works than its 
use in a local sense. In explaining this 
new meaning of the word, Deva is 
transcribed as (De-la) T i-p o. 



n6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

of these virtues. Siau U joined his hands and merely re 
plied to him, that hell was made for such men as he. The 
Confucianists gained the victory, and severe restrictions 
were imposed on the professors of the foreign faith, but 
they were taken off almost immediately after. 

The successors of Bodhidharma were five in number. 
They are styled with him the six "Eastern patriarchs/ 
Tung-tsu. They led quiet lives. The fourth of them was 
invited to court by the second emperor of the T ang dynasty, 
and repeatedly declined the honour. When a messenger 
came for the fourth time and informed him that, if he 
refused to go, he had orders to take his head back with 
him, the imperturbable old man merely held out his neck 
to the sword in token of his willingness to die. The em 
peror respected his firmness. Some years previously, with 
a large number of disciples, he had gone to a city in Shan- 
si. The city was soon after laid siege to by rebels. The 
patriarch advised his followers to recite the " Great Prajna," 
Ma-ha-pat-nia, an extensive work, in which the most 
abstract dogmas of Buddhist philosophy are very fully 
developed. The enemy, looking towards the ramparts, 
thought they saw a band of spirit-soldiers in array against 
them, and consequently retired. 

In the year 629 the celebrated Hiuen-tsang set out on 
his journey to India to procure Sanscrit books. Passing 
from Liang-cheu at the north-western extremity of China, 
he proceeded westward to the region watered by the Oxus 
and Jaxartes where the Turks 1 were then settled. He 

1 It was about this time that the occupants of the throne of Constan- 
contests between Chosroes king of tinople sent embassies frequently to 
Persia, and the Turks on one side, China. There are two records of 
and the Byzantine emperor on the these embassies preserved, the inte- 
other, occurred. The same events that rest of which will be a sufficient ex- 
have been described by Gibbon s luxu- cuse for a short digression. In A.D. 
riant pen are found in a form more 643, says the history, Pa-ta-lik, the 
laconic and curtailed in the "History king of the Fulim country, sent an 
of the T an g Dynasty." It might well embassy with presents of red glass. 
be so, when Chinese travellers passed That this king was a Byzantine em- 
the eastern borders of Persia on their peror is shown by the narrative of 
way to India, and when the imperial events in Persia just preceding it in 



HIUEN-TSANGS TRA VELS IN INDIA. 1 1 7 

afterwards crossed the Hindoo-kusli and proceeded into 
India. He lingered for a long time in the countries 
through which the Ganges flows, rich as they were in 
reminiscences and relics of primitive Buddhism. Then 
bending his steps to the southwards, he completed the tour 
of the Indian peninsula, returned across the Indus, and 
reached home in the sixteenth year after his departure. 
The same emperor, . T ai-tsung, was still reigning, and he 
received the traveller with the utmost distinction. He 
spent the rest of his days in translating from the Sanscrit 
originals the Buddhist works he had brought with him 
from India. It was by imperial command that these 
translations were undertaken. The same emperor, T ai- 
tsung, received with equal favour the Syrian Christians, 
Alopen and his companions, who had arrived in A.D. 639, 
only seven years before Hiuen-tsang s return. The His- 
toire de la Vie de Hiouen-tlisang, translated by M. Julien, 
is a volume full of interest for the history of Buddhism and 



the history. It says, "At the close 
of the Sui dynasty (ended A.D. 617), 
the "khan " (k a-han) of the Western 
"Turks " (Tu-kiue) attacked "Persia" 
(Pa-Si ), and killed the king K u-sa-ha 
(Chosroes L, or Nushirvan). His son 
Shi-li(Kormouz) succeededhim. After 
his death the daughter of K u-sa-ha 
was made queen, but was killed by the 
Turks. Shi-li s son Jcn-ki ( Chosroes II. ) 
fled to Fulim. (Gibbon says he took 
refuge with the Romans. ) The people 
of the country brought him back and 
made him king. He was assassinated 
by I-t a-chi, and succeeded by his 
brother s son I-dzi-zi (Yezdegerd)." 
This prince sent an embassy to China, 
A.D. 638. For misconduct he was 
driven away by his nobles, and fled to 
the T u-ha-la, a tribe in Afghanistan. 
On his way he was put to death by 
the Arabs (Ta-shih). Pi-lu-si the son 
of I-dzi-zi appealed to the court at 
Ch ang-an for aid against the irresis 
tible Arabians, but in vain. These 
last details have been introduced by 
Gibbon into his narrative from De 



Guignes. It may be inferred, then, 
that the king Pa-ta-lik was the Byzan 
tine emperor " Constans II." In the 
year 1081 there was also an embassy 
to China from the king of Fulim, who 
is called Mih-li-i-linrj kai-sa. This 
Kaisar or " Caesar " should be either 
Nicephorus Bataniares, who died this 
year, or his successor, Alexius Com- 
nenus. In Kin-shi-t u-shu-pu, a Chi 
nese work on coins and other antiqui 
ties, there is a rude representation 
of a gold coin of this prince. 

The word Fulim is evidently the 
same as the Thibetan Philing and the 
Indian Feringi, which, as Hodgson ob 
serves, must be variations of the word 
"Frank," commonly applied to all 
Europeans in Western Asia. Modern 
Chinese authors suppose Judaea to be 
Fulim, but the old passages in the 
Syrian inscription and elsewhere, in 
which the country is described as to 
its natural features, whether under 
this name or that of Tci-ls ln, read 
much more intelligibly if the Roman 
empire be understood. 



1 1 8 CHINESE B UDDHISM. 

Buddhist literature. As a preparation for the task, the 
accomplished translator added to his unrivalled knowledge 
of the Chinese language an extensive acquaintance with 
Sanscrit, acquired when he was already advanced in life, 
with this special object. Scarcely does the name of a 
place or a book occur in the narrative which he has not 
identified and given to the reader in its Sanscrit form. 
The book was originally written by two friends of Hiuen- 
tsang. It includes a specimen of Sanscrit grammar, exem 
plifying the declensions of nouns, with their eight cases 
and three numbers, the conjugation of the substantive 
verb, and other details. Hiuen-tsang remained five years 
in the monastery of Nalanda, on the banks of the Ganges, 
studying the language, and reading the Brahmanical litera 
ture as well as that of Buddhism. 

Hiuen-tsang was summoned on his arrival to appear at 
court, and answer for his conduct, in leaving his country 
and undertaking so long a journey without the imperial 
permission. The emperor praised by Gibbon as the 
Augustus of the East was residing at Lo-yang, to which 
city the traveller proceeded. He had brought with him 
115 grains of relics taken from Buddha s chair; a gold 
statue of Buddha, 3 feet 3 inches in height, with a trans 
parent pedestal ; a second, 3 feet 5 inches in height, and 
others of silver and carved in sandal-wood. His collection 
of Sanscrit books was very extensive. A sufficient con 
ception of the voluminous contributions then made to 
Chinese literature from India will be obtained by enume 
rating some of the names. 

Of the Great Development school, 124 Sutras. 

On the Discipline and Philosophical works of the fol 
lowing schools : 

Shang-tso-pu (Sarvastiv&das), . . 15 works. 

San-mi-ti-pu (Sammitiyas), . . 15 

Mi-sha-se-pu (Mahishashakas), . . 22 

Kia-she-pi-ye-pu (Kashyapiyas), . . 17 

Fa-mi-pu (Dharmaguptas), . . . 42 

Shwo-i-tsie-yeu-pu (Sarvastivadas) . . 67 



HIUEN-TSANGS TRANSLATIONS. 119 

These works, amounting with others to 657, were carried 
by twenty-two horses. 

The emperor, after listening to the traveller s account 
of what he had seen, commanded him to write a descrip 
tion of the Western countries, and the work called Ta- 
Vang-si-yu-ki was the result. 1 

Hiuen-tsang went to Ch ang-an (Si-an-fu) to translate, 
and was assisted by twelve monks. Nine others were 
appointed to revise the composition. Some who had 
learned Sanscrit also joined him in the work. On pre 
senting a series of translations to the emperor, he wrote a 
preface to them ; and at the request of Hiuen-tsang issued 
an edict that five new monks should be received in every 
convent in the empire. The convents then amounted to 
3716. The decline of Buddhism from the persecutions to 
which it had been exposed, was thus repaired. 

At the emperor s instance, Hiuen-tsang now corrected 
the translation of the celebrated Sutra Kin-kang-pat-nia- 
pa-la-mi-ta-king (in Sanscrit, Vajra-chedika-prajna-para- 
mita Sutra). Two words were added to the title which 
Kumarajiva had omitted. The new title read Neng-twan- 
kin, etc. The name of the city Shravasti was spelt with 
five characters instead of two. The new translation of this 
work did not supplant the old one that of Kumarajiva. 
The latter is at the present day the most common, except 
the " Daily Prayers," of all books in the Buddhist temples 
and monasteries, and is in the hands of almost every 
monk. 

This work contains the germ of the larger compilation 
Prajna paramita in one hundred and twenty volumes. 
The abstractions of Buddhist philosophy, which were after 
wards ramified to such a formidable extent as these num 
bers indicate, are here found in their primary form pro 
bably, as they were taught by Shakyamuni himself. The 
translation of the larger work was not completed till A.D. 

1 This -work has been recently re- Sheu-shan-ko-ts uny-shu, at Sung- 
printed, in the collection entitled kiung, near Shanghai. 



120 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

66 1. That Hiuen-tsang, as a translator, was a strong 
literalist, may be inferred from the fact, that when he was 
meditating on the propriety of imitating Kumarajiva, who 
omitted repetitions and superfluities, in so large a work as 
this, he was deterred by a dream from the idea, and 
resolved to give the one hundred and twenty volumes 
entire, in all their wearisome reiteration of metaphysical 
paradoxes. 

Among the new orthographies that he introduced was 
that of Bi-ch u for Bi-k l u, " Mendicant disciple," and of Ba- 
ga-vam instead of But for " Buddha." This spelling nearly 
coincides with that of the Nepaulese Sanscrit, Bhagavat. 
In the Pali versions he is called " Gautama," which is a 
patronymic, in Chinese, Go-dam. Ba-ga-vam is used in the 
Sutra Yo-si-lieu-li-kwang-ju-lai-kung-te-king. Modern re 
prints of Hiuen-tsang s translation of the Shastras called 
Abhidbarma, are found in a fragmentary and worm-eaten 
state in many of the larger Buddhist temples near Shang 
hai and elsewhere at the present time. He lived nineteen 
years after his return, and spent nearly the whole of that 
time in translating. He completed 740 works, in 1335 
books. Among them were three works on Logic, viz., 
I,i-men-lun, In-ming-lun, In-ming-slm-kiai. Among other 
works that he brought to China, were treatises on Gram 
mar, Shing-ming-lun and Pe-ye-kie-la-nan, and a Lexicon, 
Abhidharma Koska. 1 

1 Vide Professor Wilson s letter duced. There is another use that 

published by the China Branch of the may be made of these orthographical 

Koyal Asiatic Society, at Hongkong. changes. As compared with preced- 

The changes in orthography adopted ing transcriptions, they are an index 

by Hiuen-tsang, may be made use of to the alterations that were taking 

to show, that it was from Sanscrit and place in the Chinese language itself. 

not Pali originals, that the Chinese For convenience the age of Buddhist 

Buddhist books were translated. He translations may be divided into three 

spells oj>e or " pagoda, "su-t u-pa. In periods: (I.)A.D. 66, when Buddhism 

Pali the word is t upa, and in Sanscrit entered China, and the "Sutra of 

st upa. Before Hiuen-tsang s time, Forty-two Sections" was translated; 

the initial s was not expressed, pro- (2.) A.D. 405, the age of Kumarajiva; 

bably for brevity, or through the in- (3.) A.D. 646, the age of Hiuen-tsang. 

fluence of a local Indian dialect. The Sanscrit syllable man had been. 

Other examples might also be ad- written with the character for "litera- 



HIUEN-TSANG S NARRATIVE. 



The modern Chinese editor of the " Description of 
Western Countries " complains of its author s superstition. 
Anxiety to detail every Buddhist wonder has been accom 
panied by neglect of the physical features of the countries 
that came under review. Here, says the critic, he cannot 
be compared with Ngai Ju-lio (Julius Aleni, one of the 
early Jesuits) in the Chih-fang-wai-lri (a well-known geo 
graphical work by that missionary). In truthfulness this 
work is not equal, he tells us, to the " Account of Buddhist 
kingdoms " by Fa-hien, but it is written in a style much 
more ornamental. The extensive knowledge, he adds, of 
Buddhist literature possessed by Hiuen - tsang himself, 
and the elegant style of his assistants, make the book 
interesting, so that, though it contains not a little that is 
false, the reader does not go to sleep over it. 

The life and adventures of Hiuen - tsang have been 
made the basis of a long novel, which is universally read 
at the present time. It is called the Si-yeu-ki or Si-yeu- 
chen-ts euen. The writer, apparently a Tauist, makes 
unlimited use of the two mythologies that of his own 
religion and that of his hero as the machinery of his tale. 
He has invented a most eventful account of the birth of 
Hiuen-tsang. It might have been supposed that the wild 
romance of India was unsuited to the Chinese taste, but 
our author does not hesitate to adopt it. His readers 
become familiar with all those imaginary deities, whose 
figures they see in the Buddhist temples, as the ornaments 
of a fictitious narrative. The hero, in undertaking so 
distant and dangerous a journey to obtain the sacred 



ture," wen. Hiuen-tsang adopted a 
character now as then heard, man. He 
changed the name of the Ganges from 
Heng, "Constant," to Ch i ing-ch ia 
(Gang-go). Comparison with existing 
dialects shows, that the Sanscrit pro 
nunciation may be assigned without 
hesitation to the characters chosen, as 
nearly the sound that then belonged 
to them in Northern China, and one 



example is an index to a multitude of 
other words, passing through the same 
change at the same time. The three 
periods here given will help to supply 
the chronology of these changes, ex 
tending through almost all the sounds 
in the language. Thus, with other aid, 
the age of the Mandarin language may 
be fixed with comparative certainty. 



122 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

books of Buddhism, and by translating them into his 
native tongue, to promote the spread of that superstition 
among his countrymen, is represented as the highest 
possible example of the excellence at which the Buddhist 
aims. The effort and the success that crowns it, are 
identified with the aspiration of the Tauist after the elixir 
of immortality ; the hermit s elevation to the state of 
Buddha, and the translation of those whose hearts have 
been purified by meditation and retirement, to the abodes 
of the genii. 

The sixth emperor of the T ang dynasty was too weak to 
rule. Wu, the emperor s mother, held the reins of power, 
and distinguished herself by her ability and by her cruelties. 

In the year 690 a new Buddhist Sutra, the Ta-yun-king, 
" Great cloud Sutra," was presented to her. It stated that 
she was Maitreya, the Buddha that was to come, and the 
ruler of the Jambu continent. She ordered it to be circu 
lated through the empire, and bestowed public offices on 
more than one Buddhist priest. 

Early in the eighth century, the Confucianists made 
another effort to bring about a persecution of Buddhism. In 
714, Yen Ts ung argued that it was pernicious to the state, 
and appealed for proof to the early termination of those 
dynasties that had favoured it. In carrying out an edict 
then issued, more than 12,000 priests and nuns were 
obliged to return to the common world. Casting images, 
writing the sacred books, and building temples, were also 
forbidden. 

At this time some priests are mentioned as holding 
public offices in the government. The historians anim 
advert on this circumstance, as one of the monstrosities 
accompanying a female reign. 

About the beginning of the same century, Hindoos were 
employed to regulate the national calendar. The first 
mentioned is Gaudamara, whose method of calculation 
was called Kwang-tse-li, "The calendar of the bright house." 
It was used for three years only. A better-known Bud- 



HINDOO CALENDAR IN CHINA. 123 

dliist astronomer of the same nation was Gaudamsiddha. 
By imperial command he translated from Sanscrit, the 
mode of astronomical calculation called Kieu-cM-shu. It 
embraced the calculation of the moon s course and of 
eclipses. His calendar of this name was adopted for a 
few years, when it was followed in A.D. 72 1 by that of the 
well-know T n Yih-hing, a Chinese Buddhist priest, whose 
name holds a place in the first rank of the native astrono 
mers. The translations of Gaudamsiddha are contained in 
the work called K ai-yuen-chan-king, a copy of which was 
discovered accidentally, in the latter part of the sixteenth 
century, inside an image of Buddha. It has been cut in 
wood more than once since that time. The part translated 
from Sanscrit is but a small portion of the work. The 
remainder is chiefly astrological. Among other things, 
there is a short notice of the Indian arithmetical notation, 
with its nine symbols and a dot for a cipher. There was 
nothing new in this to the countrymen of Confucius, so 
far as the principle of decimal notation was concerned ; 
but it is interesting to us, whose ancestors did not obtain 
the Indian numerals till several centuries after this time. 
The Arabs learned them in the eighth century, and trans 
mitted them slowly to Europe. Among the earlier Bud 
dhist translations, a book is mentioned under the title of 
" Brahmanical Astronomy," P o-lo-men-t ien-wen, in twenty 
chapters. It was translated in the sixth century by 
Daluchi, a native of the Maleya kingdom. Another is 
Ba-la-men-gih-ga-sien-jen-t ien-wen-shwo, "An Account of 
Astronomy by the Brahman Gigarishi." * 

The date of these translations, mentioned in the "History 
of the Sui dynasty," can be no later than the sixth century 
or very early in the seventh. The same should be observed 
of two works on Brahmanical arithmetic, viz., Ba-la-men- 
swan-fa and Ba-la-men- swan-king, each containing three 
chapters, and a third on the calculation of the calendar, 

1 A translation of a work by the same author, on the prophetic character 
of dreams, is also alluded to. 



124 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Ba-la-men-yin-yang-swan-li, in one chapter. All these 
works, with one or two others given by the same authority, 
are now hopelessly lost, but the names as they stand in 
the history unattended by a word of comment, are an 
irrefragable testimony to the efforts made by the Hindoo 
Buddhists to diffuse the science and civilisation of their 
native land. The native mathematicians of the time may 
have obtained assistance from these sources, or from the 
numerous Indians who lived in China in the Pang dynasty. 
In the extant arithmetical books composed before the date 
of these works, examples of calculation are written per 
pendicularly, like any other writing, but in all later 
mathematical works they are presented to the eye as we 
ourselves write them from left to right. The principle by 
which figures are thus arranged as multiples of ten chang 
ing their value with their position, was known to the 
Chinese from the most ancient times. Their early mode 
of calculating by counters, imitated more recently in the 
common commercial abacus, was based on this principle. 1 
But it does not appear that they employed it to express 
arithmetical processes in writing before the Hindoos began 
to translate mathematical treatises into the language. 

The next notice of Buddhism in the history is after 
several decades of years. The emperor Su-tsung, in A.D. 
760, showed his attachment for Buddhism by appointing 
a ceremonial for his birthday, according to the ritual of 
that religion. The service was performed in the palace, 
the inmates of which were made to personate the Buddhas 
and Bodhisattwas, while the courtiers worshipped round 
them in a ring. 

The successor of this emperor, Tae-tsung, was still more 
devoted to the superstitions of Buddhism, and was seconded 
by his chief minister of state and the general of his army. 
A high stage for reciting the classics was erected by im 
perial command, and the " Sutra of the Benevolent King," 
Jen-iuang-king, chanted there and explained by the priests. 

1 Shanghai Almanac for 1853 "Jottings on the Science of the Chinese." 



FESTIVAL FOR HUNGRY GHOSTS. 125 

This book was brought in a state carriage, with the same 
parade of attendant nobles and finery as in the case of the 
emperor leaving his palace. Two public buildings were 
ordered to be taken down to assist in the erection and 
decoration of a temple built by Yii Chau-shi, the general, 
and named Chang-king-si. A remonstrance, prepared on 
the occasion by a Confucian mandarin, stated that the 
wise princes of antiquity secured prosperity by their good 
conduct not by prayers and offerings. The imperial ear 
was deaf to such arguments. The reasoning of those who 
maintained that misfortune could be averted and happiness 
obtained by prayer was listened to with much more 
readiness. Tae-tsung maintained many monks, and be 
lieved that by propitiating the unseen powers who regulate 
the destinies of mankind, he could preserve his empire 
from danger at a less cost than that of the blood and 
treasure wasted on the battle-field. When his territory 
was invaded, he set his priests to chant their masses, and 
the barbarians retired. The Conf ucianist commentary in 
condemning the confidence thus placed in the prayers of 
the priests, remarks that to procure happiness or prevent 
misery after death, by prayers or any other means, is out 
of our power, and that the same is true of the present life. 
One of those who had great influence over the emperor 
was a Singhalese priest named " Amogha," Pu-k ung, 1 "Not 
empty," who held a high government office, and was 
honoured with the first title of the ancient Chinese nobility. 
Monasteries and monks now multiplied fast under the 
imperial favour. In the year 768, at the full moon of the 
seventh month, an offering bowl for feeding hungry ghosts 
was brought in state by the emperor s command from the 
palace, and presented to the Chang-king-si temple. This 
is an allusion to a superstition still practised in the large 
Buddhist monasteries. Those who have been so unhappy 

1 Chief representative of the Tantra also called Amogha Vajra, and hia 
school in China, and author of the school is that called the Yogachara. 
festival for hungry ghosts. He is (Eitel.) 



126 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

as to be born into the class of ngo-Jcwei, or " hungry spirits," 
at the full moon of the seventh month, have their annual 
repast. The priests assemble, recite prayers for their 
benefit, and throw out rice to the four quarters of the 
world, as food for them. The ceremony is called Yu-lan- 
hwei (ulam), " the assembly for saving those who have been 
overturned." It is said to have been instituted by Shakya- 
muni, who directed Moginlin, one of his disciples, to make 
offerings for the benefit of his mother, she having become 
a ngo-kwei. 

The emperor Hien-tsung, A.D. 819, sent mandarins to 
escort a bone of Buddha to the capital. He had been told 
that it was opened to view once in thirty years, and when 
this happened it was sure to be a peaceful and prosperous 
year. It was at Fung-siang fu, in Shen-si, and was to be 
reopened the next year, which would afford a good oppor 
tunity for bringing it to the palace. It was brought 
accordingly, and the mandarins, court ladies, and common 
people vied with each other in their admiration of the 
relic. All their fear was, lest they should not get a sight 
of it, or be too late in making their offerings. 

On this occasion Han Yti, or Han Wen-kung, presented 
a strongly-worded remonstrance to the emperor, entitled 
Fu-kuh-piau, "Memorial on the bone of Buddha." He 
was consequently degraded from his post as vice-president 
of the Board of punishments, and appointed to be prefect of 
Chau-cheu, in the province of Canton. A heavier punish 
ment would have been awarded him, had not the courtiers 
represented the propriety of allowing liberty of speech, 
and succeeded in mitigating the imperial anger. 

In this memorial he appealed first to antiquity, arguing 
that the empire was more prosperous and men s lives 
were longer before Buddhism was introduced than after. 
After the Han dynasty, when the Indian priests arrived, 
the dynasties all became perceptibly shorter in duration, 
and although Liang Wu-ti was on the throne thirty-eight 
years, he died, as was well known, from starvation, in a 



OPPOSITION OF HAN YU TO BUDDHISM. 127 

monastery to which he had retired for the third time. 1 
The writer then pleads to Hien-tsung the example of his 
predecessor, the first T ang emperor, and the hope that he 
himself had awakened in the minds of the literati by his 
former restrictions on Buddhism, that he would tread in 
his steps. He had now commanded Buddha s bone to be 
escorted to the palace. This could not be because he 
himself was ensnared into the belief of Buddhism. It 
was only to gain the hearts of the people by professed 
reverence for that superstition. None who were wise and 
enlightened believed in any such thing. It was a foreign 
religion. The dress of the priests, the language of the 
books, the moral code, were all different from those of 
China. Why should a decayed bone, the filthy remains 
of a man who died so long before, be introduced to 
the imperial residence? He concluded by braving the 
vengeance of Buddha. If he had any power and could 
inflict any punishment, he was ready to bear it himself to 
its utmost extent. This memorial has ever since been a 
standard quotation with the Confucianists, when wishing 
to expose the pernicious effects of Buddhism. The bold^ 
ness of its censures on the emperor s superstition, and the 
character of the writer as one who excelled in beauty of 
style, have secured it lasting popularity. Among the 
crowd of good authors whose names adorn the T ang 
dynasty, Han Wen-kung stands first of those who devoted 
themselves to prose composition. Christian natives in 
preaching to their countrymen often allude to this docu 
ment. 

^ Extraordinary superstition provoked extraordinary re 
sistance. The sovereigns of the T ang dynasty were so 
fond of Buddhism that it has passed into a proverb. 2 

i Liang TVu-ti was eighty-six years 2 Watters, in Chinese Recorder, 1869, 

of age when he died. His adopted July, p. 40. The proverb T ang Fo 

son whom he had appointed to sue- "Buddha of the T ang," means to be 

ceed Inm withheld the supplies of as devoted to Buddhism as was the 

food that the aged emperor needed, T ang dynasty. 
and he died in consequence. 



128 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

In the year 845 a third and very severe persecution 
befell the Buddhists. By an edict of the emperor Wu- 
tsung, 4600 monasteries were destroyed, with 40,000 
smaller edifices. The property of the sect was confiscated, 
and used in the erection of buildings for the use of govern 
ment functionaries. The copper of images and bells was 
devoted to casting cash. More than 260,000 priests and 
nuns were compelled to return to common employments. 
The monks of Wu-t ai, in Shan~si, near T ai-yuen fu, fled to 
" Yen-cheu " (now Peking), in Pe-chi-li, where they were 
at first taken under the protection of the officer in charge, 
but afterwards abandoned to the imperial indignation. 

At this place there was a collection of five monasteries, 
constituting together the richest Buddhist establishment 
in the empire. There is a legend connected with this 
spot, which says that Manjusiri, one of the most cele 
brated of the secondary divinities of Buddhism, has fre 
quently appeared in this mountain retreat, especially as 
an old man. By the Northern Buddhists " Manjusiri," 
Wcn-slm-slvi-li (in old Chinese, Men-ju-si-li], is scarcely 
less honoured than the equally fabulous Bodhisattwa, 
Kwan-shi-yin. The chief seat of his worship in China is 
the locality in Shan-si just alluded to, where he is regarded 
like P u-hien in Si-ch uen and Kwan-yin at P u-to the 
Buddhist sacred island, as the tutelary deity of the region. 
Wen-shu p u-sa, as he is called, differs from his fellow 
Bodhisattwas in being spoken of in some Sutras as if he 
were an historical character. On this there hangs some 
doubt. His image is a common one in the temples of the 
sect. 

The emperor Wu-tsung died a few months afterwards. 
Siuen-tsung, who followed him, commenced his reign by 
reversing the policy of his predecessor in reference to 
Buddhism. Eight monasteries were reared in the metro 
polis, and the people were again permitted to take the 
vows of celibacy and retirement from the world. Soon 
afterwards the edifices of idolatry that had been given 



TEA CHING OF MA -TSU. 129 

over to destruction were commanded to be restored. The 
Confucian historian expresses a not very amiable regret 
at the shortness of the persecution. Those of the Wei 
and Cheu emperors had been continued for six and seven 
years, while in this case it was only for a year or two that 
the profession of Buddhism was made a public crime. 

A memorial was presented to the emperor a few years 
after by Sun Tsiau, complaining that the support of the 
Buddhist monks was an intolerable burden on the people, 
and praying that the admission of new persons might be 
prohibited. The prayer was granted. 

The line of the patriarchs had terminated a little before 
the period which this narrative has now reached, and the 
most influential leader of the Chinese Buddhists was Ma- 
tsu, who belonged to the order of Ch an-sh i, 1 one of the 
three divisions of Buddhist monks. As such, he followed 
the system taught by Bodhidharma, which consisted in 
abstraction of the mind from all objects of sense, and even 
its own thoughts. He addressed his disciples in the 
following words, " You all believe that the mind (sin) 
itself is Buddha (intelligence). Bodhidharma came to 

1 The other two orders of Buddhist thus early. The marked difference 
monks are (i.) Lil-sh i, or " Disciplin- between the Buddhism of Bodhi- 
ists," who go barefoot and follow rigid- dharma, and that already existing in 
ly the rules enjoined in the early ages China, requires some such supposi- 
of Buddhism, for the observance of all tion. These three orders still exist, 
who entered on the ascetic life; (2.) The common priests met with in 
Fa-slil, or those who perform the temples are not considered to deserve 
common duties of priests, engage in either denomination, but on the sup- 
popular teaching, and study the position that they fulfil their duties, 
literature of their religion. The they are Fa-shl. Distinguished priests 
word Ch an (in old Chinese, Jan and are called Ch an-sht. The emperors 
dan), originally signifying "resign," till very recently have always been 
had not the meaning to "contem- accustomed to give names to distin- 
plate " (now its commonest sense), guished priests. The early translators 
before the Buddhists adopted it to were honoured with the title /San- 
represent the Sanscrit term Dhyana. tsang-fa-shl. In common cases the 
The word in Chinese books is spelt title Ch an-shi is all that is appended 
in full jan-na, and is explained, "to to the new name given by the imperial 
reform one s self by contemplation or favour to those who, from their learn- 
quiet thought." Perhaps an Eastern ing and character, are supposed to 
extension of the Jaina, or some lost deserve it. 
sect, still existing in India, took place 



130 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

China, and taught the method of the heart, that you might 
be enlightened. He brought the Lenga Sutra, exhibiting 
the true impression of the human mind as it really is, 
that you might not allow it to become disordered. There 
fore that book has but one subject, the instructions of 
Buddha concerning the mind. The true method is to 
have no method. Out of the mind there is no Buddha. 
Out of Buddha there is no mind. Virtue is not to be 
sought, nor vice to be shunned. Nothing should be looked 
upon as pure or polluted. To have a sensation of an object 
is nothing but to become conscious of the mind s own 
activity. The mind does not know itself, because it is 
blinded by the sensations." He was asked, by what 
means excellence in religion should be attained? He 
replied, " Eeligion does not consist in the use of means. 
To use means is fatal to the attainment of the object." 
Then what, he was again asked, is required to be done 
in order to religious advancement ? " Human nature in 
itself," he said, " is sufficient for its own wants. All that 
is needed is to avoid both vice and virtue. He that can 
do this is a religious man (sieu-tau-jeti)." 

These extracts indicate that a great change had taken 
place in the popular teaching of Buddhism. In the first 
centuries of its history in China, retribution and the future 
life were most insisted on. But the tenets of Bodhi- 
dharma, who aimed to restore what he considered the true 
doctrine of Buddha, gradually diffused themselves and 
became the most powerful element in the system. The 
consequence was a less strong faith in the future life. 

I-tsung, who ascended the throne A.D. 860, w r as devoted 
to the study of the Buddhist books. Priests were called 
in to discourse on their religion in the private apartments 
of his palace, and the monasteries were frequently honoured 
with the imperial presence. He was memorialised in vain 
by the Confucian mandarins, who represented that Tauism, 
speaking as it did of mercy and moderation, and the ori 
ginal religion of China, of which the fundamental prin- 



BODHIRUCHT. 131 

ciples were benevolence and rectitude, were enough for 
China, and the emperor should follow no other. This 
emperor practised writing in Sanscrit characters, and 
chanted the classics in the originals according to the 
musical laws of the land from which they came. Nothing 
could be more irritating to rigid conservatives, who hated 
everything foreign and lived to glorify Confucius, than to 
hear such sounds issuing from the imperial apartments. 
In this reign another bone of Buddha was brought to the 
palace. When it arrived the emperor went out to meet 
it, and prostrated himself on the ground before it, weeping 
while he uttered the " invocation of worship" (namd). The 
ceremonies were on a scale even greater than at the 
annual sacrifice to Heaven and Earth. Similar scenes 
occurred at about the same time in the West, when Euro 
pean kings were not ashamed to honour the relics of 
Christian romance, just as their contemporaries in the far 
East revered those of the equally luxuriant imagination of 
Buddhism. No one in the West, however, raised so loud a 
voice of warning against these superstitions as the Confu 
cian mandarins at the court of Ch ang-an. 

Among the foreign Buddhists who took up their residence 
in China in the first T ang dynasty was Bodhiruchi. He 
translated the Hwa-yen and Pau-tsih Sutras. Lenga, a 
second, came from the north of the Ts ung-ling mountains ; 
others from India. The usual story of these wanderers was 
that they were the sons of kings, and had resigned their title 
to the crown to free themselves from worldly cares, and 
cultivate the heart. These tales may have been true, but 
they should not be repeated too often, for fear of exciting 
suspicion in the mind of the reader. More than one of 
these ci-devant princes adopted the profession of rain 
maker at the Chinese court, and saved the country from 
drought for a considerable period. On one occasion the 
emperor was assured that it would rain when certain 
images opened their eyes. After three days the images 
showed the same willingness to gratify the expectation of 



1 32 CHINESE BUDDHISAf. 

their worshippers as have those of another religion, and 
the prophecy was fulfilled. 

Pu-k ung, already mentioned, came from Ceylon. 1 As 
he was travelling, a herd of elephants rushed towards 
him. He sat quietly on the way side. The elephants all 
knelt down "before him and retired. When he came to 
China, he produced, it is said, a great reformation of man 
ners in court and country, and was reverenced as a divi 
nity. If judged by his works, 2 however, consisting of 
unintelligible charms with pictures of many Bodhisattwas, 
he brought a grosser superstition than before. His book 
of directions for calling hungry spirits to be fed, by magi 
cal arrangements of the fingers, delineations of Sanscrit 
characters and such like means, vindicates for him the 
unenviable honour of being the chief promoter of Bud 
dhist fetishism in China. From Sin-la, a kingdom now 
forming part of Corea, some priests also came. One of 
these, named Wu-leu, was retained by the emperor Hiuen- 
tsung, with Pu-k ung, to pray for the imperial and national 
prosperity. When he approached his end he rose in the 
air a foot high, and so died. 3 

At this time some priests came from Japan, bringing 
ten of the monastic dresses denominated Sanghali, as pre 
sents to those in China who should best deserve them. 
Lan-chin praised the gift as evidence of the advancement 
made by the donors in the knowledge and dispositions of 
the true Buddhist. He determined to go to Japan, and 

1 The Yoga or Yogachara school nt)is in Sanscrit Dharani, "a charm." 
was founded by Asangha, and its sys- See also the very popular work called 
tern taught in China by Pu-k ung Yu-k ia-yen-k eu, universally used by 
(Arnogha). It combined Brahman- the priests as a mass-book for the 
ism, Shivaism, and the doctrine of benefit of the hungry dead, who come, 
Dhyana Buddhas (derived from Ne- in consequence of the priest s incan- 
paul), with the Mahayana philosophy, tations, from hell, with "flaming 

2 See the work called Ts ien-shcu mouths " (yen-k cu) to receive " sweet 
ts ien-yen kwan-sln-yin p u-sa ta-pei- dew " (kan-lu) and go back relieved. 
sin to-fa-ni, " The magical formula of These notices of foreign Buddhists 
the Bodhisattwa Kwan-shi -yin, who are taken from tl>e Supplement to the 
has a thousand hands and eyes and well-known cyclopaedia Wen-hien- 
a merciful heart. " " Da-la-ni " (To-lo- t l ung-k l au. 



PERSECUTION BY THE CHEU DYNASTY. 133 

after a tempestuous voyage he arrived there. The king 
came out to meet him, and assigned him a residence. 
Prom him the Japanese received their first instructions in 
the Discipline of Buddhism, or the rules of the monastic 
life. 

Under the Later Tang dynasty a native priest of 
Wu-t ai, observing the mode in which the foreign Bud 
dhists obtained their influence, felt a wish to share with 
them in the dominion of the atmosphere. He gave out 
that the dragon of the sky was obedient to him, and that 
wind and rain came at. his call. The emperor and empress 
prostrated themselves before him, and he did not think it 
necessary to rise in their presence. Unfortunately a long 
drought arrived, and his prayers were unavailing to bring 
it to a termination. Enraged at his want of success, some 
proposed to burn him, but he was permitted to return 
home, and died of disappointment. 

The last emperor of this short dynasty was much under 
the influence of Ajeli, a foreigner at Fung-siang, in Shen-si. 
He was memorialised by an officer of his court, on the sub 
ject of instituting examinations for those who wished to 
adopt the Buddhist life of reading and retirement. The 
monks and nuns should both be examined in the " Shastras " 
(Luri), the " Sutras" (King), and the daily duties of the mon 
astery. In the same way he recommended that those who 
aspired to become Tauist priests should be examined in 
the literature of that sect. The emperor assented to these 
propositions. His successor of the Later Tsin dynasty 
distributed favours and titles very freely among the pro 
fessors of the two faiths, and, as was natural, foreign 
priests, with teeth and other relics of Buddha, continued 
to arrive. 

A little later a prince of the Cheu family and the 
immediate predecessor of the founder of the Sung dynasty, 
placed severe restrictions on Buddhism, and prohibited all 
temples except those that had received an inscribed tablet 
from former emperors. More than thirty thousand of these 



134 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

buildings were in consequence suppressed by edict ; 2694 
temples were retained. The same edict prohibited the 
monks and lay Buddhists from cutting off their hands and 
feet, burning their fingers, suspending lighted lamps by 
hooks inserted into the flesh, and from carrying pincers in 
a similar manner. " Let us not smile," says Mr. Watters, 
" at these self-imposed tortures, unless we can also weep 
to think that similar tortures have been practised by the 
followers of Jesus not only by individuals on their own 
bodies, but also upon those of their fellows." 

T ai-tsu, the first emperor of the Sung family (A.D. 964), 
sent messengers to persuade his contemporary of the house 
of T ang not to show such devotion to Buddhist supersti 
tions as he had done. The latter took the remonstrance 
in good part, and ceased to look with his former regard on 
the crowd of priests that frequented his capital. T ai- 
tsung, the second in the new succession, stopped the 
public examinations of candidates for monk s orders. He 
Was an enemy to the delusions which he saw to be so 
popular among his subjects. Hearing that wood was 
being collected to form a death pyre for a priest who 
had determined to burn himself, he thought it was time 
to act, and issued an edict forbidding new temples. He 
changed his policy a few years after ; for the history of 
the time relates the erection by his command of a pagoda 
360 Chinese feet in height. It was completed in eight 
years, and relics of Buddha were deposited in it. A short 
notice of this class of structures will be here introduced. 

The number of pagodas in China is very great. There 
are nine within thirty miles of Shanghai. When complete 
and well situated, the pagoda is without dispute the most 
ornamental edifice to be seen in this Eastern world. Per 
haps no more beautiful single object could be added by 
fche hand of man to hill and wood scenery. At Lo-yang, in 
the Tsin dynasty (A.D. 350), there were forty- two, from 
three to nine stories high, richly painted, and formed after 
Indian models. The word t a (formerly t ap), now in uni- 



ERECTION OF PA G ODA S. 135 

versal use, has displaced the older names feu-t u (budu) 
and fo-t u (buddu). The original purpose of the edifice 
was to deposit relics of Buddha. These relics might be a 
hair, tooth, metamorphosed piece of bone, article of dress, 
or rice vessel. When the bodies of deceased Bodhisattwas 
and other revered persons were burnt, the remains were 
placed in structures which received the same name, t upa or 
st upa, and it is these that have been described by travellers, 
in Afghanistan and other regions where Buddhism formerly 
prevailed, as topes. 

" When there is no relic " (she-li; in Sanscrit, sharira), 
says the cyclopaedia Fa-yuen-chu-lin, "the building is 
called chi-ti" (in Sanscrit, chaitya), and it may be in 
tended to commemorate the birthplace of Buddha, the 
spot where he became enlightened, where he taught, or 
where he entered into the Nirvana. Footsteps of Buddha, 
an image of a Bodhisattwa or of a Pratyeka Buddha, are 
also honoured with the erection of a chi-ti. 

When pagodas are without relics and unconnected with 
any legend, their erection must be attributed to reasons 
founded on the Chinese " geomancy " (feng-skui). These 
buildings are supposed to have a very important and 
happy influence on the districts in which they are situated. 
The charity of the contributors is also believed to be repaid 
in riches, longevity, and forgiveness of sins, as in the case 
of all Chinese almsgiving. 

Most of the existing pagodas date from the time at 
which our narrative has now arrived. Those built in the 
T ang and previous dynasties have many of them fallen a 
prey to the ruinous hand of time; while more recently 
the diminished favour which those possessing wealth and 
power have extended to Buddhism has caused an entire 
cessation of pagoda building, except when old ones were 
to be restored. 

In the tenth century, 1 the royal family of the Min king 
dom, bearing the surname Wang, were very much devoted 

1 Walters, p. 42. 



1 3 6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

to Buddhism. To them the city of Foochow owes the two 
pagodas which adorn it. The king admitted ten thousand 
persons to the vows in A.D. 940. 

Anything that is precious in the eyes of the Buddhist 
devotee may be deposited in these structures. One was 
erected by the emperor for the preservation of the newly- 
arrived Sanscrit books at the request of Hiuen-tsang, lest 
they should be injured for want of care. It was 180 feet 
high, had five stories with grains of she-li (relics) in the 
centre of each, and contained monuments inscribed with 
the prefaces written by the emperor and prince royal to 
Hiuen-tsang s translations. 

The great expense of large Buddhist structures some 
times led the more self-confident of the priests to rash 
resolutions. On one occasion a monk of T ien-t ai, a large 
and ancient establishment to the south of Ningpo, pro 
fessed to the emperor his wish to commit himself to the 
flames when the erection of a certain temple was com 
pleted. His desire was granted, and an officer sent to see 
that the temple was built and the feat carried into execu 
tion. The pile was made and the priest called on to come 
forward. He excused himself, but in vain. He looked 
round on the assembled crowd for some one to save him ; 
among priests and people, however, none offered to help 
the trembling victim of his own folly. The stern voice of 
the imperial messenger bade him ascend the pile. He 
still lingered, and was at length seized by the attendants, 
placed forcibly on the pile and burnt. 

The conduct of the emperors towards Buddhism was 
then, as it has been more recently, very inconsistent. 
Favour was shown to priests, while occasional edicts were 
issued intended to check the progress of the system. The 
emperors gratified their private feelings by gorgeous erec 
tions for the practice of idolatry, while they paid a tribute 
to the Confucian prejudices of the literati by denouncing 
the religion in public proclamations. 

In the reign of Chen-tsung, a favourer of Buddhism, a 



ENCO URA CEMENT OF SA NSCRIT S TUDIES. \ 37 

priest from India is mentioned as translating the " Sutra 
of Good Fortune," Fo-ki-siang-king, and other works, to the 
number of more than two hundred chapters. 

Jen-tsung, in A.D. 1035, made an effort to preserve the 
knowledge of Sanscrit literature by appointing fifty 
youths to study it. A few years earlier, it is said in a 
notice of Fa-t ien-pen, a native of " Magadha " (Bahar), iii 
India, that he was assisted in translating the Wu-liang- 
sheu-king, the " Sutra of Boundless Age," and other works, 
by a native of China familiar with Sanscrit. These facts 
have a bearing on the possible existence of Sanscrit manu 
scripts in China. One old manuscript only has yet been 
discovered, in South China, in that mode of writing. Occa 
sionally a few specimen characters are introduced in native 
works where foreign alphabets are treated of. 1 In an 
account of the Kwo-t sing monastery in the " History of 
Tien-t ai-shan " it is said that a single work was saved from 
a fire there several centuries ago, which was written on 
iliepei-to (patra), or " palm " leaf of India. A visit to T ien- 
t ai a spot abounding in Buddhist antiquities, the earliest, 
and except P u-to, the largest and richest seat of that 
religion in Eastern China by myself and two companions 
led to the discovery that this work is still there, but in 
the Kau-ming monastery, and that it is written in the 
Sanscrit character. I had a copy made which was sent 
to Professor Wilson ; but the work of the copyist was 
found to be too incorrect to admit of its being read. T ien- 
t ai is about fifty miles south of Ningpo, and is celebrated 
for its beautiful scenery. As a monastic establishment it 
dates from the fourth century, while P u-to is no earlier 
than the tenth. In the province of Che-kiang, where 

1 Sanscrit characters are also cou- sale. They are written in a later 

tained in such works as Yu-k ia-yen- Devanagari with the top line, from 

k eu, which may be seen in any left to right, distinct in form. There 

monastery. In Peking, Sanscrit sen- are also Sanscrit inscriptions on 

tences, chiefly charms, are seen " octagonal stones " (slii-chwang). The 

written under the eaves of the roofs Devanagari is of an older style with- 

of temples. Some manuscripts have out the top line. They date from 

been brought to foreign residents for the Kin dynasty. 



133 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

maritime and hill scenery are so luxuriantly combined, 
the picturesque homes of the Buddhist monks are clustered 
together more thickly, it would seem, than anywhere else. 
Like their English contemporaries whose mode of life was 
in many points so similar, they knew well how to choose 
spots where the rich landscape spread before their eyes 
would be some compensation for their banishment from 
social enjoyments. They were quite as inventive too in 
peopling the woods and rocks where they selected their 
place of retirement with supernatural visitors, whose rank 
or good deeds lent a mysterious sanctity to the place 
where traces of their presence were observed. And they 
framed with equal facility marvellous legends to form a 
ground for erecting temples in honour of the hero thus 
endowed with an imaginary immortality. The Bodhi- 
sattwas and " Arhans" (Lo-han) of Oriental religious fiction, 
correspond to the saints and martyrs venerated in the West. 
Those who chose the situations of many of the large 
Buddhist establishments must have had an eye for the 
loveliness of nature. The ignorant and unreflecting class 
of priests now usually met with, whose aim is no higher 
than to count beads, to chant the classics, and to perform 
the genuflexions according to rule, must not be taken as 
examples of the earlier race of Buddhist monks. There 
was in the flourishing days of Buddhism more devotion to 
the system, and a much better appreciation of its nature, 
than at present. It was quite in keeping with a more 
sinoere belief -in the religion, to choose beautiful solitudes 
high among hills for the practice of its rites, and to spare 
no expense in constructing appropriate edifices in the 
most magnificent style of Chinese architecture. It is only 
by supposing sincere attachment to the principles of the 
system, that cases of self-destruction by fire in imitation 
of the ancient Hindoo practice can be accounted for. 
History says that the emperor Jen-tsung, having as a high 
mark of favour introduced into the standard edition of 
Buddhist books some works by the priests of T ien-t ai, 



PL A CES OF PILGRIM A GE. 139 

one of the monks performed this terrible feat to show his 
gratitude for the emperor s goodness. Another prevailing 
motive in uniting the utmost attainable beauty in nature 
and art, was undoubtedly the desire to produce popular 
effect, and to provide attractions for the rich and the 
superstitious when they went on a religious pilgrimage. 

Among these spots none in all China is more famous than 
the island of P u-to, to the east of Clmsan. It was about 
A.D. 9 1 5 that it was taken possession of by the Buddhists, 
not many years before the time this narrative has reached. 
It is dedicated to " Kwan-shi-yin," a name translated from 
the Sanscrit Avalokiteshwara. P u-hien (SamantdbJiadra), 
another fictitious Btidhisattwa, is honoured in a similar way 
at Wo-mei slian, in Si-ch uen. At Kieu-hwa, in An-hwei, 
a little westward of Ch i-cheu fu, Ti-t sang another of the 
great Bodhisattwas, is honoured with special worship. The 
fourth and last of these establishments, the great gather 
ing-places of the followers of Julai, is that of " Manjusiri " 
( Wen-chu p u-sa) at Wu-t ai in Shan-si, already referred to. 
The name " P u-to " (Pu-ta) is the same as that known in 
Indian ancient geography as " Potala" or " Potaraka " (Pu- 
ta-lo-kia). Kwan-shi-yin is said in the Hwa-yen-king to 
have taught the Buddhist doctrines on that island. The 
original island was situated in the Southern sea of Indian 
geographers, and P u-to is therefore denominated Nan- 
hai p u-to (the P u-to of the Southern sea). Through the 
Sung and Yuen dynasties buildings were added till they 
grew to their present magnitude. The number of priests 
from all parts of China who visit this sacred island is 



immense. 1 

The residents, however, are not so numerous as at 

T ien-t ai. T ien-t ai was at this time become famous for 

i The Thibetan inscriptions at P u- tor of the Thibetans, and, as Hue 

to, which have frequently attracted informs us, monuments with the 

the notice of foreign visitors, pro- words Om-mani-padme-hum, a sen- 

bably owe their origin to some far- tence which occurs on the P u-to 

travelled devotee from that country, stones, are everywhere seen there. 
Kwan-shi-yin is the national protec- 



HO CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

the origination of a new school. The works by Chinese 
authors mentioned above as placed parallel with the 
translations from Sanscrit, consisted of the productions of 
this school called CJii-kwan-hio or T ien-t ai-kiau. The 
common book of prayers, Ta-pei-ts an, has the same origin. 
The object of this new school was to combine contempla 
tion with image worship. While the regulations for 
kneeling and chanting by several persons in unison are 
most complicated and minute, the operators aim to fix 
their thoughts on certain objects of devotion. This system 
differs from Bodhidharma s school of pure mental abstrac 
tion, by adding to devotional thoughts the helps of the 
senses. The tawdry gaiety of the idols, the union of 
many persons under the direction of a time-keeper, in 
kneeling and standing, mute thought and loud recitation, 
it was believed would have a highly useful influence, when 
combined with an intense effort after pure religious medi 
tation. The union of these two elements was intended to 
be a great improvement on the previous methods. The 
first Buddhist worship had made no express provision for 
the meditative faculties, and it had in consequence de 
generated into the driest of forms. The common cere 
monial of the sect at the present time exemplifies it, 
exhibiting as it does postures devoid of all reverence and 
lifeless repetitions of foreign words destitute of all emotion. 
The founder of this new system, Ch i-k ai, lived at T ien- 
t ai in the latter half of the sixth century. It was not 
till after more than four centuries that the principal 
writings of the school he established were included among 
the standard books of Buddhism. The title by which he 
is known is T ien-t ai-chi-che. The ceremonial thus intro 
duced still maintains its reputation, and is practised by 
those who wish to infuse a deeper feeling into the service 
of the religion than is aimed at by the every-day worship 
pers of Buddha. 

These changing forms of Chinese Buddhism and there 
are others that will subsequently be described are facts 



ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC SCHOOLS. 141 

not without significance for the religious history of man 
kind, that most interesting chapter in the chronicle of our 
race. Human nature, true to itself, will run the same 
round of varieties in connection with religions most dif 
ferent in their origin, principles, and geographical situation. 
Christianity has been greatly affected in the form that it 
has assumed in successive ages by the operation of the 
natural religious feelings inherent in man, which are the 
parents of all superstition and are independent of the new 
spiritual life bestowed by Divine power. This fact, which 
is clearly exhibited in Church history, renders the histori 
cal comparison between Christianity and other religions a 
possible one. The monastic institute, for example, which 
began in Buddhism, as its earliest books show, with 
Shakyamuni the founder of the religion, was in Christianity 
an innovation originating in the desire felt by many to 
engage constantly in religious contemplation, without 
being interrupted by the cares of secular life. In the 
history of both religions there have been leading minds 
that have elevated contemplation at the expense of external 
forms. Others have sought by sensible representations 
alone to call the religious feelings into action. Minds of 
a third class have combined the two. But when Bud 
dhism proceeds to the negation of all thought, action, and 
individual existence, the parallel fails, for though philo 
sophy has intruded frequently and extensively into the 
battle-field of Christianity, it has never been attempted to 
construct a new religious life on such a basis of philosophy 
as this. Philosophical scepticism in the West has been 
confined to the safer regions of speculation, without being 
brought, as Buddhism has tried to bring it, to a practical 
form. 1 Another subdivision of the Buddhist schools into 
Tsung-men and Kiau-men may be best characterised by 
using the terms esoteric and exoteric to distinguish them. 
The first of the former entered China when the patriarch 

1 The attempt of Comte and his religion on a basis of philosophy has 
half-dozen followers to construct a been conspicuous only by its failure. 



1 42 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Bodhidliarma brought the traditional symbol, called in 
Chinese cheng-fa-yen-tsang, and the school he established 
is its highest kind. The magical formulae cheu (dharani) 
also belong to esoteric Buddhism. These childish produc 
tions are as destitute of meaning in their original Sanscrit 
as they are in their transferred Chinese form, but all sorts 
of miracles are believed to be wrought by them. The 
classics and books of prayers, with the other parts of the 
literature, belong to exoteric Buddhism, which also em 
braces all rules for life and worship. For this classifica 
tion the native terms in use are Men, "open," and mi, 
" secret." 

The despotic nature of the Chinese government has 
been often shown in its treatment of religions. When per 
secution has not been resorted to, the right of interference 
in the internal regulations of Buddhism and Tauism has 
been often assumed. Thus the Sung emperor, Shen-tsung, 
orderedmany of the "temples" denominated si to be changed 
into the "monasteries" called ch an-yuen, for the use of the 
monks who followed the system of Bodhidharma. His 
successor issued a similar decree. In in 9, Hwei-tsung, 
advised by Lin Ling-su, commanded the title of Buddha 
to be changed to one like those of the Tauist genii. He 
was to be styled Ta-kio-kin-sien, in which kio, to " per 
ceive," is a translation of the word Buddha, and kin, i.e., 
" golden," represents the substance of which his image 
is supposed to be formed. The other Indian titles were 
also ordered to be abandoned. The " priests," instead of 
being known as seng, were to be called te-sh i, " virtuous 
scholars." The " temples," s i, and " monasteries," yuen t 
were to receive the designations kung, " palace," and kwan, 
" monastery," terms in use among the Tauists. This futile 
attempt to amalgamate the two religions was abandoned 
the following year. 

The two brother philosophers, C heng, in the city of 
Lo-yang, set themselves against the Buddhist burial rites. 
But an admirer compared them to the rock in the middle 



MONASTIC VOWS, 143 

of a torrent, which can retard but for a moment the pro 
gress of the impetuous stream. 

Si-ma Wen-kung wrote soon after that men need not 
practise burial rites for deliverance from hell, because 
neither heaven nor hell are to be expected. The body 
decays at death, and the spirit flies off, carried away by 
a puff of wind. (See Watters.) 

At that time, as at the present day, Buddhist priests 
were invited by rich persons to go through a ritual for 
the dead. The follower of Confucius engages priests from 
both the other sects without scruple to offer prayers, in 
whose efficacy he does not believe, for the souls of deceased 
relatives. By the Oriental, sincerity and independence in 
religious belief are without difficulty subordinated to the 
outward show of respect which is felt to be necessary 
while it is unreal. When, as death approached, a certain 
mandarin prohibited the employment of Buddhist priests 
at his funeral, the incident is commemorated as something 
remarkable. In justification of himself he quoted the 
saying of an author, " That if there were no heaven there 
was no need to seek it ; and that if there were, good men 
would certainly go there. If there were no hell there 
was no need to fear it ; and if there were, bad men would 
go there." 

In the times of Buddhist prosperity persons received 
from the emperor a written permission to become ho-shang 1 
or " monks." When this practice was abandoned, as by 
Kau-tsung, one of the emperors who reigned at Hang- 
chow, A.D. 1143, the higher members of the Buddhist 
hierarchy undertook to distribute the usual certificates 
of membership in the order. Thus the aim of the em- 

1 The word ho-snany, as the Chinese selves also use ch u-kia-jen, a Chinese 

Life of Buddha informs us, is trans- term convertible with it. It means 

ferred from the language of " Udin " "men who have left the family." 

(Yu-tian) or " Khoten," south-east Upadhydya is a Sanscrit term for " a 

of Kashgar, and was originally trans- self-taught teacher," and Hwa-shie is 

lated from the Sanscrit Updsaka. a vernacular term in Kashgar and 

Ho-shang is now the universal term Kustana, and has become ho-shang in 

for the Buddhist monks. They them- Chinese. (EiteL) 



144 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

peror, who had argued that for want of imperial patron 
age the inmates of the monasteries would be thinned 
in numbers, until death effected what former emperors 
had sought to accomplish by persecution, was frustrated. 
When the neophyte visits the chief monk at some monas 
tery, in order to go through the ceremonies of initiation, 
an indentation is usually burnt in at the top of his shaven 
head, and a new one is made at every repetition of the 
visit. A priest is proud to show these marks of distinc 
tion, arranged in a square on his naked cranium, as testify 
ing to the self-denial he has practised in attaining his 
position. 

There are various evidences of the continued influence 
of Indian Buddhism on that of China at this compara 
tively late period. The "History of the Sung Dynasty," in 
its account of India, details the arrival in A.D. 951 of 
Samanta, a monk, with a large party of companions from 
Western India, belonging to sixteen families. In 965 a 
Chinese priest, named Tau-yuen, returned from a journey 
to the Western countries with relics and Sanscrit copies 
of Buddhist books written on the " palm-leaf " (pei-td) to 
the number of forty volumes. He was absent twelve years, 
and resided in India itself half of that time. He returned 
by the usual route round the north-west of the great 
mountain mass denominated Ts ung-ling. He gave an 
account of his travels to the emperor on his return, and 
showed him the Sanscrit books. The next year 157 
Chinese priests set out together, with the emperor s per 
mission, to visit India and obtain Buddhist books. They 
passed through Pu-lu-sha and " Cashmere " (Ka-slii-mi-lo), 
but nothing is said of their further proceedings. During 
the latter part of the tenth century Sanscrit manuscripts 
continued to arrive at court in great -numbers. On one 
occasion the son of a king of Eastern India was a visitor. 
The reason of his abandoning his native land, continues 
our authority, was that it is customary for the younger sons 
of a deceased king to leave their eldest brother at home to 



HINDOO BUDDHISTS IN CHINA. 145 

succeed their father, and themselves become monks. They 
travel then to other countries and never return. These 
extracts from the " Sung History " are continued, because 
they are not only valuable in themselves, but because also 
there is some uncertainty as to the time when Buddhism 
was expelled from India, and they may be of assiscance 
in determining that question. In 982 a priest of Western 
China returned from India with a letter from a king of 
that country to the emperor. It was translated by an 
Indian at the imperial command, and contained con 
gratulations on the favour shown in China to Buddhism, 
together with geographical details on India and adjacent 
countries. The next year another Chinese monk returned 
by sea with Buddhist books from India. On his way he 
met at San-fo-t si, a country bordering on Cambodia to 
the south-west, an Indian who wished to come to China 
to translate Buddhist books. He was invited by the 
emperor to engage in so doing. Other traces occur, not 
seldom in Chinese history, of the presence of Buddhist 
Indians in the Birmese peninsula, some of them of the 
Brahman caste. The rising influence of Brahmanism, and 
the more modern forms of religious belief in India, drove 
the followers of Shakya, not only into the northern regions, 
where they spread their system through Thibet and Tar- 
tary, and by which many of them found their way to 
China, but also into the islands and kingdoms that lay 
on the other side of the Bay of Bengal. A few years 
later than the last-mentioned date a Chinese, and with 
him a foreign Buddhist monk, came from the king of 
Northern India with a letter to the emperor. A Buddhist 
priest of the Brahman caste, with Aliyin, a Persian of 
another religion, are also mentioned as coming to the 
capital. The former, in the account he gives of his native 
country, mentions Buddhism as the religion favoured by 
the king. Some came by sea at this time who could not 
make themselves understood, but the images and books 
they brought showed that they were Buddhists. Several 

K 



146 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

other arrivals of Hindoos are recorded, and if the books 
they are said to have presented to the Chinese emperor 
are still preserved in the state archives, there can be no 
lack there of Sanscrit manuscripts of Buddhist works. 

Though the great mass of Buddhist literature was 
already translated, additions not a few were made in 
the Sung and Yuen dynasties, arid the whole number 
of " chapters " Qduen) raised from 4271 to 4661. 

The account given of Kau-ch ang (the Ouighour country 
north-west of China) says that the calendar there used 
was the one introduced by the Hindoo Buddhists at the 
court of the T ang dynasty in the early part of the eighth 
century. More than fifty Buddhist temples had monu 
mental tablets presented by emperors of the same dynasty, 
and, with the collected sacred books of Buddhism, are 
also preserved the early Chinese dictionaries 1 made with 
the assistance of the Hindoos. The reader is left to sup 
pose that the Buddhist classics in the language of China 
were at that time used in the countries beyond its north 
western frontier, as they still are in Japan, Loo-choo, and 
Corea. 

It is added, " Temples of Manes and Persian priests 
(senga) are also found there, each following his own 
ritual. These are such as are called in the Buddhist 
Sutras heretics (wai-tau)" This must be an allusion to 
the followers of Manes, and probably also to the Nes- 
torians, who, on the Si-ngan inscription, call themselves 
by the Buddhist term senga in the sense of " priest." 

From the extended sketch given of Japanese intercourse 
with China in the " Sung History," it appears that the ob 
ject of the majority of the embassies then and previously 
was a Buddhist one. Monks were the ambassadors ; books 
of that religion, such as were known in Japan only by 
name, were asked for ; remarkable places, like the Wu-t ai 
mountain in Shan-si, were visited ; the doctrines of parti 
cular sects, such as that of T ien-ta i, were studied at the 

1 T ang-yiin, Yu-p ian, &c. 



MONGOL DYNASTY FAVOURED BUDDHISM. 147 

spots where they were principally cultivated; travellers 
like Hiuen-tsang were regarded with veneration, and the 
books that he intrusted to them, Sutras, Discipline, and 
Shastras, guarded with especial care. The impression left 
on the reader s mind by the narrative alluded to is, that the 
early and constant embassies from Japan were decidedly 
Buddhistic in their character. Perhaps this arose simply 
from the fact of the ambassadors having been monks, 
while some other cause led to the appointment of persons 
of that profession to the duty. At least, however, it indi 
cates that the Buddhist priests in Japan possessed for a 
long period great political influence. 

Kublai khan, the first Mongul emperor, was strongly 
attached to Buddhism. The imperial temples, for sacri 
ficing to the objects of Chinese national worship, were 
converted to Buddhist uses ; while Tauism was persecuted, 
injunctions were issued to all followers of Buddha to chant 
the sacred books diligently in all the monasteries. When 
Kublai was recommended by his courtiers to send an 
army to subjugate Japan, he refused on the ground that 
it was a country where the precepts of Buddha were 
honoured. A monk of that sect was sent as ambassador, 
but the king refused to follow the custom of his ancestor, 
by sending the tributary offering that pleases Oriental 
vanity, and marks the submissive obedience of an inferior 
sovereign to his more powerful neighbour. A hundred 
thousand soldiers were sent to enforce the claim of supre 
macy over Japan, and their destruction in a storm while 
crossing the sea thither is a well-known fact of history. 

The early attachment of the Mongols to Buddhism 
appears in the first notices of them in the annals of the 
dynasty that they overthrew. While they still possessed 
only the northern parts of China more than one Buddhist 
monk was appointed to the office of kwo-sM, (national 
instructor). The first of these was ISTamo, a native of one 
of the Western kingdoms. Another was Pa-ho-si-pa or 
" Baschpa," a " Thibetan" (l*u-fari), who introduced a new 



148 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

alphabet for the use of the Mongols based on that of his 
own language. It was issued by authority of Kublai 
khan, but failed to win its way, perhaps because the 
characters were less simple than the writing taken from 
the Syriac, which had already been adopted from the 
Nestorians. 

In the reign of the successor of Kublai the historians 
complain that three thousand taels of gold were set apart 
to write Buddhist books in gilt letters, and other expenses 
for this religion were in the same proportion of extra 
vagance. The " Yuen History " describes the politic aims 
of Kublai in his preference for Buddhism. Becoming 
sovereign of a country wild and extensive, and a nation 
intractable a.ud quarrelsome, he resolved, in order to give 
his native wilderness a civilised aspect, and soften down 
the natural roughness of his subjects, to form cities on 
the Chinese model, to appoint mandarins of various ranks, 
and put the people under the guidance of a public instruc 
tor. A priest of Buddha held this post, and he was only 
subordinate to the chief lay mandarin. His orders were 
treated with the same respect as the imperial proclama 
tions. When all the state officers were assembled he 
alone remained seated on the floor in the corner, and 
he was received at court with the highest honours that 
could be paid to a subject. 

The remarks of Confucianist historians on such things 
are naturally bitter. It is not according to precedent 
to praise Buddhism. To censure it is the fashion of the 
literati. When they wield the historic brush, they deepen 
the colouring if superstitious emperors and Buddhist suc 
cesses have to appear on the canvas. What they record 
of censure they record as a painful duty, and, as often 
happens when men have a painful duty to perform, they 
feel more pleasure in the performance than they like 
to acknowledge. 

Towards the end of the thirteenth century, a census 
was taken by imperial command of the Buddhist temples 



TRANSLA TIONS BY THE MONGOLS. , 49 

and monks in China. Of the former, there were reported 
42,318, and of the latter, 213,148. Three years after, at the 
close of Kublai s reign, when a priest came from " Thibet " 
(Si-fan] to become Jcwo-shi (national instructor), the 
emperor, regretting that he could not converse with him, 
ordered Kalutanasi, a Mongolian, to learn the Thibetan 
language from him. This task was accomplished in a 
year, and, says the narrative, the complete translation of 
the Buddhist Sutras and Shastras, from "Thibetan" (Si- 
fan), 1 and Sanscrit into Mongolian, and written in Oui- 
ghour characters, was presented to the founder of the Yuen 
dynasty in the year of his death, A.D. 1294. He ordered 
it to be cut on blocks, and distributed among the kings 
and great chiefs of his nation. The notices of Buddhism 
that occur in the reigns of the successive Mongol emperors 
are extremely numerous, but they belong perhaps more 
to Mongolian and Thibetan Buddhism than to that of 
China, and it will be only necessary, therefore, to take a 
brief review of them. The recitation of the classics was 
frequently practised in the Thibetan language in the 
monasteries of the capital at the emperor s command. In 
1324 a second record occurs of the translation into Mon 
golian of the Buddhist books. It merely says that the 
translation from the Si-fan (Thibetan) language was then 
made in the "Ouighour" (Wei-ngu-ri) writing. Those 
who received the highest religious title, that of kwo-ski 
or ti-sM, "imperial instructor," were foreigners. One of 
these, Pi-lan-na-shi-li, of the Kan-mu-lu kingdom, learned 
in his youth the Ouighour and " Sanscrit " (Si-t ien, " West 
ern heaven") writing. In 1312 he was ordered by the 
emperor to translate Buddhist books. From Chinese he 
translated the Leng-y en-king, a Sutra regarded by the 
Chinese literati as the best of all the Buddhist books. 
From Sanscrit he translated four Sutras, and others from 
Thibetan, in all a thousand "chapters" (kiuen). He was 
put to death for suspected treason, concerted with the 

1 See the "Supplement to Wen-hien-t ung-k au." 



1 50 CHINESE B UDDHISM. 

son of the king of the An-si country on the eastern border 
of Persia. The Mongol emperors continued faithful to 
their adopted creed during the short continuance of their 
power in China. It was, as it has continued to be, one 
of their national institutions. The people accepted the 
religion that their chiefs appointed for them. While 
among the Chinese people, Buddhism has frequently had 
to struggle against direct and indirect hostility from the 
literary class and the government of the country, the 
Mongolians have beheld without envy the priests of this 
religion raised to the highest offices of state, and retain 
ing unquestioned their position as the most influential 
body in the community. 

The immoral pictorial representations introduced in the 
worship of Shiva were imitated by the Thibetan Buddhists. 
When brought to one of the Mongolian emperors by a Thi 
betan priest, he is said to have received them with approba 
tion. The Chinese people were indignant when they heard 
that such representations were permitted to demoralise the 
inmates of the imperial palace. At present, although 
some authors have asserted the contrary, there appear to 
be no traces of any such practice in Chinese Buddhism, 
bnt they are found in the lama temples in Peking. 

Curiosity to visit the first home of their religion had 
not yet entirely forsaken the Chinese Buddhists. Early 
in this period a Chinese priest named Tau-wu was excited 
by reading the accounts of Fa-hien and the early Buddhist 
travellers to try his fortune in a similar undertaking. 
He passed the Sandy desert, and through the kingdoms of 
Kui-tsi and Sha-la to Kipin (Cophen). He there learned 
the original language of the Buddhist books, obtained 
a Sutra on the admission of Kwan-shi-yin to the Buddhist 
life, and turning westward proceeded through the country 
of the Getee and so into India. He returned by sea to 
Canton. This, however, is the last record of the kind. 

There was no reaction against Buddhism for some time 
after the overthrow of the Yuen dynasty. Monks of that 



MING DYNASTY LIMITS BUDDHIST PRIVILEGES. 151 

religion from the countries west of China were still wel 
comed at court, and decrees were promulgated applaud 
ing the beneficial tendencies of the system. When a 
mandarin ventured to reprove the third Ming emperor 
on this account, he was silenced by the inquiry, Did he 
wish to imitate Han Wen-kung ? In A.D. 1426 the next 
occupier of the throne ordered examinations to be in 
stituted for those who wished to become monks. At this 
time, as had sometimes happened before, the attention 
of the government was called to the increasing property 
in land of the monasteries. In 1450 it was forbidden to 
any monastic establishment to have more than 60 meu 
(6000 feet square) of land. What was in excess of this 
was given to the poor to cultivate, they paying taxes to 
the emperor. Similar acts of interference with the pro 
perty of the monasteries are recorded in the preceding 
dynasty. In the sixteenth century, in the time of Kia- 
tsing, some attempts to revive persecution were made by 
Confucian memorialists, but all they succeeded in effect 
ing was the destruction of the Buddhist chapel belonging 
to the palace. High titles were still granted to certain 
priests who stated that they came from the West. They 
were called shang-sM, " superior teacher," instead of ti- 
sh/i, " imperial teacher," the title given in the Yuen 
dynasty. 

In the latter years of the Ming dynasty, new enemies 
to Buddhism arrived in China. The Eoman Catholic 
missionaries followed the Mohammedans in protesting 
against idolatry. The banner of hostility could be raised 
by Christians with more reason against this religion than 
against the national one, of which the worship of images 
forms no part. Matteo Eicci had a controversy with a 
noted Buddhist priest residing at Hang-cheu. It was with 
a show of reason pressed upon the Buddhists that if their 
theory of transmigration were true, it would be wrong to 
enter into wedlock for fear of marrying one s own father 
or mother. The Buddhists suggested in reply, that divi- 



152 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

nation would reveal if such were the fact. Sii Kwang-k i, 
Eicci s most illustrious convert, wrote a short tract against 
Buddhism, in which a few of its principal doctrines are 
discussed and condemned in a popular style. It is con 
cluded by a chapter against ancestral worship. The 
work is called P i-shih-sJvL-chu-wang, " The Errors of the 
Buddhists Exposed." 

Of the Manchu emperors, Shun-chi was a friend to 
Buddhism, and wrote prefaces to some works of the fol 
lowers of Bodhidharma, but his son K ang-hi felt in his 
later life great repugnance to all religions except the 
Confucian. His sentiments are recorded in the " Sacred 
Edict," or Imperial book of moral instructions for the 
common people. 

By insertion in the " Sacred Edict " these opinions have 
been widely spread, and are extensively approved of to 
the present time. The author cites the judgment pro 
nounced by Chu Hi, the philosopher and critic of the 
Sung dynasty, saying that the Buddhists care nothing 
for heaven or earth, or anything that goes on around 
them, but attend exclusively each to his single mind. 
They are then condemned for fabricating groundless tales 
of future happiness and misery. They are charged with 
doing this only for gain, and encouraging for the same 
object the large gatherings of the country population at 
the temples; ostensibly to burn incense, but really to 
practise the worst forms of mischief. 

Policy has led the Manchu emperors to adopt a very 
different tone in Mongolia and Thibet. The lamas of 
those countries are received at Peking with the utmost 
respect, and care has always been taken to avoid ex 
citing a religious animosity that would be fraught with 
danger. 

At the present time in the parts of China open to 
foreign observation, each country village has its annual 
festival, at which thousands assemble from distances of 
many miles to witness processions of the images, and join 



LITER A TI S TILL CONDEMN B UDDHISM. 1 5 3 

in the idolatrous ceremonies to which, the day is conse 
crated. It is the same to the people whether it be a 
Buddhist or Tauist temple, where the concourse takes 
place. Their worship and offerings are presented with 
equal willingness in either, and whatever story is told of 
the power of any idol they are ready to believe. 

The feeling of the educated is different from this. De 
spising the popular development of Buddhism, as consist 
ing of image worship and procuring for money the pro 
tection of powerful unseen beings, they read with interest 
those of the Buddhist books that have in them a vein of 
metaphysical thought presented in elegant language. They 
study Buddhism for the profundity of its ideas, while 
they continue to adhere to Confucius, as their own chosen 
teacher in morals and religion. In the wide literature of 
this system there is room for readers of very various 
predilections. There are several works of which meta 
physical discussion is the prominent feature, and they are 
read with pleasure by the intelligent, to whom a further 
attraction is the excellent native style adopted by the 
scholars who assisted in the translation. Such, for ex 
ample, are the Kin-kang-king and the Leng -yen-king. 

There are, however, not a few sincere Buddhists, chiefly 
in the middle class of society, who believe that there is 
a great merit and efficiency in the recitation of the sacred 
books. They have a higher aim than those who practise 
the mere burning of incense to secure particular forms of 
happiness. They engage in the reading of these books or 
enter on the life of a hermit or monk, hoping to quiet the 
passions and train the heart to virtue. 

Hermits are not uncommonly met with in the vicinity 
of large Buddhist establishments. They occupy hill-side 
caves, or a closed apartment, which for a certain term of 
years they never leave. Their hair is allowed to grow 
unshorn. Their food is brought them by the monks of 
a neighbouring monastery. They employ their time in 
reciting the sacred books, meditation on Buddhist doc- 



154 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

trine, care of their cell, and replenishing the incense urn 
placed before the image of Shakyamuni. 

The preceding pages may be regarded as a sketch of 
the external history of Chinese Buddhism. A notice of 
the successive schools into which this religion has sub 
divided itself will now be presented to the reader. 



( 155 ) 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE SCHOOLS OF CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

The growth of esoteric sects in India The Jains Their series of 
twenty-four patriarchs Bodhidharma headed a new school 
in Southern India, and was heretical as viewed from the Jains 
standpoint He founded the contemplative school in China 
Nagarjuna, the author of the most revered books of this school 
Tsung-men Kiau-men Divisions of Tsung-men The Tsung- 
men sects are heretical in the view of the old orthodoxy- 
Specimen of the teaching of the Tsung-men Lin-tsi school 
Professes strict discipline Its founder died A.D. 868 His 
monument on the bank of the Hu-to river in Chi-li Resem 
blance to European speculation on the absolute Is Buddhism 
pantheistic ? Exoteric sects Lii-men (Vinaya) -Yogachara 
Fa-siang Madhyamika Fa-sing Tsing-tu, or sect of the 
"Pure land" or "Western heaven " T ien-t ai Poetry of 
the Tsing-tu school. 

BUDDHISM, as a religion of books and images, with the 
vow of celibacy and the monastic system, had entered 
China, and been widely propagated for several centuries, 
before anything was heard of schools. Gradually the 
Chinese Buddhists came to know of patriarchs, of the 
contemplative school, and of its many subdivisions. 

We are told that when the use of books was carried to 
excess, and the true nature of humanity veiled from view, 
Bodhidharma, arrived with a tradition of his own teach 
ing, that men by becoming conscious of their own nature 
would attain the state of Buddha. He became the chief 
founder of the esoteric schools, which were divided into 
Xfive principal branches. 

The common word for the esoteric schools is dan, the 



156 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Sanscrit Dliyana, now called in the modern sound given 
to the character, ch an. 

Dr. Hamilton says, speaking of the Swaracs or Jains, 
a still existing Buddhist sect in India, that they worship 
twenty-four great teachers, who are called either Avatars 
or Tirthancaras. Tirtha is an incarnation or an heretical 
teacher or non-Buddhist ascetic of any sect. 1 Khode 
supposed the Jains to be descendants of the Asuras and 
Rakshas, races hostile to the early Hindoos. 2 But they 
were rather a school. 

The Chinese have the series of twenty-four patriarchs. 
They may be assumed to be the same with the Jaina 
twenty-four patriarchs. Bodhidharma will then be a 
heretic and continuator of an offshoot from the Jaina list 
of patriarchs, commencing with Basiasita. The location 
of this offshoot of the patriarchs, embracing the twenty- 
fifth, twenty-sixth, twenty- seventh, and twenty- eighth, 
was Southern India, for these four patriarchs were either 
natives of Southern India or were at least engaged in 
active labours there. Perhaps it will be better to say 
that the Jains and the school of Bodhidharma are both of 
them offshoots from a common stock, which recognised 
patriarchs from the time of Kashiapa, and maintained 
esoteric doctrine from that time. 

The author of Fo-tsu-t ung-ki, after describing the life of 
Buddha in four chapters, gives an account of the twenty- 
four patriarchs in his fifth chapter, and of nine selected 
patriarchs in his sixth and seventh chapters. Among the 
nine, Nagarjuna is the only foreigner, and the eight 
natives are not any of them among the five regular suc 
cessors of Bodhidharma, Among them were (i.) Kan 
Hwei-wen, A.D. 550; (2.) Li Hwei-si, founder of the Nan- 
ngo school ; (3.) Ch en Chi-k ai of T ien-t ai and founder of 
that school. The five others I shall not mention. 

Then he selects eight others. After this he gives the 

1 Transactions of the Royal Asiatic 2 Rhode, Religiose Bildung u. s. w. 
Society, vol. i. p. 538. der Hindus. 



BODHIDHARMA HEADED A NEW SCHOOL, 157 

history of the succession iu each case till he has related 
the lives of an immense number of teachers of schools, 
large and small, important and unimportant. After this 
he finds room for the school of Bodhidharrna, on which, 
however, he is rather brief. 

The author of San-kiau-yi-su places Bodhidharrna in 
a much more important and elevated position. If Chi- 
p an s view is a better representation of the old and ortho 
dox Buddhist opinion, that of this later book is a better 
indication of the most prevalent opinions of modern 
Chinese monks. 

Orthodox Buddhism has in China slowly but steadily 
become heterodox. The Buddhism of books and ancient 
traditions has become the Buddhism of mystic contempla 
tion. The followers of Bodhidharma have extended them 
selves on every hand, and gained an almost complete 
victory over steady orthodoxy. 

The history of ancient schools springing up long ago 
in the Buddhist communities of India, can now be only 
very partially recovered. Possibly some light may be 
thrown back by China upon the religious history of the 
country from which Buddhism came. In no part of the 
story is aid to the recovery of this lost knowledge more 
likely to be found than in the accounts of the patriarchs, 
the line of whom was completed by Bodhidharma. In 
seeking the best explanation of the Chinese and Japanese 
narrative of the patriarchs, and the seven Buddhas ter 
minating in Gautama or Shakyamuni, it is important to 
know the Jain traditions as they were early in the sixth 
century of our era, when the patriarch Bodhidharma 
removed to China. 

If it occur as an objection to this hypothesis that the 
discrepancies now existing between the school of Bodhi 
dharma and of the Hindoo Jains are very great, the latter 
having temples and an external worship, and that their 
chronology also differs, in reply, it may be observed that 
the fame and influence of Bodhidharma in China mark 



158 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

him out as himself a great sect founder. In this character 
he would preserve only as much as he pleased of the 
traditions and observances of his fellow religionists, 
and in their view he was probably in many points a 
heretic. The absence of the esoteric element (at least 
that distinct and highly-developed form of it which 
belongs to China) from modern Jainism would follow 
the departure of the last patriarch. Further, his school 
keep images, and never think of dispensing with them, 
though they hold that they may be dispensed with. Their 
ritual also is most elaborate. 

The second native writer, already quoted, thus compares 
Buddha and Bodhidharma. The former, " Julai " (Tathd- 
gata), taught great truths and the causes of things. He 
became the instructor of men and Devas. He saved 
multitudes, and spoke the contents of more than five 
hundred works. Hence arose the Kiau-men, or exoteric 
branch of the system, and it was believed to be the tradi 
tion of the words of Buddha. Bodhidharma brought from 
the Western heaven " the seal of truth " (true seal), and 
opened the fountain of contemplation in the East. He 
pointed directly to Buddha s heart and nature, swept away 
the parasitic and alien growth of book instruction, and 
thus established the Tsung-men, or esoteric branch of the 
system, containing the tradition of the heart of Buddha. 
Yet, he adds, the two branches, while presenting of neces 
sity a different aspect, form but one whole. 

Though the two systems have worked harmoniously 
together, a line is readily drawn in their literature. Thus 
in the Fa-yuen-chu-lin, a large collection of miscellane 
ous Buddhist information coming down from the T ang 
dynasty, nothing is said of Bodhidharma or his system. 
To separate the productions of these two great schools 
is then an important step in the classification of the Bud 
dhist books in China. Among the traditions preserved in 
the history of the patriarchs are notices of some of the 
disciples of Buddha and other eminent persons, fabulous 



SCHOOLS OF ESOTERIC BUDDHISM. 159 

or real. They are given in an extended form in the work 
GJii-yue-luh. Manjusiri is the first. The others are T ien- 
ts in p l u-sa (Vasubandu Bodhisattwa), Wei-ma, Shan-ts ai 
(good ability), Subhuti, Wu-yeu-tso-wang (the perfect 
king without any dissatisfaction), Shariputra, Yangimara, 
Pindulo, Chang -pi-mo-wang (the king who resists Mara), 
the prince Na-t o, Kwang-ngo-tu-ri, and Dzin-la-da. 

In tracing the rise of the various schools of esoteric 
Buddhism it must be kept in mind that a principle some 
what similar to the dogma of apostolical succession belongs 
to them all. They all profess to derive their doctrines 
through a succession of teachers, each instructed personally 
by his predecessor, till the time of Bodhidharma, and so 
further up in the series to Shakyamuni himself and the 
earlier Buddhas. 

The sixth Chinese patriarch did not appoint a successor. 
The monastic habit and rice bowl that had descended to 
him were in accordance with what Bodhidharma had said, 
not communicated to a new patriarch. In the five petals 
the flower, as he had expressed it, would be complete, he 
himself, the first of the six, being the stem on which the 
others grew. The last of the patriarchs resided at Ts au- 
k i, in Kiang-si. Two schools were formed by his disciples, 
denominated Nan-ngo (South Mountain) and Ts ing-yuen, 
from the spots where the teachers resided. The former 
is near Heng-cheu, in Hu-nan, the latter near Ts iuen-cheu, 
in Fu-kien. In these schools there was no very real differ 
ence in sentiment from the doctrine of the parent stem. 

Heng-shan is the old Confucianist mountain known by 
that name, and also as Nan-ngo. The tablet of Yti was 
said to be discovered there, and we can see the reason 
of this. It was the southern limit of the Chinese empire 
of that time. He was the traditional civiliser, the canal 
maker and embankment engineer of the Hia dynasty, and 
of his work the geographical section in the " Book of His 
tory " is the record. 

Though Bodhidharma was nominal founder of the eso- 



160 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

teric schools in China, the real philosophic thinker, who 
gave them the impulse to reflection, was Nagarjuna, the 
most important founder of the Mahayana school. He spe 
cially originated the Madhyamika system, which reduces 
everything to bald abstractions and then denies them. 
The soul has neither existence nor non-existence. It is 
neither permanent nor non-permanent. Such was his 
teaching. (See in Eitel). His system influenced Kau 
Hweiwen, who studied the Shastra Ta-ch t-tu-lun, and mas 
tered the idea of " central gazing," chung-kwan, and also 
that of three branches of wisdom viz. matter is nothing ; 
the mind s annoyances are nothing; the temptations 
through the senses are nothing. 

Li Hwei-si, of the Nan-ngo school, built up his ideas on 
those of Hwei-wen, and transmitted to Chi-k ai the " triple 
gaze," the empty, the hypothetical, and the medial. 

Such is the statement of Chi-p an, the orthodox autho 
rity. But, according to San-kiau-yi-su, the chief influence 
in the formation of the Nan-ngo and of the Ts ing-yuen 
was that of the sixth patriarch upon the mind of Tu 
Hwai-jang and Lieu Hing-si. 

The founders of these two schools, the first of the Tsung- 
men, were Hwai-jang and Hing-si. Their successors were 
Ma-tsu in Kiang-si, and Hi-k iau or Shi-t eu, who, while 
they changed their residences and became themselves 
teachers of the esoteric doctrine, retained the names, Nan- 
ngo and Ts ing-yuen, of the schools where they had been 
taught. 

The biographical record of the Tsung-men teachers in 
the Clvi-yue-luh contains notices of priests trained by the 
predecessors of the sixth patriarch, and sent out to teach 
the doctrine of Bodhidharma.. Two were instructed by the 
successor of Bodhidharma, eight by the fourth patriarch, 
and six by the fifth. One of the latter, Shin-sieu, was 
styled the sixth patriarch for North China, while Hwai- 
neng, the legitimate successor of Bodhidharma, from resid 
ing in the southern provinces, was called the sixth patriarch 



TSUNG-MEN SECTS HERETICAL. 161 

for the South. Nothing is said of the schools originated 
in various provinces by these teachers. It is only the 
successors of Hwai-neng, the last-mentioned hierarch, that 
are regarded as deserving a memorial. From him a series 
of disciples, all becoming "teachers" (ch an-s i) in their 
turn, are counted to the sixteenth generation. This mode 
of expression is used instead of mentioning, according to 
custom, the years of imperial reigns and dynasties. The 
biography in the Chi-yue-luh, a book of the Ming dynasty, 
ceases at the sixteenth descent. This was at the begin 
ning of the twelfth century, and the whole series embraces 
about four hundred years. Modern monks of these schools 
trace their succession in a similar manner, according to 
a more recent arrangement, in twelve divisions. The 
reason for this careful record of ecclesiastical ancestry 
is to be sought in the principle of unbroken lineal descent, 
which is indispensable to the maintenance of esoteric tradi 
tion. Yet it does not appear that there was any secret 
doctrine which those who knew it would not divulge. 
What they held was simply a protest against the neglect 
of the heart, and dependence on book knowledge and the 
performance of outward rites. Since their object was to 
draw neophytes away from the inordinate study of the 
books of the religion, instruction was given orally. An 
extensive series of works containing records of the instruc 
tions of these teachers has been the result. They are called 
Yu-luh, " Records of the sayings " of celebrated teachers. 

Several branch schools were originated by the successors 
of the sixth patriarch. In the fourth generation from him 
the Hwei-niang school was formed. In the fifth appears 
that of Lin-tsi and Ts au-tung. The Yiin-men belongs 
to the eighth generation. That called Fa-yen belongs to 
the ninth. These names are taken from the places where 
the founders of the respective schools resided. They are 
denominated collectively the Wu-tsung, or " Five schools," 
to distinguish them from those which preceded them, and 
adhered more closely to the tradition of the patriarchs. 

L 



162 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

The differences that existed between these schools and 
the parent doctrine were not great. But it is not essential 
that differences should be great to make them the subject 
of controversy and the cause of division. An example 
of the mode in which the contemplative Buddhists carried 
on their discussions will here be given. Shen-sieu taught 
his doctrine in the following verses: 

" The body is like the knowledge tree. 
The mind is like a mirror on its stand. 
It should be constantly and carefully brushed, 
Lest dust should be attracted to it." 

His teacher, the fifth patriarch, was pleased with this 
mode of representing the importance of watching over the 
heart. But Hwai-neng, the sixth patriarch, opposed it 
with vehemence. He also wrote his view in verses : 

" There is no such thing as a knowledge tree. 
There is no such thing as a mirror-stand. 
There is nothing that has a real existence. 
Then how can dust be attracted ? " 

In the former appears very distinctly the practical part 
of the esoteric system, attention to the heart. In the 
latter its speculative tendency denying everything ex 
ternal to the mind is brought to view. 

According to the system held in common by these 
schools, the heart is Buddha. There is no mode of attain 
ing to the state called Buddha but by the mind itself. 
This mind has neither beginning nor end, colour nor form. 
To look outward is to be a common man. To look in 
ward is to be Buddha. In reality man is the same thing 
as Buddha. To rely on the performance of particular acts 
is not true knowledge. To make offerings to all the past 
Buddhas is not to be compared with offering to one man 
who has become superior to mental passions and sensa 
tional influences. 

All that the great Bodhisattwas have taught, men have 
in themselves. The pure vacancy of Manjusiri, the with- 



LIN-TSI SCHOOL. ^ 

drawal of the thoughts from the world of sensations 
recommended by P u-hien, the mercy of Kwan-yin, the 
knowledge of Shi-chi, the purity of "Vimakita" (Wei-mo) 
all these various principles are in the heart. To know 
it, is all that is needful. To become Buddha the mind 
only needs to be freed from every one of its affections, 
not to love or hate, covet, rejoice, or fear. To do, or aim 
at doing, what is virtuous or what is vicious is to leave 
the heart and go out into the visible tangible world. It 
is to become entangled in the metempsychosis in the one 
case, and much trouble and vexation in the other. The 
right method is in the mind ; it is the mind itself. The 
fountain of knowledge is the pure, bright, self -enlighten 
ing mind. The method taught by all the Buddhas is 
no other than this. Let the mind do nothing, observe 
nothing, aim at nothing, hold fast to nothing; that is 
Buddha. Then there will be no difference between living 
in the world and entering the Nirvana. Then human 
nature, the mind, Buddha, and the doctrine he taught, all 
become identical. 1 

While revising these papers, and adding to them, so 
that they may form a distinct book on Chinese Buddhism 
(August n, 1879), I here insert a brief account of the 
Lin-tsi school. 

The Lin-tsi school has been very successful. It has 
pushed out the other sects, and spread over the north and 
south of China to an enormous extent. Beginning in 
Shan-tung, it has been accepted throughout the eighteen 
provinces, and in Japan, as the most popular exponent of 
the teaching of the contemplative school. 

They say, " Within the body which admits sensations, 
acquires knowledge, thinks, and acts, there is the True man 
without a position, Wu-wei-chen-jen. He makes himself 
clearly visible ; not the thinnest separating film hides him. 
Why do you not recognise him ? The invisible power of the 

1 This description is taken from a little work of the T ang dynasty, called 
Twan-tsi-sin-yau. 



164 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

mind permeates every part. In the eye it is called seeing, 
in the ear it is hearing. It is a single intelligent agent, 
divided out in its activity in every part of the body. If 
the mind does not come to conscious existence, there is 
deliverance everywhere. What is the difference between 
you and the sages of antiquity ? Do you come short in 
anything ? What is Buddha ? Ans. A mind pure, and at 
rest. What is the law ? Ans. A mind clear and enlight 
ened. What is Tau? Ans. In every place absence of 
impediments and pure enlightenment. These three are 
one." The object of the Lin-tsi has been to teach Bud 
dhism, so that each monk should feel that there is diffi 
culty in the paths of self -improvement, and that he has 
in himself the power to conquer that difficulty. 

The " true man without a position," Wu-wei-chen-jen, is 
wrapped in a prickly shell like the chestnut. He cannot be 
approached. This is Buddha, the Buddha within you. 

The sharp reproof of discipline is symbolised by slaps 
on the cheek with the palm of the hand, and blows with 
the fists under the ribs. This treatment gives an improved 
tone to the mind and feelings. 

An infant cannot understand the seven enigmas. 

These enigmas are given in dark language difficult even 
for adepts to explain. Thus : " Is it to search in the grass 
where there is the shadow of the stick that you have already 
come here ? " " To kill a man, to strike with the sword 
a dividing blow, and the body should not enter the water." 

The explanations of these enigmas are not given in the 
book I have consulted. Doubtless they mean something 
quite in harmony with the fundamental principles of 
Buddhism, otherwise the Lin-tsi school would not be so 
popular as it is. 

They have the " Three dark/ hiuen, principles," the 
"real," sM, the "formal," t i, and the "practical," yung. 
They have also the " Three important, yau, principles." 
These are, "illumination," chau, "utility or use," yung, 
and the combination of the two. 



FOUNDER OF LIN-TSI SECT DIED A.D. 868. 165 

In their discipline they have three blows with the cane, 
three successive reproofs, and the alternation of speech 
and silence. They have a play on the words " guest " and 
"host." The guest may learn from the host by seeing 
how he meets circumstances, and imitating him. The 
host may learn from the guest, as when those who are 
already profound in wisdom make constant inquiries from 
their visitors, and seize ardently on what they approve. 
The host may learn from another host, as when those who 
are already wise discuss points, and such as are learning 
throw away what they had been grasping firmly. The 
guest may learn from another guest, as when the learner 
is laden with the heavy wooden neck collar and iron lock, 
and all discussion ceases. 

Where the meaning of such mysterious teaching is not 
clear, there will be an oral explanation by the tutor ; and 
so step by step the pupils will acquire a knowledge of 
the Lin-tsi school doctrines and discipline, and of the 
enigmatical language in which they are couched. 

The founder of the Lin-tsi school died A.D. 868. A 
dagoba was erected over his ashes in the south part of the 
province of Chi-li, near Ta-ming fu, on the north-west 
angle not far from the city. 

He resided for some years on the banks of the river 
Hu-t o, which rushes with great force of current out of 
Shan-si into Chi-li, at the distance of a mule s journey of 
five days from Peking on the south-west. This river flows 
through the prefecture of Chen-ting fu to the Grand Canal. 
On the banks of this river to the south-east of the city of 
Chen-cheu, as Chen-ting fu was then called, the founder 
of the Lin-tsi school spent much of his life in a small 
monastery. Here he was in a quiet spot surrounded by 
the objects of a well-cultivated plain, where wheat and 
millet have been sown from time immemorial ; and here 
he acquired a reputation for magical powers. He could 
stroke the beard of a fierce tiger, split rocks, burst open 
precipices, walk upon ice, and move along the edge of a 



166 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

sword. The main features in the landscape on which he 
looked were the blue mountains of Shan-si, forming a 
broad and continuous chain on the west, with the swift 
river which flowed by his monastery with a full and foam 
ing stream in the summer months, and sinking to a much 
smaller one in the winter, when it is frozen hard enough 
to be passed by loaded waggons. It was this river that 
gave a name to the school, for Lin-tsi means " Coming to 
the ford." 

To the kind of philosophy springing up in India, and 
further developed by the Chinese in the esoteric schools 
above described, there is much that is similar in recent 
European speculation. We see here the Finite going back 
into the Absolute, the denial of the existence of every 
thing but self, the identity of self and God, and of the 
subject and object. That abstraction which is the pan 
theist s God, may, without violence to the meaning of 
words, be considered as the corresponding term to Buddha 
in this system. For God, as the Absolute, is the state 
towards which nature and man are returning, a descrip 
tion which answers to the notion here alluded to of the 
state called Buddha. When, however, in the manner of 
the older schools, Buddha is looked upon as having his 
torical personality, it becomes at once incorrect to say that 
he is God ; his personality being strictly human, and not 
divine. There is, however, a difference. The Asiatic 
speculator undertakes to realise his system, and employs 
the monastic institute or other aids for the purpose, hoping 
thus to escape from the chains of sense and passion into 
the freedom of pure abstraction. The European theoriser, 
on the other hand, even if he attempts to show how a 
practical religion may be based on a system of abstrac 
tions as was done by Fichte never seriously thinks of 
carrying it into execution. 

Neander, following Schmidt and Baur, represents Bud 
dhism as one form of pantheism, on the ground that the 
doctrine of metempsychosis makes all nature instinct with 



IS B UDDHISM PA NT HE IS TIC f 1 67 

life, and that that life is the Deity assuming different forms 
of personality, that Deity not being a self-conscious free 
acting First cause, but an all-pervading spirit. The eso 
teric Buddhists of China, keeping rigidly to their one 
doctrine, say nothing of the metempsychosis, the paradise 
of the Western heaven, or any other of the more material 
parts of the Buddhist system. The Indian Buddhists 
were professed atheists ; but those of China, instead of 
denying the existence of God, usually content themselves 
with saying nothing about Him. To deny or affirm any 
special existence, fact or dogma, would in their view be 
equally inconsistent. Their aim is to keep the mind from 
any distinct action or movement of any kind. They look, 
therefore, with pity on worshippers of every class as 
necessarily missing what they aim at, and that because 
they aim at it; and as having no prospect of escaping 
from the misery of life until they abandon all special 
dependencies and doctrines, look within instead of with 
out, and attend to the voiceless teaching of the mind 
itself. 

This system also exists in Japan, and the same sub 
divisions into schools occur there among its followers. 
(See Burger s account of religious sects in Japan, Chin. 
Eep., vol. ii. pp. 318-324.) 

It is in high estimation among the reflecting class of 
Chinese, who look with contempt on the image worship 
of the multitude. 

An account of the " Exoteric sects," the Kiau-men of 
Chinese Buddhism, will now be presented to the reader. 

Shakyamuni is said to have foretold that, for five 
centuries after his death, the true doctrine would be fol 
lowed. After that, for a thousand years, a system of 
forms or "Image worship," Siang-kiaou, would prevail. 
This would subsequently give place to another called the 
" final system," which would terminate the present Jcalpa. 
The popular Buddhism of China belongs to the second of 
these developments. It was this form that it first as- 



1 68 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

sumed on entering China. Buddha is said to have taught 
the doctrines of this system in early life, while the more 
abstruse and mystical parts of his teaching were delivered 
when he was become an old man. After his entrance 
into the Nirvana, Ananda compiled the " Sutras " (King). 
In the council that was then held, these Sutras were 
adopted as an authentic account of the Buddhist doctrine, 
and they are the first of the Three collections that consti 
tute the standard books of Buddhism. 

The biographical notices of the principal translators of 
the Sutras, and founders of the Kiau-men, are by the 
author of the San-ltiau-yi-su placed before the five schools 
into which he divides the exoteric Buddhists. The first 
of the eight who are thus distinguished is Kashiap- 
madanga. When he came to Lo-yang in the first century 
of our era, he lodged in the Pe-ma s i (White horse temple). 
Hence the residences of Buddhist priests were called s$ 
(ga-lam, "monasteries;" for the Sanscrit, sangharama). 
Associated with his countryman Chu Fa-Ian, he translated 
five Sutras. The latter afterwards translated five more, 
consisting of thirteen " chapters" (Jciuen). " Kumarajiva s" 
(Kieu-mo-lo-shi) name is the third, and the fourth that of 
" Buddojanga " (Fo-t u-cheng), who is better known as a 
wonder worker and a founder of monasteries (he erected 
893) than a translator. A commentary on the Tau-te- 
Jcing of Lau-tsi came from his pen. The remaining four 
names most noted in the early history of Chinese Bud 
dhism are Chi-tun, Tau-an, Pau-chi, and Shan-hwei. They 
were all natives of China, noted for their writings and 
public discussions in explanation and defence of the Bud 
dhist system. 

The five subdivisions of exoteric Buddhism will now be 
considered, (i.) That named from the Yinaya or second 
division of the sacred books, is the first. The writer of 
the " Vinaya " (Lu) and founder of this school was " Upali " 
(Yeu-po-li; in old Chinese, U-pa-li), one of the -ten chief 
disciples of Shakyamuni. He wrote the S i-pu-lu, which 



THE VINA Y A DIVISION. 169 

was admitted into the " Three pitaka " (San-tsang) at the 
council held after Buddha s death (vide Hardy s Eastern 
Monachisin). Among the nine leaders of this school, two 
other Hindoos are mentioned. The first Chinese among 
them is in the fifth century. He taught the system of 
the work called " Discipline of Four Divisions." The name 
of this school is Hing-sl-fang-fei-chl-ngo, indicating that 
its aim is in action to guard against error and check vice. 
It is also called the Nan-shan (Southern hill) school. 
Priests of this school at the present time dress in black. 
There was at Nanking, before the Tai-ping rebellion, a 
monastery where this system was in operation. 

(2.) Yo-ga-mi-Mau, " The secret teaching of Yoga." The 
founder of this system is called Kin-kang-sat-wa (Vajra- 
sattwa). It was brought to China about A.D. 720 by Kin- 
Icang-M (Vajramati), who was succeeded by Pu-k ung. 
Seventy-two works came from the pen of the latter, and 
were placed in the national collection of Buddhist books. 
His numerous disciples learned to repeat charms with 
great effect, and this seems to be the proper business of 
the school. The word Yoga is explained as " Correspon 
dence " and, it is added, is employed as a general term for 
books " containing secret doctrines " (referring to magic). 
To this school belongs the very popular festival of the 
hungry ghosts, held in the seventh month. 

The Yoga or Yogachara school is also called the Tan- 
tra school, because it taught the use of magic formulae 
or unintelligible charms used for rain, for protection in 
storms, &c. They are written in Sanscrit or Thibetan 
letters. (See in Eitel, under the word " Yogatchara.") 

(3.) Wei-shi-siang-kiau. This school occupied itself 
with the study of the Shastra Wd-slvi-lun, and similar 
works. These books -were written by the two Bodhisat- 
twas Wu-cho l and T ien-ts in. Kiai-hien, a Hindoo re- 

1 Asanga, " Without attachment," the Mahayana system, and wrote the 
was originally a follower of the Ma- books which contain the Wei-shi doc- 
hashasaka school. He first taught trines. Then he became the founder 



1 70 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

siding at the monastery Nalanda, was their most distin 
guished disciple, and was principally concerned in estab 
lishing this school, and arranging those forms of Buddhist 
instruction called the Three "Developments" (Yana). 
Next to him was the traveller Hiuen-tsang, who received 
the Shastra mentioned above from Kiai-hien, and origi 
nated the school in his native country. He was succeeded 
by his pupil Kwei-ki. This school is called Fa-siang- 
tsung, or the " School that exhibits the nature " and 
meaning of the Buddhist written doctrines. 

(4.) Another of these schools derives its name from the 
Shastra called Chung-Inn. That work was written by the 
Hindoo Lung-shu, " Nagarjuna " (Dragon tree). The 
founder of the school based on the doctrines of that book 
was a Chinese of the Northern T si kingdom in the sixth 
century. His successor was a monk of one of the sects 
that followed the teaching of Bodhidharma, Hwei-si of 
Nan-ngo. He was succeeded by Chi-k ai of T ien-t ai shan, 
who developed the system to a much greater extent, and 
divided it into four subordinate schools, named from their 
subjects, those of the written doctrine, true human nature, 
the use of the senses, and action. 

(5.) The last exoteric school is that which was founded 
by Fa-shun, a native of Tun-hwang, an ancient kingdom 
in what is now Thibet. He gave his chief attention to 
the "Hwa-yen Sutra." The third leader of the school 
was Hien-sheu, the best known of them all. His name 
is often given to the system that he with his predecessors 
and successors recommended. It is called usually Fa- 
sing-tsung, the " School of the true nature " of the written 
doctrine. 

Another exoteric school parallel with these, but placed 
separately in the classification, is that called Lien-tsung 
(Lotus school), or Tsing-tu (Pure land). To it belongs the 
popular legend of the Western heaven, the abode of 

of the Yoga school, and wrote a book Maitreya in the Tushita paradise, 
which he said was dictated to him by (See in Eitel.) 



PURE LAND SECT. 171 

"Amida Buddha" (A-mi-to Jfo), ar -fabulous personage 
worshipped assiduously lik/e Kwan-jin^by the Northern 
Buddhists, but unknown in Siam, Birmah, and Ceylon. 
The founder of this school in China was a native of 
Shan-si, Hwei-yuen, of the Tsin dynasty (fourth century). 
The second * patriarch " (tsu) of this school was Kwang- 
ming of the seventh century. For more than thirty years 
he taught the doctrine of the " Pure land," persuading 
multitudes to adopt it. Pan-cheu, his successor, was 
honoured with the title Kwo-sM (National instructor) in 
the reign of Tai-tsung (760 A.D.). The sixth in order was 
Chi-kio. His views differed little from those of T ien- 
t ai, Hiuen-tsang, and Hien-sheu. He was very fond of 
saving fish and crabs from being killed and eaten. Seven 
chiefs of this sect are enumerated. To the same school 
belongs Chu-hung, the priest who opposed Matteo Kicci 
in works and letters still extant, and founded the Ytin- 
tsi monastery near Hang-cheu. 

The Western paradise promised to the worshippers of 
Amida Buddha is, as has been pointed out by Schott in 
his work on the Buddhism of High Asia and China, in 
consistent with the doctrine of Nirvana. It promises 
immortality instead of annihilation. The great antiquity 
of this school is evident from the early date of the trans 
lation of the Amida Sutra, which came from the hands 
of Kumarajiva, and of the Wu-liang-sheu- king, dating 
from the Han dynasty. Its extent of influence is seen in 
the attachment of the Thibetans and Mongols to the 
worship of this Buddha, and in the fact that the name of 
this fictitious personage is more commonly heard in the 
daily conversation of the Chinese people than that of the 
historical Buddha Shakyamuni. 

The only remaining school is that of T ien-t ai, already 
partially described. In the latter part of the sixth cen 
tury Hwei-wen, a native of "Northern China" (Pe-ts i), 
studied the Chung-lun (Central Shastra), written by the 
Hindoo called " Conqueror of the Dragon " (Lung-sheng or 



172 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Lung-shu), the fourteenth patriarch. Convinced of its 
excellence, he instituted " three sorts of meditation " (san- 
Jcwan), viewing the world as (i.) empty, (2.) false, or (3.) 
central. This he regarded as the limit of religious medi 
tation on the surrounding universe, and therefore called 
his system Ck i-kwan, " Beflection carried to its limiting 
point." He also founded his doctrine partly on the Fa- 
hwa-Jcing, and was followed by Hwei-si and Chi-che of 
T ien-t ai, who gave his name to the school. 

The following verses translated from the poetry of the 
Tsing-tu sect will serve to illustrate the doctrine of that 
school. It is not much of the Buddhist system that easily 
admits of being put into this form of composition. There 
is nothing akin to the spirit of poetry in the turgid splen 
dour and wearisome reiteration of the legends that abound 
in the books of this religion. Chinese versifiers have, 
however, found some materials more to their taste in the 
"Western heaven of Amida Buddha. If the reader should 
think the conceptions are poor, they are at least a genuine 
description, so far as they go, of the heaven of the Nor 
thern Buddhists. 

"THE WESTERN HEAVEN. 

" The pure land of the West, say what language can tell 
Its beauty and majesty? There ever dwell 
The men of this world and the Devas 1 of heaven, 
And to each has the same wreath of glory been given. 
The secrets of wisdom unveiled they behold, 
And the soil that they tread on is bright yellow gold. 
In that land of true pleasure the flowers never fade, 
Each terraced ascent is of diamond and jade. 
The law of Tathagata 2 sung by each bird 
From thicket and grove in sweet music is heard. 
The un withering Upata, 3 fairest of flowers, 
Sheds fragrance around in those thrice lovely bowers. 



1 Devas, the " gods " of the Hindoos 2 Tathagata, a title of Buddha ; in 

(in Chinese, t ien). They are inferior Chinese, Julai. "The law," is the 

in power and splendour to human doctrine proclaimed by Buddha, 

nature when elevated to the rank of * Also spelt Utampatala. 
the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas. 



POETRY OF THE PURE LAND. 173 

There, each from the world that he governs, are found 
Assembled in conference long and profound, 
The ten supreme Buddhas who cease not to tell 
The praise of the land where the genii J dwell. 
For there is no region so happy and blest, 
As the heaven of Amida far in the west. 
On the moment of entering that peaceful scene, 
The common material body of men 
Is exchanged for a body ethereal and bright, 
That is seen from afar to be glowing with light. 
Happy they who to that joyful region have gone 
In numberless kalpas their time flows on. 
Around are green woods, and above them clear skies, 
The sun never scorches, cold winds never rise 
And summer and winter are both unknown 
In the land of the Law and the Diamond Throne ; 
All errors corrected, all mysteries made clear, 
Their rest is unbroken by care or by fear. 
And the truth that before lay in darkness concealed 
Like a gem without fracture or flaw is revealed." 
The word " diamond " is used in the sense of " uncon- 
quered and unconquerable," and may refer either to Bud 
dha s power as a teacher, or to the divinities that support 
his throne and act as his protectors. 

"AMIDA BUDDHA. 

" See where, streaming forth radiance for thousands of miles, 
Ever sits the compassionate Buddha, and smiles, 
Giving joy to the victims of sorrow and strife 
Who are saved by his law from the sorrows of life. 
All his features of beauty no words can express, 
For the sands of the Ganges in number are less ; 
The flowers of the lotus encircle his seat 
As if of themselves they sprang up round his feet. 
Whoever would enter the home of the blest 
In his innermost thoughts should incessantly rest 
On that beautiful form like the moon on high 
When she marches full-orbed through an unclouded sky. 
By that halo of light that encircles his head, 
On all living beings a radiance is shed. 
The sun at noon-day is less glorious than he, 
His compassion resembles a bottomless sea. 

1 " Genii." In Sanscrit, Eishi; in Chinese. Sien-kn. 



174 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

His golden arms are outstretched to relieve 

The sufferers that weep, and the hearts that do grieve, 

His mercy is such as none else can display, 

And long years of gratitude cannot repay." 

These descriptions are taken from a collection of poems 
called Tsing-tu-sh/i. The measure in the original is the 
usual one of seven words in a line. The Chinese words 
are monosyllables, and the diction consequently very terse. 
Our English tongue is different. A metre like that here 
adopted has more room in it than others for unaccented 
syllables. This circumstance renders it convenient. It 
has often been used by translators. 

In these descriptions there is a prominent materialism 
in the expressions. Buddha in the Western heavens is 
thought of as like the monstrous gilt image seen by the 
worshippers as they go to a temple on a gala day. Idol 
atry loves to borrow from nature. Here there are flowers, 
and singing-birds, and the favourite jade-stone. Buddha 
is here made popular; there is no abstruse speculation. 
The boasted Nirvana is abandoned, and a paradise gratify 
ing to the senses takes its place. Many a simple-minded 
dreamer spends his days in meditating on this picture, and 
indulging his imagination with the hope that he will one 
day be born from a lotus flower, in the very joyful world 
of Amida, and live there for ever gazing on his sacred 
form. 



( 175 ) 



CHAPTEK VIII. 

ON CHI-K AI AND THE T IEN-T C AI SCHOOL OF BUDDHISM. 

T ien-t ai, a place of great note in Chinese Buddhism Cln-k ai re 
sided there in the sixth century His cloak and rice bowl Fu- 
lung-feng Fang-kwang si and the rock bridge Legend of the 
Lo-hans Twelve monasteries founded He taught the Fa-hwa- 
Jcing System of threefold contemplation Six connectives 
Eight modes of characterising Buddhism Ten steps in progress 
Derived much from Nagarjuna T ien-t ai, a middle system 
Eegulations. m 

THERE is no Buddhist establishment better known in 
China than T ien-t ai. It has much natural beauty, but 
its interest, so far as it is historical, centres chiefly round 
the ancient monk who is the subject of this notice. It 
had been visited before by Tauist recluses, but it was he 
that by selecting it for his abode gave it its high reputa 
tion as a spot consecrated to the meditative life. 

The cluster of hills that compose T ien-t ai terminate 
abruptly to the south-west. Ch ih-ch eng, 1 an imposing 
hill crowned with a pagoda, is conspicuous from the time- 
worn walls of the city of T ien-t ai, i So miles south-east 
of Hang-cheu. This is the southern extremity of the 
hilly region known by the same name. From a valley 
on its left flows a mountain stream, which, increasing in 
width as it traverses the plain, is capable of bearing boats 
of considerable size when it reaches the busy little city 
just mentioned. Passing on it bends to the south-east, and 
arriving at T ai-cheu, an important sea-port, pours its 

1 The "Red wall," so called from its colour and precipitous appearance. 



i?6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

waters, after a short course of ten or fifteen miles, into the 
ocean. 

It was up one of the feeders of this stream that, near 
the end of the sixth century, Chi-k ai wended his way in 
search of a lonely mountain residence suited to his medi 
tative cast of mind. Leaving the beautiful site where 
afterwards stood the Kwo-ts ing monastery, just below 
four hills now covered to their summits with rich foliage, 
he ascended a long and romantic valley. He was travel 
ling in a region threaded by few paths, and in a direction 
that seemed to lead nowhere but farther away from the 
habitations of men. In this wilderness of hills and val 
leys, occupying many square miles, which he now entered, 
although unknown to the agriculturist, he yet found some 
few residing whose views of human life were congenial to 
his own. Local traditions point out where he lived and 
reflected. An antique mausoleum, with a long inscription 
of the Sui dynasty, marks the place where his ashes were 
deposited. At a little distance from it the Kau-ming 
monastery comes into view. It is in a deep valley shut 
all round by wooded heights. The building has an old 
look, befitting the relics of our hero still preserved there. 
The visitor will have shown to him a large square silk 
garment. It is said to have been the cloak worn by Chi- 
k ai. It is handsomely embroidered after a pattern evi 
dently very antique. A metal bowl, worn by long use, 
and capable of holding several meals of rice for an abste 
mious monk, is another curiosity. These memorials of 
this early Buddhist will appear, however, to one who is 
not a special admirer of the monastic life, secondary in in 
terest to a Sanscrit manuscript which escaped a fire some 
centuries ago, and is one of the few remains of that litera 
ture still existing in China. The history of the manu 
script, its name and contents, are unknown to the resident 
priests. 

This monastery is even now difficult of access. But the 
valley where it stands, in Chi-k ai s time had scarcely ever 



FANG-KWANG MONASTERY. 177 

been visited. 1 It was filled with forest trees and thick 
brushwood, and formed a favourite cover for deer. The 
woodcutter and herdsman seldom wandered to this wild 
spot. An accident led our hero there. On the hill above 
Fu-lung-feng near where the "st upa" (t ah) that contains 
his ashes is still standing, he was one day explaining to 
his disciples the Tsing-ming-king (Sutra of Pure name) 
when a gust of wind blew away the leaves far into the 
deep hollow below. With his tin-headed staff in his hand 
to assist him in the search, he set out to recover the fugi 
tive book. After a pursuit of a mile and a half the wind 
ceased, and the book fell to the ground. He caused a 
building to be erected at the spot, in commemoration of 
the circumstance, which became one of the twelve estab 
lishments that owe their origin to him. It was not, how 
ever, till many years after that the present monastery was 
erected and its modern name assigned to it. When the 
Kwo-ts ing monastery was destroyed by fire, the manu 
script spoken of above was removed to Kau-ming for 
greater safety. 

After penetrating several miles farther to the north 
west in this hilly and desolate region, Chi-k f ai arrived 2 at 
the remarkable rock bridge where the Fang-kwang monas 
tery now stands. The loud roar of the waterfall, and the 
close-set woods on the hills around, the two mountain 
brooks uniting before they reach the cataract, then pass 
ing beneath the natural bridge down the fall, and thence 
pursuing their way to the north, united to give this spot 
an air of grandeur in the hermit s mind. It seemed a 
home for supernatural beings. It is they that cause the 
unusual appearances of nature. The Lo-hans, those exalted 
disciples of Buddha whose power and knowledge are so 
great, might reside here. In fact a legend on the subject 
soon grew into public belief, and the music of the Lo-hans 
was said to be heard at times a little before dawn by 
priests lying awake in their cells. A choir of five hun- 

1 T l ien-t ai-shan-cM. 2 A.D. 575, Biography! n T ien-t ai-han-chi. 

If 



i;8 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

dred at that silent hour made the woods resound with har 
mony. Such a colony of Buddha s superhuman disciples 
served to invest this wild mountainous district with a 
sacred character. In every monastery of this region a 
hall devoted to images of the five hundred Lo-hans now 
exists, and on the side of the natural bridge is a small 
shrine containing five hundred small stone figures, which 
are worshipped by those who venture to cross by the narrow 
and dangerous path that spans the cataract. 

Our hero continued his wanderings in this elevated 
region, where the valleys do not sink farther than 1500 
feet above the sea-level, and which is by its loneliness well 
suited for the ascetic. Solitude reigns here for many miles 
round, in one of the most densely-populated provinces of 
China. He did not take up his abode at one place exclu 
sively. No fewer than twelve monasteries mark the spots 
where he formed a cottage of stones and straw, or caused 
a modest building to be erected. 

As he approached the peak of Hwa-ting, nearly 4000 
feet high, and five miles to the east of the natural bridge, 
he met on the T ien-feng ridge an old man who said to 
him, " Sir, if you seek a residence for contemplation, select 
the place where you meet a rock." The monk soon after 
encountered a Buddhist from Corea named Pan-shl (Rock), 
who encouraged him to stay there, and give himself up to 
study. He accordingly constructed a hut there, in which 
he remained sixteen years, and composed a commentary 
on the " Book of the Nirvana." 

A little farther to the north is Hwa-ting, the highest 
ground in Cheh-kiang excepting T ien-mu shan. The 
monastery, bearing the same name as the mountain, had 
already been erected by Te-shau, a celebrated Buddhist 
who lived a century anterior to Chi-k ai. Several hundred 
monks now belong to the society, a large part of them 
residing in hermitages on the hill. The monastery is an 
extensive thatched range of buildings, more comfortable 
than the bleak huts where, out of sight of any human 



MONASTERIES FOUNDED. 179 

being, the more self-denying spend their days and nights 
chanting in honour of Buddha. Certainly theirs fs a 
gloomy home. A thick mist usually rests on the sum 
mit and spreads down the sides of the mountain, envelop 
ing these rude cottages with their visionary inmates ; and 
snow often remains unmelted for many months. It is 
hard to explain how a people so social as the Chinese, so 
fond of cities and crowds, and so averse to mountain tra 
velling, can supply hermits to live in residences like these. 
That Chi-k ai, the founder of a flourishing sect, a man of 
deep reflection, and in love with solitude, should choose 
such an abode, is not so surprising as that common Chinese 
minds, without his profound thinking, or his love of wild 
nature, should still follow his example. 

Another spot where Chi-k ai once resided is Si-tso, at 
some distance to the west of the rock bridge, and near the 
Wan-nien monastery. Here he composed his system of 
doctrine called Chi-Jcwan, " Limited or perfected observa 
tion." 

Chi-k ai had in early life followed the teaching of the 
school established by Bodhidharma, the Hindoo patriarch 
who had died in Northern China thirty years before. He 
afterwards became dissatisfied with the Ch an-men (Con 
templative school), as that sect is called, not agreeing with 
its principle that book learning should be discarded, even 
that which consisted of Buddha s own words, and the heart 
nurse itself into a state of perfection by rejecting every 
thing external and giving itself up to an unconscious sleep- 
like existence. 

Chi-k ai grew tired of this system, and formed the out 
lines of another, which he taught to multitudes of admiring 
disciples. He resided at Nanking, the capital of the king 
dom (Ch en dynasty), and maintained a high reputation. 
When he determined on removing to T ien-t ai, the em 
peror forbade him, but allowed him to leave when he saw 
that his mind was made up. Three times afterwards an 
imperial message required his attendance at court, but he 



I So CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

pleaded indisposition and remained at T ien-t ai. He com 
plied on one occasion only, and explained the sacred books 
of his religion to the emperor and his court. He also 
made one visit home to Hu-nan, but returned to die at 
the mountain residence to which he was so much attached. 
He expired while sitting cross-legged and giving instruc 
tion to his followers. 

He wrote commentaries on the Fa-liwa-king, Kin-kang- 
king, and A-mi-ta-king, with several original works. These 
books were in the year A.D. 1024, all included in the Bud 
dhist Tripitaka (Collection of sacred writings) of China. 

His school continued to flourish for a long period at the 
Kwo-ts ing and Fu-lung monasteries. 

The Miau-fa-lien-hwa-king (Lotus of the Good Law) 
was his favourite book. He thus explained its name : 
"As the lotus grows out of the mire and yet preserves 
its freshness and purity, so the doctrines of this book, the 
good law, assist men to retain their original nature unsul 
lied and undisturbed amidst the misery and corruption 
around them." In the course of the book, he added : " Truth 
is sometimes taught in abstract, at other times by illustra 
tion, sometimes it is explained and elsewhere defended, 
just as the lotus flower buds, blossoms, fades, and falls by 
a succession of changes, and at last produces fruit." 

Chi-k ai divided the teaching of Shaky amuni into five 
periods, beginning with the Hwa-y en-king, and ending 
with the Fa-hwa-king and the Nirvana. After this classi 
fication of the sacred books, he introduced to his followers 
his own system. To restore man s true moral nature 
there must be " observation " (kwan, " to see ") of human 
actions. In regard to opinions, there are three kinds 
the true, the common, and the mean. The true is " destruc 
tive of all methods and doctrines " (idealism), the popular 
brings them into existence, and the mean places them 
all together and chooses the middle path. The deceptions 
that prevent men from perceiving the truth are threefold : 
ignorance, the dust of the world, and the activity of the 



THREEFOLD CONTEMPLATION. 18 r 

thoughts and senses. These taken in their order hide 
from view the beauty of the religious life, prevent moral 
improvement, and operate against pure mental vacancy. 
The feeling of Buddha, on observing the world in this 
state, was that men s own notions are false and not to 
be trusted ; that in true knowledge there is no distinction 
of what is myself and what is not myself, and that the 
conception of a living personal Buddha should be aban 
doned. Otherwise men could not return to their true 
moral nature. 

Having proceeded thus far, Chi-k ai developed his three 
fold system of observation, which, as he believes it to be 
conclusive of controversy and perfectly satisfactory, he 
called Ch i-kwan, " Perfected observation." This observa 
tion is " empty " (k ung), " hypothetical " (kia), or " medial " 
(cliung). For removing the deceptions that blind men s 
minds, the most successful method is to view all things 
in "vacancy" (k ung). For constructing doctrines and 
institutions, the "inventive" (kia) method is the best. 
For establishing and confirming man s moral nature, the 
medial method is the most effective. These three modes 
of viewing the world are complete in each other and 
inseparable, resembling the three eyes of the god Maha 
Ishwara. The vacant mode destroys the illusions of the 
senses, asserting their nothingness, and constructs the 
virtue of Prajna (Knowledge). The inventive mode 
destroys the deluding effects of the dust of the world, 
and constructs the virtue of " rescue (from all errors and 
evils)," kiai-t o. The medial method destroys the delusion 
that results from ignorance, and constructs the " religious 
character" (fa-shen). 

Still fearing lest his followers should be in error as to 
the method of self-reformation, and fall into one-sided 
views, he formed a series of what he called the Six con 
nectives. 

I. " Eeason " (Li). All living beings, down to the smallest 
insects, have received a moral nature, and have Buddha 



1 82 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

within them. Constantly resting in this, they attain their 
perfection, because the gift of reason is equally bestowed. 

2. Names and terms. Although reason is the same in 
all beings, yet in the course of the world, they will not 
come to the knowledge and use of it, and therefore instruc 
tion is necessary to produce belief and remove what is false. 

3. Observation of human action. Instruction having 
been imparted and belief produced, the threefold mode 
of viewing the world, as already explained, must then be 
employed. 

4. Likeness. Perfection itself being difficult to gain, 
the likeness to it may be reached. 

5. The true development of human nature. 

6. Confirmation. Ignorance is for ever gone. The 
mind becomes perfectly intelligent. 

Each of these six steps being Buddha, the three embodi 
ments of the religious life are thus completed viz., " em 
bodiment " (shen) of the " law " (fa), of " recompense " 
(pan), of " renovation " (hwa). 1 

Chi-k f ai divided the Buddhist system according to its 
characteristics into "Eight parts" (Pa-kiau): (i.) The 
compliant; (2.) The gradual; (3.) The secret; (4.) The 
indeterminate; (5.) Collection; (6.) Progress; (7.) Distinc 
tion ; (8.) Completion. The last four are called Chi-k ai s 
" Four modes of contemplation " (S i-kwari). 

With regard to Collection, the sacred books were em 
braced in three divisions, king, lu, lun, or sutra, vinaya, 
and alidharma. These include, under the head of suffer 
ing, the twenty-five classes of beings that inhabit heaven, 
earth, and hell; also the eighty-eight causes of human 
delusion ; and further, thirty-seven steps in self-knowledge 
and improvement. They also embrace the five classes of 
instructed and enlightened beings : (i.) The disciple, 
in several subdivisions ; (2.) The wise, in four grades 
Sudawan, Sidagam, Anagam, Arhan; (3.) The perfectly 
intelligent; (4.) The Bodhisattwa ; (5.) The Buddha. 

A Chi-yue-lu. 



TEN STEPS IN PROGRESS. 183 

With regard to Progress, there are ten steps viz., un 
productive knowledge, moral nature awaking, the eight 
convictions of the true sage, perception, first advances, 
conquest of the passions, the wrong set right, the Pratyeka 
Buddha, the Bodhisattwa, and the Buddha. 

In these successive steps of moral improvement there is 
some resemblance to the common Buddhist view of the 
material universe. They regard it as divided according 
to a moral scale into stages accurately definable. The 
metempsychosis, by a rigid law of moral retribution, as 
signs at death the position of every soul in the fifty or 
sixty grades of being belonging to heaven, earth, and hell. 
Above these are found the states of Buddha s disciples 
and that which is itself called Buddha. 

With regard to the excellence termed Distinction, which 
is reached by the Bodhisattwa only, there are embraced 
in it Ten modes of faith, Ten modes of firm adherence, 
Ten modes of action, Ten inclinations, Ten mental states, 
together with the highest knowledge in two separate forms. 

In reference to the last class, that of Completion, every 
thing is viewed as perfect. There are five states which 
the student may occupy viz., pleasure, recitation, in 
structing, putting in practice the ten rules, correct prac 
tice of the ten rules. 

A series of twenty-five auxiliaries to knowledge and 
virtue, and of ten modes of observing the true nature and 
end of human actions, follow the preceding. 1 

To give these numerous divisions of Buddhist doctrine 
more minutely is here unnecessary. So much as is here 
presented will illustrate the manner in which reflecting 
Buddhists comment on the doctrines of their religion. It 
contains a sketch of the opinions of one of the oldest and 
most influential schools in China, and exhibits the same 
fondness for a numerical arrangement of propositions 
ramifying endlessly, which also belongs to other Buddhist 

1 San-kiau-yi-su. 



1 84 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

schools. This symmetrical classification of doctrines in 
round numbers pervades the whole Buddhist literature, 
and suggests a resemblance to the habits of the European 
schoolmen. 

The fundamental subdivision of the T ien-t ai system 
into three modes of contemplation, the empty, the inven 
tive, and the medial, originated with " Nagarjuna " (Lung 
shu) (B.C. 43), who lived in North-western India when a 
Greek kingdom existed there. The views which the T ien- 
t ai-kiau have borrowed from him are contained in the 
" Medial Shastra " (Chung-luri), a work in five hundred 
stanzas based on the principles of the Prajna paramita, 
and translated into Chinese early in the fifth century. 
This work gave rise to the Madhyamika school (the Central 
philosophy) in Thibet. The author says in this work : 
" The methods and doctrines springing from various 
causes, I say to be all emptiness (kiing). They may 
also be called invented (kia) names. Further, they may 
be said to contain the meaning of the medial (chung) 
path." Hwei-wen erected a system on this, as the basis, 
and Chi-k ai, following him, moulded it to its present form 
as the T ien-t ai-kiau. 

The following extract from a commentary on the Fa- 
hwa-king will illustrate the way in which the principles of 
this school are applied in interpreting the sacred books : 
" All were Arhans (Lo-hans) whose defects were oblite 
rated, for whom there was no more suffering, who had 
obtained benefits for themselves, who had broken all ties, 
and in their hearts possessed peace." This is the text. 
The commentator says : " The word Arhan expresses 
rank, and what follows, character. Arhan is variously 
explained as the true man, or the extricated man. 
Some say it contains three meanings, viz., freedom 
from birth, killer of robbers in the sense of being delivered 
from perceptions and sensations, the robbers of the mind, 
and deserving honour. This is the sense according to the 



DOCTRINES OF NAGARJUNA. 185 

principles of (i.) Collection, and (2.) Progress. But for the 
two higher principles, (3.) Distinction, and (4.) Completion, 
the word implies, not only the killing of robbers, but of 
non-robbers, i.e., the Mrvana, which in the higher region 
of these two principles is also deserving of extinction. 
Freedom from birth expresses their complete rescue from 
life and death, and that is the meaning of their defects 
having been obliterated. Because they can give happiness 
to all the nine classes of beings, therefore they are said to 
deserve honour. By their embodiment of the religious life, 
they benefit themselves. By their wisdom, they obtain 
deliverance from life and death. By expelling ignorance 
and evil, they kill robbers. 

" Interpreting according to the Threefold contemplation, 
empty, inventive, and medial, the first is exemplified in 
their wisdom, the second in their expulsion of evil, and 
the third in their embodiment of the religious life. In the 
transition from the inventive to the empty, there are also 
three modifications of the sense, viz., arrival at the central 
point of contemplation, killing the thieves of ignorance, 
and keeping the heart from a one-sided position. 

"Interpreting according to the contemplation of the 
heart, following the middle path, and taking the correct 
view, they do not err on the side of the empty or in 
ventive mode of observation. The sorrow of the heart 
is gone. When a man sees the true moral nature of his 
mind, that is called the higher state of confirmation. Like 
a hidden treasure, reserved for myself, is the benefit which 
the Arhans have obtained." 

When Brahma appears before Buddha as a disciple, the 
commentary says : " The word Brahma means leaving the 
desires, abandoning earthly ties, and ascending to the 
coloured heavens. It is also said to mean high and 
pure. This Brahma is one of the wheel kings of a single 
generation, who asks instruction of Buddha, which he re 
ceives according to his wish and capacity. Interpreting 
the idea of Brahma, according to that method which ob- 



1 86 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

serves the heart, it means contemplating the removal of 
all pollutions. " l 

These extracts exemplify how the mythological appa 
ratus of the Buddhist Sutras, or "Sacred books of the 
first class," is explained away. The whole machinery of 
Buddhas and Bodhisattwas, kings and divinities, disappears 
under this process. Eastern and Western pantheism are 
alike in this, that they will not be content with an inde 
pendent self-evolved structure of metaphysical thought, 
but assuming the critical office, aim at the overthrow of all 
the objects of popular belief. Knowledge, self, the abso 
lute these are the only existences allowed by this arro 
gant philosophy to remain in the universe. Even these 
are made identical, and finally explained into nothing. 

While the reflecting Buddhists hold these views, they 
encourage the faith of the vulgar in the Hindoo mytho 
logy and the more recent inventions of their own system 
Their denial of the reality of worldly phenomena, and 
of the validity of the information afforded by our senses, 
has not been a check to popular image worship, but 
rather promoted it, from the license that it gave them to 
countenance lying legends and invent new additions ad 
libitum to the Hindoo pantheon. 

The special object of the T ien-t ai school has been to 
strike a middle path between the credulous acceptance of 
the sacred books as literally true, and their entire rejection 
by extreme idealism. It was thought best to recognise 
both these modifications of Buddhism as genuine deve 
lopments of the system, and to add a third reconciling 
principle which distinguishes the others, compares and 
combines them, and then chooses the path between them. 

In conformity with this view, regulations for the practice 
of his followers were instituted by Chi-k ai: (i.) Con 
stant sitting, to attain the state of samadhi or reverie 
taught to Manjusiri ; (2.) Constant moving, to attain an 
other state of samadhi taught by Buddha; (3.) Partly 

1 Fa-hwa-hwei-i. 



REGULA TIONS. l $ ? 

sitting and partly moving, to attain the state of samadhi 
taught by him to P u-hien ; (4.) Neither sitting nor moving, 
to attain still another form of religious reverie. 

The regulations for chanting as followed by this school 
were elaborated by a priest named Fa-chi who lived some 
centuries after Chi-k ai. They are very minute, and are 
intended to produce more reverential feelings in the 
minds of those engaging in the ceremonial than is common 
in Buddhist worship. 1 

1 Kegulations of the T ien-t ai-kiau, in the liturgical work called Ta-vei- 



ts an. 



( 188 ) 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE BUDDHIST MORAL SYSTEM. 

The Ten virtues and Ten vices The cause of human stupidity is in 
the passions The Five prohibitions The Ten prohibitions 
Klaproth s praise of Buddhism But it is atheistic, and there 
fore this praise should be qualified Kindness to animals based 
on the fiction of transmigration Buddhism teaches compassion 
for suffering without inculcating obedience to divine law Story 
of Shakyamuni Sin not distinguished from misery Buddhists 
teach that the moral sense is innate They assign a moral nature 
to animals The Six paths of the metempsychosis Hindoo 
notions of heaven and hell Countless ages of joy and suffering 
Examples Exemption from punishment gained by meritori 
ous actions Ten kings of future judgment Fate or Karma 
Buddhism depreciates heaven and the gods Buddha not God, 
but a Saviour Moral influence of the Paradise of the Western 
heaven Figurative interpretation of this legend The contem 
plative school identifies good and evil No moral distinctions 
in the Nirvana Buddhism has failed to produce high morality 
The Confucianist condemnation of the Buddhists Mr. P. 
Hordern s praise of Buddhism in Birmah The Birmese intel 
lectually inferior to the Chinese Kindness to animals known 
to the Chinese before they received Buddhism Buddha s reasons 
for not eating flesh. 

THE books of primitive Buddhism exhibit a higher moral 
tone than is found in the larger works full of metaphysi 
cal abstractions, which succeeded them. The " Book of 
Forty-two Sections," translated in the first century, and 
belonging to the former class, speaks of Ten vices and Ten 
virtues as belonging to mankind. The vices are : three 
of the body killing, stealing, and adultery ; four of the 
lips slandering, reviling, lying, and elegant words (uttered 



THE FIVE PROHIBITIONS. 189 

with a vicious intention) ; three of the mind jealousy, 
hatred, and " folly " (ch ty, the last of which includes 
not believing in " the Honoured Three " (Buddha, Dharma, 
Senga), and holding erroneous opinions. The opposites 
of these are the Ten virtues. 

In the same work Buddha says : " That which causes 
the stupidity and delusion of man is love and the desires." 
" Man having many faults, if he does not repent, but 
allows his heart to be at rest, sins will rush upon him 
like water to the sea. When vice has thus become more 
powerful it is still harder than before to abandon it. If 
a bad man becomes sensible of his faults, abandons them 
and acts virtuously, his sin will day by day diminish and 
be destroyed, till he obtains full enlightenment." 

In the w^ork Kiau-ch eng-fa-shu, the three vices of the 
mind are described as covetousness, hatred, and folly. 
The Ten virtues that correspond to the Ten vices are 
there stated to be preserving life, almsgiving, a "pure 
and virtuous life" (fan-king), peaceful words, yielding 
words, truthful words, plain unadorned words, abstinence 
from quarrelling, mercy, and " acting from good causes " 
(yin-yueri). 

Hardy, in describing the Buddhism of Ceylon, states the 
four sins of speech to be lying, slander, abuse, and unpro 
fitable conversation. The three sins of the mind he states 
to be covetousness, malice, and scepticism. 

The disciple of Buddha, whether he enters a monastery 
or wears the prescribed dress and continues in the family, 
must pledge himself to the five following things : (i.) not 
to kill; (2.) not to steal; (3.) not to commit adultery; 
(4.) not to lie; (5.) not to drink wine. These are called 
Wu-Jciai, " The five prohibitions." In Hardy s Manual 
of Buddhism, five evils to be avoided are mentioned viz., 
(i.) drinking intoxicating liquors; (2.) gambling; (3.) idle 
ness ; (4.) improper association; (5.) frequenting places of 
amusement. 

In the work called Sheng-Pien-shih-Jciai-Jeing, " The book 



190 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

of birth in heaven through keeping the ten prohibitions," 
a Deva informs Buddha that he was born in the " heaven 
of the Thirty-three Devas " (that of Indra Shakra), as a 
reward for reverencing the "Three Precious Ones" (Buddha, 
the Law, and the Priesthood), for not inflicting death, or 
stealing, or committing adultery, or slandering, or deceiv 
ing, or lying, or drinking wine, or eating flesh, or coveting, 
or holding false opinions. 

In the work Kiau-ch eng-fa-shu, the Ten prohibitions 
are stated to be: (i.) killing; (2.) stealing; (3.) adul 
tery; (4.) lying; (5.) selling wine; (6.) speaking of others 
faults ; (7.) praising one s-self and defaming others ; (8.) 
parsimony joined with scoffing; (9.) anger, and refusing 
to be corrected; (10.) reviling the Three Precious Ones. 

In the comment on the Fan-wang-king, a work of the 
Great Development school in the Discipline division, by 
Chi-hiii, the Ten prohibitions are identified with the Ten 
vices, but in the text the prohibitions are given as in the 
last quotation. 

Other lists of prohibitions might be transcribed amount 
ing to two hundred and fifty, and even higher numbers. 
Tor these it will be sufficient to refer to the works already 
mentioned. 

Klaproth, having in view these moral precepts, and 
their effects on the character of nations, speaks of Bud 
dhism as being of all religions next to Christianity in 
elevating the human race. 

He says : " The wild nomades of Central Asia have been 
changed by it into amiable and virtuous men, and its bene 
ficent influence has been felt even in Northern Siberia." 

The beneficent influence of this religion would have 
been much greater had it recognised the love and fear of 
God as the first of all the virtues. Buddhism, by ascribing 
the creation, continuance, and destruction of the world 
to an ever-changing fate, avoided the necessity of admit 
ting a supreme God. This was the side the Buddhists 
took in their controversies with the Brahmans in India. 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. 191 

Atheism is one point in the faith of the Southern Bud 
dhists. By the Chinese Buddhists each world is held to be 
presided over by an individual Buddha, but they do not hold 
that one supreme spirit rules over the whole collection of 
worlds. Klaproth affirms that, according to the Buddhists 
and the other Hindoos, the universe is animated by a 
single spirit, individualised under innumerable forms, by 
(par) matter which does not exist except in illusion." 
This spirit, however, is not God, the universal Creator and 
Preserver, and separated from the world by His everlast 
ing personality. 

Good has resulted doubtless in many instances from 
the prominent exhibition made by this system of the 
virtues and vices enumerated. But much more good 
would have been done if they had rested on a better 
basis, and been supported by a different view of the future 
state. The crime of killing rests chiefly on the doctrine 
of metempsychosis, which ascribes the same immortal soul 
to animals that it does to man. Faithful Buddhists are 
told not to kill the least insect, lest in so doing they 
should cause death to some deceased relative or ancestor 
whose soul animates the insect. On this account the 
corresponding virtue is stated to be fang-sheng, " to save 
life," constantly applied by the Buddhist priests and 
common people of China to the preservation of the lives 
of animals. The monks are vegetarians for the same 
reasons. They abstain from flesh because they will not 
share in the slaughter of living beings. They also con 
struct reservoirs of water near the monasteries, in which 
fish, snakes, tortoises, and small shell-fish, brought by 
worshippers of Buddha, are placed to preserve them from 
death. Goats and other land animals are also given over 
sometimes to the care of the monks, and it is a custom in 
some monasteries, as at T ien-t ung, near JSTingpo, to feed 
a bird with a few grains of rice just before the morning 
meal has commenced. When the priest appears at the 
door, the little bird, which is watching in the neighbour- 



192 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

hood, and knows how to act on the occasion, flies to 
receive the gift. 

In the Buddhist account of human sins and duties no 
obligation is included except the duty of lessening the 
sum of human misery and promoting happiness. This 
accords with the following anecdote related of Shakya- 
muni in his youth. His father, remembering the fore 
warning of a hermit, that the prince his son would wish 
to abandon the world, erected for him three palaces, where 
everything fascinating was placed to keep him from such 
a purpose. The son of a Deva came down to praise the 
beauty of the gardens and groves. 

But the prince, then eighteen years old, wished to go out 
and see the city. The king sent him with a wise minister 
to attend him. A Deva appeared at one of the city gates 
transformed into an old man resting on a staff. At another 
gate a Deva appeared as a sick person in pain and help 
less. At another gate he saw a corpse attacked by ravens 
also a Deva. The prince asked in each case the reason 
of what he saw. The wise counsellor told him these suf 
ferings came from the natural state of the world, and 
could not be avoided. People must grow old, must suffer 
from sickness, and must die. The prince was not satisfied, 
and the next day, seeing a Deva dressed as a monk, he 
dismounted from his horse and asked him who he was. 
The reply was, "A Shamen 1 who has left the world." 
The prince asked him why he had left the world. He 
said, because he saw men exposed to the evils of birth, 
old age, sickness, and death ; he therefore left the world 
to seek truth and save living beings. The disguised Deva 
then ascended into the air and disappeared. 

At nineteen, assisted by the Devas, Shakyamuni is said 
to have gone through the air on horseback two hundred 
and fifty miles to Baga, a mountain belonging to the 

1 In Sanscrit, Shramana ; but ac- mananga, meaning "Diligence and 
cording to the commentator on the cessation." 
Chinese "Life of Buddha," Shaka- 



MISERY EQUIVALENT TO SIN. 193 

Himalayas. Here he lived as a hermit for six years, and 
became prepared for the office he was to assume. 

According to the view thus presented of the great object 
of Buddha s teaching, it is to deliver men from suffering. 
This is done by persuading them to enter on the monastic 
or hermit life, and act in obedience to the directions of 
Buddha. This system looks on mankind as involved in 
misery rather than guilt. The Ten vices are rather to be 
regarded as faults, into which men fall from delusion and 
ignorance, than positive sins. The common people in 
China, whose phraseology is extensively infected with 
Buddhist ideas, see in every attack of sickness, and in 
other misfortunes, a close connection with "sin" (tsui). 
They hold that sin is the cause of suffering. Yet they 
do not mean by this wilful sin, but some improper act 
done unconsciously, or in childhood, as treading on an 
insect, wasting rice-crumbs, or misusing paper that has the 
native characters upon it. Or they refer the calamity to 
the sins of a former life. Hence they regard themselves 
as more to be pitied than blamed for the tsui or " sin " 
of which their ill fortune gives evidence. 

This is an example of the mode in which the better 
tendencies of the Buddhist system are neutralised by its 
omissions. Its moral precepts, good as most of them 
are, would have more power, and the true character of 
sin be more felt by the people, if the authority of God 
were recognised as the great reason for acting well the 
source of moral obligation. 

Buddhism shook the faith of the Chinese in Heaven as 
a personal ruler, and put the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas 
in the place of that personal ruler. The effect of Bud 
dhism in part was to urge the Chinese mind to see in 
Heaven only impersonal and material power. Thus the 
good effect of its moral teaching was neutralised; and 
then the Chinese had good moral teaching before. 

The question that has been raised by European moralists 
as to whether man has from his natural constitution an 

N 



194 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

inborn moral sense, is decided by the Buddhists, though 
without holding a controversy on the subject, in the affir 
mative. They may be said to appeal to a natural con 
science, when they teach that all men have within them 
a good moral nature, and that this principle of good is 
only prevented from making men virtuous and happy by 
contact with the world and the delusions of the senses. 
This is similar to the Confucian doctrine, that all men are 
born good, and it is only by falling into evil habits subse 
quently that they become vicious. Most systems of morals, 
indeed, 1 in words or by implication, admit the existence 
of conscience, because all men possess it, and cannot be 
made to understand moral distinctions without it. 2 The 
existence of a system of virtues arid vices shows the 
operation of conscience on the maker of it, as the use 
of that system in moral instruction involves an appeal 
to conscience in the disciple. The identification of con 
science, however, with natural goodness, by the Confu- 
cianists and the Buddhists, obscures its true character as 
the judge between right and wrong. And to tell men that 
they are naturally good is not only assuming, in compli 
ment to human nature, a fact that should be proved, but 
it is also likely to induce those who are thus taught to 
look leniently on their own vices as originating solely 
in the influences of the outside world. The feebleness of 
the Buddhist appeal to conscience, as the source of moral 
obligation, is further increased by its assigning the same 
originally good nature to each member of the animal 
creation that it does to man. 

The motives to well-doing, drawn from a future state 
of retribution in this system, are derived from the Hindoo 
popular account of heaven and hell. The Six life-paths 
into which living beings can be born are (i.) "Devas" 

1 Paley and those who side with 2 The abeve was written about 

him, who have attempted to con- twenty-two years ago. The whole 

struct a moral system without a question has assumed new aspects 

natural sense of right and wrong in since that time. I leave for the pre- 

man, must be excepted. sent what I formerly said unaltered. 



METEMPSYCHOSIS. I9 < 

(gods); (2.) men; (3.) "Asuras" (monsters); (4.) "hell" 
(naraka); (5.) hungry ghosts; (6.) animals. The first 
three are assigned to the good, the latter three to the 
wicked. The moral action is called yin (cause), and its 
recompense Tcwo (fruit). All beings, whether virtuous or 
vicious, continue to be re-born in one of these six states, 
until saved by the teaching of Buddha. 

Buddha said : " To leave the three evil states is difficult. 
When the state of man has been attained, to leave the 
female sex and be born in the male, is difficult. To have 
the senses and mind and body all sound is hard. When 
this is attained, to be born in Central India is hard." 
He continues to say, that to meet Buddha and be in 
structed, to be born in the time of a good king, to be born 
in the^ family of a Bodhisattwa, and to believe with the 
heart in the Three Honoured Ones, are all difficult. 

Buddha said, 1 in a discourse delivered in the heaven 
of Indra Shakra, that whatever good man or woman 
heard the name of Ti-tsang Bodhisattwa, and in con 
sequence performed an act of praise or worship, or 
repeated that Bodhisattwa s name, or made an offering 
to him, or drew a picture of him, such a person would 
certainly be born in the heaven of Indra Shakra. 

The same Bodhisattwa tells the mother of Buddha, who 
resides in the paradise just mentioned, that " disobedience 
to parents, with slaying, and wounding, are punished with 
an abode in the place of suffering called Wu-Uen-ti-yu. 
Slandering the Three Precious Ones, or wounding the per 
son of Buddha, or dishonouring the sacred books, or break 
ing the vows, or stealing from a monk, are punished in a 
similar way. Their punishment will last for ten millions 
of millions of Tcalpas. Then their sin being compensated 
for by sufficient suffering, they will be released. 

" If a woman with an ugly countenance and sickly con 
stitution prays to this Bodhisattwa, she will, for a million 
of kalpas, be born with a beautiful countenance." If any 

1 Vide Ti-tsang-king. 



196 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

men or women perform music before the image of the 
same deity, sing, and offer incense, they shall have hun 
dreds and thousands of spirits to protect them day and 
night, so that no unpleasant sound may enter their ears. 
Any one who slanders or ridicules a worshipper of this 
Bodhisattwa will be transported to the " Avichi naraka " 
(0-pi ti-yu) till the end of this Jcalpa. He will then be 
born a wandering hungry ghost, and, after a thousand 
Jcalpas become an animal. After a thousand Jcalpas more 
he will again become a man. 

Such are a few specimens of the doctrine of retribution 
as taught to the popular mind. It is easy to see that such 
sensual conceptions of the future existence of man must 
degrade the common notions of the people on duty and 
virtue. The objects for which the common people in 
China worship in the Buddhist temples are almost all of a 
very inferior nature. Eeligious worship, which ought to 
concern the recovery of man to pure virtue, and the resto 
ration of direct communication with God by the forgive 
ness of sin, is changed into an instrument for acquiring 
various kinds of material happiness. 

The opinion the Buddhists hold on the forgiveness of 
sin is, that it can be attained by repentance and merito 
rious actions. A definite amount of gifts and worship will 
gain the removal of a corresponding amount of sin and its 
attendant suffering. Thus, a filial daughter, by a certain 
number of days spent in worshipping a Bodhisattwa, or a 
Buddha, can obtain the rescue of a mother from hell. 

In the popular view of the future state, the Hindoo 
king of death, " Yama" (Yen-lo) holds a high place as the 
administrator of the punishments of hell. Nine others 
are joined with him of Chinese origin. They are called 
the Ten kings. The wicked at death are conducted to 
them to receive judgment. 

The decree by which men are born into the Six states 
of the metempsychosis is merely that of fate, expressed in 
the words yin-kwo, "cause and effect," or, employing one 



BUDDHA NOT GOD. 197 

factor only, yin-yuen, "causation," or "fate" (karma). 
" Good actions " are also sometimes called yin-yuen, be 
cause they ultimately bring happiness to the doer. 

The motive to a good life, drawn from heavenly happi 
ness, cannot be considered a strong one, when the Devas 
and their felicity are systematically depreciated, as they 
are in Buddhism. The " Devas " (or popular Hindoo gods ; 
in Chinese, fieri) are all mortal, and limited in power. 
The state of man may be so elevated as to approach to 
that of the paradise of the Devas. Some men attain to 
nearly the same power as the gods, e.g., Krishna. Southey, 
in the Curse of Kehama, has made that personage, although 
a man, a terror to the kings of the Devas, and such a re 
presentation is in accordance with Hindoo notions. So in 
Chinese Buddhist temples, the visitor sees the highest of 
celestial beings listening humbly to Buddha. 

It may be said that it is not correct to institute or im 
ply a parallel between God as He is in the view of the 
Christian, and the Hindoo deities. It may be said that a 
parallel between God and Buddha would be more just. 
But Buddha is a world-born man, who washes away hi.s 
sins like others, by penances, offerings, and the teaching of 
some enlightened instructor. He is not said to create the 
universe, nor to act as the judge of mankind. He is 
simply a teacher of the most exalted kind, who, by supe 
rior knowledge, passes out of the metempsychosis, and 
gradually attains the Nirvana. His attitude towards his 
disciples is simply that of an instructor, not an authori 
tative superior. The tie by which the disciple is attached 
to him is that of voluntary not compulsory obedience. 

In fact, the character ascribed to Buddha is rather that 
of a Saviour than that of God. The object of his life and 
teaching is to rescue living beings from their misery. 
While such is the character of Buddha as he is described 
in books, he is, as an object of popular worship, like the 
great Bodhisattwas, simply regarded as a powerful divi 
nity. 



198 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

A brief notice will here be taken of the ethical views of 
some of the Chinese sects. The Tsing-tu school substitutes 
a paradise of purely Buddhist invention for that of Hin 
doo mythology. It makes birth in the Western heaven, 
the abode of Amitabha Buddha, the reward of virtue. The 
description of this paradise consists entirely of things 
pleasing to the senses. It is popularly regarded as real, 
but the founder of the Ylin-tsi school in his commentary on 
the " Amitabha Sutra," l explains it as figurative. Accord 
ing to this explanation, the Western heaven means the 
moral nature, confirmed, pure, and at rest. Amitabha 
means the mind, clear, and enlightened. The rows of 
trees mean the mind cultivating the virtues. The music 
means the harmony of virtues in the mind. The flowers, 
and particularly the lotus, mean the mind opening to con 
sciousness and intelligence. The beautiful birds mean the 
mind becoming changed and renovated. 

It is evident that, on adopting this mode of commenting 
on the fable of the Western heaven, it cannot any longer 
be honestly held out as a future state of reward, to attract 
men to good actions. 

The object of this figurative interpretation of the West 
ern paradise of Amitabha was, doubtless, to redeem the 
Tsing-tu school from the discredit into which it had fallen, 
by abandoning the Nirvana in favour of a sensual heaven. 
The original inventors of the fiction must also have had 
such a notion of it as that here given, while they did not 
try to prevent its being accepted as real by the ignorant 
and uninquiring. 

In the contemplative school, founded by Bodhidharma, 
the distinction of vice and virtue is lost. To the mind 
that is given up to its own abstract meditations, the outer 
world becomes obliterated. A person who attends simply 
to his own heart may revile Buddha without sin, for 
nothing is sin to him. He does not make offerings or 
pray. All actions are the same to him. This system, 

1 O-mi-to-king-su-ts au, by Lien-si -ta-shi . 



NO MORAL DISTINCTIONS. 199 

however, is not in opposition to ethical distinctions. It 
only aims to enter a higher sphere. It seeks to attain a 
sort of Nirvana even in the present life. 

In the books of this school, as in others where the un 
reality of all sensible phenomena is maintained, virtue 
and vice occupy an inferior position. These notions only 
come into existence through the imperfection of the pre 
sent state. They disappear altogether when an escape 
from it is effected, by admission into the higher region 
of pure enlightenment. Virtue and vice, life and death, 
happiness and misery, the antithetical states originated 
in the world of delusions to which we belong, are all con 
demned together as constituting a lower state of existence. 
All beings should strive to be freed from them, and to 
rise by Buddha s teaching to that perfection where every 
such diversity, moral or physical, will be lost in unity. 
The Nirvana does not admit any such distinctions as those 
just mentioned. It is absolute and pure illumination, 
without anything definite attached to it, whether good or 
evil, pain or pleasure. Thus there is no place for ethics, 
except in the lower modes of life. 

It is common for intelligent priests in China of the con 
templative school to defend their system of idolatry by 
saying that they do not worship images themselves. They 
are intended for the ignorant who cannot comprehend the 
deeper principles of their religion. Eeligion being purely 
a matter of the heart, offerings and prostrations are 
really unnecessary. This exemplifies how what is re 
garded as a highly virtuous action in the common people, 
ceases to be so in the case of one who, as he thinks, has 
made some progress towards the state of Buddha. Accord 
ing to this view the consistent Buddhist will offer worship 
to no being whatever. He simply aims to raise himself 
above all the common feelings of human life. 

We cannot wonder that the Buddhist system of ethics 
having such deficiencies and such faults as have been 
pointed out, has failed to produce high morality among its 



200 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

votaries. The mass of the people have gained from it 
the notion of a future retribution, but what is the use of 
this when the promised state beyond death consists merely 
of clumsy fiction ? The metempsychosis, administered by 
a moral fate, has only provided them with a convenient 
means for charging their sin fulness and their misfortunes 
on a former life. What virtue the people have among 
them is due to the Confucian system. Buddhism has 
added to it only idolatry, and a false view of the future 
state, but has not contributed to make the people more 
virtuous. 

Klaproth complains of " a worthy and learned English 
missionary" (Dr. Marshman of Serampore) for saying, 
" Unhappily for mankind, Buddhism . . . was now fitted 
to spread its baneful influence to any extent." 

These modes of expression are not, however, by any 
means too strong to describe the effects of this religion in 
China if we accept the Confucianist view of Buddhism. 
ISTo thorough-going disciple of Confucius would think this 
language too strong if only Buddhism be judged from the 
standpoint of political and social morality. Surely if the 
Confucianist cannot see how the monk, who forsakes his 
family and his duties as a working citizen, is to be 
excused from heavy condemnation, the Christian also may 
be permitted to criticise with severity a system which 
denies the authority of God, identifies the moral nature of 
men and animals, teaches mankind to look to man instead 
of to God for redemption, and amuses the imagination 
with the most monstrous fictions of the unseen world and 
of the future state. 

The morality of Buddhism has received very high 
praise from more recent writers. Professor Max Miiller 
says, " The moral code of Buddhism is one of the most 
perfect the world has ever known." Mr. P. Hordern, the 
Director of Public Instruction in Birmah, says, " The poor 
heathen is guided in his daily life by precepts older and 
not less noble than the precepts of Christianity. Centuries 



BUDDHISM I N B1RMAH. 201 

before the birth of Christ men were taught by the life 
and doctrine of one of the greatest men who ever lived 
lessons of the purest morality. The child was taught to 
obey his parents and to be tender of all animal life, the 
man to love his neighbour as himself, to be true and just 
in all his dealings, and to look beyond the vain shows of 
the world for true happiness. Every shade of vice was 
guarded by special precepts. Love in its widest sense of 
universal charity was declared to be the mother of all the 
virtues, and even the peculiarly Christian precepts of the 
forgiveness of injuries and the meek acceptance of insult 
were already taught in the farthest East. 

" Throughout Birmah it is a daily thing to see men, 
women, and children kneeling on the road side, their 
hands clasped, and their faces turned devoutly to a dis 
tant pagoda ; while at the weekly festivals, or the full 
moons, the devotions of the mass of the population is 
among the most interesting spectacles in the whole East," 

It is otherwise in China. Though the Buddhists have 
good precepts they are very much neglected, even in the 
teaching. Books containing hard metaphysical dogma 
such as the non-existence of matter, form much more the 
subject of daily reading. The monks are subject con 
stantly to the Confucianist criticism that they are not filial 
to parents nor useful working members of the common 
wealth. A widely-extended monastic system does not 
approve itself to the Chinese political consciousness any 
more than it has done to European governments in times 
of revolution. The charge of laziness and neglect of 
social duties was made the ground of persecution in former 
days. At present, while Confucianism has ceased to per 
secute Buddhism, it has never withdrawn its indictment 
against it on the ground of morality. Indeed, all the 
force of the moral teaching of the Chinese is in Confuci 
anism and not in Buddhism. It is the moral sense of 
the Chinese themselves that is energetic and influential 
so far as they are really a moral people. The Buddhist 



202 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

moral code is feebleness itself compared with the Confu- 
cianist. This is partly because it is entangled by the co 
existence with it of monkery as a life, and of the metem 
psychosis and metaphysical nihilism as dogma. 

Then in regard to the power of Buddhism to elevate a 
people above the vain shows of the world and render 
them devotional, the conclusion to be drawn from the 
effect of this religion in the Chinese is very different from 
that adopted by Mr. Hordern in regard to Birmah. The 
Chinese intellect is strong and independent in its judg 
ments, and it does not accept the fictions of Buddhism. 
The Hindoo mind cannot dominate the Chinese mind, 
and the contemplative life has no attractions for the 
countrymen of Confucius. The foreign resident in China 
does not witness the appearance of devotion which has 
won the admiration of Mr. Hordern in Birmah. 

The power shown by Buddhism to win the faith of the 
Birmese I should rather trace to the superiority of the 
Hindoo race over the mountain tribes of the Indo-Chinese 
peninsula. The Birmese belong, with the Thibetans, to 
the Bod race, which, having no intellectual development 
of its own, accepted the Hindoo religion when brought 
them by the Buddhist teachers. The superiority of Hin 
doo arts and civilisation helped Buddhism to make this 
conquest. Bishop Bigandet x says : " The Birmese want 
the capability to understand the Buddhist metaphysics. 
If the Buddhist moral code in itself has the power to 
influence a people so far as to render them virtuous and 
devotional, independently of the element of intellectual 
superiority, we still lack the evidence of it. 

" The success of Buddhism is in this respect the reverse 
of the success of Christianity, which, originating in Judea, 
subjugated both Greece and Borne without aid from in 
tellectual superiority." 

I just add here that the Confucianists do not allow that 
kindness to animals was first taught them by Buddhism. 

1 See Vie de Gaudama, p. 412. 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS PRE-BUDDHISTIC. 203 

They find it in their own ancient books. Thus Mencius 
made the compassion felt by a prince, Tsi Siuen-wang, 
for a bullock about to be slaughtered, a ground for his 
exhibiting compassion still more for the people he governed. 
He had been distressed at the shuddering of the bullock 
chosen for sacrifice, and ordered it to be changed for a 
sheep, which was done. Confucianism assumes that pity 
for animals is natural for the human heart. The mother 
of Mencius moved her residence from the neighbourhood 
of a butcher s shop because she would not have her boy, 
while of tender years, witness daily that which would 
make him cruel. 

Yet it cannot fairly be denied that beneficial effects 
must follow from the great prominence and publicity 
assigned to compassion as an attribute of Buddha to be 
imitated by every devout believer. The salvation of 
multitudes from suffering is held up as his great achieve 
ment, and to this he was prompted by disinterested pity. 

This the Confucianists would probably admit, while 
they would never allow that there is any ground to be 
lieve in the Buddhist metempsychosis, on which pity for 
animals is often made to rest for its basis. With Bud 
dhist temples and monks everywhere, the Chinese do not 
accept the teaching that the souls of men migrate into 
animals, nor do the monks cordially maintain it. 

Among the reasons the Buddhists give for sparing the 
life of all animals, they do not mention the duty of not 
inflicting unnecessary pain, nor do they say that Buddha 
has a sovereign power to make laws, and he having made 
this law it must be obeyed. 

Their reasons are of a lower sort, or they are based on 
dogmatised necessity. This, like other matters, is by 
the Buddhists treated in a thoroughly utilitarian and 
selfish way. Only in one point it is not so. They are 
invariably conscious of "moral fate," the karma, pervad 
ing the universe by an inevitable and unconquerable 



204 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

force. Kindness to animals is sure to bring happiness, 
as cruelty will cause misfortune. 

The following are the reasons given by Buddha for 
abstinence from animal food : 

First, In the endless changes of the metempsychosis, 
persons in the relation to me of any of the six divisions 
of kindred have become, from time to time, some of the 
animals used for food. To avoid eating my relations I 
ought to abstain. 

Second, The smell and taste are not clean. 

Third, The smell causes fear among the various ani 
mals. 

Fourth, To eat animal food prevents charms and other 
magical devices from taking effect. 

The writer who invented these reasons and put them 
in the mouth of Buddha, did not add the certainty of 
the retribution of the karma, as an additional motive 
for showing compassion to objects possessed of life, but 
this is understood and lies underneath all Buddhistic 
thought. 



CHAPTEE X. 

THE BUDDHIST CALENDAK. 

National festivals Festivals in. honour of celestial beings In 
honour of the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas In honour of char 
acters in Chinese Buddhist history Supplemental anniver 
saries Singhalese Buddhists keep a different day for Buddha s 
birthday In the T ang dynasty Hindoo astronomers reformed 
the calendar Gaudamsiddha The week of India and Babylon 
known to the Chinese Word mit for Sunday Peacock Sutra 
The Hindoo Rahu and Ketu. 

ONE of the most instructive illustrations of a religion is 
its calendar. Not only do the fasts and festivals kept by 
a people point out in succession who are the personages 
held by them in the highest honour ; they also contain an 
epitome of the history and doctrines of the religion they 
believe, and especially aid in opening to observation the 
popular religious life. 

The work called Ts ing-kwei, " Eegulations of the Priest 
hood," contains instructions for the observance of all fasts 
and festivals through the year. From it are extracted the 
following details of anniversaries : 

i. NATIONAL. 

JEmperor s birthday. The ceremonial for this anniver 
sary lasts a week, embracing three days before and three 
after the day in question. It is called Sheng-tsie, " Sacred 
festival." 

Empress s birthday. 

Day of receiving an imperial message at the monastery. 
Six persons are sent out " five li " (nearly two miles) to 



206 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

meet it. On its approach, the monks, headed by their 
chief, issue from the monastery, and bow their foreheads 
to the ground three times. 

Four monthly feasts. These are at the new and full 
moons, and on the 8th and 23d of the month. They are 
called Kin-ming s i-chai, "The four feasts illustriously 
decreed." The last two words refer to a decree of an 
emperor of the Sui dynasty in A.D. 584, requiring the 
special observance of the monthly feasts in the ist, 5th, 
and 9th months ; because then the great Southern conti 
nent was prayed for, in which China is included. 

Anniversaries of emperors 1 deaths. Those of the present 
dynasty only are included. 

2. CELESTIAL BEINGS 

Day of worshipping the Devas (Kung-T ieri).A& the 
chief personages, whether Devas, spirits, demons, Asuras, 
Eakshas, &c., of the Hindoo older mythology, are wor 
shipped on this occasion. This observance rests for its 
authority on the Kin-kwang-ming-ldng, " The Bright Sutra 
of Golden Light." 

Eclipses of the Sun and Moon. In the services for these 
days, the sun and moon are addressed as " Bodhisattwas " 
(Pu-sa), and the power of Buddha is invoked to deliver 
them. Hence the name of the service, ffu-fi, Hu-yue, 
"Delivering the sun and moon." The prayers offered for 
them are considered as gratitude for their light. 

Sacrifice to the Moon, 8th month, i$th day. The ground 
for this observance is that this day is, according to national 
tradition, the moon s birthday. As in the service for 
eclipses, Namo, "Honour to," the introductory formula 
of worship, is used in addressing the moon. She is called 
in full Yue-~kung-t ai-yin-tsun t ( ien-p ( u-sa,"T\iQ moon in 
her mansion, luminary of night, honoured Deva and Bo- 
dhisattwa." 

Prayer for fine weather. Prayer to various Buddhas, 
and other divinities. 



CELESTIAL BEINGS. 207 

Prayer for rain. Worship is performed towards the 
East, and prayers offered to the Dragon king, the various 
Buddhas, &c. 

Prayer for snow. Ditto. 

Prayer against locusts. To various Devas and spirits. 

Prayer to Wei-to (Veda). The Deva Wei-to is the pro 
tector of the Buddhist religion. When the supplies of 
the monastery fail, he is prayed to, to replenish them. 
He is chief general of the army of the four Mahadevas. 

Birthday of Wei-to, 6th month, $d day ; according to some 
the i^thday. Wei-to is a deity of Hindoo mythology, who 
protects three of the four continents into which the world 
is divided. (See Eemusat s Notes to Foe-Jcoue-Jci.) 

Birthdays of the divine protectors of the monasteries. 
They are three: (i.) Hwa-kwang, pth month, 28th day; 
(2.) Lung-wang, or Naga-rajah, the "Dragon king;" (3.) 
Kwan-ti, the " God of war," 5th month, I3th day, accord 
ing to the common account ; "but according to his biography 
in the national annals, 6th month, 24th day. These three 
personages take the place of eighteen worshipped in India. 
One of them is the well-known hero of the " Three King 
doms." They receive the same honours that are awarded 
to Wei-to. 

Birthday of the Kitchen god, 6th month, 2^th day, Sth 
month, $d day, and 12th month, 24th day. The Buddhists 
say, to excuse themselves for adopting a Tauist supersti 
tion, that the Kitchen god they worship is not the Tsau- 
kitin venerated commonly by the people, but a king of 
the " Kinnaras " (a fabulous race of celestial beings), who 
became a Chinese priest in the T ang dynasty, and was 
appointed at death to preside over the vegetarian diet of 
the monks. This is a lame defence of what is evidently 
a self-interested accommodation to popular notions. 

3. THE BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTWAS. 

Birthday of Shakyamuni, ^th month, 8th day. He is 
also called Buddha, " Tathagata " or Julai, and Gautama, 



2o8 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

and is revered as Pun-shi, the "Teacher of the world 
during the present Jcalpa" 

Anniversary of Shakyamuni s elevation to the rank of 
Buddha, 1 2th month, 8th day. The phrase in use is Ch eng- 
tau, " Attained the summit of knowledge and virtue." 

Anniversary of Buddha s entrance into ike Nirvana, 2d 
month, i$th day. 

Birthday of Yo-tfvi Fo (The Buddha who instructs in 
healing, Bhaishajyaguru Buddha), gth month, $oth day. 
The world governed by this Buddha is in the East. 

Birthday of 0-mi-to Fo or "Amida " (Amitabha) Bud 
dha, nth month, ijth day. The Buddha who rules in the 
universe to the west of that governed by Shakya, and 
grants the request of all those who pray to him to admit 
them to the Western heaven. 

Birthday of Mi-li Fo (Mai trey a Buddha), ist month, ist 
day. The Buddha who is to succeed Shakyamuni in the 
government of the world. Maitreya was visited in one 
of the paradises by Shakyamuni, and foretold his destiny. 

Birthday of the female Buddha, Chun-ti, $d month, 6th 
day. Great powers of sorcery are attributed to this per 
sonage. 

Birthday of " Wen-shu p u-sa " (Manjusiri Bodhisat- 
twa), 4th month, 4th day. One of the Bodhisattwas of 
Northern Buddhism. 

Birthday of (< P u-hien p u-sa" (Samantabhadra), 2d 
month, 2 ist day. A fictitious Bodhisattwa of Northern 
Buddhism. 

Birthday of " Kwan-shl-yin p u-sa " (Avalokiteshwara), 
2d month, iqth day. This fabulous Bodhisattwa has in 
China been usually represented with female attributes. 
In the Fa-hwa-king, Kwan-yin is described as being able 
to assume any form at pleasure, whether that of Buddhas, 
Devas, men, or others, and as being guided in such volun 
tary metamorphoses by a constant desire to proclaim the 
Buddhist doctrine to those who need it, in the form most 
likely to effect the object. Kwan-yin is thus able to save 



CHARACTERS IN BUDDHIST HISTORY. 209 

any of the inhabitants of the Saha (or Saba) world, i.e., 
the present race of mankind. When Kwan-yin is trans 
lated, not inappropriately, " Goddess of mercy," it should 
be remembered that female attributes are only temporarily 
assumed by the Bodhisattwa in question. (See the 
" Kwan-yin " section, near the end of the Fa-hwa-king.} 

Birthday of Ta-shi-chl p u-sa, Jth month, i^th day. 
The position of this Bodhisattwa is to the right of Ami- 
tabha Buddha, while Kwan-yin takes the left. They are 
styled together, "the Three Sages of the West" (Si-fang- 
san-sheng). 

Birthday of Ti-tsang p u-sa, Jth month, $otk day. 

4. CHARACTERS IN CHINESE BUDDHIST HISTORY. 

Anniversary of the death of " Bodhidharma " (Ta-mo), 
loth month, $th day.ThQ first of the six patriarchs. 

Death of Pe-chang, ist month, igth day. He was a 
teacher of Bodhidharma s system in the T ang dynasty. 
He wrote the work Ts ing-kwei from which these notices 
of fasts and festivals are taken. 

Death of Ck i-Jc ai, nth month, 24th day. The founder 
of Jie T ien-t ai school. 

Death of Hien-sheu, nth month, i^tJi day. A founder 
of a school bearing his name, and advocating the " Great 
Development " system (Ta-ch ( eng). 

Death of Tau-siuen, loth month, $d day. A founder of 
the Discipline school. 

Death of Hvjei-yuen, 8th month, 6th day. A founder of 
the Tsing-tu school. 

Death of the founder of the monastery, also of a priest s 
own religious instructor, of the priests who admitted him 
to the vows, and of his parents. 

5. SUPPLEMENTARY ANNIVERSARIES. 

Commencement of summer (Li-hia], 4th month, i6th day. 
This anniversary is traced to the usage of the earliest 
Hindoo Buddhists, who, when summer arrived, came to- 

o 



210 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

gether and remained associated under strict monastic rule 
during the hot months. This period over, they began 
their begging excursions afresh. 

" Yu-lan-p en " ( U-lam) ceremony, for feeding hungry 
ghosts, Jth month, i$th day. The authority for this festival 
is the Yu-lan-p en Sutra, translated into Chinese about 
A.D. 270. It terminates the summer, as the preceding 
began it. 

End of summer, Jth month, i6th day. 

Commencement and end of winter (Li-tung, Kiai-tung), 
loth month, i$th day, and 1st month, i$th day. 

First day of the year. Special worship. 

Birthday of Shakra, 1st month, qth day. Shakra, or 
Indra, god of the atmosphere, is, in the modern editions of 
Pe-chang-ts ing-kwei, " Manual of Buddhist Regulations and 
Festivals," identified with the well-known Tauist divinity 
Yu-ti. Oriental religions are so mutually complimentary, 
that they sometimes adopt each other s divinities with 
out scruple. The Sanscrit Indra Shakra is rendered in 
Chinese Ti-sh i (formerly sheik). 

Birthday of " Yo-wang p^i-sa" (Bhdishajyardja), " Medi 
cal king and Bodhisattwa," Afh month, i$th day. 

Birthday of the Bodhisattwa " Lung-shu" (Nagarjuna), 
or "Dragon-tree," ?th month, 2$th day. He was the 
fourteenth patriarch, and author of the " Hundred Dis 
courses," one of the most noted of the Buddhist Shastras. 

Birthday of the ancient Buddha Jan-teng, " Light lamp " 
(Dipamkara Buddha), 8th month, 22d day. Shakyamuni 
in a former kcdpa was a disciple of this Buddha. 

Winter solstice. Special worship. 

Birthday of the Bodhisattwa Hwa-yen, 12th month, 2gth 
day. 

The method of observing these anniversaries, and the 
prayers to be used, are very minutely detailed in the book 
from which these notices are translated. 

The dates are those of the lunar months of the Chinese 
national almanac. 



THE WEEK KNOWN TO THE CHINESE. 211 

It may be doubted whether more than a very few of 
them are identical with the festivals of the Southern 
Buddhists, viz., those of Ceylon, Siam, and Birmah, there 
being several of the great Bodhisattwas who are not 
mentioned in works by foreign authors treating of the 
Buddhism of those countries. 

In Ceylon the prevalent legend of Gautama s life states 
that he was born on the day of the full moon in the 
second month of spring. This differs. 

In this popular calendar, there is no mention of any 
thing astronomical; yet in the T ang dynasty Buddhist 
calculators from India were invited to undertake the im 
provement of the imperial calendar. 

Gaudamsiddha, in the eighth century, published a work 
called Kieu-cJii-li. It is a translation from a Hindoo ori 
ginal. In it the days of the week are apportioned among 
the planets in the following order : Yung-hwo, " Mars ; " 
Ch en-sing, "Mercury;" Sui-sing, "Jupiter;" T ai-pe, 
" Venus ; " Chen-sing, " Saturn." * 

These planets, with the sun and moon, form the ts i-yau, 
" seven bright celestial objects." They constitute the 
mythological week of seven days, which sprang up in 
Babylonia, and spread to India, and also to Europe in the 
days of the Eoman empire. 

Some Chinese almanacs call Sunday the day of Hit, 
the Persian " Mithras," a name for the sun. Hit is 
spoken of as a Hwei-Jiivei word. This term Hwei-Tiw&i 
is one of the names for the Persian language among the 
Chinese. 

In the Kung-ch io-king, " Peacock Sutra," the days of 
the week are also given. This work is a translation by a 
Chinese priest named Yi-tsing. When Mr. Wylie was 
visiting Peking on one occasion, he went with me to a 
monastery to consult the " Peacock Sutra " in the library. 

1 See Chinese Recorder, 1872. Mr. add to Mr. Wylie s very full and in- 
"Wylie, "On the Knowledge of Weekly teresting statements, that Hit is 
Sabbath in China," pp. 40-45. But " Mithras" here, and in page 8. 



212 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

We were courteously received, and allowed to take it home 
with us for a few days. 

Many superstitious beliefs and observances native to 
India were imported to China by the Hindoo Buddhists. 
They taught much that was not at all purely Buddhist. 
The education they received embraced a wide range. Meta 
physics, astronomy, medicine, and other subjects were 
taught in India in the old times of Buddhist prosperity, 
probably much as they are now in the lamaseries of 
Mongolia. 

Thus the ascending and descending nodes of the moon s 
orbit were known as two monsters, called " Eahu " and 
" Ketu," in modern Chinese, Lo-Tieu and Ki-tu. At eclipses, 
the Chinese story of a wild dog eating the sun and moon 
is derived from this piece of Hindoo mythology. In 
native almanacs these names are preserved in the nomen 
clature of astrology, and the conception is encouraged that 
the earth s shadow crossing the moon is a dark heavenly 
body, and a sort of planet of a dark nature, becoming 
yisible only at eclipses. 

The Indian year of three seasons is described, but no 
attempt has been made to interfere with the Chinese 
seasons of three months each. The Buddhists have 
arranged their calendar of festivals and fasts to suit the 
Chinese months. 



( 2I 3 ) 



CHAPTER XI. 

KELATION OF BUDDHISM TO THE OLDER HINDOO 
MYTHOLOGY. 

Buddhism accepted the Hindoo mythology, \vith the sacred books 
of the Brahmans, so far as it agreed with its own dogmas The 
gods Indra, Brahma, and Ishwara listen as disciples to Buddha 
Eight classes of Devas Four kings of Devas Yakshas 
Mahoragas Pretas Maras Yama, king of the dead Creation 
is denied to the Hindoo gods in the Chung-lun and other works. 

FOLLOWING the guidance of the Buddhist books, the exist 
ence of the Vedas and their mythology at least five or six 
centuries before the Christian era must be regarded as an 
established fact. Eeligious divisions had then already 
arisen in the social life of the Hindoos, and numerous 
adherents of all castes were joining the newly-raised 
standard of Buddhism. Colonel Sykes and others have 
maintained the hypothesis that Buddhism was the original 
religion of Hindostan, and that the Vedas with their re 
ligion, the four castes, and the Sanscrit language itself 
were all invented at a later date by the Brahmans. This 
conjecture has little to support it from any source of evi 
dence, and is perfectly untenable when recourse is had for 
information to the Buddhist books. From them it is 
clear that the Brahmans were in antagonism with the 
system of Shakyamuni from the first, that the four 
Vedas were already venerated as the sacred books of the 
nation, and that the truth of their mythology was not 
denied by the founder of Buddhism or his followers. So 
far from opposing the popular belief in such beings as 



214 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

India and Yama, the Asuras, Devas, and Gandharvas, they 
are included in the mythological personnel of the new 
religion, and these names have thus become known from 
Japan to Persia, and from Java to the Altai mountains. 
No mythology perhaps has ever spread so far as the 
Hindoo, forming as it does a part of the people s religion 
in all Buddhist countries, as well as in its mother-land. 

An account of the opening scene of the Saddharma pun- 
darika, or " Lotus of the Good Law," in Chinese Fa-hwa- 
king, will show the place assigned in the Sutras of the 
Great Development class to these fictitious beings. The 
Sanscrit names in most instances are taken from Burnouf s 
translation of the Nepaulese original. 

" Thus have I heard. On a time Buddha was residing 
at the city Kajagriha (Wang-she), on the mountain 
Gridhrakuta, with two thousand Bikshus, all of them 
Arhans." Here follow the names of many of Buddha s 
disciples. " There were also two thousand more, some 
having knowledge and some having none. Ma-ha-pa- 
ja-pa-tfi (Mahaprajapati) came with female disciples 
and their followers, in all six thousand." "Of Bodhi- 
sattwas, eighty thousand also came." " Their names are 
Manjusiri, Kwan-shi-yin, &c." There came also Shak-de- 
wan-yin (Shakra, the Indra of the Devas), 2 with a 
retinue of twenty thousand sons of Devas. There were 
also the sons of the Devas Chandra, Samantagandha, 
and Eatnaprabha. Besides these there were the four 
" Great kings " of the Devas (Maharaja), with a suite 
of ten thousand sons of Devas. Then there were the 
sons of the Deva Ishwara (Ts i-tsai-t ieri) and of the 
Deva Maheshwara (Ta-ts i-tsai-t ieri) , and their retinue 
of thirty thousand sons of Devas. The lord of the 
universe " Saba " (Saha), the King of the Brahma 

1 This was Shaky amum s aunt, who part in the scene of Buddha s en- 
took care of him when an infant at trance into the Nirvana, 
the death of his mother. She became 2 De-ivan is "the Devas." Tin is 
a leader in the female propaganda of " Indra." 
Buddhism, and acted a conspicuous 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 215 

heaven (Fan-t ien-icang) also came, with the two great 
Brahmas, Shikhin and Jyotishprabha, and their retinue of 
twenty thousand. There were also eight Dragon kings 
(Nagaraja),, with their retinues, four kings of the Kin- 
naras, four of the Gandharvas, four of the Asuras, and four 
of the Garudas. The son of Waidehi, Ajatashatru king 
of Magadha (Bahar) and father of Ashoka, with a suite of 
inacy thousands, was also there." 

These constitute Buddha s audience while he delivers 
the instructions contained in this Sutra. Most of the 
names, the descriptive passages, and many notices of the 
retinues of the kings, are omitted for brevity. The whole 
account, however, in the Chinese version is one-third 
shorter than in that of the French translator, who has fol 
lowed the Sanscrit text. Kumarajiva did not scruple to 
pare off the redundancies of this and other works that he 
translated, which is perhaps one reason of their permanent 
popularity. 

Two of the principal Hindoo divinities occur in this ex 
tract, Shakra and Brahma. The latter is the first in the 
well-known triumvirate of gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and 
Shiva, or the " Creator," " Preserver," and " Destroyer." 
Here he occupies a humbler position, being merely the 
disciple of Buddha. Shakra or Indra is met with in 
Buddhist legends more frequently than Brahma. In some 
Chinese temples their images are said to form a pair 
among the auditors of Shakyamuni. The Buddist com 
pilation, Fa-yuan-chu-lin, contains an extract from the 
" Central Agama Sutra," where several names by which 
Shakra is commonly known are explained. Indra, his 
most frequent appellation, is a term of office, " Lord " or 
Euler," and as such is translated into Chinese by Ti or 
Chu. It is often applied to others of the chief Devas or 
gods with distinctive names. Two other Brahmas will be 
observed to accompany the chief Brahma. 

The word Ishwara, rendered by tsi-tsai, " self-existent," 
is the term used by missionaries in India for God, in the 



216 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Christian sense. Mr. Wenger s letter, inserted in Dr. 
Legge s Notions of the Chinese concerning God and Spirits, 
says, that this term is applied to Shiva and Vishnu as a 
title of authority ; " but should any other of the innumer 
able devatas be called Ishwara, it would be an unusual 
thing, and call for something like an explanation." In 
the Buddhist passage cited above, the term is applied as a 
distinctive name to two of these devatas, indicating a differ 
ence in the Brahmanical and Buddhist use of the word. 
The commentator on the "Ean-wang Sutra" identifies the 
great Ishwara with Brahma, but this is not authorised by 
the text, and disagrees with common usage, which makes 
them different personages. He adds, " In the whole uni 
verse there is but one king, and this is he." According to 
the Chinese rendering, " Self-existent," the term Ishwara 
strongly resembles the Hebrew name Jehovah. 

The four Maharajas, or "Great kings" of the Devas, 
preside each over one of the four continents into which 
the Hindoos divide the world. Visitors in Chinese 
temples will have noticed two warlike images on each 
side, just within the entering door. They are the Devas 
here alluded to. Each leads an army of spiritual beings 
to protect mankind and Buddhism. At the head of the 
Gandharvas and Vaishajas is Dhritar&shtra, for the Eastern 
continent. The inhabitants of the South, Jambudvipa, 
are protected by Virudhaka with an army of Kubandas. 
In the West, Virupaksha commands an army of " dragons " 
(nagas) and Putanas. In the North, Vaishravana is at 
the head of the Yakshas and Eakshasas. 

The names of various classes of mythological beings are 
sometimes translated, and at other times transferred, in 
Chinese Buddhist works. The " Nagas," from their form, 
are rendered by the word Lung, Dragon. The Apsaras 
are called T ien-nu or " Eemale Devas." The Devas, in 
cluding all the Hindoo gods that are mentioned, whether 
great or small, are called T ien (Heaven). The Kinnaras 
are celestial choristers looking like horses with horned 



GODS ARE DISCIPLES TO BUDDHA. 217 

heads. The Gandharvas are also musicians who play and 
sing for the amusement of the Devas. The Asuras are 
beings of gigantic size, dwelling in solitary woods and 
mountain hollows. They make war with the Devas, and are 
connected with eclipses (vide Hardy s Manual of Buddhism). 
The Garudas are golden- winged birds who are large enough 
to devour the Nagas. Beings inferior to the Devas are 
called collectively the " Eight classes " ( Pa-pu). They are 
called Nats by the Birmese. 

It will be observed that all these beings, including the 
most venerated and powerful of the gods, are introduced as 
disciples of Buddha. The combination of ascetic eminence 
and profound philosophy in Shakyamuni raise him to a 
position higher than any of them. Beings of every rank 
in earth or heaven confess their inferiority to the human 
Buddha by becoming his humble and attentive auditors. 

The Hindoos having become acute metaphysicians, 
thought themselves superior to every being in the uni 
verse. 

Further on in the same work other names occur. The 
Yakshas are a species of demons living in the earth and 
waters, often represented as malignant in their disposition 
towards man. The Mahoragas are the genii of the large 
serpent called in Chinese the Mang. The Eakshasas 
resemble the Yakshas, but they have not the power like 
them to assume any shape at pleasure. When they appear 
to men it must be in their own form. They live in the 
forest of Himala, and feed on the flesh of the dead (vide 
Hardy s Manual of Buddhism}. The " Brahmas " (Fan ; 
formerly Bam or Yarn) are the inhabitants of the heaven 
called " Brahma-loka " (Fan-t ien), over which Fan-t ien- 
wang (Mahabrahma) or the chief Brahma presides. The 
Pretas, in Chinese, kwei, " demon," are the inhabitants of 
the narakas or " subterranean " and " other prisons " called 
ti-yu, "hell." Many of them formerly belonged to the 
world of men. Some are condemned by Yama to certain 
prisons. Others haunt the graves where their former 



2 i8 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

bodies are interred. The Pretas hunger for food, and 
hence the custom so prevalent in China of feeding the 
hungry ghosts both of relatives and of others. The Maras 
are enemies of Buddha s doctrine. On this account they 
are considered as demons, although they inhabit one of 
the Mas or " heavens " of the Hindoo cosmogony. The 
king of the " Maras " (Mo-Jcwei) is called Po-siun and Mo- 
(Ma) wang. The word Mara is explained, " he who kills," 
also " the culprit." The kwei are, in some instances, of a 
good disposition. Among such are reckoned as a Buddhist 
work quoted in the Fa-yuen-chu-lin informs us the sJien 
or "genii" of mountains, seas, and other natural objects. 
The word shen is also used generically for the eight classes 
of beings before mentioned, from the dragons downwards, 
and is very frequently employed by the Buddhists for the 
soul of man, perhaps more than in any other sense. The 
early Buddhist apologists, in pleading for the immortality 
of the soul as a part of the doctrine of metempsychosisi 
constantly used shen for " soul." 

The king of the kwei or " demons " is Yama, in Hindoo 
mythology the ruler of the dead. From his office as judge 
of future punishments, his name constantly occurs in the 
conversation of the common people in China. He is called 
Ten-mo-lo-she (formerly Jam-ma-la-ja), which is abbrevi 
ated to Ten-lo. The usual Hindoo name may be recognised 
in Yen-ma and Yem-ma, which are other designations ap 
plied to him in Chinese books. Jam-ma-raja means the 
" Eoyal pair," a brother and sister, who judge men and 
women respectively. Associated with Yen-lo are nine 
kings who preside together over the state of the dead. 
His image is placed with theirs in temples, accompanied 
with various representations suited to remind the spec 
tator of the world of torment. In the Ti-tsang Sutra, he is 
described as coming from the iron mountain wall where 
the Buddhist hell is situated, to the Tau-li heaven, to hear 
Shakyamuni Buddha deliver a Sutra there. He is classed 
amono- the sons of Devas, and is attended by many thou- 



HINDOO GODS NOT CREATORS. 219 

sand kings of demons. He may be pointed to as the most 
remarkable example of the influence of Hindoo mytho 
logy on the popular mind of China. The common people 
all expect to meet Ten-lo-wang (Yama) after death, and 
be judged by him with the strictest impartiality. They 
believe that he fixes the hour of dissolution, and that the 
decision once made, nothing can alter or postpone it. 

These various beings, when in the Sutras they appear 
before Buddha, perform to him an act of worship, and ask 
for instruction like any other of his auditors. Their power 
is great, but it is surpassed by that of Buddha, and it is 
all employed to extend his fame and doctrines. Their 
authority as rulers of the world is still recognised, but 
Buddhism by a simple stretch of the imagination makes 
a universe a thousand times as large to form tke kingdom 
of Buddha. They promote virtue and the Buddhist re 
ligion. For this they live and rule. The very highest 
acts of deity, such as the creation of all things, or in 
the language of idealism the causation of all sensational 
phenomena, are denied them. The " Central Shastra " 
(Chung-tun) sets out with proving that creation was not the 
act of the great " Self-existent god " (Ishwara Deva), nor 
of the god " Vishnu " ( Ve-nu Deva ; also written Ve-shi- 
nu) ; nor did concourse and commixture, or time, or the 
nature of things, or change, or necessity, or minute atoms, 
cause the creation of the universe. In the Buddhist 
view, these deities are also subject to death, and men 
by certain virtuous acts which are specified, may be born 
at some future period to become their successors. 

Buddhism, while it thus aimed to find some intelligence 
and power higher than those of the popular divinities, failed 
to perceive that the creation and government of the uni 
verse are united in one all-wise eternal mind. It looked 
no further than the wisdom of a human sage, and the in 
nate goodness and self-elevating power of the human mind. 
It gives to the wise man the honour that is due only to G-od. 

In forming an estimate of the extent to which the older 



220 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Hindoo mythology has been spread in China, it should 
be remembered that the Tauists have copied from the 
Buddhist books in the most slavish manner. Some names 
are new, but the majority are adopted without alteration. 
Brahmas, Devas, Asuras, and Maras figure in the writings 
of this native sect. The prayer-books used in chanting 
by the Tauist priests are from beginning to end an imi 
tation of the Buddhist Sutras. By the combined influence 
of these two religions, the Hindoo view of the universe, 
with its numerous classes of beings higher than and inferior 
to man, and its multiplicity of worlds, some for happiness, 
and others for torment, has become the common belief of 
the Chinese people. 

Other Hindoo gods, such as the modern Shiva and Dur- 
ga, llama and Krishna, do not occur, unless concealed 
under names which closer examination may decipher. 
The rise of their worship in India was at too recent a 
date to allow of their being introduced into the early 
Buddhist literature. The unexampled viciousness of the 
recent Hindoo worship would also be an insuperable bar 
to its adoption in China. In the Buddhist books of China 
there is abundance of what is puerile, superstitious, and 
incredible, but nothing openly opposed to good morality. 
In such a country only what is decorous in the images 
and worship of any sect could be tolerated. 

Since neither Vishnu nor Shiva occur among the audi 
tors of Buddha, on occasions when all the chief persons 
in the universe are present, it must be supposed that the 
extended popular worship of both these well-known deities 
was subsequent to the time when the Buddhist books were 
written, and within the Christian era. 



( 221 ) 



CHAPTER XIT. 

THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSE. 

The universe passes through incessant changes Kalpas of various 
lengths Kalpas of establishment, of destruction, &c. Saha 
world Suineru mountain The Southern continent is Jambu- 
dvipa Heaven of the thirty-three Tushita paradise Upper 
tier of paradises Heavens of form and of desire Heavens with 
out form Brahma s paradise No wise man is born there, be 
cause Brahma says he created the universe The hells Story 
from the " Ti-tsang Sutra." 

THE universe, according to the Buddhists, is in a con 
stant state of change. The periods in which its changes 
take place are called Jcalpas (kie-po or Jcie.) Eighty small 
Jcalpas make one large Jcalpa. The inhabitants of the 
Brahma heaven live through twenty small Jcalpas, and 
their chief, Mahabrahma, through sixty. Kalpas are divided 
into the small Jcalpa, the Jcalpa of establishment and de 
struction, and the great Jcalpa. In the small kalpa, the 
age of mankind diminishes from an immeasurable length 
to ten years, and then increases to a length of from ten 
to eighty thousand years. In twenty of such periods the 
world is completed. Through twenty more it remains in 
the same state. After twenty more the world is de 
stroyed, and there remains nothing but vacancy during 
twenty more. The first forty mean Jcalpas make up the 
Jcalpa of establishment. The other forty compose that 
of destruction. All of them taken together form a great 
Jcalpa. We live in the second intermediate Jcalpa, or that 



222 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

in which the world continues in its completed state, in a 
period called the hien kalpa or "Age of wise men " (Maha- 
Ihadra-kalpa. There arte still eleven small kalpas to be 
passed before the age of destruction commences. During 
the " eighth kalpa " (Mandu-kalpa), immediately preced 
ing the present, a hundred Buddhas successively appear. 
Shakyamuni is the fourth Buddha of the Mahdbhadra- 
kalpa. In his time the age of man had already gradually 
diminished to a hundred years, and the same process of 
gradual subtraction by one year at a time is still going 
on. In the centre of the Saha world, or that ruled by 
Shakyamuni, is the Surneru mountain. A wide sea sepa 
rates this from eight other mountains. Outside these 
mountains, beyond another wide sea, is a great circular 
mountain mass of iron. A thousand such circular iron 
mountain chains constitute one " small world " (siau- 
ts ien-slvi-kiai). Three thousand such walls form a "great 
world " (ta-ts ien-shl-kiai). This is the Saha world. 

Within each iron wall are four continents, and a sun 
and moon to shine upon them. It is in the southernmost 
of these continents, Jambudvipa in the case of our own 
world, that India and all countries known to the Hindoos 
are situated. Far to the north is the Sumem moun 
tain, one million one hundred and twenty thousand miles 
high, and whose depth in the sea is equally great. It is 
composed of gold on its east side, of "lapis-lazuli" (lieu-li, 
spelt in full, according to the old pronunciation, le-lu-li 
and le-du-li ; in Sanscrit, vaiduria 1 ) on the south, of 
"crystal" (p o-li, "glass;" in Sanscrit, sp atika) on the 
north, and silver on the west. 

Travelling south from Jambudvipa across the Southern 

1 The d and t in these two Sanscrit K ang-hi, we are told, " the Roman 

words are the cerebral d and, usually empire has glass of five colours," a- 

printed with a clot under them. They ts l in-yeu-wu-se-p l o-li. In Buddhist 

approach the sound of I. The Bud- book,s it means "rock crystal." Why 

dhist dictionary, Yi-ts le-king-yin-i, the aspirate is not preserved in the 

says, that the word p o-li is in its common colloquial term po-li "glass," 

full Sanscrit form, sa-p a-ti-ka. In is not clear. 



HEAVEN OF THE THIRTY-THREE. 223 

ocean, there are three hundred and sixty thousand six 
hundred and sixty-three "yojanas" 1 (yeu-siun) to the cir 
cular mountain mass of iron. This mountain s depth 
in the sea is three hundred and twelve yojanas, and its 
height about the same. Its circumference is three million 
six hundred and ten thousand three hundred and fifty 
yojanas. Each iron-bound world has a Sumeru mountain 
in its centre. Supposing the world to be under the eternal 
law of change sketched above, Buddhist authorities give 
no account of its first origin, not feeling the need of a 
doctrine of creation. The physical causes engaged in its 
periodical formation and destruction are water, wind, 
and fire. These are three of the four elements ti, shui, 
liwo, feng, " earth, water, fire, and air," which are supposed 
to form the basis of all things. They are perhaps to be 
taken in the sense of elemental causes rather than ele 
mental atoms. 

Over and under this world of mountains, seas, and con 
tinents are two others, heaven and hell. Of celestial 
regions there are thirty-two inhabited by the divinities 
of the older Hindoo mythology. Tor the Buddhas and 
Bodhisattwas, peculiar to Buddhism, other abodes are 
found. Among the thirty-two heavenly regions, ten are 
called worlds of desire ; including, among others, the 
heaven of the sun and moon, the heaven of the four 
kings of Devas, and the heaven of the thirty-three or 
paradise of Indra Shakra, who has under him thirty-three 
powerful Devas. There are also the Yama paradise, the 
Tushita paradise, the " Nimala paradise" (Hwa-lo), and 
the paradise of " Paranimita" (T a-hwa-tsi-tsai). 

At the base of the Suineru mountain reside shens, 
"spirits," and Yakshas. Half-way up the mountain is 
the paradise of the Four kings of Devas. On the summit 
is the Tau-li or " Trayastrinsha " (thirty-three) heaven, 

1 There are two kinds of yojana. tance at which the bellowing of a bull 
One consists of four goshalas, the can be heard, or nearly two miles, 
other of eight. A goshala is the dis- 



=24 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

i.e., the paradise of Shakra, king of the gods. The rest 
of these celestial abodes are fixed in vacancy, each as 
high again as the one beneath it. 

The next tier of these paradisiacal regions consists of 
eighteen. They are called heavens of form, denoting that 
the senses are still in activity there, though there is free 
dom from that influence of the passions which is still felt 
in the regions of desire near the world of men. The 
eighteen heavens of form are divided into stages of con 
templation. Three belong to the first, second, and third 
stages, and nine to the fourth. The first stage is appro 
priated to the Brahmas, divided into three classes, the 
(Mahabrahma or) " king," officers of state, and people. 
Each of these classes has a paradise assigned to it. The 
heavens above these have various names compounded of 
the ideas of purity, light, virtue, abstraction, and tran 
quillity. In the highest of them all, Akanit a, resides 
" Maha Ishwara," or Ma-he-shwa-ra. 

The uppermost tier of four, " formless," as they are 
called, derive their names from the notions of vacancy, 
knowledge, destitution of all properties, and negation of 
all thought. 

Of these thirty-two heavens, five are inhabited only by 
sages, twenty-five by sages and common men together, 
and two by common men alone. One of the latter is the 
paradise of Mahabrahma. A wise man can never be born 
in the abode of Brahma, say the Buddhist cosmogonists, 
because that deity, in his ignorance of causes, asserts that 
he can create heaven, earth, and all things. He being so 
arrogant as this, no wise man would go to live in his 
heaven. The other is the paradise of abstraction, where 
those heretics who disbelieve in the Nirvana, but aim to 
gain a state of perfect mental abstraction, will hereafter 
be born. They will there enjoy five hundred years of 
freedom from the sufferings of life in a state of mindless 
vacancy ; but since they will not tread the path of the 
Nirvana, evil desires must afterwards arise, and they must 



THE HELLS. 225 

be born subsequently in hell. No wise man, therefore, 
would willingly go to that heaven. 

One of the higher worlds is assigned for the residence 
of those disciples of Buddha who have attained the rank 
of Anagamins and Lo-hans. Those who are shortly to 
become Buddha are first born into the Tushita paradise. 

Mara, king of the " demons " (mo-Jcwei), resides in the 
space below the Brahma heaven. 

These heavens are peopled by Devas. Men from the 
four continents of our own world may be born into them 
by transmigration into the body of a Deva. The Devas 
are born and die, their bodies are of great stature, they 
wear clothing, have horses and elephants to ride upon, 
marry, eat and drink, and perform many other actions 
resembling mankind. Above the worlds of desire, there 
is no distinction of sexes. 

To become an inhabitant of these worlds is regarded as 
a reward for good actions, for those who have lived pre 
viously in lower states of existence. But it is still a 
punishment when viewed in comparison with the attain 
ment of Nirvana or any of the higher grades of disciple- 
ship under the teaching of Buddha. 

The Buddhist " hells " (in Sanscrit, niliya or nardka), 
the prisons of the lost, are in some cases situated under 
the region inhabited by man. Twenty thousand yojanas 
(280,000 miles) below the Jambu continent is one called 
the Avichi naraka, or the "Hell of unintermitted torments." 
The Yama naraka is half-way between. Others are among 
fabled mountains, or on the shores of a great sea. In 
Chinese books they are called by a common name ti-yu, 
" earth-prisons. " 

In the " Ti-tsang Sutra " is a story of a maiden of the 
Brahman caste, whose mother had been condemned to the 
Wu-Tden ti-yu, or " Avichi naraka." Full of distress, she 
went to a temple to pray for help from an ancient Buddha 
whose image was there adored. In reply to her offerings 
and prayers a voice addressed her that of the Buddha 

p 



226 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

represented by the image. She was told to sit at home 
and meditate on the name of the same Buddha. While 
doing so she fell, after a day thus spent, into a state of 
deep reverie, and found herself on the banks of an ocean. 
Here she saw many beasts of prey with iron bodies, flying 
and walking on the sea. Multitudes of unhappy men and 
women were also swimming there, and were constantly 
bitten by these ferocious animals. The maiden, supported 
by the power of Buddha, did not feel terrified. A demon 
king addressed her kindly, and informed her that she was 
come to the great iron mountain girdle that surrounds 
the world. " I have heard," said the maiden, " that hell 
is here; how can I reach it?" Ans. "Only by spiritual 
power, and of merit self-acquired." Qu. "And who are 
these unhappy criminals suffering in this sea?" Ans. 
" They are the wicked inhabitants of the Jambu continent 
who have recently died. After forty-five days, if no one 
performs any meritorious act for their benefit, they must 
first be transported to this place. Eastward are two other 
seas of misery (k u-kai), where the punishment inflicted 
is still greater." Qu. " But where is hell ?" Ans. " Within 
these three seas there are many thousand prisons, but of 
the larger kind only eighteen." Qu. " My mother died not 
long since; where now is her soul?" The good-hearted 
demon king answered this question by another. Qu. " 
Bodhisattwa, what sort of life did your mother formerly 
lead ?" Ans. " My mother held heretical opinions. She 
ridiculed and slandered the Three treasures (Buddha, 
the Law, and the Priesthood). If she became a believer 
for a time, she soon ceased to honour them." Qu. " What 
was her name ?" Ans. " My father and mother were both 
of the Brahman caste. Their names were Shira and Yetili." 
The demon king, holding up his joined hands respectfully 
to the Bodhisattwa, said, " Holy maiden, return. Dismiss 
all sad thoughts. It is now three days since the sinful 
Yetili was born an inhabitant of paradise. The filial love 
that prompted such acts to save a parent, and such piety 



STORY FROM THE TI-TSANG SUTRA. 227 

towards an ancient Buddha, are sufficient not only to pre 
serve a mother from hell, but also to raise innumerable 
other persons to heaven." The Brahman maiden then 
returned to consciousness as from a dream. Eeflecting on 
what had happened, she visited again the shrine of the 
ancient Buddha, and made a vow that through innumer 
able coming Tcalpas she would perform acts of merit for 
the deliverance from suffering of multitudes of living 
beings. Shakyamuni Buddha added, addressing Manju- 
siri, " That demon king and Brahman maiden have now 
become, the Ts ai-sheu Bodhisattwa and the Ti-tsang 
Bodhisattwa." 

This story must serve instead of a detailed description 
of the Buddhist hells. It will be sufficient to say of them 
that they combine all that is horrible to each of the senses. 
Every form of torment, mental and physical, that can 
befall the unhappy violators of a good conscience and of 
the Buddhist law, are found there. The extremes of cold 
and heat, cutting, flaying, biting, insulting, and tantalising, 
have to be endured by such persons according to their 
deserts. Demons of the most monstrous shapes and most 
cruel dispositions terrify them in every possible way. All 
that fire and water, knives and clubs, can by ingenuity 
be made to do in tormenting, is there done. 

The preceding brief sketch of the " three worlds " (san- 
Tciai) almost all refers to what is common to the other 
native Hindoo sects. Buddhism adopted the national 
belief in regard to the form of the universe, including 
the worlds of reward and punishment. It belongs to all 
forms of Buddhism in China or elsewhere. 

The Northern Buddhists have, however, gone further, 
and framed a much more extensive cosmogony, which 
deserves a separate consideration. 



( 228 ) 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE EXTENDED UNIVERSE OF THE NORTHERN BUDDHISTS. 

Primitive Buddhism aimed at moral improvement and the Nirvana 
Its mythology was of popular growth The Mahayana mytho 
logy was introduced by the metaphysicians of Buddhism itself 
Nagarjuna, the chief inventor Hwa-yen-Jcing An extended 
universe invented to illustrate dogma Ten worlds beyond the 
Saha world in ten different directions New divinities to wor 
ship Amitabha His world in the West Kwan-yin and Ta-shi- 
chi The world of Ach obhya Buddha in the East World of 
Yo-shi Fo, the healing teacher Mercy, wisdom, &c., are sym 
bolised in the Bodhisattwas Wu-t ai shan in China is intro 
duced in the Hwa-y en-king. 

ABOUT four centuries after the time of Shakyamuni, or 
Gautama as he is more commonly called in Birmah and 
Ceylon, a great increase to the Sanscrit literature of the 
Buddhist religion began to be made. Yery little had been 
added to the national mythology by the founder and first 
propagators of this system, except what respected Buddha 
himself. Their aim was to inculcate virtue, encourage the 
ascetic life, and urge persons of all castes and both sexes 
to aim at deliverance from the evils of existence and 
the attainment of the Nirvana. They based their teaching 
on the existing doctrine of metempsychosis, of the gods 
and other classes of beings, and of heaven and hell. 
These had been united from the earliest infancy of the 
Hindoo nation in one system. By the transmigration of 
souls, all in heaven or earth, whether gods, men, demons, 
or inferior animals, are linked together into one chain 
of animated existence, and compose one world. It is the 



MYTHOLOGY WAS OF POPULAR GROWTH. 229 

business of a Buddha and a Bodhisattwa to instruct these 
beings in moral truths, and assist them to escape from all 
the six forms of life, into a state of perfect enlightenment 
and tranquillity. The mythological element, as it existed 
in early Buddhism, was even then an old creation of the 
popular mind that had grown up with the first literary 
efforts of the nation. In this respect it agrees with most 
other mythologies, in the fact of its originating, not in 
philosophical schools, but among the people themselves. 

To this was added a legendary element. Long tales 
were invented to illustrate the great merits and powers 
of Buddha. Tree use was made in these narratives of 
those vast periods of time into which the Hindoos divide 
the past history of the world. The biography of the great 
sage was extended by attributing to him numberless pre 
vious lives. The manner in which, from small beginnings, 
he rose by self-sacrificing and meritorious acts to be lord 
of the world, and " teacher of gods and men " (t ien-jen- 
sln), is minutely recorded. But the scene is not extended 
in any other way. New worlds are not invented in far 
distant space. The writers of these legends, while they 
represent their hero as visiting the celestial regions to 
instruct their inhabitants, or as becoming by transmigra 
tion an inhabitant of those paradisiacal residences for long 
terms of years, do not transgress the limits of the popular 
Hindoo universe. 

The Northern Buddhists, however, about the beginning 
of the Christian era, pushed the bounds of their system 
much further. Men appeared at that time in Northern 
India devoted to metaphysical discussion, who aimed to 
develop to the utmost the principles of Buddhism. 1 In 
adding to the number of Buddhas and Bodhisattwas, they 
felt it necessary to frame new worlds to serve as suitable 
abodes for them. With their peculiar philosophy it was 
easy to do this. Not believing in the existence of the 

1 Vide Burnouf s account of the third Buddhist council held in Cash 
mere, in his Introduction a VEistoire du Buddhisme Indien. 



230 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

world of the senses, there was no more difficulty in admit 
ting to their system an unlimited number of fictitious 
worlds and fictitious Buddhas than in continuing to recog 
nise the universe of their predecessors. They named their 
system Mahayana, Ta-ch eng, or " Great Development." 
Among these teachers the leading mind was Lung-shu, 
or " Nagarjuna," as he is called by the Thibetans. Csoma 
Korosi, cited in Hardy s Manual of Buddhism, says, " With 
Nagarjuna originated what is known in Thibet as the 
Madhyamika system in philosophy. The philosophers in 
India had taught either a perpetual duration or a total 
annihilation with respect to the soul. He chose a middle 
way, hence the name of this sect." The Chinese " Central 
Shastra " (Chung-luri), which bears his name as the author, 
contains this system, and his opinions may therefore be 
regarded as nearly those of the T ien-t ai school, whose 
doctrine is based on that work, and of which Lung-shu 
is consequently regarded as the first founder. 

This circumstance throws light on the objects of Lung- 
shu in composing the Sutras of which he was the author. 
For this school gives a symbolical interpretation to the 
mythology of the Buddhist books. The very popular and 
influential Sutra called Hwa-yen-ldng came from the pen 
of Lung-shu. The Chinese preface to that work says that 
Lung-shu p u-sa, having exhausted the study of all human 
literature, entered the Dragon palace to examine the Bud 
dhist " pitaka " (san-i sang}. He there found three forms 
of the Hwa-yen-ldng. The largest was divided into sec 
tions whose number is expressed by the particles contained 
in a world of dust. The next consisted of twelve hundred 
sections, and the smallest of forty-eight sections. The 
last and least he gave to the world with its present title, 
and he must therefore be regarded as its author. 

This and other works of the Great Development class 
contain a great extension of the mythological element 
of Buddhism. Many new Buddhas and Bodhisattwas 
here appear, distinguished by various high attributes of 



HWA - YEN-KING. 2 3 1 

goodness, knowledge, and magical power. To afford 
room for the display of these attributes, new worlds are 
located at pleasure in the boundless regions of space. 
But the whole of this imaginative creation was probably 
intended by the authors to be symbolical. According 
to the explanation of the T ien-t ai school, and of the 
esoteric Buddhists, the whole of this fictitious universe 
was meant to illustrate certain Buddhist dogmas. It was 
the extreme scepticism of the Buddhist philosophers that 
paved their way to this mode of teaching their system. 
In the T ien-t ai commentary on the Fa-hwa-ldng, the 
symbolical method of interpreting this mythological crea 
tion of the fancy may be seen exemplified. (See Fa-Jiwa- 
Tiwei yi.) 

Some specimens of this mythology will now be given. 

The Hwa-yen-ldng says that, on one occasion, Buddha 
was presiding over an assembly at a place of meeting 
called Aranyaka, in the kingdom of Magadha. He saw 
approaching a multitude of Bodhisattwas from distant 
worlds. They asked to be instructed in regard to the 
" lands where the Buddhas resided." (Fo " cli ah" spelled 
in full in the old pronunciation, ch a-ta-la ; in Sanscrit, 
Jcshttra, "land." 1 ) Buddha accordingly entered on a 
description of the kingdoms of the Buddhas. To the 
east, after passing worlds equal in number to the dust of 
ten of these kingdoms, there is one termed the golden- 
coloured world. The Buddha of " wisdom unmoved" pre 
sides there. Wen-shu (Manjusiri) and a crowd of other 
Bodhisattwas attend his instructions, as he sits on a lion 
dais surrounded by lotus flowers. To the south, west, 
and north, and to the north-east, south-east, south-west, 
and north-west, are other worlds at a distance equally 
great. Towards the zenith and nadir two other worlds 
make up the number ten, each having a governing Buddha, 

1 The dictionary Yi-ts l ie-Ung-yin-i castes, to which belong the royal f ami- 
adds, that this word, used for " land " lies of India, the Kshatryas being 
or " kingdom," is the root of the word Lords of the soil. 
Kshatrya, the second of the four 



232 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

and a countless number of Bodhisattwas, who perform to 
him an act of worship, and humbly receive his instructions. 

The same work also describes the ten worlds that come 
next to the one in which we live, on the east, south, west, 
and north, and the other directions as before. Each of 
them is ruled by a Buddha, to whom prayers are to be 
offered, in which he is to be addressed under ten different 
names. 

The moral import of these worlds and their Buddhas is 
contained in the names that are given them. These names 
are formed symmetrically, and carry the reader and the 
worshipper round a circle of Buddhist ideas. Thus the 
significations of the appellations given to the Buddhas 
are such as surpassing wisdom, self-possessed wisdom, 
Brahmanical wisdom, &c. The leading Bodhisattwas 
receive such denominations as chief in the law, chief in 
merit, chief in visual power, &c. 

It was thus that these Buddhist philosophers employed 
the imagination as an instrument of moral instruction, 
just as western authors write a poem or a novel for a simi 
lar end. They were men whose minds were cultivated to the 
utmost subtlety in argument, as the Shastras, works by the 
same authors, and taken up exclusively with philosophical 
discussions, abundantly show. They did not, therefore, 
believe in the truth of these fanciful creations. Their 
metaphysical creed would prevent it, and there is not 
wanting such indirect evidence to the fact as has been 
already adduced. But what shall be said to the morality 
of such modes of teaching a religion ? These sceptical 
writers cannot be shielded from the charge of practising a 
vast and systematic deception on the common people, in 
inducing them to regard these imaginary beings with reli 
gious reverence. Falsehood is involved in the very form 
of the Buddhist Sutras, for they are attributed unhesi 
tatingly in all their multitudinous variety and voluminous 
extent to Shakyamuni himself. Ananda, the cousin and 
favourite disciple of the sage in his declining years, is put 






AM IT AB HA. 233 

forward as the compiler from memory of all these works. 
The practice of worshipping the divinities introduced in 
these new mythological creations was also directly encour 
aged, and this new idolatry spread with great rapidity 
throughout the countries where Northern Buddhism pre 
vails. 

To illustrate these statements more fully, reference must 
be made to the more popular personages and better-known 
worlds in the new mythology. Among these fabled worlds 
located in distant space, the best known is the paradise of 
Amitabha. In the Wu-liang-sheu-Tcing (Amitabha Sutra), 
Buddha tells a tale of a king in a former kalpa who left 
the world, adopted the monkish life, assumed the name 
Fa-tsang, " Treasure of the law," and became, by his rapid 
growth in knowledge and virtue, a Bodhisattwa. To the 
Buddha who was his teacher he uttered forty- eight wishes, 
having reference to the good he desired to accomplish for 
all living beings, if he should attain the rank of Buddha. 
Ten kalpas since, he received that title with the name 
"Amitabha" (0-mi-to Fo), and now resides in a world far 
in the West, to fulfil his forty-eight wishes for the benefit 
of mankind. Ten million kingdoms of Buddhas separate 
his world from our own. It is composed of gold, silver, 
lapis-lazuli, coral, amber, a stone called ch a-ku, and cor 
nelian. There is there no Sumeru mountain, nor iron 
mountain girdle, nor are there any prisons for punish 
ment. There is no fear of becoming a hungry ghost, or an 
animal by transmigration, for such modes of life are un 
known there. There are all kinds of beautiful flowers, 
which the inhabitants pluck to present as offerings to the 
thousands and millions of Buddhas that reside in other 
parts of space. Birds of the most beautiful plumage sing 
day and night of the five principles of virtue, the five 
sources of moral power, and the seven steps in knowledge. 
The listener is so affected by their music, that he can 
think only of Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood. The 
life-time of this Buddha is without limit, lasting through 



234 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

countless Jcalpas, and therefore he is called "Amitabha" 
(Wu-liang-sheu, "Boundless age"). Two Bodhisattwas 
reside there, anxious to save a multitude of living beings, 
who, with Amitabha, are worshipped assiduously by the 
Northern Buddhists. They are, says the Wu-liang-sheu- 
king, Kwan-shi-yin and Ta-shi-ch i. They radiate light 
over three thousand great worlds. They attained their 
rank by good deeds performed in our own world, and 
were rewarded by birth into the Western paradise of 
Amitabha. 

The Amitabha Sutra, after minutely dilating on this 
paradise, describes nine other worlds at a corresponding 
distance from our own, and occupying, as in the former 
case, the cardinal points and intermediate positions, with 
the zenith and nadir. Ach obhya and other Buddhas 
rule in the East, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, 
each proclaiming the doctrine that instructs and saves to 
the inhabitants of his own kingdom. A similar account is 
given of the other worlds and their Buddhas. 

The two Sutras already cited, together with one called 
Kwan-wu-liang-sheu-king, are entirely occupied with Ami 
tabha and his paradise. These three works form the text 
books of the Tsing-tu school, whose very numerous publica 
tions, suited to the popular taste, and based on the doctrine 
of these Sutras, are very widely disseminated among the 
Chinese people at the present day. 

In the last-mentioned work, Buddha, when seated in 
the midst of his disciples, is said to have poured forth 
from his eyebrows a flood of golden light which shone 
to all the surrounding worlds. This light returning was 
seen by the assembly to form itself into a golden tower 
on Buddha s head. It was like the Sumeru mountain, 
and by its splendour many kingdoms of Buddhas were 
revealed to view. One was constructed of the Seven pre 
cious stones and metals, another of lotus flowers, another 
was like the palace of Ishwara, another like a crystal 
mirror. A disciple, struck by this magnificent display, 



WORLD OF YO-SHI FO. 235 

expressed a desire to be born in the Western heaven, and 
Buddha told him how he might have his desire gratified. 
This is an example of the manner in which the inventors 
of this mythology intended, by scenes of vastness and 
splendour, to affect the reader s or listener s mind. Feel 
ings favourable to the influence of Buddhist ideas were 
thus to be called into action. 

Another of these creations which has gained consider 
able notoriety is a world in the East ruled by Yo-stii Fo 
(Bhaishajyaguru Buddha). There intervene between that 
world and ours, kingdoms of Buddhas to the number of ten 
times the sands of the Ganges. This personage, when he 
was a Bodhisattwa, uttered twelve great wishes for the 
benefit of living beings, including the removal of various 
bodily and mental calamities from those who are afflicted 
with them, and the lengthening of their life. Hence his 
name, "The healing Teacher." In attendance on him 
are two leading Bodhisattwas, whose names, Ji-kwang- 
pien-chau, and Tue-Tcwang-pien-chau, signify the "Far- 
shining light of the sun" and "of the moon." The world in 
which he resides is composed of lapis-lazuli, its walls and 
palaces of the seven precious stones and metals, its streets 
of gold, thus resembling, as is observed by the author of 
the Yo-slii-~king, the Ki-lo-sh/i-kiai, or " Paradise of Amita- 
bha." He is worshipped as a deity who removes suffer 
ings and lengthens life, and is in fact the symbol of these 
ideas. While many of the fabulous beings introduced in 
the literature of Northern Buddhism have no image or 
shrine in the temples of the present day, Yo-shi Fo is one 
of those who are very seldom omitted in the arrangement 
of these edifices. 

The freedom of imagination in creating new worlds 
and new deities, in which the authors of this literature 
indulged, would naturally lead to incongruities. Newly- 
invented worlds would be located in regions already ap 
propriated by previous writers. In the Fa-hwa-Tcing, a 
circle of eight worlds, with two Buddhas to each, is de- 



236 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

scribed. Amitabha and Ach obhya occur in the west and 
east respectively, the account agreeing in this respect 
with that in the Amitabha Sutra, but the other names 
do not harmonise ; so that in several cases new Buddhas 
are imagined in regions preoccupied by those created at 
an earlier date. 

Accounts of many more of these fancied worlds might 
be collected from other works. For example, in the Pei- 
hwa-king, one in the south-east with its Buddha, is de 
scribed with minuteness. 

The symbolical character of this mythology is seen very 
clearly in the attributes of the Bodhisattwas, who play in 
it such an important part, and who are the objects of such 
extended popular worship in the Buddhist countries of 
the North. In Kwan-yin, mercy is symbolised ; wisdom, in 
Wen-shu ; and happiness, in P u-hien. To the philosophic 
Buddhists, these personages, with Amitabha, Yo-shi Fo 
and the others are nothing but signs of ideas. The unin- 
structed Buddhists believe in their real existence, but all 
the evidence goes to show that they were invented by the 
former class of Buddhists, and palmed upon the people 
by them as real beings proper to be worshipped. 

A near parallel to this is the setting up of the image of 
Reason to be popularly adored, by the atheists of the first 
French revolution. If, as some think, the pantheism of 
Germany will, according to the common law of progress 
in human perversity, result in polytheism, we have here 
an example of the way in which such a new idolatry will 
possibly be introduced. 

I append here some further account of Manjusiri, the 
Bodhisattwa honoured at Wu-t ai shan in North China. 

These notices will also show how in the expansion of 
the mythology which we meet with in the Sutras of the 
Great Development, even China is made one of the coun 
tries, and Wu-t ai one of the mountains, where Buddha 
delivered discourses. 

We learn from the Mongol account of "Wu-t ai, that 



WU-T AI SHAN. 237 

Manjusiri is addressed in prayer as the enlightener of the 
world. His wisdom is perfect, and is symbolised by the 
sword he holds in his right hand; because his intellect 
pierces the deepest recesses of Buddhist thought, and cuts 
knots which cannot otherwise be solved. 

He is also represented as holding in his hand a volume 
of Buddha s teaching, of which a flower is the symbol. He 
is styled also the lamp of wisdom and of supernatural 
power. 

He is said to drive away falsehood and ignorance from 
the minds of all living beings, and on this ground the 
lama who compiles the books prays to him for knowledge 
in reverential terms. 

The Hiva-yen-king, called in Mongol Olanggi sodar, is 
cited in this work as recording an assembly of numberless 
Bodhisattwas at Wu-t f ai, among whom Manjusiri is con 
spicuous in power and in honour. To faithful Buddhists, 
the mention, in a discourse of Buddha, of a Chinese moun 
tain, is evidence of the superhuman knowledge of the sage. 
But as we know that Nagarjuna was the real writer of this 
work, we look upon it rather as proof that the geography 
of China was known to the translators of the works of this 
copious author, and that they lived in a time when this 
mountain had already become a favourite abode of the 
devotees of this religion in that country. 

In another book quoted by the author, Manjusiri is in 
formed by Buddha, that it is his duty to seek the instruc 
tion and salvation of the Chinese by making his home at 
Wu-t ai, and there causing the wheel of the law to revolve 
incessantly on the five mountains of the five different 
colours, and crowned by five variously-shaped pagodas. 

The lotus will not grow at Wu-t ai. It is too cold. 
How shall Manjusiri be born from its ample couch of 
leaves ? The magical power of Buddha causes a lotus to 
grow from the seed of a certain tree. Thus he was with 
out father or mother, and was not stained with the "pollu 
tion of the common world " (prchilang). 



238 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

The legend of Manjusiri at Wu-t ai seemed to require the 
authority of Buddha. The translators of the Mahayana 
Sutras in the T ang dynasty in order to supply this want 
did not scruple to insert what they pleased in their 
translations. Certainly Wu-t ai was not a Buddhist esta 
blishment till some centuries after Nagarjuna. If some 
Sanscrit scholar would consult the Nepaulese Hwa-yen- 
king, he would probably find nothing there about Wu-t ai 
shan. It would be curious to note what the original 
says in those passages where China is introduced by the 
translators. 



239 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

BUDDHIST IMAGES AND IMAGE WORSHIP. 

Temples Entering hall, S i-ta-tien-wang These four kings described 
The laughing Buddha, Mi-li Fo Behind him, Wei-to Chief 

hall Ta-hiung-pau-tien Shakyamuni Ananda Kashiapa 

Kwan-yin, Wen-shu, and other Bodhisattwas Buddha repre 
sented as teaching Buddha of the past, present, and future- 
Chapels to 0-mi-to Fo, Ti-tsang, and the Ten kings Repre- 

sentation of the eight miseries from which Kwan-yin delivers 

Temples in Ceylon Images in temples near Peking Tan-cho- 
61 snake Pi-yun-si Hall of Lo-hans Diamond throne of 
Buddha Colossal images of Maitreya Musical instruments- 
Reflections. 

THE temples of the Buddhists, like other Chinese struc 
tures, usually look south. Their architecture also is simi 
lar. Temples cut in rock, like those of the same religion 
in India and Java, are not found. In natural caves, how 
ever, and on hill sides images are sometimes cut from the 
stone. Temples consist of several halls and chapels called 
by a common name, tien. In the " entering hall " (s i-i ien 
wang-tieri), two colossal wooden statues meet the eye on 
each side. These are the Maharajas, or " Four great kings 
of Devas," or S i-ta-tien-wang. 

The Sanscrit names are explained: " Vaishramana " 
(Pi-sha-men), " He who has heard much; " Dhritarashtra " 
(T i-to-lo-to), " Protector of kingdoms; " " Virudhaka " (Pi- 
leu-le-cha), "Increased grandeur; "and Virupaksha (Pi- 
lieu-pa-cha), "Large eyes." They are called in Chinese 
To-wen, Ch ^-Jcwo, Tseng-chang, and Kwang-mu. 

They govern the continents lying in the direction of the 
four cardinal points from Mount Sumeru, the supposed 
centre of the world. 



240 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

In the Kin-kwang-ming-king, they are described as 
actively interfering in the affairs of the world. When 
kings and nations neglect the law of Buddha, they with 
draw their protection. They bestow all kinds of happi 
ness on those that honour the San-pau (Three treasures), 
viz., Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood. 

Properly they are all warlike, but as seen in temples 
they are dressed in different modes. He of the South holds 
a sword. He has a black countenance and ferocious ex 
pression. The others have blue, red, and white faces. One 
holds in his hands a "guitar" (p i-pa), at the sound of 
which all the world begins to listen, or, as some say, the 
camps of his enemies take fire. Another has an umbrella 
in his hand, at the elevation of which a violent storm of 
thunder and rain commences; or, according to others, 
universal darkness ensues. Another holds in his hand a 
snake, or some other animal hostile to man, but by his 
power made submissive and instrumental to the wishes of 
its conqueror. 

Between them and the south wall are sometimes placed 
two figures in military attire and with fierce countenances, 
called Heng - Ho -er-t slang , "the two generals Heng and 
Ho." 

In the same building, opposite the door, is usually an 
image of Maitreya Buddha" (Mi-li F6), or the Buddha 
to come. The Sanscrit name, Maitreya, means the " Merci 
ful one." He is always represented as very stout, with the 
breast and upper abdomen exposed to view. His face 
has a laughing expression. After three thousand years he 
will appear in the world and open a new era. 

An image of Kwan-fu-ts i the Chinese deified hero, in 
his capacity as protector of the Buddhist religion, is also 
sometimes placed in this hall on one side of the north 
door. Behind Maitreya is the image of Wei-to, a Deva 
who is stiled Hu-fa-wei-to, or the " Deva who protects the 
Buddhist religion." He is represented clad in complete 
armour and holds a sceptre-shaped weapon of assault 



TA-H1UNG-PA U-TIEN. 2 4 1 

usually resting on the ground. He is general under the 
Pour kings. 

The shrine in which these two idols are placed forms a 
screen to a door behind, which opens into the court or 
the " Great hall " called Ta-Jiiung-pau-tien. This is ap 
propriated to the images of Shakyamuni Buddha and a 
select number of his disciples. He is represented in an 
attitude of contemplation, sitting on a lotus-leaf dais ; 
Ananda, a young-looking figure, and Kashiapa, an old man, 
are placed on his right and left. On the east and west 
sides of the hall are arranged eighteen figures of " Arhans " 
(Lo-hans). They are represented as possessing various 
kinds of supernatural power, symbolised in some instances 
by wild animals crouching submissively beside them. 
They listen to Buddha, some with thoughtfulness, some 
with pleasure. Along the north wall are often to be seen 
the images of Jan-teng, an ancient Buddha, and of six 
Bodhisattwas and disciples of Shakyamuni, viz., Kwan-yin, 
P u-hien, Shi-chi, Wen-shu,Shariputra,and Maudgalyayana. 
This is the arrangement at the Kwang-fu-si, the princi 
pal monastery in Shanghai. Wen-shu and P u-hien often 
take the right and left of the central Buddha. Be 
hind the three central images, and looking northwards, is 
usually placed an image of Kwan-yin with rock, cloud, and 
ocean scenery rudely carved in wood and gaudily painted. 
This Bodhisattwa,with Wen-shu and Fu-hien, is sometimes 
placed in front, as at Lung-hwa, near Shanghai, Kwan-yin 
occupying the centre, immediately behind Shakyamuni, 
who then sits alone on his dais in the midst of the hall. 
This hall, the highest and largest building in the whole 
monastery, takes its name from one of Buddha s titles, 
Ta-Mung, or " Great hero "in Sanscrit, Virali with the 
addition of the word pau, " precious." 

The image of Kwan-yin has several forms corresponding 
to the various metamorphoses which he or she assumes. 
Two of the commonest are those of the Northern and 
Southern sea. In the large cloud-and-water picture in 

Q 



242 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

alto-relievo, of which he so often forms the principal figure, 
several smaller personages are added to lend variety to the 
scene. The Four kings of Devas are occasionally employed 
for this purpose, and still more frequently a female figure, 
Lung-nu, "Daughter of the Dragon king," and a youth 
called Shan-tsai, who form interlocutors in some of the 
Sutras. Another metamorphosis of Kwan-yin is repre 
sented in a female figure, holding in her arms a child. It 
is in reference to this image that a parallel has often been 
instituted between Kwan-yin and the Virgin Mary. A 
stranger who did not take notice of minute peculiarities 
in dress, would very naturally have the idea of similarity 
presented to him, and mistake the child which the goddess 
presents to mothers praying for posterity, for the infant 
Saviour. It is in part from such resemblances that Hue 
has adopted the hypothesis that the modern form of Bud 
dhism in Thibet arose from a mixture of Christianity 
with that religion. Sometimes Kwan-yin appears with a 
thousand hands, symbolising his desire to save all man 
kind. 

The interval between the hall of the Four great kings 
of the Devas, and that of Shakyamuni, is occasionally 
occupied by another hall. Kwan-yin of the Southern sea 
may be seen here pictured with his usual attendants. Be 
hind, looking northwards, is often found a scene in honour 
of Ti-tsang Bodhisattwa. He is surrounded with cloud 
and rock carving, on the abutments of which are seen the 
ten kings of hell. They all listen to the instructions of 
this Bodhisattwa, who seeks to save mankind from the 
punishments over the infliction of which they preside. 
The Hindoo god "Yama" (Yen-lo-wang) is the fifth of 
them. Sometimes in this intermediate space there is a 
structure called the hall of the Lo-hans, where are found 
on the east and west walls, small carved figures of the five 
hundred Arhans of Buddhist legends. They are placed on 
the protuberances of a rough alto-relievo scene such as 
those above described. In other instances this repre- 



ANANDA, KASHIAPA, 6-c. 243 

sentation of the five hundred Arhans is placed over the 
more powerful and better known eighteen Arhans in the 
hall of Shakyamuni. 

In the central hall, representatives of all the four ranks 
above the range of the metempsychosis are found, as will 
be seen from the preceding details. Disciples of the lower 
ranks, who are, however, delivered from the world of life 
and death, and are called slieng-wen, " listeners," are repre 
sented in Ananda and Kashiapa ; the one holding a writ 
ten scroll emblematic of his great work, the compilation 
of the Sutras ; the other resting on a staff, the symbol of 
his office, as successor of Buddha in the patriarchate. 
They are bareheaded and close shaved. The "Arhans" 
(A-lo-han), eighteen in number, speak for themselves as 
to the extraordinary power, knowledge, and gratification 
which they have gained through listening to the teaching 
of Buddha, by their attitudes as conquerors of evil, and 
defenders of good, and by the expression of intelligence 
and pleasure which the artist has attempted to depict on 
their countenances. The rank above this, that of Bodhi- 
sattwa, uniting great knowledge and power with strong 
desire to save those beings who are still involved in the 
metempsychosis, is represented in Wen-shu and P u-hien 
wearing crowns gilt and ornamented in the lotus-leaf shape. 
To the highest rank of all in wisdom and power, that of 
Buddha, belong Shakyamuni, and his instructor in a for 
mer life, Jan-teng. They have short curly hair formed of 
shells, and painted a dark blue. Devas sometimes appear 
there, e.g., "Brahma" (Fan-Men) and "Shakra" (Ti-shik), 
who in some temples make two of six auditors of Buddha, 
the others being Ananda and Kashiapa, P u-hien and 
Wenshu. 

As the principal hall is appropriated to the four highest 
classes of beings recognised by Buddhism, so the hall of 
the Four Diamond kings, or kings of the Devas, contains 
the images of those beings still involved in the wheel of 
the metempsychosis, so far as they are considered by the 



244 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Buddhists as proper to be worshipped. Wei-to and the 
Four kings with their attendants all belong to the class of 
Devas or inhabitants of heaven. The presence of Maitreya 
there may be accounted for by the fact, that he as the pre 
dicted successor of Shakyamuni in the office of Buddha, 
now resides in the Tushita paradise, from which at the 
appointed time he will descend to the earth, to assume the 
duties assigned him. He is not yet therefore exempt from 
the metempsychosis. 

In the monasteries of Ceylon, a small temple termed 
Dewala is placed before the chief building, and dedicated 
to the worship of the Devas (vide Hardy s Eastern MonacJi- 
ism). Thus in both cases, the visitor arrives first at the 
hall where the metempsychosis still prevails, and after 
wards passes on to the abode of the Buddhas and Bodhi- 
sattwas. 

Looking at the arrangements of these two parts of a 
Buddhist temple from another point of view, the large 
central hall already described is intended to symbolise 
Buddha giving his instructions to an assembly of disciples, 
while the leading idea of the entering hall is the repre 
sentation of the powerful protection by celestial beings 
enjoyed by the Buddhist religion and its professors. In 
some large temples, Wei-to, and a king of the Devas, hold 
ing a pagoda in his hand, stand with the usual figures on 
the right and left of Shakyamuni. Twenty Devas, ten on 
each side, are also sometimes placed at the south end of 
the two rows of Arhans that line the eastern and western 
walls. This accords with the descriptions given in the 
Sutras of the audience gathered round Buddha on remark 
able occasions, when the inhabitants of the various celes 
tial mansions hold a conspicuous position among the crowd 
of his disciples. The carrying out of this thought is 
doubtless the prevailing aim in the choice of personages, 
attitudes, dress, and positions, and all is in agreement with 
the " Developed " Sutras or those of the Mahayana class 
used by the Northern Buddhists. 



CHAPELS TO O-MI-TO FO, TI-TSANG, d-c. 245 

Exceptions to this rule occur. For example, figures 
illustrating the thirty-two points of personal beauty be 
longing to Buddha are in some temples placed where the 
Arhans are usually found. So also, in large temples, in 
stead of the two disciples on each side of Julai, are two 
other figures of Buddha, representing the future and the 
past, as the central one does the present. The three 
images are much alike, and each of them wears the close- 
fitting skull-cap of painted shells which is always appro 
priated to Buddha. 

Tacts of this latter class point to another aim as influ 
encing the arrangement of the figures, that of presenting 
to the mind of the visitor a picture of the conception of 
Buddha, in its most expanded form, each image exhibiting 
a distinct feature of the ideal whole to the contemplation 
of the worshipper. This principle of arrangement is, how 
ever, followed much less frequently than the former. 

The idea of celestial protection as prevailing in the 
arrangement of the entering hall, has already been illus 
trated in the description of the Four kings and of Wei-to. 
It may be further observed, that the beings called K ia-lan 
(Ga-lam) or protectors of the " monasteries " (sangharama), 
viz., Kwan-ti, the god of war, and others, are placed here 
in vacant spaces, as in a suitable spot. 

The other " chapels " (tien) or halls are erected on the 
side of or behind the central structure. They are appro 
priated to Yo-shi Fo, 0-mi-to Fo, Ti-tsang p u-sa, and the 
ten kings of hell. Other names occur, such as the hall 
of the thousand Buddhas, &c., but these are the most 
common. 

In some instances, as for example in the Kwan-yin- 
tien, there are two images, one light enough to be carried 
in a sedan chair for processions, another larger for daily 
worship. Kwan-yin is sometimes represented in eight 
metamorphoses, assumed for the purpose of saving men 
from eight kinds of suffering. Shipwrecked sailors, in 
one part of the carving, are seen reaching the shore. In 



24 6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

another some traveller escapes from a wild beast. The 
deliverer Kwan-yin stands by. In a scene of this kind, the 
image of this divinity is thus repeated eight times, besides 
the larger one in the centre. The whole is called Pa-nan 
Kwan-yin, " the Kwan-yin of eight kinds of suffering." 

Kwan-yin is also occasionally found in a subordinate 
position, as one of the two supporters of " Amitabha Bud 
dha" (0-mi-to Fo), Shi-chi being the other. They are 
called together the three sages of the west. 0-mi-to is 
also called Tsie-yin Fo, or the " Buddha who receives suffer 
ing mortals to the rest of the Western paradise over which 
he presides, and to which he guides them." 

The usual right and left supporters of Yo-shi To, the 
Buddha of the East, are Yo-tsang p u-sa and Yo-wang 
p u-sa. These preside over medicine, but the jurisdiction 
of the Buddha himself is not limited to healing ; it includes 
all kinds of calamity. He is sometimes represented like 
Shakyamuni with three images, denoting the past, present, 
and future. 

Ti-tsang is often attended by the ten kings of hell, from 
whose punishments he seeks to save mankind. All of 
them, except Yama, have Chinese names. Some of them 
point to particular localities, as Pien-ch eng, or the city 
of K ai-feng fu. T ai-shan is a mountain of Shan-tung. 
Others refer to attributes, as p ing-teng, "even," chuen-lun, 
the " turner of the wheel (of doctrine)." Criminals receiv 
ing punishments and attendants are also represented by 
small earthen or wooden figures. The ten kings all stand 
when in the presence of Ti-tsang p u-sa; but if Tung- 
ngo-ti-kiiin, a Tauist divinity, presides, they may sit, he 
being little superior to them in rank. Most of the names 
of these ten kings are of Chinese origin and not many 
centuries old. 

Ti-tsang is represented by the priests as the son of a 
king of sTam. He has a full round countenance of mild 
aspect, with a lotus-leaf crown, the usual head furniture 
of a Bodhisattwa. 



THE GOD OF WEALTH. 247 

The figures on his right and left are sometimes Muh- 
kien-lien and P ang-ku-sh i, disciples of Shakyamuni Bud 
dha. Elsewhere Min-kung and Min-tsi take this position. 
The former was a Chinese who gave the land at Kieu-hwa, 
the hill some miles west of Nanking, on which is erected 
a large monastery in honour of Ti-tsang. Min-tsi is his 
son. Two other disciples, who act as " servants " of the 
Bodhisattwa (shi-chc), are also represented by two other 
smaller figures. 

The idols called P u-sa sit when in their own shrines, 
but if in the presence of Buddha they stand. 

Tauist idols are numerously employed in the Buddhist 
temples. Kwan-ti, Lung-wang, and Hwa-kwang have been 
formally adopted by the sect as protecting divinities. 
Several of a medical character are also extensively made 
use of, obviously to attract those who in time of sickness 
seek aid from supernatural sources. Diseases of the eye, 
ulcers, the small-pox, and bodily ailments in general are 
assigned to the care of various heavenly beings, and the 
sick in large numbers seek their assistance. "He who 
presides over riches," Ts ai-shen, whose popularity is un 
rivalled among all the Chinese divinities, has also a shrine 
bestowed on him. There are also many others, such as 
San-kwan, Yu-ti, &c., which, as properly belonging to 
Tauism, will not be described here. 

Celebrated Chinese Buddhists have also images where 
the arrangements of a temple are complete. That of 
" Bodhidharma " (Ta-mo ch u-sk i) is frequently met with 
in temples where priests of the tsung-men reside, as also 
that of the founder of the monastery. 

According to the explanations of the philosophic Bud 
dhists, the principle of arrangement and the use of idols 
at all must be viewed as symbolical, as already remarked. 
When the worshipper enters he is met with the idea of 
" protection " from celestial beings. As he advances into 
the presence of Buddha, he sees in his image " intelligence," 
the fruit of long and thoughtful contemplation. In the 



243 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Bodhisattwas are exhibited " knowledge and mercy " com 
bined. In the Arhans he sees those who have become 
" venerable " by years, wisdom, and a long course of as 
ceticism. In the sheng-wen, the bareheaded "disciple," 
he sees the first step in progress towards the Nirvana, the 
introduction to the other three. When he bows before 
these images, and makes his offering of incense, candles, 
and gilt paper, this also is a symbol. It only means the 
reverence with which he receives the instructions of Bud 
dhism. 

The common people, however, as happens in Christian 
countries where the worship of images prevails, see in each 
idol a powerful divinity, and losing sight of the moral and 
intellectual objects of the system, pray to be freed from 
sickness, poverty, childlessness, an early death, and other 
dreaded evils. Such a faith in the objects of their idola 
try is of course encouraged to the utmost by the priests, 
whose prosperity depends upon the number of the wor 
shippers. 

In April 1858, I visited at Galle, in Ceylon, two Bud 
dhist temples. The image of Buddha is remarkably like 
what it is in China. The skull-cap, the posture, and 
the form of the body are the same. It is made of mud 
and gilt in the same manner. Three Buddhas were 
represented, and they were all called Godam and Shakya- 
muni. The disciples were Mogallana, Shariputra, Ea- 
hula, Ananda, and Kashiapa. The last two of these do 
not, as in China, occupy the nearest place to Buddha. 
Brahma and Vishnu were the kings of the Devas repre 
sented. 

I noticed a pictorial representation of heaven and hell, 
and I know not what more, upon the four faces of a square 
screen that completely surrounded Buddha s image. On 
the inside face of the screen were images of Vishnu and 
Brahma, with other Devas. A Garuda attended Vishnu. 

Beside the smaller temple was a stupa or " tomb" of Bud 
dha. It was a handsome circular mausoleum, apparently 



TEMPLES IN CEYLON. 249 

of stone, twelve or fourteen feet in height. In China this 
would be a pagoda, 

In the series of painted tableaux, hell was on the left, 
and heaven on the right. Heaven was also on the back 
of the screen. 

Beside each temple lives a priest in a yellow kasha, 
with his pupils, whom he teaches to read. Fresh flowers 
of the strongest odours are constantly placed in abundance 
on the altar before Buddha, There were also oil lamps, 
which were not lit. Both temples were on an eminence 
in secluded spots and encircled by trees. 

A few cottages of the Singhalese were near. They 
looked wretchedly poor. 

A friend with me from Siam, Mr. Alabaster, informed 
me that the temples in Ceylon are entirely different in 
appearance from what they are in Siam. The following 
is the arrangement of the images in a temple at the 
Western hills near Peking. In the centre, Shakyamuni ; 
on his right, Kwan-yin; on his left, Shi-chi. In front 
there are three large fans (a cylindrical cloth is so called), 
embroidered with inscriptions, hanging from the roof- 
beams. The dais on which are the three images is sup 
ported by lions, elephants, and griffins. The horse-shoe 
shaped aureole which encircles Buddha s head is carved 
with winged monsters and warriors. 

Paper rubbings of the sixteen Lohans from Hang-cheu 
hang on the side walls. These are celebrated as having 
been carved in the T ang dynasty. They were made 
eighteen at a later period. The sixteen were Hindoo, and 
there are Sanscrit characters on the fifth in order. The 
addition of two is due to Chinese love of change, originat 
ing with we do not know whom. 

If the observer is reminded in the carved entablatures 
of stone pagodas of old date, that there is a resemblance 
to Greek and Eoman sculpture, let him meditate on the 
idea that Alexander s conquest of Persia and invasions of 
India was a signal for a host of new thoughts to originate 



250 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

in the countries conquered. Stone sculpture may have 
come in this way into India, and elevated the ruder art 
there prevailing. 

In Peking and its neighbourhood metal images are not 
uncommon. Shakyamuni and the two favourite disciples 
who usually accompany him are sometimes seen made of 
copper or white copper, about six feet high, with hanging 
bands of yellow cloth suspended in front of them. To 
these bands small bells are attached, which ring when 
shaken with the wind, or when touched by the priests or 
by visitors coming forward to burn incense. 

In North China it is also common to see pictures of 
Buddhist subjects painted more or less rudely on the 
walls of the halls where the images are seen. 

One of the forms, as said already, in which the goddess 
of mercy is adored is as the " Kwan-yin of the eight 
misfortunes " which attend unprotected travellers. In 
painting them on walls travellers are seen, for example, 
on a mountain attacked by robbers, who draw their bows at 
their intended victims. Just at this moment the goddess 
and her attendant appear in the air, and save the travel 
lers by rendering them invisible. This is accomplished 
by pouring a fluid from a bottle which becomes a cloud in 
its descent, and intervenes between the travellers and the 
banditti. 

In the monasteries in North China are sometimes found 
a tooth of Buddha, or some other relic. One tooth I saw 
at the temple called Teu-shwai-si was two inches and a 
half thick and ten by thirteen in width. Relics are kept 
in bottles and shown to visitors. 

In the T ang dynasty a vast number of temples and 
pagodas were erected. It became the fashion then, under 
the influence of the superstition of feng-shui, which came 
into vogue in the time of that dynasty, to build pagodas for 
luck as well as to contain relics. The pagoda of T ien- 
ning-si, near Peking, on the south-west, and dating from 
the Sui dynasty, must have been then in the old city. The 



INTERIOR OF IMAGES. 251 

Pa-li-chwang pagoda would be a feng-shui protector on 
the north of the ancient city. On both these pagodas, 
which are strongly built of stone, there are carved Buddhas 
and Deva kings on large entablatures. The former and 
older of these pagodas grows narrower as it rises. The 
other is almost as wide above as below. 

The Peking custom in making large images, whether 
they are of brass, iron, wood, or clay, is to construct them 
with the internal organs as complete as possible. While 
the smaller images are filled with Thibetan incense or 
cotton wool, the larger have the interior arranged accord 
ing to Chinese notions of anatomy. The heads are always 
empty. The chief viscera of the chest and abdomen are 
always represented. They are of silk or satin, and their 
shape is that found in drawings of the organs in native 
medical works. A round red piece of silk represents the 
heart, whose element is fire. It is the size of a dollar. It 
and the lungs, which are white, and divided into three 
lobes, are attached to a piece of wood, round which is 
wound a piece of yellow paper, having on it a Thibetan 
prayer. To the wood is attached, by silk threads of five 
colours, a metallic mirror called ming-king. This repre 
sents intelligence, the heart being regarded as the seat of 
mind. The lungs cover the heart as an umbrella or lid, as 
if to preserve it from injury. 

In the abdomen the intestines are made of long narrow 
pieces of silk with cotton wool stitched along the concave 
border. This may represent fat or the mesentery. Em 
bracing all, like the peritoneum, is a large piece of silk 
covered with prayers or charms. Inside are also to be 
found little bags containing the five kinds of grain, with 
pearls, jade, small ingots of silver, and gold of five canda- 
reens weight, and bits of solder of various shapes to repre 
sent silver. 

The larger and older idols have, in very many cases, 
been rifled of these little valuables, no one knows when. 
Poor priests in want of money, if the fear of sacrilege is 



252 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

not strong in their minds, know where to get help, so that 
idols, in the interior of which gold and silver were once de 
posited, have now none. In the metallic images, the way 
to get to the inside is from the bottom. As they are very 
heavy, they have usually escaped being robbed. But the 
clay and wooden images are packed from a hole in the 
back, and are more liable to thievish depredation. 

When the idols are set up there is a ceremony of conse 
cration. The priests prostrate themselves before them, 
and a film of clay or some other substance is cleared away 
from the eyes of the idols. It is called the ceremony of 
opening to the light, and the day is spoken of as k ai- 



I am indebted to Dr. Dudgeon for the preceding state 
ment of the contents of Buddhist images in Peking. 

The richest temple at the Western hills near Peking 
is that called Tan-cho-si. It has a revenue of twelve 
thousand taels of silver a year. This is between three and 
four thousand pounds. In 1866 I arrived there one even 
ing with some friends and slept in a guest room. At the 
evening service there were about forty priests performing. 
In addition to chanting they struck the wooden fish, 
clashed cymbals together, and had several other kinds of 
simple instruments. At the end of the service they all 
walked in single file round the hall twice behind the 
images. The reason why the three principal images in 
front of the great central door are placed with a space be 
hind them is, that a procession behind may be practicable. 
It is also convenient to have a door there, and in front of 
the door an image or picture, which is, consequently, at 
the back of the three principal idols. 

In u box given a century ago to this monastery by the 
emperor, and placed near the western wall of the large 
hall, is a snake two feet long. Beside it is a porcelain tray 
of fresh water. When a rap on the box is given by the 
attendant priest, the snake moves its tongue out about 
half an mch, vibrating it in token of reverence and 



TAN-CHO-SI SNAKE. 253 

submission. It takes nothing but water. So the priest 
assured us. If we are to believe him, it had been there 
for two thousand years. The snake is not worshipped as 
a divinity, but rather represents the power of Buddha 
in charming and taming a savage nature. It was a snake 
with brown body and black spots, and its head was small. 
The power of Buddha keeps the animal in subjection. 
That is the theory. If the snake goes out of the box, 
as it does occasionally to take an airing, it returns to it as 
to its home. 

We also saw a structure called the Leng-yen-t an. It has 
eight sides, and is used as an altar to represent in its 
carved ornaments the scenes of the Leng- yen-king. The 
central ngure is what is called a Pratyeka Buddha. Eound 
it on the eight sides are carved eight representatives of 
Shakyamuni. Above them are crowns of flowers. Sin 
gularly enough there are placed here six Portuguese 
sailors, with iron cuirasses and broad-brimmed hats, in 
European fashion. Each of them kneels on one knee, and 
holds up with both hands an offering to Buddha. They 
are small iron figures, made in the time of the Ming 
dynasty, and are called Si-yang-jen. This is the name by 
which the Portuguese are known in China. 

There is behind the Leng-yen-t l an an altar for receiving 
new monks to the vows, that is, a Kiai-t an, consisting of 
two stories. On the upper story or terrace are arranged 
chairs for the abbot and his assessors. The abbot sits on 
the central chair, and six monks on each side. The neophyte 
kneels with his face toward the " abbot " or fang-chang, 
from whom he is separated by a table. The rules are read 
by the abbot while the neophyte kneels. 

T an also belongs to the school of the " Vinaya" or Lu-men. 

There had been a storm of rain, and we were invited by 
a friendly priest to go and see the foaming and dashing 
water near the great gate of the monastery. The bed of 
the stream is steep, and filled with large stones. The 
water coming down the mountain after a storm rushes 



2 5 4 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

madly over boulders and gravel to the bridge, and is 
shown to every visitor. 

Near this spot is a small temple in honour of Pratyeka 
Buddha. The temple is called An-lo-yen-sheu-tang. The 
terrace on which is placed the image of Pratyeka Buddha 
is supported by four protectors of the law of Buddha. 
These four personages were once in a robber band of five 
hundred men, and they lived at that time for nothing but 
crime. They were subdued to virtue by the teaching of 
Buddha. In gratitude for the enlightenment they received, 
they offered to carry Buddha henceforth on their shoulders. 

The Pratyeka Buddha wears the skull-cap of the ordi 
nary Buddha. It is supposed to be the form assumed by 
the hair after several years of ascetic retirement in moun 
tain solitudes. 

At Pi-yiin-s i, a temple twelve miles west of Peking, 
there is a hall of five hundred Lo-hans. The building is 
a large square, and contains six galleries. It is entered 
from the north. The first figure met by the visitor is 
Maitreya. He faces the door. Beyond and behind him 
is the central north and south gallery. On each side of 
it, as of the other five galleries, are seated full-sized figures 
of Lo-hans. They are of clay and seated on a stone terrace 
two feet in height. To the right and left are parallel 
galleries. Four small courts in the centres of the four 
quarters of the large square give light by continuous rows 
of paper windows to the galleries. On a beam overhead, 
near the entrance, is a small figure, the five hundred and 
first, which was placed there as a supplementary image. 
The story is that this Lo-han came too late, the places 
were all filled, and, therefore, he was accommodated with 
a seat in the roof. 

In another court are representations of the future state. 
Mountain scenery, clouds, bridges, lakes, as well as men 
and other living beings, are represented in clay. The five 
principal Bodhisattwas preside, and especially Ti-tsang. 
Good Buddhists are seen crossing a bridge with happy 



DESCRIPTION OF A TEMPLE. 255 

faces. Bad men are pushed by demons into a place of 
torture below. Various cruel punishments are represented. 
Everything is in carefully moulded and coloured clay. 
Kwan-yin is associated with Ti-tsang in presiding in the 
side halls. Along with the three other divinities, Wen-shu, 
Pu-hien, and Ta-shi-chl, they preside with equal honour 
in the centre hall. On the coloured rock-work, the tor 
tures of the wicked and the happiness of the good are 
mixed, to indicate the results of Buddhist teaching as 
imparted by the five divine instructors. 

Above these courts is the chief court of the temple with 
Shakyamuni s hall, the residences of the priests, and the 
guest rooms. In the principal guest room there is a large 
picture hung on the wall descriptive of an ancient Chinese 
princess, Chau-chiiin, who was demanded by the king of 
the Hiung-nu Tartars as an indispensable condition of 
peace, and was sent to Tartary accordingly. She leaped 
into the Black Eiver and was drowned. In the picture 
she looks unhappy at the forced exile from her home and 
country. At some distance behind her is the Shan-yii or 
emperor of the Hiung-nu. 

Above this hall is a very handsome marble gateway. 
It is flanked by large stone lions. The pillars are sur 
mounted also by lions. The cross-beams are carved with 
phoenixes above and dragons below. Two large entabla 
tures have carved scenes representing the triumph of the 
four virtues hiau, " filial piety," chung, " loyalty," lien, 
11 official purity uncorrupted by bribes," and tsie, " chastity." 
Certain celebrated persons are here represented. Above 
this is a pagoda of the shape called Kin-kang pau-tso, 
" Diamond throne." It is very massive and is built with 
blocks of marble. On the square flat summit are seven 
small pagodas surmounted with bronze caps. The larger 
ones have thirteen stories, but they are very shallow. 
There are various inscriptions cut in the stone, Thibetan 
and Chinese. The view of Peking from the summit is 
very fine. 

In the province of Che-kiang I have seen two large 



256 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

stone images of Buddha cut out of mountain rock. One 
is at Hang-cheu, and the other at a town called Sin-chang. 
The second of these is the larger of the two. The road 
to it extends a mile and a half to the south-east of the 
city, and it is seventy feet high. That at Hang-cheu is 
not, I believe, more than forty. The Sin-chang image is 
more than a thousand years old, and was cut by the 
labour of a father, son, and grandson, requiring the 
chiselling of three generations. It is an image of Mai- 
trey a, the coming Buddha. Being so majestic in height, 
the sight of this image is very impressive. It is about 
the height of Nebuchadnezzar s image on the plains of 
Dura, and has a reflecting benevolent aspect. 

The wooden image of Maitreya in Peking, at the large 
lamasery, Yung-ho-kung, is still higher. 

The traditional height of Shakyamuni, the historical 
Buddha, is sixteen feet. That of Maitreya appears to be 
sixty. Let it be remembered that teeth of Buddha and 
also his footsteps in rocks are of monstrous size. 

In Hiuen-tsang s travels he mentions a statue of wood 
at Dardu, to the north of Cashmere and the Punjab. It 
was a hundred feet high, and was executed by the Lo-han 
Madhyantika, who converted to Buddhism the king of 
Cashmere and all his people. By magic he raised a 
sculptor to the Tushita paradise to see for himself the 
wonderful form of Maitreya. After going up three times 
he executed this image. 

An enormous tope, or Buddhist tower, was seen by the 
traveller ten li east of Peshawur, in the Punjab. It was 
three hundred and fifty feet round, and eight hundred feet 
high. Every Buddhist structure in China is dwarfish be 
side this. From its erection till the year A.D. 550, a period 
of eight hundred and forty-two years were said to have 
passed. This would show that in B.C. 292 Buddhism was 
the prevalent faith in the Punjab (Koeppen, p. 191). 
Modern travellers have found it west of the city, and 
still remarkable for its immense size. It was built if 
this statement can be accepted in the reign of Chandra- 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 257 

gupta (SavSpaKOTTos), with whom Seleucus concluded a 
treaty, and at whose court at Pataliputra, the Greek his 
torian Megasthenes appeared as an ambassador. But the 
Chinese travellers ascribe it to Kanishka ; and this can be 
believed, for it is only in the time of powerful monarchs 
that monuments of this size can be erected ; and Kanishka 
was a most devoted Buddhist. He was a contemporary of 
Augustus and Antony, as is known by coins. (See in 
Kceppen, p. 192.) 

The prayers are chanted by the priests either sitting, 
kneeling, or standing. They consist of extracts from 
Sutras, or special books containing charms. The extracts 
are statements of doctrine, of the mercy and wisdom of 
Buddha, and the glory attaching to him. 

The prayers are not prayers in our sense. They work a 
sort of magical effect. The law of a secret causation con 
nects itself with the act of the reader of the law, or the 
offerer of incense, flowers, and fruits. 

Music accompanies the worship. The following instru 
ments I have noticed: the drum, small bells, cymbals, 
tang-tsi, ch ing, wooden fish, yin-ch ing, and the large bell. 

The drum has a clapper called Tcu-ch ui. 

The cymbals are of brass. Each has a cloth holder 
through the centre tied inside. The " cymbal" is called kwo. 

The tang-tsl is a small gong, and is held by a half cross, 
to which it is tied by strings. It is of brass, and is struck 
by a small clapper. 

The ck ing is a flat metallic plate cut in the shape of 
flowers. ^ It is supported by a wooden cylindrical box, and 
this again rests on a low table. It has a cloth-covered 
clapper. 

A small kind of ctiing is called yin-ch ing. A thin iron 
rod strikes it to keep time for the chanters. This yin-ch ing 
is two inches long by one deep, and is fastened tightly to 
a long carved wooden handle. 

The large bell is struck by a wooden mallet. 

In the images and the worship offered to them by the 

B 



258 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Buddhist monkish community, may be found a key to the 
solution of the question, how Buddhism as a religion has 
lasted so long. 

It does not need faith, or conviction, or zeal. The 
monk s life is a quiet one. His work is very light. 
Nothing is expected of him but orderly conduct, and the 
chanting of the instructions of Buddha, with invocations 
and the beating of the wooden fish. The indolent become 
monks. Of real religious activity there is none. There is 
no God to worship but Buddha, and Buddha is a teacher, 
an uncrowned god, in the sense in which Confucius was 
an uncrowned king. 

The monks kneel to adore images; not to pray. When 
seated in a large hall, they recite together the teachings of 
their Shakyamuni, it is to favour contemplation and reflec 
tion. The reflex influence of the images on their minds is 
all-important. 

Good luck is expected, not through the will of any god, 
but through an impersonal fate. 

Yet they go beyond this, and rest their faith on the 
legends, with which their books are crowded, relating the 
powerful interference of the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas ; 
and thus these personages become, in the religious faith of 
the people, virtual divinities. 

If however this is so, there are no printed prayers. If 
0-mi-to Fo, or Shi-kia Fo, or Kwan-yin p u-sa, are believed 
in as gods by the more credulous, the worship is not altered 
on that account. They still read the traditional passages 
out of the books of Buddha which teach the nothingness 
of the universe, and seem to be so many sermons on the 
old text in Ecclesiastes, " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." 
In the Buddhist literature, prayers with special ends in 
view, directly addressed to either of these personages, 
I do not remember ever having seen more than once or 
twice. There is nothing but praise and invocation in an 
exceedingly brief form. It is a prayerless and godless 
religion, if looked at from the Christian point of view. 



259 



CHAPTEE XV, 

MONASTEKIES AT P U-TO. 

This establishment more modern than T ien-t ai and Wu-t ai Many 
Thibetan, inscriptions Frequent visits of Peking lamas Dedi 
cated to Kwan-yin Gifts by K ang-hi Images Caves Pago 
dasInscriptions Resident defenders of Buddhism ThePotala 
of Jehol in Mongolia It is also the name of the palace Temple 
of the Dalai Lama In China an island was preferred to be the 
tau-ch ang of Kwan-yin. 

THIS island has long been known to foreigners as a cele 
brated spot, to which multitudes of zealous Buddhists 
make pilgrimages. It has of late years been a favourite 
summer residence of foreigners, and has been frequently 
described in recent books on China, so that its natural 
features need not be here repeated. 

The peculiarities of the monasteries, however, need 
some remarks, for travellers have hitherto said nothing 
to explain them. Their interest is modern compared with 
that of some other celebrated seats of the Buddhist reli 
gion. For antiquities they cannot vie with T ien-t ai, or 
with Wu-t ai shan in Shan-si. They are remarkable rather 
as forming a connecting link with the lama Buddhism of 
Thibet and Mongolia. This connection is seen in several 
circumstances. Kwan-yin is the patron deity of Thibet 
and also of P u-to, leading to a peculiar arrangement 
of the images in the monasteries, and the substitution 
of this deity for Shakyamuni Buddha in the centre 
of the great hall. Lama priests at Peking have always 
been accustomed to visit the island, and perform worship 



260 CHINESE BUDDHISM, 

there till recently, of which Thibetan inscriptions still on 
the island are monuments. The monastic establishments 
now on the island date principally from the Mongolian 
dynasty in the fourteenth century, and the Manchu em 
perors have, from motives of policy, always shown favour 
to the national religion of their Western tributaries. 

Yet the regulations of the monasteries are all Chinese, 
and the schools to which the monks belong are those which 
have sprung up in China itself. One. establishment be 
longs to the Lin-tsi school, and the other to that of Ts au- 
tung. The following is the mode of teaching in these 
schools. The instructor utters a few sentences to his 
pupils adapted to enlighten them on some point considered 
of importance. The pupils in the Tsung-men division of 
Chinese Buddhism, to which both these schools belong, 
depend not on books or on a regular course of study, but 
simply on the living teacher. The founder of the Lin-tsi 
once said, in answer to a disciple s questions, " What is 
really Buddha ? What is dharma (the law) ? What is 
religious progress ? " " That the heart be pure and calm, 
is Buddha. That the mind be clear and bright, is dharma. 
That hindrances in all directions be removed, and the 
mind calm and bright, is religious progress (tau). n There 
appear to be more monasteries now belonging to this school 
than to any other. 

The visitor to the Buddhist sacred island will notice the 
green and yellow tiling of the two large monasteries. The 
same material was employed in the Nanking porcelain 
tower now destroyed, and is found in the monasteries of 
the lamas in Peking. This glazed pottery is of the five 
colours at Nanking, viz., blue, yellow, red, black, and 
white. Here it is only green and yellow. It is called 
lieu-li-wa. Lieu-li is a word introduced to China, like 
po-li " glass," by the Buddhists. It is one of the Eight pre 
cious things, and is called at full length in Sanscrit Vai- 
duria. This name appears to be given by the Hindoos 
to a natural and an artificial substance (as in the case also 
of " sp atika " or po-li, " glass "). 



GIFTS B Y K ANG-HI. 2 6i 

The buildings are on a large scale. Thus the great hall 
of Kwan-yin, in the first monastery, is fifty yards long 
and thirty wide. 

Both the large monasteries are dedicated to Kwan-yin 
p u-sa, instead of to Shakyamuni Buddha. In other monas 
teries the central position and the most monstrous image are 
always assigned to Shakya, the Buddha reigning in the 
present kalpa, and the teacher to whom every monk unites 
himself when he takes the vows. Here, however, Kwan- 
yin presides, and is therefore called Chu Fo, " the Euling 
Buddha," of the monasteries and of the island. 

Instead of the usual name Ta-Jiiung-pau-tien, " The pre 
cious hall of the great hero," alluding to Shakyamuni, we 
have the Ta-yuen-t ung-tien, " The hall of the complete and 
correct doctrine," referring to Kwan-yin. 

In this hall is a large image of earthenware with pedestal 
and canopy, all brought from Thibet, by order of the emperor 
K ang-hi, and presented to each of the monasteries. The 
figure is gilt, and is that of a female sitting cross-legged 
in the Buddhist manner. There is no dress on it except 
rings on the arms, a few lotus leaves, and the usual crown 
of the Bodhisattwas. In one of the monasteries, a yellow 
silk cloak is thrown over the image. Round the canopy, 
which is of wood, are figures of Bodhisattwas, and on the 
pedestal several white elephants and lions carved in wood, 
which are also foreign. 

Behind the Thibetan image is a monstrous male Kwan- 
yin, with the P i-lu crown, representing the ruler of the 
monastery. Over his head is a large circle, on which nine 
dragons twine themselves. From them the hall is also 
sometimes called Kieu-lung-tien. Above, on a tablet, is a 
sentence given by K ang-hi, Pu-tsi-k iun-ling, " The uni 
versal saviour of all living beings." This is said in praise 
of Kwan-yin. 

On the left of this image is a figure of wood, represent 
ing Amitabha, the fictitious Buddha of the Western heaven, 
whose name is constantly on the lips of the Chinese 



262 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

and Thibetan priests, and is seen everywhere painted on 
walls and carved on stone. Kwan-yin plays a principal 
part in the legend of the "Peaceful land" or Tsing-tu, 
" The Western heaven," and is one of the " three sages " 
(san-sheng) supposed to reside there, the other two being 
Ta-sh/i-ch/i p u-sa and Amitabha. 

On the right is another Kwan-yin, called Kwo-Jiai Kwan- 
yin, alluding to a " passage across the sea " of this deity 
to the island Putaloka, the Indian archetype of P u-to 
itself. Along the east and west walls of the hall are 
ranged thirty-two images, representing the metamor 
phoses of Kwan-yin. They are called Kwan-yin san-sh/i- 
r i-siang ; they are all male, and are individualised by 
varieties in posture, dress, and head-coverings. 

The name Kwan-tsi-tsai is used in some of the inscrip 
tions for Kwan-shi -yin. This is a new name introduced 
by Hiuen-tsang the traveller, from the Sanscrit Avaloki- 
tetehwara, in place of the older one translated by Kumara- 
jiva from the shorter Hindoo name Avalokite. 

There are other representations of this deity. The 
Eight-faced Kwan-yin, the Thousand-handed Kwan-yin, 
and " The giver of sons " are found here, and commonly in 
Buddhist temples. The last of these, /SW^-^-Kwan-yin, 
is a female figure. 

Before the principal idol is a stand for an incense urn, 
&c. It is called Wu-sh/i-hiang-pau, "The five- vessel-in 
cense stand." The five vessels are an incense urn in the 
middle, two candle supporters, and two urns for flowers. 

The same five vessels are also placed on the pavement 
in front of the hall. Artificial flowers only are used. 

There is much similarity in the arrangements of the two 
monasteries. Both have two imperial tablets with halls 
specially erected for their reception. When these build 
ings are injured by time, it is not permitted to repair them 
without an order from the emperor. Hence some of them 
have become much dilapidated. Lamas used to be sent 
every year from Peking to the island, to worship Kwan- 



IMAGES. 263 

yin in the emperor s name, and investigate the condition 
of the monasteries. None, however, have gone there dur 
ing the last forty years. The two Thibetan inscriptions 
onthe road side leading to the first monastery were made 
by these lamas. The older one dates from the time of 
Kia-k ing, A.D. 1796 to 1819. The other is no earlier than 
the reign of Tau-kwang. 

In both monasteries the eighteen Lo-Jians (Arhans), 
usually placed in the central hall of temples, are found in 
side chapels, their place being occupied by the thirty-two 
figures of Kwan-yin. These supposed beings are a step 
inferior to the rank of Bodhisattwa; both are inferior to 
Buddha. The reverence paid to Kwan-yin is not, how 
ever, less on this account. Like other deities of the same 
rank, Kwan-yin has refused for a time to become Buddha, 
preferring to save mankind by discoursing to them on the 
doctrines of this religion, and inducing them to enter on 
the path to the Nirvana. 

In a small temple called Hung-fa-t f ang, just beyond the 
first monastery, is an interesting representation of the eighteen 
Arhans crossing the sea. They are seated on various sea 
animals. The proper names of these personages are all 
Hindoo, and unfamiliar in their sound, from the circum 
stance that they do not occur in current legends, but only 
in more recondite ones, contained in some among the great 
collection of works termed Tsang-Jcing. The names of 
well-known deities are therefore frequently substituted 
for them, such as Kwan-yin, Maitreya, and Ti-tsang-wang. 
The last of these is seated on a large sea quadruped in the 
representation here referred to. While he sleeps, a star 
with a stream of light issues from his head. Beside him, 
sitting on a dragon, are two youths called "Joy" (Ki-King) 
and "Best" (B ( ing-an). The one, in a playful humour, 
wishes to wake his sleeping neighbour, but he is checked 
by his companion. Bodhidharma, the founder of the con 
templative school in China, is introduced seated on what 
is termed a "one-horned immortal bull." He carries a 



264 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

pole on his shoulder with one shoe suspended on it. The 
story is that, on crossing the Yang-tsze keang, he dropped 
the other, which was picked up by a countryman, and was 
found to possess wonderful powers. Manjusiri is seated on 
a sea demon. A tiger is whispering at his ear. He thus 
learns what people at a distance are doing. It should be 
remembered that the attribute of this great Bodhisattwa is 
wisdom. In the same representation Kwan-yin sits on 
some other sea animal. He is pouring the elixir of life 
from a gourd. As it flows out it becomes the genius of a 
star. 

There is no difficulty felt by the arrangers of temples in 
placing the Bodhisattwas among the Arhans, because they 
have all necessarily passed through that state before arriv 
ing at their present position. So the Arhan is only such 
after passing through three grades of discipleship, which 
are the first steps on the road to the Nirvana. The Buddha 
himself must go through all these stages from the first in 
troduction to the sacred life up to the state of Bodhisattwa. 
They form the ladder from the actual world of human life 
to that cloud-land of abstractions which the contemplative 
Buddhist hopes to reach at last. In accordance with this, 
the hermit life of Shakyamuni Buddha is depicted on the 
walls of the same temple. Above the eighteen Arhans 
just described, is a representation, in painted clay, of the 
Himalayas. Here is seen a hut of rushes inhabited by the 
future Buddha. Monkeys and sacred geese bring him 
food, and dragons, tigers, and white rabbits are his near 
neighbours. 

In the third monastery, high on the hill called Fo-ting 
shan, is a somewhat remarkable representation of the Hin 
doo gods. They are presided over by Yu-hwang of the 
Brahma heaven. I could not, however, obtain an intelli 
gent account of them from the illiterate priest who was 
residing there. He was an artisan from Kieu-kiang in 
Kiang-si, who had left his wife and family in charge of his 
eldest son, and become a monk 



PAGODA OF THE CROWN PRINCE. 265 

At another smaller temple, where there are several caves, 
each with one or more small stone Buddhas seated inside, 
shown to visitors as emblematic of the hermit life, I found 
a young priest very ready to defend his system. When 
the worship of Buddha was objected to, on the ground that 
it substituted the creature for the Creator, he replied that 
Shakyamuni Buddha, being at the head of the Hwa-tsang 
universe, was far higher in dignity than He who ruled this 
lesser universe. He was reminded in reply that the vast 
Hwa-tsang -slil-kiai, a congeries of an immense number of 
lesser worlds, was nothing but an invention of the author 
of the Hwa-y en-king, and that in reality there was no 
existence or world not included within the dominions of 
God. He did not attempt to continue the argument. 

Facing the first monastery is a small pagoda, dedicated 
to the Ming emperor, known as Wan-li hwang-ti. This 
prince before ascending the throne had conferred benefits 
on the institutions of the island, and this pagoda was 
named after him T ai-ts i-t a, "Pagoda of the crown 
prince." On its four sides are placed stone images of the 
four great Bodhisattwas, to each of whom one of the four 
elements is assigned. Ti-tsang, under whose jurisdiction 
hell is supposed to be, presides over earth. He is said to 
have become incarnate in a former Siamese prince. He is 
worshipped specially in the South at Kieu-hwa, near Nan 
king. Kwan-yin presides over water. His attribute is 
mercy, and he is worshipped in the East at P u-to. P u- 
hien presides over fire. His attribute is happiness, and 
he is worshipped in the West at the Woo-wei mountain 
in Si-ch wen. Manjusiri presides over air (wind), and is 
worshipped in Shan-si. His attribute is wisdom. 

Inscriptions on rocks lining the paths are very nume 
rous at P u-to. Most of them are Buddhistic. Some 
specimens of them will be now given. Hwei-t eu-shi-an, 
" You have but to turn back and you will have reached 
the shore." Teng-pei-an, "Go up on that shore." The 
Buddhists say that salvation is in knowledge. The dis- 



266 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

ciple is led by the teaching of Buddha, from the sea of 
ignorance to the " Shore of true wisdom " (Prajna para- 
mita, Po-je po-lo-mi-to\ Kin-sheng-kio-lu, " The golden 
thread that guides into the path of intelligence." Hwei-fir 
tung-sheng, " The sun of wisdom rises in the east." Teng- 
ta-yuen-cheu, "Ascend the ship of great wishes." The 
great wish of a Buddha or a P u-sa is to save mankind 
and all living beings. They rescue those who are strug 
gling in the sea of life and death, and vice and virtue, and 
convey them to the shore of true knowledge. Hence 
Kwan-yin is called T& i- hang, " Vessel of mercy." Fa-lun 
ch ang-chwen, "The wheel of the law constantly revolves." 
This refers to the unceasing proclamation by books and 
monks of the doctrines of Shakyamuni. The metaphor 
by which Buddhist preaching is called the revolving of the 
wheel, is seen practically exemplified in the praying- wheels 
of Mongolia, by the turning of which an accumulation of 
merit is obtained. So in China, the whole Buddhist library 
of several thousand volumes is placed in a large octagonal 
revolving bookcase, which is pushed round at the instance 
of the visitor. 

At Jehol, about a hundred and twenty miles north-east 
of Peking, there is a nest of lama monasteries, in a valley 
close to the emperor s hunting-lodge and summer palace. 
Among these monasteries are some of Thibetan architecture, 
the chief of which is Potala. It is modelled after the Potala 
in which the Dalai Lama lives at Lhassa in Thibet. The 
Dalai Lama is a living incarnation of Kwan-yin, and there 
fore his palace-temple was called Potala. This name is 
applied variously to a sea-port at the mouth of the Indus, 
the seat of Shakyamuni s ancestors, and to a mountain 
range near or part of the Nilgherries where Avalokitesh- 
vara was fond of going, in addition to the island in the 
Indian Ocean, the palace at Lhassa, and the Chinese P u-to. 
For particulars, see in Eitel, p. 93. 

Perhaps the island may have been at the mouth of the 



AN ISLAND PREFERRED FOR K WAN-YIN. 267 

Indus, and left its name in the present Tatta, the Pattala 
of the Greeks. 

The setting apart of the island P u-to, in the Chusan Ar 
chipelago, is proof that the Buddhist imagination, in select 
ing a place for the special worship of Kwan-yin in China, 
preferred an island. This agreed best with the legends. 

Here Kwan-yin would, in expounding the dharma 
that is to save living beings, seem more in her place than 
on a mountain of the main-land. This is an appropriate 
tau-c hang 1 for her, where she can be at hand to rescue 
sailors from the dangers of the sea, and where crowds of 
pilgrims will in fair weather not be wanting to receive the 
benefit of her instructions. 

1 Tau-c hang, " Place of doctrine." 



268 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

BUDDHIST PROCESSIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, PILGRIMAGES, AND 
CEREMONIES FOR THE DEAD. 

Yu-lan-hwei, "Association for giving food to the dead " Worship of 
ancestors Liturgical services in the houses of the rich, for the 
liberation of the souls of the dead from hell Village processions 
Based on the old rural processions of classical times Masque 
rades Plays Pilgrimages to Miau-feng shan Pilgrims wear 
ing iron chains Supposed efficacy of the prayers of the priests 
Zeal of the laity in promoting pilgrimages to celebrated 
shrines. 

A STRIKING example of the popular influence of Buddhism 
is found in the associations called Yu-lan-hwei. The day 
for feeding hungry ghosts, the professed object of this 
association, is the 1 5th of the seventh month. The original 
hungry ghosts were the Hindoo Pretas. In China the 
hungry ghosts are the spirits of the dead, especially of 
ancestors. Buddhists are appealed to on behalf of the dead 
who have no descendants to worship them, and feed them 
by sacrifices. Thus the sentiment of compassion for the 
neglected dead and of ancestors is ingeniously made by 
Buddhism into an instrument for promoting its own influ 
ence among the people. 

The belief in the metempsychosis among the Hindoos 
connected itself with the Chinese sacrifices to ancestors. 
The two things combined formed an engine of great power 
for affecting the public mind. 

When the rich die in Peking, priests are invited to read 
liturgies for three days in their houses. Eight men are 



LITURGICAL SERVICES. 269 

sent. A priest told me that they read five books in par 
ticular on one occasion recently, when I made inquiry. 
They were the Leng-yen-king, the Kin-kang-ldng, the Fa- 
hwa-king (Lotus of the Good Law), the Ti-tsang- king, and 
the Ta-pei-ch an, a Tantra of the T ang dynasty. They 
read for about six hours each day, with a particular intona 
tion, which is determined by a certain musical notation 
and is learned specially. They took with them candle 
sticks, a picture of Buddha, and the wooden fish, and had 
no musical instruments. Their object was by prayers to 
liberate as early as possible the soul of the dead from 
misery. Buddhism found village processions of a religious 
character already existing in the country, and accepted 
them so far as seemed fitting. When it is considered that 
in the old religion of Greece and Eome, rural processions 
were in those countries a favourite amusement mixed with 
religious ideas, the examination of similar customs in 
China is of special interest. 

In the discourses of Confucius it is said, that when the 
agricultural labourers came out to drink wine, or to perform 
a ceremony intended to drive away pestilential diseases, 
and the old men appeared leaning on their crooks, Con 
fucius himself also came from his house in his court 
robes and stood on the east side on the stone steps. This 
was an indication of his desire to conform to the habits of 
the country. He abhorred all irregularity. The play or 
spectacle here alluded to was a procession of singers. It 
was called No. 

The custom at present representing the ceremony of the 
No is called Yang-Tco. The performers, about ten in num 
ber, go about the villages and hamlets on high stilts in 
fancy costumes. One is a fisherman, another is a wood- 
gatherer called Chai-wang, " Prince of fuel." There is a 
" begging priest," or ho-shang, and an old woman called 
tso-tsl, and some others. They sing as they go. The 
word Jco is " song," and yang is "to raise." The "stilts" 
are called Jcau-k iau. These processions are seen in the 



270 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

country at the end of February. The old custom of 
Confucius age has died out, to be revived afresh in this 
modern form with a Buddhist priest as one of the per 
formers. It is regarded by the literati as a mere theatri 
cal performance and an amusement of the rural popula 
tion. Some trace it to the son of Lieu Pei, who reigned 
in Si-ch wen, A.D. 280. But then there were few priests, 
which is an objection to this view. 

In the Cheu-li, the ancient sovereigns of China or their 
deputies are represented as performing certain ceremonies 
for the removal of pestilential diseases four times in the 
y ear once for each season. The view then held was that 
the wen-yi or " sickness," prevailing at certain times of the 
year, is caused by demons called li or dit. 

These customs could only be introduced on their pre 
sent basis at a time when Buddhism was rife and shorn 
priests were found in every village. Probably they are 
earlier than the T ang dynasty. Some natives think they 
belong to the Sung, because it is customary to represent in 
masquerade the robbers of the novel called Shui-Jiu, the 
scene of which is laid at the mountain Liang-shan in 
Shan-tung. These robbers all at last submit to control, 
and are made officers of the government, which was that 
of the Sung dynasty, when Pien-liang was the capital. 
But the main object of these village amusements being 
religious, it is perhaps better to regard them as Buddhist, 
and as parallel with the theatrical shows of the lamas in 
their monasteries in Peking and Mongolia. 

Buddhist nunneries in Peking have theatrical shows 
once a year. A large mat shed is erected, and play actors 
are invited to perform an ordinary play. The nuns wait 
on the spectators of the play, and the money collected 
helps to defray the expenses of the nunnery for the 
current year. Plays are considered religious, because they 
are supposed to be performed to amuse the gods in whose 
temples they are performed. 

Every year, in the third and ninth months, our April 



PILGRIMS WEARING IRON CHAINS. 271 

and October, a procession is organised in Peking to 
Miau-feng shan, a Buddhist place of pilgrimage; the 
journey to which by the pilgrims occupies three, four, or 
five days. Money is subscribed, and is placed in the 
hands of a committee who erect lofty mat sheds on the 
line of route for the entertainment of the pilgrims. 
The worship consists of bowings, kneelings, head-knock- 
ings, burning incense, and offering of money to the at 
tendant priest. Large pits are filled with copper money 
to a depth of two, three, or five feet. With the money 
thus obtained the priests return to their monasteries, 
leaving this particular temple shut up and unoccupied at 
the end of the season, till the time of pilgrimage comes 
round again, six months later, in the autumn or spring as 
the case may be. The chief divinity is Pi-hia yuen-chiiin, 
a Tanist personage, but the temple is cared for by Bud 
dhist priests. It is placed among the mountains to the 
northwest of Peking. 

On one occasion I passed a pilgrim going from Peking 
to Miau-feng shan to fulfil a vow. He was a Manchu of 
twenty-seven years of age. He had been ill, and while 
ill had vowed to walk in chains to the temple and back. 
An iron chain bound his feet and hands. It was borrowed 
from a temple where such gear is kept for the occasional 
use of pilgrims. 

The next day I met another such pilgrim returning, but 
stronger in body and livelier in appearance than the one I 
conversed with the day before. Both were attended by a 
companion, and both wore a red dress in token of their 
being malefactors; for the pilgrims style themselves on 
these occasions criminals, and the chain is a sign of volun 
tary bondage undertaken in the spirit of confession of de 
merit. They at first look like prisoners in charge of police, 
but their submissive air and the red dress show that 
they are devotees. 

Three sisters, called the three niang-niang,&TQ worshipped 
at Miau-feng shan. The second of the three is chiefly 



272 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

worshipped there. The eldest is honoured at some place in 
Shan-tung with special reverence. 

The prayers of the Tio-shang are supposed to have the 
power to break open the caverns of hell. They chant to 
gether in the houses of the rich to which they are invited, 
proceeding through a selection of favourite liturgical books. 
This is called tso-Jcung-te, "performing meritorious acts." 
Every act of merit is a fu-yuen, " cause of happiness." 
There never yet was a good man whose goodness was left 
without reward. The prayers of the priest must have their 
effect. The chanting of the books cannot fail to bring 
happiness. Such is the operation of the karma, or " moral 
necessity." 

I conversed, in the spring of 1879, w ^h a woman who 
brought a sick member of her family to Peking to be under 
the care of Dr. Dudgeon, at the London Mission Hospital. 
They stayed for some days, and learned Christian doctrine 
from a Bible-woman. The woman had been an organiser 
of Buddhist pilgrimages to a monastery called Si-yii si in 
the mountains west of Peking. She lives at a small town 
in the country two days travelling from the monastery. 
Every spring she has exerted her influence for many 
years past to persuade her neighbours to g6 together 
to this monastery to worship. She headed the arrange 
ments. The procession usually consisted of mule carts to 
the number of about fifteen. She expressed her deter 
mination to give this up and become a Christian. 

Lay Buddhists appear to be far more active in stirring 
up the people to go on pilgrimage to mountain temples 
than the priests themselves. When money is to be col 
lected for the repair of temples, the priests take the lead ; 
but in voluntary associations for a religious jaunt in spring 
or autumn weather, the zeal of the laity is much more 
conspicuous. 



273 



CHAPTER XVII. 

BUDDHIST LITERATURE. 

Buddhist libraries presented to monasteries by emperors-Ch eno-- 
tsu of the Ming dynasty, was the first to print the entire series 
of the Buddhist accepted books-Pm/na paramita, eighty times 
as large as our New Testament-The Pei-tsang, or second printed 
-ition, dates from the sixteenth century-The Kia-hing edition 
of the Pei-tsang-Division into King, LU, Z^-First Coun 
cil Work of Ananda-The Mahayana of Northern Buddhism 
Council of Cashmere-Authors of the Mahayana-Lun-shu 
wrote the Hwa-yen-Jcing-Cout^ts between the primitive and 
Mahayana books List of translators A.D. 70 to A.D. 705 Six 
teen hundred works are classified, inclusive of those by Chinese 
authors-On the councils for settling the canon-Translations 
by Burnouf and others-Lotus-Book of Forty-two Sections- 
Character of this and other early works-Stories illustrative of 
ancient ^e-Fan-wang-Jcing- Chan-taking translated by Beal 
Jrratimoksha. 

THE first fixing of the Buddhist canon was at the Coun 
cils of Bajagriha and Pataliputra. The Northern and 
Southern Buddhists held together till the Council of Pata 
liputra, under Ashoka. When an immense missionary 
development followed on the meeting of this Council, the 
separation was a natural result, because of the vast extent 
( country over which Buddhism shortly became the 
prevalent religion. 

The origin of the primitive Buddhist books which are 
common to the Northern and Southern Buddhists is then 
anterior to B.C. 246; and the addition to the canon of the 
Mahayana books containing the legends of Kwan-yinand 
of the Western heaven with its Buddha, Amitabha, was 



274 CHh\ESE BUDDHISM. 

also previous to the Council of Cashmere, a little before, 
the beginning of our era. 

When the first books were translated into Chinese from 
Sanscrit, it was before the time of the introduction of 
paper. Bamboo tablets were still employed, and they 
were painted on with a brush. Paper-making soon came 
into use, and in the fourth century the present system of 
Chinese writing was fully in use. From that time till 
the invention of printing, seven hundred years later, copies 
of the sacred books would be made from time to time in 
the monasteries. As in countries where the palm grows 
the monks have continued to write on the palm-leaf, so 
in China, till printing was known, transcribed copies of all 
needed books would be made and preserved in monasteries. 

The library of the larger Buddhist monasteries consists 
of a complete collection presented by some former emperor 
of the " books of the religion " (tsang-king). The visitor 
will see them in eight or ten large bookcases. In many 
instances they are preserved with great care and are 
highly valued. Even if worm-eaten and injured by damp, 
the priests always express unwillingness to part with any 
portions of them. Though they seldom make use of this 
library themselves, they consider that it would be an 
offence against the emperor to allow any of the books it 
contains to be removed. 

The preface to one of the last imperial editions is dated 
A.D. 1410, in the Yung-lo period of the third emperor of 
the Ming dynasty. In addition to the erection of the 
porcelain tower at Nanking, previous to the removal of 
his residence from that place to Peking, he further sig 
nalised his zeal for Buddhism by causing blocks to be cut 
for the first time for the entire series of Buddhist books. 
They reached the number of 6771 kiuen or " sections." A 
little more than three-fourths of this extensive literature 
consists of translations from Sanscrit. According to a 
rough calculation, the whole work of the Hindoo trans- 
lators in China, together with that of Hiuen-tsang the 



THE PEI-TSANG. 275 

traveller, amounts to about seven hundred times the size 
of the New Testament in Chinese form. In this esti 
mate lost translations, which are numerous, are not in 
cluded. 

One of these works, the Maha Prajna paramita (Ta-poh- 
je-king], consists of a hundred and twenty volumes. It is 
perhaps the most extensive single book ever translated in 
any age or country, being about eighty times as large as the 
New Testament. The celebrated Chinese translator, Hiuen- 
tsang, was engaged on it four years. 

The edition of Buddhist books printed in the period 
Yung-lo is called Nan-tsang, the "Southern collection." 
There was another made in the time of Wan-li in the 
closing part of the sixteenth century. The imperial resi 
dence having been already removed from Nanking to 
Peking, this edition was called the Pei-tsang or " Northern 
collection." 

A new set of blocks was cut at the expense of private 
persons from this last, by a priest called Tsi-pe ta-shi, 
not many years after. They were placed in the Leng-yen 
monastery at Kia-hing near Hang-cheu, and were still 
there before the T ai-p ing rebellion. 

In 1723, a former governor of Che-keang repaired the 
blocks, and wrote a preface to a catalogue of these books 
under the title of Pei-tsang-mu-lu. It contains a reprint 
of the imperial preface to the first complete edition dating 
in the seventh century (T ang Chung-tsung). This docu 
ment, alludes to the labours of the successive translators, 
and dwells especially on the adventures of Hiuen-tsang 
who had recently returned from his twenty years travels 
in India, and had come to be regarded, on account of his 
successful journey and literary labours, as the most re 
markable of all the Chinese Buddhists. 

The primary division of the Buddhist books is into 
three parts, Xing, Lu, Lun t or " Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhi- 
dharma." The first contains the immediate instructions 
of Buddha on dogma. It details those present as listeners, 



27 6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

any remarkable circumstances that occurred, the conver 
sations that took place between Buddha and any of his 
audience, and the direct instructions that he communi 
cated to them. The Vinaya relates the discipline appointed 
by Buddha for his followers, and the circumstances that 
led to the establishment of particular rules and observ 
ances. The scene, audience, and conversations are detailed 
much in the manner of the Sutras or works of the first 
class. The word Tdng is indeed often applied to works 
that are placed in the Vinaya division. The third part, 
Abhidharrna, consists of discussions, in many instances 
by known authors, on the Buddhist creed and on heresies. 
They are not then like the works found in the first and 
second classes, necessarily spoken according to Buddhist 
faith by Shakyamuni; but include many that were 
written, in the first centuries after his death, by the more 
distinguished of his followers. 

After Buddha s entrance into the Nirvana, we are told 
his disciples met to agree on the books that should be 
regarded as the true traditions of their master^ instruc 
tions. Kashiapa assembled them at the mountain Gi-ja- 
Icu-ta (Gridhrakuta). They came there by the exercise of 
miraculous power. Ananda, who was young, had not 
yet attained to the rank of Arhan when the meeting be 
gan, but just at this time he was raised to the necessary 
elevation and took his seat with the rest. Kashiapa then 
said: "The Bikshu Ananda (0-nan Pi-Jc ieu) has great 
wisdom. Like a vessel receiving water, he imbibed the 
doctrine of Buddha, retaining no more and no less than 
what the teacher uttered. Let him be invited to compile 
the Sutra Pitaka (Collection of the king or discourses of 
Shakyamuni)." The assembly remained silent. Kashiapa 
then addressed Ananda: "It is for you now to promul 
gate the- eye of the doctrine (fa-yen)" Ananda as 
sented, and after observing the countenances of the audi 
ence, said: "Bikshus and all here present. Without 
Buddha nothing is noble or beautiful, as in the expanse 



THE MAHAY AN A. 277 

above, the stars cannot spare the moon." He then bowed 
to the assembly, and ascended the rostrum. He began : 
" Thus have I heard At a certain time, when Buddha was 
in a certain place, he delivered such instructions." In 
each instance Kashiapa asked the Bikshus if such were 
really the words of Buddha, and they all replied, " They 
were just these words." x 

A similar account is retained by the Singhalese of the 
origin of the Sutras. 2 The Vinaya division of the books 
was, according to their traditions, prepared by Upali, and 
the Shastras or Abidharma by Kashiapa. 

So far as this threefold arrangement of the books, the 
Northern and Southern Buddhists are at one. But for 
the literature of the North a further division must now 
be noticed. The distinction of Maliayana (Ta-ctieng), or 
"Great Development," and Hinayana (Siau-cfi eng), or 
" Lesser Development," runs through the works of all the 
three classes above described. The works of the " Lesser 
Development " (or vehicle) there can be little doubt are 
the original books of Buddha, for their dogmas and 
legends agree with the religion as it is still professed in 
Ceylon and by all the Southern Buddhists. The Maha- 
yana is, on the other hand, unknown there. Burnouf attri 
butes the books of the Lesser Development to the first 
Buddhist council already described, and those of the Greater 
Development to another held a little more than four hun 
dred years after Shakyamuni s death. It is his opinion 
that the Mahayana books were composed in Cashmere, 
in the reign of Kanishka, 3 a king of Northern India (Cabul). 
A council the third or fourth was then called to decide 
what books should be canonical, and it was then that 
these extensive additions to the Tripitdka or "Three 
collections " were agreed upon. The same learned writer 

1 Chi-yue-luh. " Biography of Ka- Ashoka in his patronage of Buddhism, 
shiapa (Kia-she)." He reigned B.C. 15 to A.D. 45, during 

2 Hardy s Eastern Monachism. the patriarchate of Vasumitra and 
8 Kanishka conquered the greater others. 

part of India. He was a second 



27 8 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

interposes another council a hundred and ten years after 
the first, in the reign of Ashoka also called Piyadasi. This 
prince, from his extensive empire and his patronage of 
Buddhism, is called a wheel-king, i.e., a Buddhist king to 
whom the world is subject, and who causes the wheel of 
the holy doctrine to "be kept turning. 

There need be no hesitation in adopting Burnouf s view, 
for we know the names and many of the writings of in 
fluential Buddhists who lived at the time and place indi 
cated, and whose opinions and qualifications were such as 
to render them fitted for the authorship of the Ta-cli eng 
or " Mahayana " books, and much presumptive evidence of 
the fact will be found to exist. 

Among them were (i.) Ma-ming, or " Ashwagosha," the 
twelfth patriarch, who wrote K i-sin-lun, the " Shastra for 
awakening faith." 1 (2.) Lung-shu, or "Nagarjuna," the 
fourteenth patriarch, author of Vibhasha-lun, CImng-lun, 
Ta-ch/i-tu-lun, Prajna-teng-lun, Sh i-er-men-lun, and seve 
ral other works, including the most venerated of all the 
Buddhist books in China, the Hwa-yen-ldng. (3.) T ien-ts in, 
or " Vasubandu." It is said of him, that when he first 
became a monk he was a bitter enemy of the Mahayana 
books, and destroyed them whenever he had opportunity. 
By the influence of his elder brother Asengha, 2 he was 
brought to change his views. His remorse was such that 
he would have wrenched out his tongue, but Asengha said 
to him, " as he had formerly used his tongue to revile the 
Great Development books, he should now employ it to 
praise them. This would be an expiation for his fault." 
After this he wrote more than a hundred works, which 
were placed in the third division of the sacred books. 3 

1 Tsing-tu-sheng-hien-luh contains tives of Purusha in Gandhara (north 
notices of (i) to (4). end of the Punjab). 

2 Eitel separates Vasubandu from 3 For the names of several of his 
Asengha by an interval of some cen- works and those of Asengha, see 
turies. My authority for making K ai-yuen-shi-Tciau-lu, a catalogue of 
them brothers is the introduction to Buddhist books published in the 
Ch eng-wei-shl-lun. They were na- T ang dynasty. 



LUNG-SHU WROTE THE HWA-YEN-KING. 279 

(4.) Wu-cho t or " Asenglia," brother of the last. (5.) Hu- 
fa, or " Dharmapara " (Protector of the law). He was 
born in the Dravida country in South India. He wrote 
the Shastra Ch eng-wei-sTiili-lun. (6.) Maitreya. (7.) Deva. 
(8.) Sheng-t f ien. These and one or two more are men 
tioned among the authors of Shastras. All these persons 
are dignified with the name of Bodhisattwa. 

The authorship of the Hwa-yen-king may be ascribed 
to Lung-shu, on the ground that he is said in a Chinese 
preface to have discovered it in the "Dragon palace," 
and first promulgated it as one of the Mahayana Sutras, 
or books of the " Great vehicle." He could not prefix his 
name to it as to works of the third division, because it 
is essential to a Sutra that it be a discourse of Buddha. 
In conformity with this principle, the Great Development 
" Sutras," or as they are called in Chinese King, are by a 
fiction ascribed to Shakyamuni, though their real authors 
were, as there is every reason to suppose, the acute-minded 
Hindoos whose names have just been given. 

Two principal divisions of the Buddhist books, in refer 
ence to the time of their composition, are thus obtained. 
The former belonging to the fifth century B.C. contain, 
among other things, the monastic institutions, the moral 
code, the ascetic life, the metempsychosis, and the Nir 
vana, of which the first two are Buddhist, and the latter 
three common to the native religions of India. The whole 
is interwoven with the fantastic notions of the Hindoos 
on geography, astronomy, and supernatural beings. 

The second division embraces later developments in 
metaphysics and cosmogony. In the Prajna paramita, 
through a hundred and twenty volumes, the favourite 
dogma of extreme idealism, the non-existence of mind 
and matter in all their forms, is reiterated to satiety. 
In the legends of the Eastern and Western paradise 
that of Ach obhya and that of Amitabha and regarding 
the formation of various other vast worlds and powerful 
divinities, the new mythological tendencies of this system 




280 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

are exhibited. These books must be assigned to about the 
first century B.C. 

By help of the catalogue of Buddhist books published 
A.D. 730 (K ai-yuen-shi-~kiau-lu\ the earliest and most 
noted translators may be divided between these two 
schools. Works of the Siau-ch eng or " Lesser Develop 
ment," i.e., primitive Buddhism, were introduced by the 
following persons : 

Translator. Country. Date A.D. 

Kashiapmadanga Central India 70 

Chu-fa-lan Central India. 70 

An-shi-kau Ansi 147 

Chi-yati India 185 

K ang-meng-ts iang K ang-ku (Thibet) 194 

Dharmati Ansi 254 

Chu-liii-yen India 230 

Chi-kian " Massagetse " or Ta-yue-chi 250 

K ang-seng-hwei K ang-ku (Thibet) 250 

Fa-kii . India 300 

Chu-dharma-lan 380 

Gaudamsenghadeva Cophen 390 

Among the translators of the books of the Larger De 
velopment, were the following individuals : 

Name. Country. Date A.D. 

An-shii-kau Ansi 147 

Chi-lu-ka-ts an Massagetso 147 

K ang-seng-k ai India 254 

Peh-yen India 258 

Ch i-kian Massagetas 250 

Chu-dharmaraksha Massagetse 313 

Malach a Udin 299 

Dabadara Central India 400 

Kumarajiva India 401 

Fa-hien China 414 

Dharmaraksha Central India 433 

Gunabadara Central India 435 

Paramoda Western India (Oujein) 540 

Hiuen-tsang China 650 

Bodhiruchi Southern India 705 



CLASSIFICATION OF WORKS. 281 

To assist in numbering and distinguishing the books 
belonging to the great threefold collection, the characters 
contained in the " Book of a Thousand Characters " (Tsien- 
tsi-weii) are made use of. 

The first subdivision of the "Sutras" or King under 
the heading, Ta-ch eng, " Great Development," is that of 
"Prajna" (Po-je). It contains the work Maha-prajna- 
varamita in six hundred chapters, to mark which, sixty 
characters from the "Thousand Character Classic" are 
employed. Eighteen other works are placed in the same 
subdivision. 

These are followed by books containing the legends of 
Amitabha and Ach obhya, the Western and Eastern Bud- 
dhas. These, with others, compose the Pau-tsi subdivision. 
After this comes that called Ta-tsi, or " Great Collection." 
Then succeed those called Hwa-yen, so named from the 
common book of that title in eighty chapters. The fifth 
comprises books on the Nirvana. After these five chief 
subdivisions are arranged the names of many others, 
whether translated once or oftener. With the preceding 
they make in all five hundred and thirty-six Sutras of the 
Great Development class. 

Of the Smaller Development school two hundred and 
twenty-eight works are contained in the collection, the 
chief of them belonging to the Agama subdivision. There 
were added in the Sung and Yuen dynasties three hundred 
altogether. Their names follow in the catalogue. 

Many of these works are very small, ten or more being 
often placed together under one letter. 

Under the denomination "Vinaya" or Lu, "Discip 
line," twenty-five works belong to the Great Development 
school, while fifty-nine are assigned to the Siau-ch eng 
department. 

Among the works belonging to the third class, " Abhi- 
dharnia " or Lun, are ninety-three of the Great Develop 
ment school, and thirty-seven of the Lesser. To these 
twenty-three were added in the Sung and Yuen dynasties. 



282 CHINESE BUDDHISM 

After this occur works by various Western authors, 
in number ninety-seven, which do not admit of being 
classed with those that precede. Many of these consist 
of liturgical regulations and biographies of Hindoo Bud 
dhists. 

At the end of the collection are placed works by Chinese 
authors, in all a hundred and ninety-six. These consist 
of commentaries, biographical works, cyclopaedias, travels 
in Buddhist countries, apologetic treatises, liturgical works, 
and the original works of authors belonging to the various 
native schools of Buddhism. Of these forty were appended 
in the Ming dynasty as in all such cases by imperial 
order. 

These numbers give a total of about sixteen hundred 
separate works, of which fourteen hundred are transla 
tions from Sanscrit. Several hundred others are lost. 

Many productions of less importance, probably amount- 
*ng to several hundreds in number, by native authors, are 
commonly read. In an estimate of the extent of Chinese 
Buddhist literature these should be included. They con 
sist of popular treatises, with anecdotes of the power 
of the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas, and the benefits of 
chanting the sacred books. Woodcuts are much used in 
these books, illustrative of the Buddhist future state, of 
Shakyamuni instructing his disciples, and of the Hindoo 
cosmogony and geography. Descriptions of remarkable 
monasteries and sacred places, and many works on the 
various schools of this religion in China, should be added 
to the list. 

I place here some remarks on the councils held by the 
early Buddhists. 

Professor Max Muller says : " The Northern Buddhists 
know but one Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, and 
but one council held in his reign, viz., the Council of 
Pataliputra, under Dharmashoka, and this they place a 
hundred and ten years after Buddha s death." 

The Singhalese Buddhists speak of two Ashokas, viz., 



TRANSLATIONS BY BURNOUF, ETC. 283 

Kalash&ka and Dharma?hoka. Twelve kings intervened 
between them. A council was held under each Ashoka. 

If we admit the last, it must have taken place either 
B.C. 242 or B.C. 246 at Pataliputra. 

The fourth council, under Kanishka, presided over by 
Vasumitra, was probably a little before the Christian era. 
ISTagarj una s works and system were recognised, and from 
this time the " Great Development " spread among all the 
Northern Buddhists. 

The attention of the student of Buddhism may be 
directed especially to those works in the San-tsang, or 
" Three pitaka," of which translations have been made. 

Of these the most elaborate is that of the Fa-kwa-king, 
" Lotus of the Good Law," by Eugene Burnouf. It is 
rendered from the Sanscrit, and illustrated by a vast body 
of notes. 

On comparing it with the Chinese version of Kuma- 
rajiva, I found considerable lacunae in the Chinese copy. 
Kumarajiva came under the influence of the Chinese 
literati, to whom the ponderous verbosity and extensive 
repetitions of the original were intolerable. He wisely 
cut it down, and made a much shorter book of it. Burnouf 
would have been wise to do so too. 

The small books with a prominent moral element are 
extremely interesting. Some of these are translated by 
Mr. Beal in his Catena. 

The " Book of Forty-two Sections " was translated from 
Sanscrit by the first Hindoo missionaries. An edition 
in five volumes, with very full notes, by Sii Fa, and pub 
lished a century and a half ago, is a signal example of 
the industry and fulness of illustration and comment of 
a Chinese scholar when editing an ancient book. 

In this and other small but interesting works may be 
seen the principles of primitive Buddhism as taught by 
Shakyamuni. 

The monastic life is here portrayed, and the duties of 
those who entered upon it are clearly pointed out. 







284 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

But though vows of celibacy, and living in society with 
fellow-believers in the Buddhist doctrine, or in solitude 
in woods and caves, were recommended by Shakyamuni 
as the most suitable mode of carrying out his system, he 
did not make them absolutely essential. In the " Wei-mo 
Sutra," Vimakita ( Wei-mo-Jeie), a layman native of Yai shali, 
living in society, is represented as having made great pro 
gress in the knowledge of the principles of Buddhism. 
He is contrasted with many who had taken the vows, but 
were far inferior to him. " Manjusiri " ( Wcn-shu p u-sa) 
and Vimakita are held up as equally good models of Bud 
dhist excellence : the one, as to form, being without a 
rival in the monastic society; the other, as to action, 
being the most advanced student of the Buddhist law 
outside the circle of those who had taken the vows. 

;Many of the Buddhist books are valuable, on account of 
he stories illustrative of ancient life which they contain. 

The following story of travellers killing a guide, to 
sacrifice to the Devas of a certain place, reminds the 
reader irresistibly of the narrative of Jonah. 

" A company of merchants undertaking a journey selected 
a guide. With him they set out across an uninhabited 
region. On the way they arrived at a temple to the 
Devas, at which it was the custom, that a man must be 
sacrificed before the travellers could pass on. 

" They consulted as to what should be done, and said one 
to another : We are all friends, neighbours, and relations. 
None of us can be sacrificed. Only the guide can be. 
When they had put him to death and finished the offering, 
they proceeded and lost their way. Weary and broken 
hearted, all one by one died. 

" So it is with men. They wish to enter the sea of 
doctrine in order to get the pearls hidden in its depths. 
They must take virtue for their guide. If they slander 
and destroy virtue they will be sure to lose their way, and 
never emerge from the desert of life and death. Their 
sufferings must last for long ages." 



ILLUSTRATIVE STORIES. 285 

A story of the shadow of gold in water is told to illus 
trate how ignorant men seek for golden doctrine in places 
where they will never find it. The story says that " for 
merly a foolish man went to a lake and saw at the bottom 
of the water a shadow of what seemed true gold. He 
called out, < Here is gold. He then went into the water 
and sought it in vain till he was tired and the water grew 
muddy. He sat down and waited till the water was clear, 
when he saw it again, and once more he tried fruitlessly 
to get it. At last the father came to look for his son, and 
asked him why he was so weary. On learning, he said, 
after seeing the shadow, This gold is on the tree above. 
A bird must have taken it in his beak and placed it 
there. The son climbed the tree and found it." 

To illustrate the difficulty of creating, a story is told 
against the Brahmans, who ascribe creation to Brahma. 
They call him Maha Brahma Deva, and say that he is the 
father of the world, and can create all things. The story 
states that " this so-called creator had a disciple who said 
he could create all things. He was foolish, but thought 
himself wise. He said one day to Brahma, I desire to 
create all things. Brahma replied, Do not think of it. 
You cannot create. Without being able to use the lan 
guage of the Devas, you have the desire to create things. 
Brahma saw what his disciple had made, and noticed that 
the head was too large and the crown too small, or the hand 
too large and the arm too small, or the foot too large 
and the leg too small. In fact, it was like the Pish^cha 
demons." l 

"We thus learn," continues the narrator, "that what 
every one brings into existence is not the creation of 
Brahma." 

THE STOEY OF THE BRAHMAN WHO KILLED HIS SON. 

"Once there was a Brahman, who, according to his own 
statement, was extremely wise, and knew all the arts of 

1 A sort of vampires. .Retinue of the Deva king Dhritarashtra. 



286 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

astrologers and jugglers. Wishing to show his powers he 
went to another country, carrying his son in his arms, and 
weeping. When asked, Why do you weep ? he replied, 
This young child is to die in seven days. I mourn over 
his short life. The people of the country remarked, It 
is hard to know when men will die. It is easy to err in 
such calculations. Wait till the seven days are past, and 
perhaps he will not die. Why weep now ? The Brahman 
answered, The sun and moon may be darkened, the stars 
may fall, but what I have said cannot fail of fulfilment. 
On the seventh day, for the sake of fame and profit, the 
Brahman killed his son to confirm the truth of his own 
words. When men heard that the Brahman s son was 
dead precisely seven days after the time of the prediction, 
they all admired the wisdom of the Brahman, whose words 
proved true, and came to listen to his instructions. It is 
so among the four classes of Buddha s disciples, with those 
who for gain say they have attained eminent enlighten 
ment. By their foolish doctrine they destroy the son of 
the good, falsely assume a benevolent character, and must 
in consequence endure much suffering. They resemble 
the Brahman who killed his son." 

The book proceeds to speak of the Buddhas and their 
teaching. They are not liable to the errors of such men. 
The Buddhas in giving instruction keep a middle path, 
without encroachment on either side. They are neither 
too constant on the one hand, nor are they too interrupted 
and inconstant on the other. There is in their actions 
and teaching no disproportion. Various pretenders, how 
ever, try to imitate them, and fall into the errors of boast 
ing, lying, and extravagance. Men, in exhibiting the form 
of the law, fail to present to view the true law. 

These extracts are taken from the " Book of a Hundred 
Parables," Pe-yu-ldng, chapter ii., translated by Gunabidi. 
There is a book of moral instructions., arranged in the 
form of the Gdtha, with headings, such as teaching, con 
versation, mercy, &c. It is called Fa-ku-king, Book of 



FA A r - WANG-KING. 2 S; 

the Dharma in Sentences." There are five hundred of 
these sentences. In India every student read this book 
at the "beginning of his course. If he did not read 
this among the many books of his religion, he omitted 
the preface. 

The sentences are of the following nature: When rising 
in the morning you should think, " My life will not last 
long. It is like the vessel of the potter, easily broken. 
He who dies does not return." On this is grounded an 
appeal to men to learn Buddha s law. 

It was translated from the work of Tau-lio by Kumara- 
jiva. 

There are some other works specially devoted to fables 
and parables, such as Tsa-yu-king, " Book of Miscellane 
ous Parables." 

Among works specially deserving attention is Fan- 
wang-king. This book on the "Discipline" or Vinaya, 
is the Brahmajala, " Net of Brahma." 

Mr. Gogerly, in the Ceylon Friend, published a brief 
translation of the work. See Beal in Second Congress of 
Orientalists, p. 134. It states the rules which guide the 
Bodhisattwa. 

The Chinese Fo-pen-hing-tsi-king is in Sanscrit " Abhi- 
nishkramana Sutra." It has been translated by Beal, who 
thinks the narratives it contains will explain the " Sanchi 
topes," the inscriptions on which are hard to identify in 
any books. It is a life of Buddha, with many episodes, 
which may also illustrate the inscriptions at Bharhut, 
Amravati, &c. 

Mr. Beal finds in the Chan-tsl-king the " Sama Jataka," 
which contains part of the story of Dasaratha and Kama, 
and refers to an allusion in the travels of Fa-hien, to 
a festival in Ceylon, which may have light thrown on 
it by this book. 

Sama was Shakyamuni Buddha in a former life, living 
in a forest with his father and mother, who were blind. 
He fed them with fruits, fetched water for them, and was 



288 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

beloved by the deer and other wild animals of the woods. 
At last the king came on a hunting expedition, shot an 
arrow into a large herd of deer by the water side, and 
killed Sanaa with it, who happened to be in the middle 
of the herd. Sa"ma died, and the king was most penitent, 
while the parents wept over their son. The gods seeing 
this sad spectacle the parents lamenting over their son, 
and the sympathising Eaja came and restored him to 
life. 

The work Pratimoksha is mentioned in the last instruc 
tions of Buddha. It contains the rules of discipline for 
the disciples of Buddha. He left this, when dying, in 
the hands of his followers, as their guide for holy conduct. 

A translation of the first chapter of the Leng-yen-king 
and of a short Shastra here follow. 

The Leng-yen-king is praised by Chu Hi and other Con- 
fucianists as the best worth reading of the Buddhist sacred 
books. 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

THE LENG-YEN-KING. FIKST CHAPTEE. 

The Sutra of firm establishment in all doctrine, describing clearly 
the secret merit and attainments in the religious life of Tatha- 
gata, who appears as Buddha in his great and unsurpassed 
stature ; also the many acts of the Bodhisattwas. 

IT is called also Chung-yin-tu-na-lan-to-ta-tau-ch ( ang-Ung. 
"The Sutra of Nalanda, the great seat of worship, in Cen 
tral India." 

The monastery of Nalanda, in the kingdom of Magadha, 
the present Bahar, was of great size, and lasted through 
more than seven centuries. The Chinese traveller Hiuen- 
tsang visited it. He found there ten thousand monks living 
in six buildings erected by as many monarchs, forming 
together one great ascetic establishment, the most splendid 
in India. It was celebrated as a place of study both for 
the Brahmanical books and those of Buddhism, and was 
devoted to the study of that branch of Buddhist doctrine 
called the " Greater Development." For legends connected 
with this flourishing seat of Buddhism, the translation by 
M. Julien of Hiuen-tsang s travels, from which I have de 
rived these facts, may be consulted. It lay about thirty 
miles south-east of the modern Patna. 

The Chinese translation of the Leng-yen-Ung was made 
in the year 705 A.D., by Paramiti, a Hindoo Buddhist monk 
at Canton. He was assisted by Yung-pi, a Chinese, and 



T 



29 o CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Migashakya, a native of Udyana, a country lying north 
west of Cashmere. 

TRANSLATION. 

Thus have I heard: On a time, Buddha was at the 
city Shravasti, in the chapel in the grove of Jeta. He was 
there with twelve hundred and fifty Bikshus, his disciples, 
who had all attained the rank of Arhan. These children 
of Buddha were at rest in their minds, grasping firmly the 
doctrine of their master, and excelling in goodness. They 
might in any country be patterns of virtue and dignity. 
They attended to the "monastic rules" (Vinaya) with ex 
emplary carefulness. Assuming without limitation what 
ever bodily form was needed, they could save men from 
misery. Their names were Shariputra, Maha Maudgal- 
yayana, Maha Kuhila, the son of Puruna, Mitarani, 
Subhuti, Upanishata, and others. 

Besides these, innumerable Pratyekas, together with 
many who had just begun to desire improvement in 
knowledge, came to the place where Buddha was, at the 
close of summer, repenting of their former evil acts. 

Remarks. Shravasti was situated in what is now the province of 
Oude. Pratyekas are called in Chinese either P it-ti, or P it-ti-ka-la. 
They* are in Sanscrit denominated "Pratyeka" Buddha, and in Chi 
nese Yuen-kioh, " those who have attained intelligence by the study 
of causes." When a period occurs in the world s history without a 
Buddha, the Pratyekas appear, and, arriving at the perception of doc 
trine in his absence, take his place as teacher till he arrives. 

It happened to be the time when the Bikshus at the 
close of summer were released from restraint. From every 
region Bodhisattwas came to ask questions and have their 
doubts removed. They listened respectfully, and sought 
to know the secret thoughts of their teacher. Tathagata 
sat in a tranquil attitude, and addressed to his audience 
profound doctrines which they had not before heard. His 
voice, like the singing of the Kalavingka, penetrated to 
the boundaries of the world. Bodhisattwas, numerous as 



ANANDA TEMPTED. 291 

the sands of the Ganges, crowded to the assembly, and 
Manjusiri was chief among them. 

At this time king Prasenajit had, in memory of his 
father s death, prepared a vegetable repast for Buddha. 
He invited Buddha to the interior apartments of his palace, 
and came himself to conduct him in. He also invited the 
Bodhisattwas. 

In the city there was a man of rank who had also bid 
den the monks to a feast, and was waiting the arrival of 
Buddha. Buddha directed Manjusiri to send some of the 
Bodhisattwas and Arhans to attend the feast in place of 
himself. 

Ananda alone had been invited elsewhere at some dis 
tance, and had not returned. He was too late to take his 
place with the others, and there was no older monk with 
him nor an A-je-li to admonish him. He was coming 
back alone and empty-handed. As he passed along the 
streets he held in his hand a rice bowl, and asked alms 
from door to door. He was desiring that he mi^ht be 
entertained by some one who had not already invited the 
monks. He would not ask if the viands were pleasant to 
the taste or not, whether the host was of the Kshatrya 
caste, or belonged to the Chendaras. Feeling the same 
kind disposition towards rich and poor, he did not choose 
honour in preference to poverty, but was anxious that all 
with whom he met should obtain unmeasured happiness 
(by almsgiving). 

Ananda knew that Buddha had blamed Subhuti and 
Kashiapa, because they had not obtained the evenhanded 
justice of the Arhans, and he had reverently listened to 
his wise advice for relieving scruples and preventing sus 
picions and slanders. 

He crossed the moat, and slowly approached the gate. 
His demeanour was grave. It wat that of one who reve 
rently observed the dietetic regulations. 

He passed on his way the house of a prostitute, and fell 
under the influence of enchantment. Matenga, by means 



292 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

of a charm obtained from Brahma by one of the Sabikaras, 
drew him to her couch, and he was about to break his vow 
of chastity. 

Tathagata knew that he had been enthralled by the 
charm. On returning from the repast to which he had 
been invited, the king, his courtiers, and many persons of 
reputation in the city, came to hear Buddha discourse. 
Light shone from the head of Tathagata, seeming to com 
bine the several rays of all precious stones. Out of this 
mild radiance was seen to spring a lotus flower with a 
profusion of petals, and upon it Buddha sat crosslegged 
with metamorphosed body, uttering a mighty charm. He 
sent this charm by the hand of Manjusiri to save Ananda. 
The messenger went, and the influence of the wicked 
charm being broken, he brought Ananda with Matenga to 
the presence of Tathagata. 

Remarks. The bird called Kalavingka had a very soft, rich 
voice. 

Prasenajit, the king of Shravasti, was very favourable to tlie 
Buddhist religion. It was his minister Sudatta who bought the gar 
den of Jeta from the prince of that name, and erected in it a residence 
for Buddha. (See Julien s Memoires sur les Contrees Occidentals.) 
Many of the Sutras attributed to Buddha are said to have been de 
livered here. At the time of Hiuen-tsang s visit the city was mostly 
in ruins. He observed the remains of the monastery formerly stand 
ing on the site of the garden of Jeta, two miles below the city. (See 
Julien s Histoire de la Vie de Hiouen-thsang). It was here that the 
Bikshus assembled to listen to Buddha. 

During three months in summer the Bikshus lived in seclusion, 
forbidden to travel or to see Buddha. At the end of this time they 
met before Buddha, and gave liberty to each other to point out any 
faults in their conduct, in order that they might undergo a penance 
appointed by Buddha. 

The word A-je-li means an instructor in the ascetic discipline. 
It was required that, in going to a distance, at least three should be 
in company. A monk in the position of Ananda should have had 
with him a superior in rank and also an A-je-li. 

When Buddhism was flourishing in India, the Kshatryas and 
Chendaras were at the two extremes of the social scale. The kings 



ANANDA PENITENT. 293 

and nobles belonged to the Kshatrya caste. The Chendaras were 
butchers, and belonged to various humble trades. 

Subhuti asked alms only from the rich, because they were able to 
give. Kashiapa preferred to beg of the poor, desiring to increase 
their happiness. Buddha blamed them both for transgressing the 
rule of justice. 

The Sabikaras were a heretical sect, with brown hair, who fasted 
on rice. They obtained this charm by special worship of the god 
Brahma. It was capable of being communicated to others, and Ma- 
tenga made use of it. 

The commentator, Teh-ts ing, a Chinese Buddhist monk of the 
Ming dynasty, says that a superficial reader might wonder why this 
Sutra, which unveils the hidden nature of man, points out a secure 
place of rest, and unfolds a doctrine in all respects complete, should 
make such an ordinary incident as the temptation of Ananda its 
point of departure. He says, in explanation, that it is the passions 
which prevent men from attaining the Nirvana. Among the 
passions sensual lust is the most powerful, and therefore it needs a 
remedy of corresponding strength to remove it. 

Ananda, on seeing Buddha, bowed his head to the 
ground and bitterly wept. He grieved that he had not 
yet made a successful beginning, and that, after all the 
instruction he had received, he should still be deficient 
in moral strength. With earnestness he asked to know 
how the Buddhas of all worlds had obtained entrance to 
the region of rest and contemplation. 

The auditors, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, sat 
silent, waiting for Buddha to address them. 

He then said to Ananda : " You and I are akin by 
birth. We are thus caused by heaven to love each other. 
You formerly felt a desire to follow my teaching. What 
beautiful appearance was it which led you to forsake the 
world s deep love ? " Ananda replied : " I saw the thirty- 
two beauties of Tathagata. 1 They are inexpressibly lovely, 
and the bodily form to which they belong is transparent 
as crystal. I reflected that such a form cannot be pro 
duced by earthly love. Because the bodily desires are 

1 "Tathagata," an appellation of Buddha, is, in Chinese, Ju-lai, "Calmly 
approaching." 



294 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

coarse and ill-smelling lusts, and they cannot give origin 
to a pure bright form radiating a purple golden light like 
that of Tathagata ; therefore I thirsted to follow Buddha 
and be shorn of my hair, in token of my abandonment of 
a worldly life." 

Buddha replied : " You speak well, Ananda. All men 
continue to live and die, and live and die again, because 
they do not know that the mind should rest in a state of 
constant purity, and their nature be kept clear and true to 
itself. Ideas arise in their minds which are not true, and 
perforce they enter the wheel of ceaseless revolution. If 
you would attain the highest knowledge and develop your 
true nature in its clearness, answer honestly my inquiries. 
The Buddhas have trodden one path to escape from life 
and death. They have kept their hearts right. Their 
hearts and words were right, and they have therefore 
begun well and ended well. Thus they have no wrong 
thoughts or pernicious changes. I now ask you, Ananda, 
when your heart was attracted towards the thirty-two 
beauties of Tathagata, what was it that saw, and what was 
it that loved ? " Ananda replied : " This love came from 
the use of my heart and my eye. My eye saw the trans 
cendent beauty of Buddha, and my heart felt love. There 
fore it was that I desired to become freed from life and 
death." 

Buddha answered : " Since this love came from the 
heart and the eye, you must know where these organs 
reside; otherwise you cannot overcome the evils caused 
by the objects of sense (ch eri). When a country is 
ravaged, the troops sent to chastise the marauders must 
know where they are to be found. I ask, then, where the 
heart and eye, the enemies who have done you harm, 
reside?" 

Remarks. The passions are the cause of men "being subject to life 
and death. To set them at rest is the means of attaining to the state 
of Buddha. Ananda had been led away by passion, and he asks to 



BUDDHA QUESTIONS A NAN DA. 295 

be reinstructed in the mode of escape. He felt the evil to be great, 
and that some very powerful agency was needed to destroy it. He 
desired to commence self-reformation afresh, but not knowing where 
to begin, he asks for information. The first step is to observe, con 
template, and loosen the heart from its attachments. 

Buddha does not proceed at once to describe the three modes of 
contemplation, but first inquires of him why, in the first instance, 
he had commenced the ascetic life. The answer of Ananda revealed 
the cause of his want of success. Love had been awakened in his 
mind by the sight of beautiful forms. This was because his mode 
of thinking was wrong. He had only exchanged one love for an 
other. His heart had been attracted by a beautiful vision ; but he 
had not seen Buddha in his higher character. If he was right in 
loving Buddha, might he not also love Matenga ? 

Not only is Ananda the victim of wrong thoughts. All men are 
so ; and therefore it is that they do not emerge from the region of 
life and death. But man s true nature cannot be developed where 
wrong thoughts prevail. The exciting causes of this wrong state of 
things must be examined into. It is the work of the senses. The 
senses are the six enemies that disturb the original tranquillity of 
man s nature. These six thieves, as they are called, are ruled by 
the heart and the eye. The place where they reside must be dis 
covered. 

The answer of Ananda was that " living beings, of all 
the ten different kinds, without exception regard the per 
ceiving faculty and the heart or mind as being within 
the body. They also see that Buddha s eye forms a part 
of Buddha s countenance. This eye of mine and three 
other organs of sense are a part of my face. My heart 
(mind), then the perceiving organ, is certainly within 
my body." 

Buddha replied to him : " You are sitting in this house. 
You see the grove of Jeta. I ask you where it is ? " " It 
is," answered Ananda, " outside of this hall. This house 
is in the garden of Anathapindika. And assuredly the 
grove is outside of the house." Buddha again inquired : 
" In this house what do you first see ? " Ananda replied : 
" I first see Tathagata, then the audience, and farther off 
the trees and the garden." Buddha continued : " In look- 



296 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

towards the trees and the garden, how do you perceive 
them ? " Ananda replied : " By the door and other open 
ings." Buddha then stretched out his golden arm, and 
touching the head of Ananda, said : " There is a samadhi 
called that of the Sheu-leng-yen Eajah, who is Buddha-like 
in size and stature. It embraces all good actions, and 
describes how all the Buddhas were rescued from the 
world of sense and entered the glorious path that leads 
to confirmed rest. Listen ! " Ananda made a prostration, 
and waited to hear. 

Remarks. Hiuen-tsang relates that the grove of Jeta is "six li" 
(two miles) south of the city Shravasti. In this grove was the 
garden of Anathapindika or Anathapindada. At the time when 
the Chinese traveller visited it, the convent which was formerly 
there was in ruins. Jeta sold the land to Sudatta, and himself gave 
the grove. Anathapindika means "He who gives to orphans." 
Sudatta was so named on account of his charities. 

Samadhi is a sort of waking dream or reverie, occurring to Bud 
dha or his disciples when engaged in deep contemplation, and in 
which an impression or vision teaching certain religious dogmas 
seems present to the mind s eye. 

The commentator Te-ts ing remarks that men generally fall into 
the error of Ananda. They think that the mind is enclosed in the 
visible body. Continuance in the sphere of the metempsychosis 
arises from men s mistaken opinion that the body, the mind, and 
"their actions" (wu-yun} constitute myself. This false view must 
be first combated. Buddha, being about to subvert the cherished 
opinions of Ananda, kindly placed his hand upon his head to in 
spire him with confidence, lest he should feel pained. 

Buddha : " According to what you say you are in this 
hall, and through the open doors you see the garden and 
the grove. If you could not see Tathagata, would you be 
able to see what is outside of the hall ? " 

Ananda : " That could not be." 

Buddha : " This to your mind is perfectly clear. Now, 
if that mind which perceives it be within the body, men 
ought first to see what is within the body and afterwards 



BUDDHA INSTRUCTS ANANDA. 297 

what is outside. Since we do not see the heart, liver, 
and other viscera, while we can perceive the growth of 
nails and hair, and the movements of muscles and pulses, 
the heart cannot reside within the body." 

Ananda (bowing) : " As I hear the instructions of 
Tath&gata, I arn made to perceive the truth, that my 
mind resides outside of my body. For it is like a lamp 
lighted in a house. It first shines on what is within the 
house, and then through the door upon the portico. Since 
men see only what is outside the body, the perceiving 
mind cannot reside within them. This statement is in- 
controvertibly right." 

Buddha : When these Bikshus come to seek me ia 
this city of Shravasti, and assemble at the grove of Jeta, 
should you see one of them eating, would all of them be 
thereby relieved from hunger ? " 

Ananda: "No! for although they were Arhans and 
share in a different kind of existence, how could one 
man s taking food remove hunger from the rest ? " 

Buddha : " The mind and body being entirely separate 
from each other, neither of them can know what is known 
to the other. I now show you my hand. Your eye sees 
it, but does your mind distinguish it ? " 

Ananda: " Yes, Honoured Chief of the world!" 
Buddha : " If both perceive it, then it is wrong to say 
that they are separate from each other, and that the mind 
dwells outside of the body." 

Ananda : " Buddha has said that the mind, not seeing 
what is within the body, cannot reside there. Further, 
he has said that when the mind and body both know 
what is known to the other, they cannot be outside of 
each other, but must be in one place." 
Buddha : Where, then, is the mind placed ? " 
Ananda : " I think it must be hidden in the organs of 
sense. The eye is to the mind like a piece of glass which 
does not interfere with vision. Whenever the eye sees, 



298 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

the mind at once distinguishes. The reason why the 
mind does not see the interior of the body is because 
it resides in the sensorial organs, and its position there 
enables it to notice objects outside of the body." 

Buddha : " Supposing that it is so, I ask what a man 
will see when a glass is placed before his eyes ? When 
he sees the hills and mountains beyond, will he see the 
glass also ? " 

Ananda : " He will see the glass." 

Buddha : " If so, why should not the eye be seen at 
the time when hills and rivers are visible through it ? 
But if the eye be seen it is a part of the scenery observed 
by the mind, and there is no interdependence between 
the two, so that the mind should at once perceive what 
is an object of vision to the eye. But if the mind does 
not see the eye, then it cannot be said that the mind 
resides in the organs of sense." 

Ananda : " I have now thought upon another thing. 
The viscera are in the interior of the body, while the 
various apertures are outside. There is darkness in the 
one and light in the other. While I look at Buddha my 
eye is open and sees light. In this case I see what is 
external. When I close my eyes I see darkness. In this 
case I see what is internal. Is this a correct distinc 
tion?" 

Buddha : " When you close your eyes and look on dark 
ness, is the darkness which you see objective to the eye 
(wei-u-yen-tui), or not ? If the darkness be objective, it is 
something before the eye, and it is therefore wrong to say 
that it is internal. If, on the other hand, the darkness be 
internal, then the darkness you see in a room where no 
light can enter is nothing but the interior of your body. 
If, however, the darkness be not objective (tui) to 
the eye, it cannot be said to be seen. If the darkness be 
internal, and is yet seen objectively by the eye, why do 
you not see your face when with open eyes you look 



ANANDA ENLIGHTENED. 299 

on brightness ? If yon see your face, the perceiving mind 
with the organ of vision must "be in vacancy. They can 
not then be within the body, nor can they be a part of it. 
For if they were a part of your body, then I who now see 
your face should be part of your body. By means of your 
eye which is in vacancy, you know that your body does 
not perceive objects. You must therefore hold that there 
are two acts of perceiving and two perceiving agents. 
You would thus become two persons. It cannot therefore 
be said, that in closing the eye and looking on darkness 
you see what is within." 

Ananda : " I have heard Buddha say that actions spring 
from the mind, and the mind from action (i.e., mind and 
action are necessary to each other, and equally unreal). It 
appears to me that my thoughts are my mind, and that 
wherever my thought is, there is my mind. Thus the 
seat of the mind need not be within or without, or in an 
intermediate position." 

Buddha : " The mind, Ananda, cannot be where the 
thought is; for it is without substance (t ( i\ and cannot 
be at any place. For if an unsubstantial thing could be 
said to be at a place, the eighteen limiting points which 
excite sensations would become nineteen, and the six 
objects of sense would become seven. But that the mind 
is unsubstantial can easily be shown. When I touch my 
self with my hand, the knowing mind (the resulting act 
of knowledge) must come from within outwards, or from 
without inwards. If the former, the interior of the body 
would be visible ; if the latter, I should first see my face. 
Since I see neither, my mind must be unsubstantial." 

Ananda: "It is the eye that sees; though it is not 
the eye that knows. To say that the mind sees is in 
correct." 

Buddha : " If the eye could see, the door of the house in 
which you are might also be able to see. The eye of the 
dead sees nothing. Further, Ananda, the mind, if it has 



300 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

substance, must be one substance or many. Your mind 
must pervade your entire body or not. If your mind be a 
single substance, when you touch one limb all the lirnbs 
should feel the pressure. If it were felt everywhere, the 
sensation would not be referred to any particular spot. If 
the sensation belongs to one part, you who are the subject 
of it cannot form a single substance. But neither can 
you be many substances, for then you would be many 
men. If the substance of your mind pervade your entire 
body, a sensation of pressure would be felt in every 
part. If it pervaded the body partially, a portion of it 
would be susceptible to touch, while the remaining parts 
were not so. Since this is not the case, your supposi 
tion, that the mind is wherever thought is, falls to the 
ground." 

Ananda : " Formerly I heard Buddha discoursing with 
Manjusiri and others on the true nature of things which 
appear. You then said the mind is neither within nor 
without the body. It seems to me that without interior 
perception there can be no external knowledge. What is 
in the body must be perceived, if we are to know what 
is outside of the body ; else the mind cannot be within 
the body at all. As it is, we only perceive what is 
outside, and not what is within. The mind, therefore, 
must be neither within nor without, but between the 
two." 

Buddha, in his reply, argues that Ananda is wrong, and 
that the place of the mind is not between the inside and 
the outside, any more than it is within the body or with 
out in the material things which are the objects of sensa 
tions. 

So ends the first chapter of this book. 

Remarks. The eighteen limiting "boundaries" (kiai) of the sensa 
tions are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind, colour, sound, smell, 
taste, " contact " (cAw), law, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, 
and thinking. 



THE EIGHTEEN BOUNDARIES. 301 

These eighteen items are otherwise arranged as six roots, the sen- 
sorial organs, sir kinds of dust, colour, taste, smell, &c., and six 
kinds of sensational knowledge. 

The second group of six are also called the six thieves, as being the 
causes of delusion to all mankind who believe in matter. 

The first six are also called the six subjects that " love" (ai\ and 
the six things that "feel" (ttttng). 



( 302 ) 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE EKASHLOKA SHASTRA. 

The "Ekashloka Shastra," translated from the Chinese, with an 
analysis and notes. 1 

THE author of the original work, of which a translation is 
here given from the Chinese version, was the patriarch 
"Nagarjuna" (or Lung-shu), of whom much has been 
said in the preceding part of this book. Beside being 
the writer of many of the more important Shastras, he 
also composed several of the Sutras, though these works 
are generally attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha. A keen 
reasoner, acute thinker, and voluminous author, such as 
JSTagarjuna, deserves to be better known, and it is hoped 
that the following translation of one of his lesser works 
will prove not altogether useless in the elucidation of 
Buddhism. 

It is called Yih-shu-lu-Jcia-lun, the "Shastra of One 
shloka." The three characters shu-lu-Jeia are in old Chi 
nese pronunciation sho-lo-ka. When a double consonant 
begins a syllable, it is usual to employ the same vowel 
after each consonant in transcribing them in Chinese 
characters. 

Shloka is a Sanscrit term for " verse," and particularly 
for a couplet of a certain kind. I take the following 
account of it from Williams Sanscrit Grammar : " The 
Institutes of Manu are written in the Sloka, or Anushtubh 

1 Read before the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society, ijth November 
1857- 



THE EKASHLOKA SHASTRA. 303 

metre. This is the commonest of all the infinite variety of 
Sanscrit metres, and is that which chiefly prevails in the 
great epic poems of the East. It consists of two lines of 
sixteen syllables each, but the rules which regulate one 
line apply equally to the other." "The ist, 2d, 3d, 4th, 
9th, loth, nth, and I2th syllables may be either long or 
short. The 1 6th, as ending the line, is also common ; so 
too the 8th." " The 5th syllable ought always to be short. 
The 6th may be either long or short; but if long, then 
the /th ought to be long also ; and if short, then the ?th 
ought to be short also." "The last four syllables form 
two iambics." 

The Hindoo author has in the present instance taken a 
single couplet as his theme, and hence the name of his 
short treatise. This couplet, consisting in its Chinese form 
of four short sentences, appears at the commencement. 

We are also informed by an introductory note that the 
treatise was translated into Chinese, from the original of 
Lung-shu p u-sa, by the Brahman Gaudama Prajnaluti, at 
the city of Lo-yang, in the reign of the Yuen- Wei dynasty. 
This city is that now called Ho-nan fu, on the south bank 
of the Yellow Eiver, in Ho-nan province. The time of the 
translation is the fourth century of our era. 

TKANSLATION OF " YIH-SHU-LU-KIA-LUN " 
(THE SHASTKA OF ONE SHLOKA). 

"My body (or substance) in its nature is not permanent ; 
Thus, then, my body is not a body. 
My body in its nature not being a body, 
I therefore say that it is empty and not permanent." 

" It is asked, Why write this " stanza " (G-dfha) ? What 
is its meaning? What man s opinions is it intended to 
overthrow? I reply, It is written on account of those, 
who in reading Shastras of great length grow weary ; and 
also for those intelligent persons, who have studied many 
Shastras, and exercised their thoughts (deeply) in the sea 
of Buddha s law, but growing fatigued have begun to doubt 



304 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

about the doctrine, not by any means to be questioned 
or suspected, of the non-permanence of things and the 
nothingness of my own body. To destroy such doubts 
I have composed this Shastra. 

" What says my doctrine ? That all kinds of " acting " 
(fa) are non-permanent, and my own body is nothing. 
The non-reality of my body is not separate from the 
non-permanence of all action, my nature and my body 
being nothing. Therefore there is no such thing as per 
manence. 

" All the Buddhas, and their disciples of the two classes 
Yuen-kioh and Sheng-wen ("Listeners," Shrdvaka), have 
obtained their liberation from ignorance by means of this 
principle of nothingness; not by the opposite principle, 
which maintains the existence of breaking off, and of per 
manence in actions. The Gdtha says : 

Lose sight of this principle of nothingness, and prefer to re 
side in body ; 

You then obtain a view of things as permanent. 
If you say that afterwards they are to be destroyed, 
You thus conie to see things as having cessation." 

" With this meaning I speak of all actions as being in 
themselves without real embodiment. The Buddhas, the 
Enlightened (Yuen-kioh\ the Listeners, and the Arhans 
have gained their benefits and successes by believing in 
this principle. 

" I will now speak of what men are to be opposed. If 
a man who has gained some knowledge says that, with 
out reference to action (king), there is non-permanence, 
his view is not the correct one. If the so-called non-per 
manence is separated from existence, yeu-wei, or (actu 
ality), in order to be called non-permanent, then permanence 
becomes nothing. Thus, then, actuality and non-reality 
are not essentially different. If actuality and non-reality 
combine, the actual being joined to the unreal, a bottle 
cannot be broken (which is absurd, a bottle being an actual 
thing). If the unreal and the actual combine, the unreal 



CAUSATION. 305 

being joined to the actual, the Nirvana is destructible 
(which is absurd, the Nirvana being not an actual thing). 
If the actual and the unreal are, as thus argued, identical, 
all kinds of teaching (or action/ fa) are indestructible, 
like the Mrvana, which is permanent, and is, therefore, 
not produced from any cause. If actions Qiing) are not 
produced from causes, they do not differ from the empty 
Mrvana. In this case, the method or state of actuality 
(yeu-wei) need not be called constant. But if the things 
done, being not produced from causes, are still non-per 
manent, then the empty Nirvana is not called permanent. 
If this be true, the methods of actuality and of non-reality 
are neither of them good. If the non-permanent is parted 
from actuality and is still called non-permanent, then actu 
ality apart from constancy ought to be called constant. 
But this is not correct reasoning. In which of the Sutras 
are there such words as these ? 

" What ideas are to be discoursed upon ? What mean 
ing is there in that which you now say ? There is much 
in it that is unreasonable, such as your crooked mind 
cannot fathom. Therefore what you say, is not correct 
doctrine. If men, who have gained some knowledge, 
maintain that the (action or) law of the past, present, and 
future is in each case completed from and in itself, this is 
to be regarded as a false view. Why so ? Because it is a 
view which omits the notion of cause. If we speak of the 
future as not being produced from causes, but as formed 
from and in itself, then the present is also not produced 
from causes, but is formed from its own nature. For the 
future and the present are, in their own nature, even and 
equal, without any difference. If so, and the law of the 
present comes from causes, why, in this case, should not 
the law of the future come from causes also ? You ground 
this view either on the Sutras, or upon your own judg 
ment. But the statement is incorrect and unreasonable. 
Being unreasonable, it is not to be believed. If the law 
that regards the future is not produced from causes, but 

U 



3 o6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

comes from its own nature, it must be an empty thing. 
Being cut off from any connection with causes, it cannot 
be produced from any cause. It is, therefore, not truly 
future in itself. But if the future is non-existent, then 
the present and past are also non-existent. The present 
and the past being non-existent, then time in its threefold 
aspect is really nothing in itself. If it be said that it has 
a real existence, this is to say that it is permanent, and is 
produced without a cause. 

" If the disciple of Buddha thinks so, who has reached 
some depth in perception, he does not differ from the here 
tical teachers, Kapila and others. This Shastra, however, 
is not made for such as Kapila and Uluka, but for you 
who hold the same views with me. What I have thus far 
said, in opposition to the opinions of certain persons, is for 
the sake of you who have made some advancement, that 
you may reject incorrect views. 

" It is on this account that I have compiled this Shastra 
and the Gdtha of one shloka ( Yi-sho-lo-ka-lun), which 
commences my book. I shall now explain the meaning 
of this Gdtha. 

" When it is said, My body, in its nature, is not per 
manent, my body refers to that which is born and acts, 
and which is, therefore, called my body. He who has 
made advancement in right perception, being in the midst 
of this acting, thinks out for himself that this is the body 
(or takes it to be the body). This acting commences in 
the region of the physical and mental operations. 1 In it 
are involved also the Sheng-wen and Yuen-kio, who wander 
circuitously (in this lower region). Thus, when we speak 
of bodies, as one, two, or several ; or of men, as one, two, 
or several ; each is considered as having a body indepen 
dent of the rest, and they are commonly spoken of as such. 
As earth, water, fire, and wind are respectively hard, moist, 
hot, and movable, each according to its nature ; so every 

1 The " human operations are five," wu-yin namely, sh&, "vision ;" sheu, 
"reception ;" siang, "thinking; king, " doing;" sh i, "perception. 
U 



NON-PERMANENCE OF OBJECTS. 307 

man (and thing) has his own form and substance. Hence 
the expression, my body. 

" If he who has made some advancement in knowledge 
says that man in his birth, in his continued life, and in his 
death, is the same in form, he speaks erroneously. The 
body of man is, in its nature, not permanent, and, there 
fore, its being called body has arisen from the circum 
stance that men who have advanced somewhat in true 
knowledge have made this distinction. Therefore apart 
from the various modes of action, there is no non-perma 
nent body ; because man is, in his form, not permanent. 

" Therefore Buddha, in instructing the Bikshus respect 
ing various acts, represents them all as not constant. This 
is on account of what has been already said. 

" If it be maintained that, apart from acting, men and 
things are non-permanent, retaining their own form, such 
an opinion is wrong. Should you not understand why the 
phrase non-permanent is used, I will now explain it. It 
is because of what is said in the opening stanza, Body is 
not body. The notions of body and not body you easily 
distinguish. The non-permanent, what is it ? It is with 
out body. Therefore it is, that body is not body. In its 
own nature it is not body, and therefore it is formally 
stated to be without body. 

" When it is said, My substance, in its nature, is not 
substance, it is asserted that there is no substance but 
that which is not substance (wu-t i). For this reason it 
is said that substance in itself is not such. If you hold 
that there is some substance existing beside wu-Vi, you are 
wrong; this mode of arguing is not that of the Sutras. 
If you assert that the absence of body (wu-t i) is what con 
stitutes substance, this also is incorrect ; because the Sutras 
do not say so. In what Sutra has Buddha, the World s 
Honoured one, taught such a doctrine ? It is not to be 
found in any Sutra, for it is not correct teaching (king- 
sJiwo, the teaching of the classics ) ; such arguments can 
not succeed, because they are not the doctrine of the great 



3 o8 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

holy Sutras ; they ought not, therefore, to be believed. It 
is, then, not only my own words that I bring as evidence. 

" The last sentence says, Therefore it is stated to be 
empty and not permanent. Eefer, for example, to the 
Sutra, Tiau-fuh-san-mih-t i-king, Narrative of Buddha 
pacifying and subduing Samidhi, which says, that Buddha 
addressed Samidhi with the words, The eye of man is 
empty and not permanent. There is no eye that does not 
move, that does not perish, that does not change. And 
why ? It is its nature so to do. The ear, nose, tongue, 
body, and mind have all the same changeable and destruc 
tible nature. 

" Buddha, the World s Honoured one, speaking in this 
Sutra of emptiness and of non-permanence, on this account 
expressed the opinion here stated. Thus we know that all 
acts are empty and non-permanent. Being not permanent, 
they are without body (t i). Consequently all acts are, 
in their nature and of themselves, without bodily form. 
It is in this way that the meaning of the words wu-t i, 
without body, is established. 

" If, in this manner, an opinion be tested by the Sutras, 
it will be well established. If it will not bear this test, it 
must fall to the ground. In my view, what is in the 
Sutras must be completely satisfactory. Therefore it is 
that the opinion, that (my) nature (sing) is in itself with 
out body, has been now employed to bring to its comple 
tion the Shastra of one Shloka. 

" All kinds of action (or existence), such as body, nature, 
* act (doctrine), thing, matter, existence (yeu), are diffe 
rent in name, but the same in meaning. Whichever of 
these we speak of, the only difference between them is in 
the word yeu, to be. 

" This word yeu is, in the original language, subhava. 1 It 

1 This word is a compound of *M, "conditions of being." Abhdva is 

" good," and bhdva, one of the twelve " privation " or " negation." Prd- 

causes being. " By Colebrooke and gabhdva is " present negation of what 

Professor Wilson it is variously tran- will be." Anubhdva is " notion." 
slated, "dispositions," "sentiments," 



ANALYSIS. 309 

is translated in several ways, as the substance which gives 
substance to itself (ts i-t i-t i), or as without action and 
with action (wu-fa-yeu-fa), or as the nature which has 
no nature of its own (wu-ts%-sing-sing)" 

Analysis and Remarks. The author begins with stating, 
in a rhythmical form, the principles he is about to esta 
blish. My substance or body, i.e., my whole nature, 
material and intellectual, is a passing, changing thing, 
and is, consequently, not a real substance at all. It is, 
therefore, only right to say of it that it is empty and not 
permanent. 

This principle agrees with the description given of the 
Buddhists by Colebrooke, who observes that they are 
called by their adversaries the orthodox Hindoos, Sarva- 
vaindsicas, or " Those who argue total perishableness." They 
deny the permanent existence of atoms, and only allow that 
images of things are formed which immediately pass away. 

The author then gives his reasons for composing the 
treatise, and the Gdtha or rhythmical statement with 
which it commences. He wrote it for the sake of such 
persons as cannot read through the very long and tedious 
works found in the Buddhist library. He also wished to 
place in a short compass the argument for the transitory, 
unreal nature of all existing things, for the use of ad 
vanced students ; lest they should be influenced by those 
arguments, self-suggested or presented by others, which 
go to prove that the world is real and that the information 
given by the senses is trustworthy. 

The composition of Buddhist works is varied by the 
frequent introduction of passages in a rhythmical form, 
not indeed with rhymes or any fixed succession of long 
and short syllables, but with lines constantly of the same 
length. In the Nepaul originals, there is also a difference 
in dialect between the prosaic and rhythmical parts, the 
Sanscrit and Pracrit being interchanged. There is no 
such transition of dialects in the Chinese translations. 



3io 



CHINESE BUDDHISM. 



The rhythmical parts are called " Gdtha" Kit; in the old 
Chinese pronunciation, G-at. 

The author lays down as his order of procedure, that 
he will first unfold his meaning, then attack the upholders 
of opposite views, and afterwards support his own opinions. 

He holds that all kinds of action are transitory and 
not lasting, that the actor or observer is himself nothing 
real, and that these two things are connected. Hence the 
doctrine of non-permanence. 

The Buddhas and their disciples, he says, had in the 
belief of the principle of nothingness obtained " liberation " 
(mdkshd) from the bonds which restrain the soul. The 
opposite doctrine, which holds that things are permanent, 
or break off, has never had such an exemplification of 
its truth. 

Colebrooke says that the followers of Kanade main 
tained that things are partly perishable and transitory, 
but in part also unchangeable. His followers are called 
Vaiseshikas. 

The disciples of Buddha here alluded to, Yuen-lsioh and 
Sheng-wen, occupy the third and fourth rank in the Bud 
dhist scale of being. Their position will be understood by 
the following scheme copied from a Buddhist work : 



Four degrees 
in " holiness" 
(sheny). 


Buddha. 
Bodhisattwa. 
Yuen-kio. 
Sheng-wen. 


Intelligence. 
Knowledge and mercy. 
Perception gained by the study of causes. 
" Listeners," Shravakas. 


Six states 


Devas. 


" Gods," T-ien. 


of 


Asuras. 


Monsters, demons. 


" ignorance " 
(fan}. 


Men. 
Pretas. 


Hungry ghosts. 




Animals. 






Naraka. 


Hell. 



Tour lines in the form of Gdtha are here introduced^ 
representing the doctrines of opponents. Two views are 
given that which regards the universe as permanent, and 



NON-PERMANENCE INCORRECTLY HELD. 311 

that which describes it as liable to cessation. Both are 
considered as erroneous by the champion of Buddhism. 
Safety is only to be found in the doctrine of nihility. 

In again appealing to the testimony of the Buddhas 
and their disciples, he mentions the Arhans. These form 
the last in a series of four grades of discipleship. The 
attainment of a certain amount of enlightenment in the 
Buddhist doctrine is represented as " fruit." These four 
grades of discipleship, or " fruits," are called, Su-da-wan, 
Si-da-gam, A-na-gam, and A-la-han. In Sanscrit these 
names are read " Srotapanna," " Sagardagam," "Anagamin," 
and " Arhan." They are also called the four paths to the 
Nirvana. 

Lung-shu proceeds to controvert by argument, the 
opinions of two classes of reasoners, and first of those who 
hold the doctrine of non - permanence in an incorrect 
manner. It ought not to be held so as to deny the reality 
of action, or so as to confound action and inaction. These 
terms in Chinese, yeu-wei, wu-wei, may perhaps be trans 
lated " actuality " and " non-reality." Their meaning will 
be seen by the illustrations used. An earthenware bottle 
is adduced as an example of an " actual thing " (yeu-wei), 
while the Nirvana belongs to the " non-actual " or wu-wei 
class. These instances are brought forward to show that 
things of the two classes of objects must not be con 
founded. For if actuality be identified with non-reality, a 
bottle, it is said, would become a non-actual thing, and it 
would be wrong to say that it was destructible. So if non- 
actual things were identified with what is actual, the Nir 
vana would cease to be indestructible. The distinction, then, 
between the actual and the non-actual must be preserved. 

The Sutras are again appealed to in proof of this doc 
trine. These works are thus seen to be, in the view of 
the Buddhist, the standard of truth. They contain the 
very words of Buddha, which are held to be necessarily 
true. Several hundreds of these books, thus shown to 
constitute the scriptures of this religion, have been trans- 



3 i2 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

lated into the language of China, and of the other coun 
tries where Buddhism prevails. These treatises are not 
said to be divine, or to be inspired, for the Buddhist has 
neither God nor inspiration in his creed. He only knows 
Buddha, the self-elevated human intellect, as the most 
exalted being; and he looks on his teaching to be the 
purest truth and the highest wisdom. Throughout the 
Shastra, which is now presented to the reader, Lung-shu 
supports his opinions by the authority of the Sutras which 
Buddha has left for the use of his disciples as the reposi 
tory of his doctrine. 

He goes on to overthrow the notion that the past, the 
present, and the future are self-produced, and do not 
come from the action of causes. He observes that the 
present and the future are as to their nature similar, and 
controlled by the same laws ; but the present results from 
causes, -and therefore the future must also originate in the 
same manner. If the past, present, and future do not 
come from causes, he argues that they can be nothing real 
at all. The holder of such views would thus fall into the 
error of Kapila and other heretical teachers. 

Kapila, here referred to, was a remarkable personage, 
perhaps the most noted of the Indian philosophers. He 
founded the Sankhya school. " This system," says Cousin, 
in his History of Modern Philosophy? " is at once a system 
of physics, psychology, dialectics, and metaphysics. It 
is a universal system, a complete philosophy." Cousin 
says of Kapila that he advocated sensualism, and that 
" one of the ideas which are most opposed to sensualism 
being that of cause, Kapila made an effort to destroy it. 
The argumentation of Kapila is, in the history of philo 
sophy, the antecedent of that of ^Enesidemus and that 
of Hume. According to Kapila, there is no proper notion 
of cause, and that which we call a cause is only an effect 
in its relation to the cause which precedes it, which is also 
an effect for the same reason, and continually thus, so 

1 Translated by O. W. "Wight, vol. i. 



KAPILAS DOCTRINE. 313 

that the whole is a necessary concatenation of effects, with 
out veritable and independent cause." 

Professor Wilson, in his learned comment on the San- 
Jchya JTari&a, criticises this statement of the French philoso 
pher, and denies that Kapila asserts the non-existence of 
cause. He admits, however, that "he may so far agree with 
the philosophers referred to, in recognising no difference 
between material cause and material effects;" and adds 
that " his doctrine is that of Brown in his lectures on 
power, cause, and effect." 

There being such a difference of opinion on the views 
of this Hindoo philosopher, it is interesting to notice in 
the treatise of Lung-shu, that Kapila is incidentally con 
demned for denying the existence of cause. Our Chinese 
evidence goes to uphold the statement of the French philo 
sopher, where he is called in question by his English critic. 

Colebrooke questions whether Kapila be not altogether 
a mythological personage. With this distinct allusion 
to him in our little work, dating indubitably from near 
the beginning of the Christian era, we may perhaps infer 
his historical reality, and we also obtain an approxima 
tion to the period in which he lived. 

Lung-shu proceeds to say that he did not write for the 
purpose of confuting such philosophers as Kapila and 
Uluka, 1 but for the sake of correcting and confirming the 
views of the disciples of Buddhism. 

The philosopher, Uluka, I have not found mentioned by 
Colebrooke or other writers on the metaphysical systems 
of India. 

It appears to me that Lung-shu is not explicit enough 
in his argument for the production of events from causes, 
where he asserts that- the present proceeds from causes, 
and therefore the future does also, being in all respects 
similar to the present in its nature. He does not first 
make plain that the present proceeds from cause. 2 

1 Kia-pi-lo ; in the old pronuncia- to me, that he may regard this as 
t\(m,Ka-pi-la. Yeu-leu-kia ( U-lu-ka}. obvious, being what consciousness is 

2 A friend has, however, suggested ever teaching us. 



314 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

As already remarked, Lung-shu appeals repeatedly to 
the authority of the Sutras. So the advocates of the 
Sankhya philosophy appeal to the Sutras of Kapila, which 
are, however, brief aphorisms, and not, like those of Bud 
dha, long treatises. Yet Lung-shu has besides this another 
test of the validity of doctrines, namely, their reasonable 
ness or unreasonableness. To this second test he here 
brings the doctrines he opposes and condemns them. 

In explaining the introductory stanza, Lung-shu first 
discusses the origin of the phrase " my body." He ob 
serves that it consists of the body and its actions ; i.e., it 
means myself. In the region of mental and physical 
actions, we come to the consciousness of myself. In this 
region the inferior classes of Buddha s disciples continue 
to wander partially enlightened. 

Advancing from this incomplete view, we speak ordi 
narily of men and things, in the singular, dual, and plural 
numbers, as separate beings existing independently of 
each other, thus increasing the first error. The four ele 
ments, earth, water, fire, and wind, differ in their nature, 
as being hard, moist, hot, and moving, and so each man 
and thing is looked at as having its characteristic diffe 
rences from others. Hence the common but erroneous 
expression my ~body, my self. 

Lung-shu complains that some persons maintain birth, 
duration, and destruction to be the same thing. He then 
proceeds to state that the body in its nature is not per 
manent, that its being called lody has arisen from the dis 
tinctions which men in their ignorance have made, and 
that the correct doctrine of the body being non-permanent 
is inseparably connected with the various physical and 
mental operations which spring from the body ; because, 
he adds, man is in his entire form non-permanent. 

Buddha, in the instructions he gave to the Bikshus his 
disciples, always held the doctrine that actions are non- 
permanent. This must ever be kept in mind in making 
the statement that the body is non-permanent. 



PS YCHOL OGY OF B UDDHISM. 3 1 5 

Bikslm is one of the names given to the followers of 
Buddha generally. They are also called Shamen and 
Ho-sliang. 

The author then undertakes to prove the second sen 
tence of his theme, namely, " Thus, then, my body is not 
a body." The doctrine of non-permanence has been intro 
duced to aid in proving this. The non-permanent is 
necessarily unsubstantial. The things we see are liable 
to perish. Therefore they are not real things. We must 
speak of things as they really are. Hence the words " my 
body is not body," are correct and appropriate. 

The third sentence, when it says, " My body in its nature 
is not body," asserts that, apart from the unsubstantial 
and the vanishing, no body exists ; and that therefore it is 
right to say of my own body, that it does not exist. 

Cousin, in his lectures already referred to, speaks of the 
psychology of Buddhism as being contained in two pro 
positions, extracted by Burnouf from Buddhist books. 

ist, Thought or spirit for the faculty is not distin 
guished from the subject appears only with sensation, 
and does not survive it. 

2d, The spirit cannot itself lay hold of itself; and in 
directing its attention to itself, it draws from it only the 
conviction of its powerlessness to see itself otherwise than 
as successive and transitory. 

Burnouf adds, these theses are radically opposed to 
Brahrnanism, whose first article of faith is the perpetuity 
of the thinking subject. 

We see that the non-permanence of things, which is so 
important a principle with our author, also pervades the 
books of Nepaul which Burnouf studied, and constitutes 
a watchword of Buddhism. 

Lung-shu proceeds to observe that some persons hold 
false views on this subject. One opinion is that inde 
pendently of the unsubstantial there is substance, but this 
is contrary to the Sutras. Others say the unsubstantial 
is my body, but this is wrong (although it is correct to 



316 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

say that my body is unsubstantial), because it is not found 
in the Sutras. Such are not the words of Buddha, nor are 
they met with in the great holy Sutras, and they must 
not be believed. 

The last sentence, "I therefore say that it is empty 
and not permanent," is illustrated by appealing to the 
teaching of Buddha in one of the Sutras. He takes the 
eye as an example. There is no eye that does not move, 
that is not destroyed, that does not change. It is there 
fore empty and non-permanent. So it is with the other 
sensorial organs. The nature of them all is to change and 
decay. 

The Buddhists in enumerating the organs of sense, after 
mentioning the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body, add the 
mind. Lung-shu does so in this passage. The mind, as 
the organ of consciousness, is viewed as a sense. We 
limit the term sensorial organs to those which are mate 
rial, but the Buddhist, not believing in the reality of 
material things, calls every organ by which impressions 
are communicated a sense. 

Buddha having thus expressed his opinion in the Sutras, 
it is added, we know that all acts are empty, non-per 
manent, and therefore without body. Thus we arrive at 
the doctrine that body does not exist. 

It should be remembered that the Buddhists regard the 
acts of the thinking being as one with his substance. 
They do not distinguish between the agent and the act, 
but deny the reality and permanence of both in their 
unity. Thus they will say, as in this case, " all acts " (yih- 
ts ib-fa) are without body, instead of predicating this of 
the actor. 

Hence also he proceeds to say, that human nature is 
without body, resting his doctrine on the authority of 
the Sutras, and adding that it is the object of this entire 
treatise, " The Shastra of one Shloka," to illustrate it. 

The same confusion of the agent with his acts presents 
itself in the closing sentences of the treatise, where it is 



DOCTRINE OF NON-REALITY. 317 

asserted that all kinds of action, including body, nature, 
acts, thing, being, are but different names for the same thing. 
All these varieties in phraseology, he adds, are but 
differences in the term yeu, " being." The original word, 
adds the translator into Chinese, is subhava, which is vari 
ously explained " the substance which gives substance to 
itself," " without action and with action," and " the nature 
which has no nature of its own." 

Bhawo, says Gogerly in his Essay on Buddhism} is two 
fold, consisting of moral causative acts and the state of 
being. Of these, he adds, Jcamma-bhawo, or " moral causa 
tive acts," are merit, demerit, and all those actions which 
lead to existence. The various worlds of the Buddhist 
universe are designated by the term Ihawo. "Worlds 
of sensual pleasure and pain" are Jcama-lhawo. The 
"Brahma worlds" are rtipa-lhawo. The "incorporeal 
worlds" are artipa-bhawo, and so on. Here the term 
Ihava means " states of being." 

The numerous modifications of meaning belonging to 
this word help to account for the three translations of the 
related word subhava, which close the treatise. 

I may observe here, that it is common with the modern 
Chinese Buddhists, to defend the doctrine of the non- 
reality of material things, by appealing to their liability 
to destruction. A priest will contend that a wooden table, 
on the application of fire, passing into smoke and ashes, 
there is necessarily nothing real in it. 

The truth is, that reality and changeableness are both 
rightly affirmed of a table, or any other material thing. 
The Buddhist asserts with perfect correctness, that the 
objects of sense are non-permanent, but he is wrong when 
he argues that therefore they are unreal. Christianity, 
modern science, and all sound philosophy agree in ascrib 
ing reality and changeableness to the objects of sense. 
Lung-shu erred in not seeing that these two things can be 
reconciled. 

1 Quoted in Hardy s Eastern Monachism. 



CHAPTER XX. 



^ 



EFFECT OF BUDDHISM ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE 
SUNG DYNASTY. 

The Sung philosophers differ from Confucius Five periods of Chi 
nese intellectual development The Sung writers changed the 
old cosmogony The Han writers had already done so Diagram 
of the Great Extreme Other pictorial illustrations Avoidance 
of the doctrine of a personal God Materialistic philosophy of 
nature New view of divination. 

THE Sung philosophers were separated about fifteen 
hundred years from Confucius. During this long period 
differences might well spring up, which accordingly we 
find. 

In reverence for antiquity and the inculcation of the 
five constant virtues, in teaching the principles of per 
petual and universal morality, and in drawing the attention 
of their countrymen to the ancient models of wisdom and 
virtue, they agreed with Confucius. 

In their cosmogony, their philosophy of nature, their 
attitude in regard to the ancient practice of divination, 
and in their explanation of the sovereign power in the 
world as an abstraction, they differed widely from Con 
fucius. 

Four great stages of literary and national development 
may be pointed to as intervening between the great sage 
and the age called that of the Sung ju. Each of them 
embraced the course of three or four centuries. The first is 
that of Mencius, Siiin King, Meh Ti, and Kiih Yuen. Ortho 
dox philosophers, heretic philosophers, and a highly popular 
poet indicated the medley of unfixed thought in which, at 



FIVE PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT. 319 

that time, the public mind was involved. It was a time 
of struggle for Confucian and orthodox doctrine, against 
various speculators in morals and politics who wished to 
advance some one principle to the detriment of others. But 
Tauist doctrine was growing yearly in strength. 

The second is the Han period. A cloud of critical ex 
pounders of orthodoxy, fine historians, editors of the classics, 
astronomers, astrologers, alchemists, and Tauist philosophers 
marked this age. Though the authority of Confucius was 
upheld, and the classics maintained in profound venera 
tion, the tone of speculation was predominantly Tauist. 
The air was rife with legendary lore. Tauist magic, the 
hermit life, the medicine of immortality were fervently 
believed in, and magicians were honoured with popular 
veneration. The fault of the age was its superstition. Its 
redeeming feature was its ardent and successful efforts for 
promoting the restoration of the ancient books and their 
use in the education of youth. 

The third age was Buddhist. It was that of the six 
dynasties. The riches of the country were lavished on 
Buddhist structures. In all parts of the empire the people 
adopted this Indian religion. Hindoo astronomy and 
mythology, the knowledge of the alphabet and of tones, and 
the introduction of Buddhist metaphysics date from this 
time. The Buddhists became a power in literature, and 
founded a native school of Indian philosophy. 

The fourth age was that of the T ang dynasty. It was 
a time of luxury and poetry. Han Wen-kung and the 
poets divided the admiration of the literati of the time 
between them. The books made in the department of 
criticism were tonic dictionaries based on the new Indian 
spelling ; no sages appeared, no philosophers of name ex 
cepting Han Wen-kung. Such an age of mental inaction 
and enervating prosperity must be succeeded by a period 
of mental energy. 

Such a period ensued. It was that of the Sung ju, the 
philosophers who now undertook the restoration of the 



320 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

weakened Confucianism, which, while retaining its posi 
tion, had lost its influence over men s minds. When they 
appeared on the scene, it had become impossible to retain 
the system of the ancient sages in its pure and simple 
form. The religion, the politics, the customs, and super 
stitions of the people had all changed. But much might, 
thought they, be done, and the review of their efforts and 
achievements is a most curious section in the history of 
humanity, and fraught with salutary warning. They pro 
ceeded under the combined influence of Buddhism and 
Tauism, to extend and reconstruct the ancient system of 
cosmogony. 

As we read the Ti-king, the very essence of ancient 
thought, and the combined work of the most venerated 
sages, we fail to recognise a distinct cosmogony. Confu 
cius speaks of the Great Extreme as the commencement 
"of changes. It produced the two figures. These pro 
duced the four images, and these again the eight divining 
symbols." This statement looks ambiguous and uncertain 
in its meaning. The eight symbols are eight arrangements 
of strokes. We think, then, of primary arithmetic. Is 
there much in it besides twice one is two, twice two is 
four, twice four is eight ? Confucius, before and after this 
passage, is talking of divination. He continues to say: 
" The eight symbols determine good and ill fortune, and 
these lead to great deeds. There are no imitable images 
greater than heaven and earth. There are no changes 
greater than the four seasons. There are no suspended 
images brighter than the sun and moon. In preparing 
things for use, there is none greater than the sage. In 
determining good and ill luck, there is nothing greater 
than the divining straws and the tortoise." 

Evidently the chief thought of Confucius is upon divi 
nation, which was the imitation of natural phenomena 
succeeding each other in a certain order. If we under 
stand the eight divining symbols to be eight departments 
of nature, as heaven, earth, fire, water, &c., then we may 



HAN WRITERS CHANGED THE COSMOGONY. 321 

construct a cosmogony out of the formula above cited. 
But the aim of the writer was rather to describe the world 
as the object of the wise man s inquiries, and to point out 
that he must imitate the laws of phenomenal change which 
he observes in heaven and earth, and that he may obtain 
the most valuable results by divination. While the sage 
looks at his straws, one becomes two, two become four, 
and four become eight, as the effect of certain transforma 
tions. One of the kwa, or " symbolic sets of lines," is made 
up of three or six. Take the former. We find there, say 
the Chinese, heaven, earth, and man in miniature. So, 
say I, we may find there anything we like. When the 
cosmogonical idea enters, then it is indirectly, and it was 
not the primary sense. In the Shu-king there is a passage 
which speaks of the ITwang-ki, the " Emperor s extreme " 
of perfection. The sense in which Jci was here used was 
of course moral. In Chwang-tsl we meet with the words, 
" To be earlier than the Great Extreme, and yet not to be 
high." The commentator says that the phrase " Great 
Extreme " here means " heaven, earth, and man, included 
but not yet separated." Hwai-nan-tsl, a Tauist of the Han, 
says, " To lead out his class to a position higher than the 
Great Extreme." Here is the budding of that cosmogony 
which fructified in the Sung philosophers. The Tauists 
did what the early Confucianists failed to do. They 
commenced a cosmogony. We find it still more developed 
in the Ts an-t ung-ki, a work written by the noted Wei 
Pe-yang of the Han. Here appears the first map of the 
Chinese cosmogony, and it wants the "Great Extreme." 
Bent into three concentric circles are seen the li-kwa, repre 
senting " fire," and the k an-kwa, representing " water." In 
the li-kwa, the middle is black and the sides are white. In 
the k an-kiua the middle is white and the sides are black. 
They rudely picture a fire giving out flames, and a shining 
river flowing between two banks. Below this are five 
small circles, representing the five elements, wood and fire 
being on the left, metal and water on the right. 

x 



322 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

This diagram was put to a fertile use by the Sung philo 
sophers. They added to it a hollow circle, to represent the 
" Great Extreme" above, and two hollow circles to represent 
heaven and earth below. Afterwards Chu fu-tsi made a 
change. He thought he would improve the diagram by 
throwing out the elements and introducing in their place 
the great and little yin t and the great and little yang. He 
changed heaven and earth, " the two figures," into yin and 
yang. 

The Sung philosophers, while they extended the cosmo 
gony by adding the map of the " Great Extreme," added 
also all the maps printed in the ordinary editions of the 
Yi-king. These maps are not found in any text, nor as pre 
fatory matter are they earlier than the Sung. The Buddhists 
brought the notion of pictorial illustrations with them from 
India. Before their time the Chinese made very limited 
use of illustrated diagrams. Probably the Buddhists took 
the notion from the Greeks, subsequently to the age of 
Alexander, when Greeks were in juxtaposition with Hin 
doos and other Buddhist peoples in Bokharia, Cabul, 
Afghanistan, and the Punjab. 

There were, however, sketches of star groups to the 
Sing-king, " Star classic " (by Kan and Shi) of the Han 
dynasty, and the strokes of the eight and sixty-four kwa 
in the Yi-king, Ts an-t ung-k i, and other works. The 
arithmetical combinations called Ho-t u and Lo-shu were 
also probably represented by dots or stars. Geometrical 
diagrams were not known. Though Cheu Kung was 
aware of the property of the right-angled triangle arith 
metically, i.e., that the squares of three and four are to 
gether equal to the square of five, he never thought of 
expressing it by a diagram. It needed the Greek genius 
to initiate the conceptions of geometry. 

The, later Chinese writers were unconsciously influenced 
much more by Buddhism, a product of the Indo-European 
mind, than they ever acknowledged; and they would, 
under the impressions made on them, imitate the greater 



EVASION OF A PERSONAL GOD. 323 

effort of the imagination which they there encountered. 
Thus they tried to complete the thought of the old sages 
of China, to fill up their outline, and to form into dis 
tinctness the shadowy shapes of more ancient ideas. The 
round line to represent the F ai-ki, the circle half white 
and half black with the curved diameter which marks 
light and darkness, or yin and yang, are new ; and the old 
notion of the four seasons, which was popular in the Han 
dynasty as explaining the four siang or "images," was 
given up for the great yin and the little yin and the great 
yang and the little yang, phrases new to the Confucian 
doctrine. We cannot wonder that they gave up the four 
seasons, for how could the eight kwa come out of the 
seasons ? Others said that the four siang, or " images," 
were the animals that pass through metamorphoses, such 
as the tortoise, the dragon, and the dragon-horse that bore 
on his back the arithmetical scheme or magic square offered 
to Yii the Great. But why follow out these ideas ? They 
were unknown to Confucius. They extended the cosmo 
gony without introducing the idea of a personal Creator. 
This was due to the influence of Buddhism, and the fact 
that the ancient books had not the doctrine. The peculiar 
. form of their cosmogony was due to Buddhist influence, 

fwhich inculcates faith in a creating and destroying Fate, 
^blindly impartial, entirely impersonal, and incessantly 
efficient. If Buddhism had been truly a religion adapted 
to draw man back to God, his Sovereign and Judge, the 
true doctrine of creation would have been taught in the 
Indian Shastras, and the Chinese writers of the Sung 
dynasty would probably have adopted the idea. But the 
perversity of Hindoo philosophy was better pleased with 
irresistible Fate as a substitute for the Divine Euler. 

In taking example from the Buddhists in this particu 
lar, the Sung philosophers were the more willing, inas 
much as the teachers of Tauism had preferred the doctrine 
of spontaneous growth, to represent the origin of the 
world. The tendency of their speculations was to shut 



324 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

out God from the world, so far as His being in any sense 
an active Creator. 

This remark brings me, by a natural transition, to 
speak of the difference between Confucius and the Sung 
philosophers in regard to their philosophy of nature. In 
ancient China, the notion of five elements was already in 
existence, but it was not till the Tauists of the Han de 
veloped the doctrine that it assumed its modern form. It 
was remarkable that, after so great an interval, no gleam 
of a true science of nature should have entered into the 
intellects of the Sung philosophers. They were too much 
devoted to antiquity, and too lacking in independence, to 
shake off the yoke of a materialistic nomenclature. 

The minds of Confucius and Mencius were warmed by 
moral considerations. Political and social questions were 
to them deeply interesting. They accepted the divination 
of the " Book of Changes " because Wen Wang and Cheu 
Kung were the saviours of the state and the advocates of 
benevolence and integrity. If divination by straws had 
been introduced, subsequently to the epoch of those sages, 
by men not taking the rank of sages, the moral instinct 
both of Confucius and Mencius would have absolutely 
refused all countenance to it. 

Like credit cannot be claimed for the Sung philosophers. 
Wei Pe-yang, the Tauist of the Han dynasty, and others 
from whom they drew ideas, were not the representatives 
of a system which made morality its centre, but of alchemy 
and a doctrine of self-cultivation which inculcated physical 
aids instead of the simple teaching of genuine morality. 

The extension of a physical philosophy weakens moral 
and religious sentiment. The alchemy and astrology of 
the Han made the Chinese nation less disposed to religious 
reverence. The occupation of the mind with materialistic 
ideas and aims obscures the spiritual vision and appetite. 
It was in this way, to no small extent, that the Chinese 
nation was prepared to receive Buddhism, partly from 
religious indifference, and in part also from a desire for 



MATERIALISTIC PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE. 325 

fervency in ritual and the acquisition of new spiritual 
objects on which to fix the soul s gaze. A thousand years 
more and Buddhism had had its trial, and been found 
wanting. What, then, should have been the course to 
be steadfastly pursued by the Confucianists of the Sung 
period ? Undoubtedly, if they desired to follow the example 
of the sage, they should have opposed tooth and nail the 
Tauists and Buddhists. Both these religions are defective 
in the moral element, and that is the very soul of the 
Confucian system. They would have then done for the 
superstitions and heresies of their time what Confucius 
and Mencius did fifteen centuries before. When Luther, 
in Europe, made a stand for pure doctrine and against 
asceticism, he did what might to some small extent have 
been done by the Sung philosophers. Instead of this, 
they bowed their heads to superstition, allowed idolatry 
to increase in the land of Confucius, and raised no voice 
against it. 

The most melancholy example of decay in moral and 
religious instinct is in the denial of a sovereign moral 
ruler in the universe, and the identification of God with 
reason and with primeval vapour. This is practically 
done by Chu fu-tsii, and he is on this account sharply 
condemned by writers of the present dynasty. The ancient 
Chinese understood by T ien either the personal Euler of 
the world, or the physical firmament. Chu f u-tsi said T ien 
is nothing but li, " reason ; " and elsewhere he identifies li 
with k i, " vapour." Such was the unhappy result of the 
spread of the Tauist physical system and the Buddhist 
atheism in China. 

The last thing I shall mention is the different attitude 
of Confucius and the Sung philosophers in regard to 
divination. 

When Confucius lived, the ancient magic was still in 
existence, and, if we take for granted the statements of 
the Kia-yu, he practised it himself. However this may 
be, he praised it to the skies in the Yi-king. Nothing 



326 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

was to be compared with the straws and the tortoise for 
solving difficulties in politics, and for unravelling the 
enigmas of nature. He believed in divination because of 
its antiquity and the great names connected with it. The 
whole of it was swept away about the time of Ts in Shii- 
hwang, B.C. 220, not by that emperor himself, for he highly 
venerated it, but from want of faith on the part of the people. 
It is said that the reason was that the books were lost which 
taught the rules. If so, it was not by order of Ts in Shi- 
hwang. Want of faith is the more likely reason. The 
Sung philosophers certainly did not believe in the benefits 
attending the use of the straws and tortoise in divining, 
or they would have recommended to the reigning emperor 
that the old divination should be restored. The Sung 
writers do not in so many words deny the efficacy of 
divination. Their object is plain. They wish to veil the 
weaknesses of the ancient sages. It is necessary to do 
this in order to maintain the reverence accorded to the 
sages. They would not like to acknowledge the supersti 
tion of these much-admired men. But if driven closely 
in argument, the modern Confucianist admits the useless- 
ness of divination, and that he himself is without faith 
in it. 

If we are to believe the modern literati, the faults of 
the Sung ju are numberless. I have chosen a few of 
their novelties and heresies for the consideration of the 
student of Buddhism and the other religions of China. 



( 3^7 ) 



CHAPTER XXL 

FENG-SHUI; OR, THE WIND AND WATER SUPERSTITION OF 
THE CHINESE. 

An obstacle to civilisation Meaning of Feng, "Wind" Of Sliui, 
"Water" Use of cyclic characters Meaning otLuny, "Dragon" 
Names of the geomancers Hindoo nomenclature Sha-ch i, 
" Destructive vapour " Dark arrow Chen-wu, or " Protecting 
shield " Feng-shui professedly based on the " Book of Changes " 
Modern Feng-shui is based on the Han-lung-king Buddhist 
element in Feng-shui The four elements of the Greeks The 
Hindoo "Air and water" is Feng-shui Earth, water, fire, and 
air are creative forces, existing in successive kalpas, and forming 
successive worlds Resemblance to the theories of the Ionian 
philosophers Geomancy in the T ang dynasty Rdhu and Ketu 
The Feng-shui system grew out of Buddhism Native element 
in Feng-shui Nine fancied stars Causes of the contour of hills 
and plains Stars of the six houses Feng-shui inconsistent with 
genuine Confucianism. 

EVERYTHING can be made plainer by investigation. Every 
thing can be understood better by the bringing together 
of facts. The Feng-shui of the Chinese deserves to be 
examined, for it is one of the great obstacles to the 
progress of civilisation. 

It interferes with commercial enterprise. It checks the 
efforts of missionary zeal. It interrupts the free thought 
of the people, and keeps them wrapped in the mummy 
folds of ancient prejudices. 

Within the last few years this peculiar system of 
native geomancy 1 has been made the ground for refusing 

1 Geomancy is properly divination maybe called "geomancy," because 
by means of lines or points drawn on it divines by means of lines noticed 
the earth. The Chinese feng-shui in the shape of streams and hills. 



3 2S CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

the establishment of the electric telegraph at Shanghai, of 
railways, of a road from Tientsin to the Chai-tang coal 
mines, and of I do not know how many more manifest 
and desirable improvements, all which would be of the 
greatest advantage to the people of the district. I begin 
with the explanation of terms. Feng, " Wind," is the first 
which occurs. It may be illustrated in this way. 

A grave should not have a hollow near it. The wind 
will blow into the grave from that hollow and gradually 
disturb the bones and the coffin. In ten years they will 
be half turned over. In twenty years or .so they may be 
entirely turned over. In that case the posterity of the dead 
will suffer by a kind of material necessity. Such a wind 
is called a wa-feng, from wa, " hollow." An outer wind 
must not be allowed to invade the chamber of the dead, 
for fear the family fortunes should be disturbed. Thus the 
filial piety which takes care of the tombs of parents has 
a material reward, and may be nothing beyond a coarse 
selfishness ; on the other hand, the want of it is visited by 
a natural retribution, involving sickness, poverty, loss of 
descendants, and degradation in the social scale. 

The aim of the geomancer is to find a spot where the 
feng, " cold air which issues from the earth," is hidden. 
This they call ts ang-feng. "Where there are no hollows 
it is safe to dig the grave, for here there is no outlet by 
which this pernicious wind may disturb the dead. 

The second term to be explained is Shui, " Water." The 
grave must be carefully chosen. The configuration of the 
earth is caused by the dragon, whose shape is seen in 
the mountain boundary cast upon the evening sky. The 
dragon may be traced to its source. It is observable in 
the flow of the mountain stream, or in the contour of the 
earth. The hollow river bed and the variety of hill and 
valley are caused by the dragon. Trace the water of a 
valley to its source ; that is the point from which com 
mences the influence that controls human destiny. Water 
is the element in which the dragon delights. Its wind- 



MEANING OF SHUI, OR " WATER? 329 

ing shape as it meanders through a plain gives evidence 
of this, for the dragon prefers crooked paths. Since then 
the dragon gives prosperity, elevates the king and the 
sage, and is the symbol of all exaltation, social, political, 
or moral, it is all important to consider the position of 
water when selecting the site of the grave. In the valley 
of the Ming tombs the water flows from the north-west, 
passes under a bridge in front of the grave of the emperor 
Yung-lo, and then pursues its way down towards the plain 
of Peking on the south-east. Hills in horse-shoe form 
embrace the valley. The feng-slmi is good. 

If the water flows past a certain point of the geoman- 
cer s compass, it causes prosperity ; at another, it brings 
misfortune. If, for instance, to be more particular in 
detail, the branching point of water be at the north-east, 
north-west, south-east, or south-west points of the compass, 
it is possible that there may be prosperity. If it be at the 
east-north-east, west-south-west, south-south-east, or north- 
north-west, the elder sons and brothers of the deceased will 
become scattered and poor. Water at the east by north, 
west by south, south by east, or north by west points, will 
ensure happiness to his children, they not being the eldest 
or youngest. The same children will suffer misfortune if 
water flow past the north by east and west points. 

The chief use of the geomancer s compass is to deter 
mine, in regard to the water, the direction of flow, the pri 
mary source, the points of junction, and the points from 
which it starts afresh at a new angle. The grave must be 
chosen so that the presaged fate, as fixed by the manual of 
geomancy, may be of the most favourable kind. 

The cutting of a new road would alter the course of 
water, and in various ways affect the calculation of the 
geomancer ; and, as the graves of the past generation are 
found everywhere, there is no spot where the minds of 
the people will not be disturbed by projects involving the 
construction of roads. If the mistake in the selection 
of a grave site leads to poverty, sudden death, and other 



330 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

calamities, may not a railway cutting, or any disturbance 
in the course of streams, be equally deleterious ? The faith 
in feng-shui must be first eradicated before the Chinese 
can be induced to look with favour on railways or any 
description of new roads. If the government should 
consent to such improvements, their action ought to be 
accompanied by edicts and publications authoritatively 
condemning the superstition, and showing what solid 
reasons there are for disbelieving the whole system of the 
geomancers. This would aid greatly in soothing the minds 
of the hostile and calming the fears of the ignorant. *- 

But to proceed : the water before a tomb must be running 
water. Eiches and rank flow like water capriciously from 
one point to another. Hence riches and rank are supposed 
to depend on the undisturbed flow of the stream which 
passes under the bridge in front of the tomb. Man in 
habits the tomb, and his destiny is affected by the sur 
rounding circumstances. Eiches and rank are attached to 
flowing water, and, if due care is taken by the geomancer 
and by the posterity of the dead, a perpetual stream of 
worldly honour and wealth may be expected to flow into 
the possession of the family. 

It may be instructive to dwell for a moment on this 
superstition, proving, as it does, that quite as dense a cloud 
of ignorance rests on China as upon Europe before it was 
illumined by the sun of Christianity and of modern know 
ledge. On the geomancer s compass the twelve cyclic 
characters, tsu ch eu, yin, &c., are inscribed at equal dis 
tances interspersed with other cycles. The first, tsu, begins 
at the north point, and is at the back of the tomb, which 
faces the south. The order of the words is from east to 
west, according to the diurnal motion of the sun and stars. 
Let the observer imagine himself standing at the back of 
one of those common tombs, which are protected on the 
north side x by a long curved bank overgrown with grass. 

1 In Southern China this bank is carried around the north, east, and west 
sides. 



USE OF CYCLIC CHARACTERS. 331 

Behind him on the horizon is tsu, next on the left is cJi cu, 
and so on to the south point, wu. If there is a bend in 
the course of the water, or a junction of two streams on 
the north at tsu, the posterity of the occupant of the grave 
will be thieves if poor, and robbed if rich. If on the north 
east they will die young, and be left as widows, and men 
without children. At the third division, they will be 
greatly subject to diseases. If the geomancer notices that 
the bend is in the east point of the horizon, he will be 
bound to foretell that the posterity of the dead will be 
vagabonds. At the next two stations the special evils 
indicated are disobedience and rebellion at the one, and 
at the other the consequence will be that a snake will 
grow of itself in the tomb. This is a very bad sign, and 
presages restlessness for the bones of the dead and the 
fortunes of the living. It brings the evil wind of unhappy 
destiny with special force upon the occupier of the tomb. 
The south indicates that the descendants of the dead will 
lead licentious lives. Here I stop ; but the geomancer 
does not rest till he has boxed the compass with a variety 
of evils supposed to befall the possessor of an ill-chosen 
site for his grave. Such a system is well adapted to in 
crease the authority of the feng-shui sien-sheng, or " geo 
mancer." He must be well skilled in all the indications 
which the traditions and books of his profession single out 
as of importance. 

These deceivers of their fellow-men who make their 
living by practising on the superstitious tendencies of 
their patrons, are sometimes wanting in care for their 
reputation. They often carry the thing too far. They are 
held up to ridicule not uncommonly by the people, and 
especially because the woTdfeng, " wind," is also identical 
in sound with feng, " lunatic." The country people ridicule 
them as they stand on the grave site to make observa 
tions, or creep on the ground, or sit on their thighs, or 
superintend the erection of a mound of grass clods, or 
come out at evening with a lanthorn to set on the 



332 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

mount, as an assistance to them in considering at a dis 
tance the desirable or unfavourable features of the site in 
question. 

Very like is all this to the astrology of the Chaldeans, 
that system of magic and fortune-telling against which 
Christianity had to fight in the days of Hippolytus and 
Origen. The one applied the cycles of astronomy to divi 
nation with the object of making gain by telling fortunes. 
The other makes use of the same cycles in geomancy to 
obtain money by forefending evil and coaxing a good des 
tiny upon him who pays the conjuror. He will become the 
most popular and best esteemed geomancer who makes the 
most cunning observations on the contour of the country 
and the arrangement of the streams of water at the spot 
where the grave is, or where it is intended to be made. 

It is often the case that the care bestowed by the 
Chinese on the graves of their ancestors may be less 
from respect for the deceased than from fear of ill conse 
quences to themselves and their descendants. Large sums 
are spent by the rich in the hope of obtaining the best 
possible feng-sJiui for their ancestral tombs. Thus the 
stream of prosperity will always flow continuously on 
wards in the history of their families, securing them 
freedom from poverty, misery, sickness, and obscurity. 
The filial piety of China is less sincere than is by many 
supposed. It is more selfish than generous, more calcu 
lating than spontaneous. The moral sense is deadened in 
this country by the prevailing desire for riches and rank ; 
and the moral retribution which attends the acts of indi 
viduals and nations, is too much hidden from view by a 
superstitious belief in an unintelligent physical retribu 
tion, 1 such as is taught by the Buddhists. When God as 
governor is banished from the world, atheistic philoso 
phers substitute an impersonal Fate, whose decrees some 
times are in harmony with the moral sense in man, but 
are perhaps much oftener influenced by low motives, such 

1 This is the karma, which is essential to the Buddhist metempsychosis. 



MEANING OF LUNG, OR "DRAGON." 333 

as are believed by the superstitious to control the acts of 
the fetish. In this sense it may be said that the Chinese 
have retrograded in proportion as the feng-sliui and simi 
lar superstitions have extended among them. In the 
days of Confucius the moral sense was probably brighter 
than it is now, and there was less of superstition. He 
lived nearer to the early times of the Old Testament 
monotheism. Even in his age, if we compare the know 
ledge of God then possessed by the Chinese with that 
found in the older classics, we are compelled to admit that 
there was deterioration. He felt less than the emperors 
T ang and Wen Wang, the influence of the personal idea 
of God as the actual moral governor of the world. As the 
faith in a personal God grew dim, the moral sense also 
lost its keenness, and the physical heaven came to be 
regarded as an object of worship. 

The third word I shall explain is Lung, " Dragon." The 
word means that which rises and is lofty in location. It 
is used of mountains and of national or individual pros 
perity. The fabulous dragon of China is a monster with 
scales like a crocodile, and having five-clawed feet. He 
has no wings, and when he rises in the air, it is by a 
power he is supposed to possess of transforming himself at 
pleasure. He can make himself large or little, and rise or 
fall, just a.s he chooses. The Chinese dragon, which is a 
flying saurian, is not like the Greek dragon, which be 
longed to the serpent family, but seems to be an original 
Chinese creation, or is connected in some ancient and 
unknown way with the West. For our present purpose it 
is sufficient to regard it as purely native, and the most 
probable cause I can name of the attributes of the dragon 
is similarity of sound with words meaning "high" and 
" ascend." Among the words with which it may be iden 
tified by etymology, through the mutations of letters, are 
slicing, " to ascend ; " cheng, " the upward motion of steam ; " 
t eng, " to go up ; " sheng, also " to go up ;" lung, " high ; " and 
lung, "hill." The.geomancer calls all high land lung, and 



334 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

all low land shui. The dragon rules the high land, and 
water the low land. The chains of hills which almost 
encircle Peking are the protecting dragon, which is be 
lieved to ensure its prosperity. The hills which surround 
in a similar way the Ming tombs are the dragon, which 
for three centuries protected that dynasty. The mountain 
chains which bound the province of Chi-li are connected 
with the Manchurian mountains which cradled the impe 
rial family in the days of its comparative obscurity. As 
the seat of empire is in Peking, and it is there the reigning 
family resides, it is of the highest importance not to disturb 
its protecting dragon. On plains the Chinese make a long 
mound behind a tomb. This is also the protecting dragon 
of that tomb and of the family it represents. It is called 
the hill, and its office is to keep off the north wind. When 
high land is wanting, trees make an excellent shield against 
bad influence. 1 

The geomancer s books say that the dragon follows the 
course of the water. He originates his influence where 
the water takes its beginning, and remains permanently 
where two streams meet. They mean here the influence 
which produces happiness and misery by a capricious 
retribution mixed with a coarse natural philosophy. 
Divine Providence is here kept out of view, and is by 
implication denied. The elements fire, air, earth, and 
water dominate. It is by their combinations and acti 
vities that human fate is determined. The geomancer s 
dragon causes men s elevation, longevity, and riches ; and 
his influence varies according as he has more of water, or 
of earth, or of any other element. The course of the 
dragon must be in each instance examined, and it is 
decided by the direction of the water. But the contour 
of the ground, whether rising or falling, high or low, must 
also be considered. Such investigations were made, for 
example, in regard to the site of the grave of the emperor 
Yung-lo, and hence the selection of that beautiful valley 

1 See Essay by Rev. Dr. Yates. 



DOCTRINE OF THE DRAGON. 335 

where the Ming emperors are buried. The Manchu 
emperors afterwards despoiled the tombs of that dynasty. 
Much of the teak timber and marble was brought away to 
use in the new edifices of Yuen-ming-yuen and the other 
pleasure grounds of the imperial family. Then they 
began to fear the consequences on themselves and their 
descendants. The influence from the Ming tombs on the 
north might have a disastrous effect upon them while 
enjoying their summer retirement. They therefore erected 
those geomantic walls which are seen on the hill sides 
facing north-north-east on the way to Hei-lung-t f an from 
Peking. These walls, it was supposed, would check the 
pernicious influences which might otherwise strike them 
from the invisible retributive power, which was still sup 
posed to watch over the last resting-place of the once 
mighty dynasty of the Ming. 

It is plain that the geornancer s capricious retribution, 
if believed in by a nation, must have most injurious conse 
quences in its manifest interference with the doctrine of 
moral retribution. It is of a piece with the luck of the 
Chinese calendar, the belief in the efficacy of red colour 
and favourite moral sentences in keeping off demons, 
the choice of days for marriages and funerals, and the 
remainder of the endless list of native superstitions still 
believed in in this country. 

In describing the effect of the dragon, the geomancers 
say he can remove the " spirit of death," the sha-ch i, and 
preserve life. The sha is a malicious principle, the shat 
of the Hebrew and Arabic languages, and the ch itgur of 
the Mongols. When this principle invades the body, man 
dies. They believe, however, that this enemy who kills 
and injures men is not invincible. The dragon has the 
power of checking it. It is curious to notice that here we 
have to do with impersonal yet living principles. The sha 
does not receive a proper name. In a Western country 
these superstitions would have been clothed in the 
language of a graceful mythology. The Chinese, belong- 



336 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

ing altogether to a more primitive and prosaic type than 
the Greek race, are content with simply calling them, good 
and evil principles. 

I shall now say a few words on the professional names 
assumed by the geomancers. They call themselves pro 
fessors of ti-li, "the doctrine or description of the earth," 
"geography." This name is in contrast with t ien-wen, 
"astronomy," which means the description of heaven 
astronomically and astrologically, as ti-li geographically 
and geomantically is of earth. 

What astrology is when compared with astronomy, such 
is geomancy when compared with geography. The astro 
logical section in the geomancer s books is bulky. They 
tell us that the stars shining down (or coming down, for 
they suppose them movable) give the mountains their 
form. Some adopt the Hindoo nomenclature, and make 
the Sumeru mountain the centre of the mountain and 
river system of the world. Others, who object to offer so 
great a concession to the foreign doctrine of Buddhist 
books, prefer to assign this honour to Kwun-lun, the old 
Chinese name of the mountains dividing Thibet from Tar- 
tary. On the north side of these mountains, the Chinese 
probably resided for a time before proceeding to take 
possession of their present home, and the same chain 
has always taken a prominent place in their notions of 
geography. It is the backbone from which the other 
mountain chains proceed, and they form together a kind 
of terrestrial skeleton. The rivers form the veins and 
arteries, and the mountains the bones, of a living earth. 
The whole is imagined to be so like the heavens, that 
certain stars correspond to certain terrestrial spaces, and 
exercise rule over them. Kwun-lun rules the hills, as the 
Pole star rules the stars. When the geomancer takes his 
position to inspect a site for a grave, house, or city, he 
fixes upon a spot which is called hiue, a name that may 
be translated into English by, what are indeed possibly, 
its etymological equivalents, "hole" or "hollow." The 



SHA-CH I. 337 

windings of the surface in its neighbourhood, whether 
stone, sand, or loam, extending all round until the view 
is bounded by hills or the horizon, constitute the constel 
lations which encircle it as the stars do the pole. As in 
heaven, the twenty-eight zodiacal groups represent the 
Blue dragon in the east, the Eed bird in the south, the 
White tiger in the west, and the Black warrior in the 
north, so it is supposed to be in the limited horizon of 
which the centre is the required site. It is in accordance 
with this system, half astrological and half geomantic, that 
the professor of ti-li proceeds in searching for what he 
calls the " true dragon " in each case. 

The expression k an-yu is also used. This is a favourite 
name on the signboards of Peking geomancers. The 
best explanation of this phrase seems to be that which 
represents k an as " heaven," yu as " earth." K an is the 
covering let down over an idol, as in the phrase Fo-k an, 
" A shrine for Buddha," and it here represents the sky as a 
canopy stretched over the world. Yu is the " chariot " in 
which man is borne. It is not so well known as it should 
be, that in China in the Han dynasty a gleam of true light 
shone on the minds of some of the literati in regard to 
the system of the world. They accepted the noble idea, 
probably propagated from the West through Central Asia, 
that the earth moves, while the heavens are at rest. 
Pythagoras, if this be true, had disciples even so far away 
as China. It is possible that the phrase k an-yu may hint 
at this idea. Hence the application of the yu t " chariot," to 
geography and the earth. 

Another term requiring explanation is sha-ctii. It is 
this which is feared when a ying-pei, or " shield wall," is 
erected before a house door. The dangerous vapour known 
as sha-ch i, causing various calamities, might enter by an 
unprotected door. Every house entrance in Peking has 
its devices for preventing straight access. The path must 
wind, and many methods are employed to save the house 
from the unwelcome intrusion. But there may be some 

Y 



338 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

confusion here ; for the idea of a winding entrance to a 
house arises from the desire to keep men at a distance, 
as well as demons, and to make a limit between what is 
public and what is private. 

The "secret arrow," an-tsien, is a name given to evil 
influences coming by a small lane in front of a door, or 
the lane itself is so called. To oppose the bad influences 
travelling along a lane towards an open door, a stone lion 
on a pillar, carved with characters indicating the capability 
of resistance, is placed. 

Opposite the entrance, nearly every lane in Peking is 
thus defended. This and similar " protecting shields " are 
termed chen-wu. Some Buddhist structures are built to 
act as chen-wu. Such are pagodas and temples. In the 
same way operate inscriptions and tigers cut in paper. It 
is usual to carve stone pillars employed as chen-wu with 
the words T ai-shan-shi-kan-tang, because T ai-shan is the 
most honourable of mountains, and mountains are a pro 
tecting shield to buildings and graves. The carving of the 
above sentence (meaning, " This stone from T ai-shan dares 
to resist ") is supposed to constitute a sufficient barrier. 

Among other things that should not be opposite to a 
house door are a well, a grindstone, the corner of a wall, 
a temple, two streets crossing, and the entrance to a lane. 

Among things that protect a house and its inmates is a 
little image of Kwan-ti, god of war, erected on the roof. 
A stone arrow is also employed for a similar purpose. It 
is believed to be a defence against the " dark arrow " of the 
malignant demon. 

Among inscriptions over a door of great efficacy is one 
in honour of Kiang T ai-kung, a hero of the Chen dynasty 
" Kiang T ai-kung is here ; there is then no fear," Kiang- 
t ai-kung-tsai-ts i-pe-wu-hing-ku. 

To have a temple behind a house is a most favourable sign. 
To be on the east side is also lucky. But to be on the west 
is bad, and on the north worse. Yang-chai, yin-chai, the 
" light house and dark house," each has its fcng-slmi. 



BUDDHIST ELEMENT IN FENG-SHUT. 339 

In regard to the origin and history of feng-shui, a few 
notes here appended may be found useful in the absence 
of minute information on an obscure subject. 

It professes to be based on the Yi-king, where a rude 
system of nature is traced by means of a cycle of eight 
elements, including heaven, earth, mountains, lakes, thun 
der, &c. On this are founded methods for the seeking 
good fortune and avoiding ill. On account of its classical 
authority and repute, every fortune-teller naturally claims 
that his rules find their origin here. 

The real feng-shui of the present generation is, how 
ever, to be found rather in the Han-lung-king and such 
works which are of modern date. The name of this 
treatise means the " Book for shaking the Dragon." It is 
of the last century. 

It is a system which has been in course of formation 
since the Han dynasty, and has in it Buddhist, Tauist, 
and Confucian elements, or, as it should rather be stated, 
Buddhist and native. 

Let us begin with the Buddhist. The very name 



in it a tinge of Hindoo notions. The Buddhist A, 
Hindoos in China taught the Indian natural philosophy. ^ 
Their elements were four, namely: ti, "earth;" shui, 
" water ; " hwo, " fire ; " feng, " air." As these agree with 
the Greek doctrine of physics, we may perhaps ascribe its 
origin to Greece or rather to Babylon, that great centre of 
ancient civilisation which deserved still more than Egypt 
to be called " Mother of the sciences." 

Writers on India tell us that the natives of that country, 
when they speak of climate, always call it " air and water." 1 
Since then the Chinese word feng, " wind," was used by 
them for air, one of the four elements, it is highly probable 
that the Hindoo physics have something to do with the 
origin of the name by which the Chinese geomantic 
doctrine is known. 

To illustrate the way in which the old Hindoo philo- 

1 See Sir James Martin s Influence of Tropical Climates on Europeans. 



340 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

sophers discoursed on the elements, I shall here mention 1 
that they speak of white clouds as having in them more of 
the element of earth, of black clouds as having more of 
water, of red as having more of fire, and of yellow as having 
more of air. 

Thunder they believe to be caused by the meeting in 
the clouds of the wind area with the water area, of the 
wind area with the earth area, and of the wind area with 
the fire area. 

Calamities caused by wind, fire, and water have local 
limits in the Buddhist universe. Thus fire works destruc 
tion no higher than to the paradise called Kwang-yin t ien, 
" The heaven of brightness and sound/ 2 So also with the 
other elements, each has its sphere and its period of effi 
ciency. The kalpas are terminated by one or other of 
these powerful elemental forces. By their interaction 
the world is formed, changed, destroyed, and renewed. It 
was under the influence of such a philosophy that Milton 
said (for in his time the Greek doctrine of the elements 
was still undisturbed in Europe) 

" Air, and ye elements the eldest birth 

Of nature s womb, that in quaternion run, 
Perpetual circle multiform, and mix 

And nourish all things, let your ceaseless change 
Vary to your great Maker still new praise." 

The heaven of Brahma is said to have been formed by 
wind blowing on water, in which grew up of itself a vast 
mass of moist matter. On this again the wind blew, and 
out of it formed the palace of Brahma, which exhibited in 
abundance the most beautiful combinations of the pre 
cious metals and stones of every kind known to man. 

The sea is said to have been formed by the mighty 
winds of heaven blowing upon the earth till they dug in 
it a vast hollow. In this was placed an immense collec- 

1 Fa-yuen-chu-lin, chap. iv. This work is a Buddhist cyclopaedia of the 
T ang dynasty. 2 Fa-yuen-cku-lin, chap. i. 



RESEMBLANCE TO THE IONIAN THEORIES. 341 

tion of water, which settled itself in its bed and became 
the ocean. 

Here the wind is seen as a great creating agency. An 
impersonal actor is the aspect in which each of the four 
elements is regarded by the Hindoo philosophy of nature. 
This accords well with the superficial view of natural 
phenomena taken by the Eastern Asiatic mind. The 
Semite and the believer in the Bible view the events of 
creation and of universal nature as caused by God. Science 
comes into the field of nature, and finds out what are the 
second causes operating to produce observed phenomena. 
The Christian believer, when convinced of their truth, 
accepts the results of science as safe and genuine addi 
tions to our knowledge, and as harmonising with the 
teachings of religion. With the Eastern Asiatics it is dif 
ferent. The elemental philosophy of the ancient Hindoos 
could not be scientific, nor could it base its system of 
nature on a series of patient observations. It was not in 
the capacity of the Hindoo to undertake such inquiries. 
He was content, then, to imagine where he could not dis 
cover. He therefore willingly adopted that view of nature 
probably in its origin Greek, and ultimately Babylonian 
which made of the four elements as many active powers 
controlled in their working, not by a conscious will, but by 
a blind yet retributive necessity. 

It is interesting to note the resemblances between the 
Hindoo physical system of the world and that of the 
Ionian philosophers. Thales of Miletus, who lived B.C. 
600, held that water is the origin of things. Out of water 
everything is derived, and to it everything ultimately 
returns. Heraclitus of Ephesus believed the one principle 
which underlies all phenomena to be fire. The world is 
formed, he taught, by evolution from fire ; not made by 
God or by man. This fire is a rational intelligence con 
trolling the universe. It also is the human soul. Anaxi- 
menes said that the physical principle which originates 
nature is air, and all the elements may be resolved into 



342 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

this. Air made dense gave birth to the earth, and from the 
earth were formed the heavenly bodies. The air acts by 
motion impressed on it from eternity, causing in it alter 
nate rarefaction and compression. This air he thought 
to be eternal. Anaximander of Miletus was a friend of 
Thales. He held the elements of the world to be simple 
and unchangeable, and taught that they formed all things 
by concurrence with homogeneous particles already exist 
ing. 1 

Let it be observed that all these philosophers regarded 
matter as the cause of all things. They lived two centu 
ries before Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, who 
extended their inquiries into the world of mind, and taught 
a system in which either mind in the abstract, or God, was 
regarded as the source of the world. 

No more do they resemble Pythagoras, who, living early 
enough to be the contemporary of some of them, formed a 
system of his own based on numbers. The secret soul of 
the world which causes its various phenomena is a prin 
ciple of harmony. 

Zeno, founder of the Stoics, coming after Socrates and 
Plato, went back to that principle of the Ionian philo 
sophy which finds the origin of the universe in physical 
elements. The universe, he said, comes into being when 
the primary substance passes from the state of fire into 
that of air, then takes the form of water, and finally 
throws off both its thick portions to become earth, and its 
rarer parts to become air, afterwards fire. He also held 
with Heraclitus and with the Hindoos, that the world 
passes through successive periods of decay and reforma 
tion, that is to say, the Indian kalpas. 

There does not seem much danger, then, in ascribing the 
Hindoo philosophy of the elements to the Ionian school 
for its germ. The effect of Alexander s conquest was felt 
in India in new views communicated on mathematics, 
astronomy, architecture, and physics. Hence we learn why 

1 Smith s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 



GEOMANCY IN THE T ANG DYNASTY. 343 

the doctrine of the four elements was so extensively taught 
by the Buddhists in Chinese literature of that religion. 

According to this view, the feng-shui of the Chinese 
may be traced to the early Greek philosophy as one of its 
causes. During the three centuries before the birth of 
Christ the region of the Punjab was ruled for a long 
period by Greek kings, and it was here that many of the 
Buddhist books were written. Some of the most prolific 
writers of this religion resided in the Punjab and its 
neighbourhood during the Greek domination over Persia, 
Parthia, Bactria, and a part of North-western India. What 
wonder if they proceeded to supplement their system by 
the materialistic philosophy of the lonians ? They were 
pleased with a cosmogony which had no recourse to the 
doctrine of a Creator. 

The following account of what took place in the eighth 
century will illustrate the influence of Buddhism on the 
geomancy of that time. Sii Kien, an official of high rank, 
when about to bury his wife, inquired of a friend how he 
should construct the grave with regard to its mound and 
limits. His friend told him of a Buddhist priest of the 
city of Hwang-cheu, who knew how to connect the affairs 
of men with those of demons and spirits. The grave 
should be deep and narrow ; deep for darkness, and narrow 
for security. Below the surface twelve feet is the limit 
of earth, and eleven feet lower is the commencement of 
water. The earth and water regions have each a dragon 
to take care of them. The dragon reveals himself in the 
one case in six years, in the other case in twelve. If a 
trench be of ordinary limits, the spirit s path is not tran 
quil. The grave should therefore be twenty-four feet deep. 
Instead of lime-plaster, use starch. Do not place earthen 
ware pitchers in the tomb, because they are allied to the 
element of fire. Do not place gold in the tomb, lest it 
should become an elf. Do not place orpiment or arsenic 
in the tomb, because they are hot by nature. Let the 
grass and trees on the tomb be withered and not fresh. 



344 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Melt iron into the shape of cows and pigs ; they will 
keep the two dragons in subjection. Smooth and clean 
jade-stone has the power to harmonise the hundred spirits 
of nature. Place it in the tomb to illuminate the path of 
the spirits. 

As a further proof of Hindoo influence on the Chinese 
mind in the formation of the circle of ideas known as 
the feng-skui, t ien-wen, and ti-li, may be mentioned the 
names Rahu 1 and Ketu, to denote the genius of the 
ascending and descending nodes of the moon s orbit. Also 
the use of the triangle, connecting three points of the 
horizon a hundred and twenty degrees apart, in casting the 
horoscope is common to China and India. Then also from 
the mention in books of geomancy of the Sumeru mountain 
as the centre of the world, it is evident that they have 
borrowed from India. 

It was for such portions of Buddhist teaching that the 
Chinese mind had a special affinity. The Chinese are fond 
of materialism. As Shakyamuni taught Buddhism, it was 
an ascetic morality. His followers soon gave it a decidedly 
metaphysical cast. Then followed the materialistic phase, 
when magic, astrology, and geomancy were developed. 
The Hindoo Buddhists who taught in China brought with 
them the whole educational system of their time. In it 
was included much belonging to the three branches of 
superstition just mentioned. 

In accordance with this view feng-shui as now believed 
is a very modern thing, and subsequent to the spread in 
the country of Hindoo thought. The mixing of Indian 
with Chinese ideas produced both the Sung philosophy 2 

1 In Chinese, Lo-heu for La-hu. It is not uncommon for doctrines to 
The twenty-eight constellations of the be attributed to the Chinese as a 
Chinese zodiac I suppose to have given nation which only belong to a particu- 
origin to the Hindoo Nakshatras in lar modern sect of the literati. While 
the Han dynasty. some writers attack the Chinese for 

2 It would be interesting to trace beliefs which they do not hold, such 
the effect of Greek and Indian mate- an examination of the modern native 
rialistic philosophy on the formation philosophy might prove useful. 

of the modern Chinese cosmogony. 



NATIVE ELEMENT IN FENG-SHUI. 345 

and the modern feng-shui, which has been chiefly developed 
in the present dynasty. 

I now proceed to the native element in the feng-shui. 
This may be made, so far as it is physical, to include 
astrology and the doctrine of starry influences and the 
elements as taught in the native Chinese literature. The 
nine fancied stars which move about in the air, and are 
either lucky or malignant according to circumstances, must 
here be referred to. They form an extensive portion of the 
geomancer s system of follies. All this may be described 
as the Tauist part of the feng-shui. 

After this a few words must be added respecting the 
moral or Confucian element in the feng-shui, and the 
effect of the example of distinguished Confucianists in 
encouraging popular superstition on this subject. 

After a brief allusion to the north star and the chief 
northern constellations, the writer of the work called 
Nan-lung-king goes on to describe minutely the influence 
of the nine stars, or influences, which move through the 
atmosphere and cause prosperity and adversity to men. 

The first is Tan-lang, " Covetous wolf." It has twelve 
characteristics. Of these five are lucky and seven unlucky. 
The lucky are pointed, round, flat, straight, and small. The 
unlucky are not in the middle, crooked, one-sided, pre 
cipitous, turned over, broken, and empty. The pointed is 
shaped like a bamboo sprout. The round is complete on all 
sides. The flat is perfectly level like a lying silkworm. 
The straight indicates absence of one-sidedness. The other 
characteristics are the appearance of being ready to fall 
over, the presentation of a precipitous cliff, of the breaking 
off of a watercourse, hollowing into caves, and so on. 

Diagrams in accordance with these indications are 
given of neighbouring hills which are supposed to exert 
a corresponding influence on a grave according to their 
shape. The writer adds in the rough poetry of books such 
as this, " Men say the covetous wolf is good, not knowing 
that pure and chaste desires are still more important. With 



34^ CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

all the advantages derivable from the covetous wolf, with 
out pureness and honour, no person, even if he acquired 
rank, would attain to the three highest, anciently known 
as the San-kung." The prevailing element is wood. 

Looking at the diagram only, the reader sees a conical 
hill or elevation, a mushroom shaped outline, and a series 
of four or five conical hills presented in half profile. These 
appearances all prove the presence of the " covetous wolf." 

The second moving star is Ckii-men, " Great door." The 
form loved by this spirit is flat at the top and square on 
the sides. When a hill presents the appearance of a square 
or trapezium with the upper line horizontal, the pheno 
menon is caused by the presence of this influence. Wood 
is the prevailing element. 

The third star is Lu-tsun, " Eank preserved." Nine 
shapes in hills mark its presence. Its favourite shape has 
a flat top, a cylindrical body like a drum, and at the bottom 
it spreads into five branches like the toes of the human 
feet. Properly it should be a malignant star, because its 
shape partakes of a spotted and mixed nature. But it is 
able to adapt itself to conditions which secure good luck. 
It causes men to attain the lower ranks of promotion, such 
as the chief magistracy of cities of the second and third 
ranks, and, in certain circumstances, gives the control of 
troops or of literary examinations. The five-toed appear 
ance is represented in the map as sometimes three or four 
toed. There are also other modifications. Earth is the 
ruling element. 

The fourth star, Wen- chu, " Literary windings," belongs 
to the element of water. It loves the shape of the snake 
when seen moving with three or four bends of the body. 
The " Men of the Dragon," Lung-kia, as the geomancers 
call themselves, can detect the presence of this influence 
in the contour of hills. It has, like the other stars, a nor 
mal and several occasional shapes. When thin, it is the 
snake proper ; if thicker, it is a caterpillar ; if still wider, 
it becomes a cast net. The geomancers profess to attend 



CONTOUR OF HILLS AND PLAINS. 347 

to the points of bending in the snake, because these indi 
cate the line of water-flow and of the dragon s influence. 

The fifth star is Lien-cheng, " Purity and uprightness." 
Its element is fire. The ancients highly valued it, says 
the manual, and called it Eed flag and " Brilliant vapour," 
Yau-ki. It likes a lofty position, rugged heights, umbrella 
folds, and the shape of a flattened ball. One form it 
assumes is that of the " Dragon tower," Lung-leu, which 
is a conical elevation, overtopping all beside it. Another 
is that of the "Palace of precious things," Pau-tien, in 
forming which several cones of equal height are seen in 
parallel rows. The imaginations of the geomancers lead 
them also to fancy the appearance in rocky outline of the 
tortoise and the serpent guarding some little mountain 
gorge. This is considered to be an indication of the best kind 
of dragon influence, for here passes some water channel. 

The sixth star is Wu-chu, " Military windings." Its 
element is metal. It is round at the top and broad at the 
bottom, like a bell or an inverted cooking-pan. In judg 
ing of the hill shapes that belong to this star, it is easy to 
jnistake the demon for the dragon. This is specially the 
case when the shape observed is that of an inverted spoon, 
the spoon being like the tail of the Great Bear, or rather 
the " Seven stars," usually called Pe-teu, in their entire- 
ness. The demon and the dragon are both in the habit of 
assuming the shape of an inverted " dust-pan " (ki), an in 
verted " spoon " (sho), and an inverted " palm," cliang (palm 
of the hand). The skill of the geomancer is displayed in 
distinguishing the appearances. The demon may affect any 
one of the nine stars ; and, as there is the fourfold form, 
square, round, crooked, and straight, there may be thirty- 
six shapes to be considered. Generally speaking the 
locality of the demon is behind the " grave site " (hiue), 
and the corresponding genius in front of it is called kwan, 
" officer." If the demon and the genius of office look at 
the tomb site, it is a lucky sign. If they turn their backs to 
it, the dragon of prosperity will not take up his place there. 



348 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

The seventh star, Po-ldun, " Breaker of the phalanx," is 
referred to metal. It has one normal and four peculiar 
shapes. The normal shape is that of three round-headed 
cones, seen one rising above another like the folds of a flag 
when carried by a person walking. Below it has ugly- 
looking points like spear points. Persons seeing these 
conclude too hastily that this star is malignant and 
unlucky. It is so, but in certain circumstances it may 
become highly serviceable for acquiring riches and rank. 
Consider what stars it corresponds to in the sky. Its 
power is formed by the descending influence of the " Three 
terraces," San-t ai, three pairs of stars in our Great Bear. 
Upon high hills the celestial essence of these stars collects, 
and becomes formed into six terrestrial or atmospheric 
stars, called Lu-fu, the " Six palaces." They are all mingled 
with the influences of the five elements. 



STARS OF THE SIX HOUSES. 



Shape. 



1. Bound 

2. Oblong, round 

3. Bound head, long body 

4. Alive, crooked, moving 

5. Square 

6. Conical 



Element. 
Metal 
Metal 
Wood 
Water 
Earth 
Fire Zo, " Net." 



Name. 



T ai-yang, " Great light." 
T ai-yin, " Lesser light." 
Ttf-k i, " Purple vapour." 
Yue-pu, " Moon disturber." 
Ki, " Plan." 



The eighth star, Tso-fu, " Left assistant," is under the 
influence of the element of metal. Its normal shape is 
that of a head with a napkin wrapped round it, in front 
high, behind low. This star is a servant to the great 
dragon, who gives shape to the constellations of astronomy. 
Fu (the eighth) and Pi are two stars seen near a in Her 
cules, called by the Chinese Ti-tso, " Emperor s throne," 
and by European astronomers, Eas Algetlii. On account 
of their proximity to the throne, it is assumed that these 
stars confer honour on men by their influence if happily 
directed. 

The ninth star, Yeu-pi, " Eight assistant," has no fixed 
shape. Its element is water. Flatness is its favourite 



STELLAR INFLUENCES. 349 

characteristic. Where hills break off and give place to 
the plain, it loves to be. It rules even surfaces. It is 
therefore called Yin-yau, " Hidden glory." It is also fond 
of narrow threads and dim vestiges of things. The snake 
creeping through grass, the fish leaping on sand, the spider s 
thread, the traces of horses hoofs, and the strings of the lyre 
are presided over by this star. It likes that which is half 
real and half unreal, and which is scarcely visible to the 
eye. The aid of this star is said to be particularly valu 
able in cases of doubtful feng-shui. The unskilled geo- 
mancer will say, " This is a level plain, I can make nothing 
of it ; I need some elevation to guide me in the diagnosis of 
the neighbourhood." He forgets that water flows not only 
down a hill but even on a plain, and that there is a diffe 
rence of level there. One inch is enough for the true 
" discerner of the dragon." Or the tyro in the mysteries 
of the feng-shui folly may say, " This ground is wet. The 
fault is fatal. You must not bury your dead here." Fool 
that he is, he perceives not that to decide so hastily is most 
unwise. Does not the wetness come from an unusual flow 
of water ? When the water disappears, this place will be 
soon as dry as those which are higher. The Eight assist 
ant loves this state of doubt, and hence the differences in 
opinion between geomancers respecting the characteristics 
of the same spot or region. 

It may be said generally in regard to the nine stellar 
influences that, when seeking for a lucky hollow, you find, 
for example, here the appearance of a breast, there of a 
swallow s nest, here a ploughshare, there a comb, here the 
turned-up hand, there the spear or lance, and there a hang 
ing lanthorn; these effects of starry influence point out 
the true nature of the desired "hollow" (kiue). The 
dragon makes the hollow, and in seeking it the correct 
indications of the dragon s action must be followed. 

It would be of little use to follow the Chinese geo 
mancers further into the lucky and unlucky effects of 
these stars, their division of hills into " male " (hiung) and 



350 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

"female" (ts i), into "patriarch" (tsu) and "small hills" 
(siau-feng), and into " branches " (chi) and " stems " (kari). 
Enough has been said. 

This whole doctrine of starry influences may be readily 
traced back to the system of the Tauists in the Han period. 
Hwai An-tsi, Wei Pe-yang, Pau Po-tsi, and others, taught 
just such a philosophy of nature as might give origin to 
the more modern views of the geomancers. Astrology and 
alchemy were then in their glory. The former of these 
influenced geomancy and encouraged popular belief in mov 
ing starry influences. From whence came that astrology ? 
The answer should be from Western Asia and India, but 
full data on this point are wanting. Not only the imagi 
nary stars of the geomancers must be traced to the Han 
period, but all those star genii and demons of the imperial 
calendar which are popularly believed to be in perpetual 
movement in people s houses, in streets, and in the air, 
may be assigned to the same origin. It was then that the 
habit began in China of regarding the stars as movable 
beings regulating the affairs of kingdoms, cities, and indi 
viduals. Though the names of the nine stars are new, 
they are identified by the geomancers with the seven stars 
of the Great Bear and two neighbouring stars. They 
move up and down in the ether of space, and are either 
visible as individual stars, or, if invisible, traverse the 
world each with an elemental force of its own, to give form, 
character, and vigour to those parts of nature to which they 
attach themselves. 

The remaining element in feng-shui which now comes 
to be considered is moral. The choice of a grave is to be 
made in accordance with the rules of geomancy, because 
filial piety requires it, and it is sanctioned, it is said, by 
the example of the sages. 

To prove, however, that Confucius himself believed at 
all in any of the nonsense connected with geomancy is 
very difficult. It is said in the biography of the sage by 
Si-ma Chien that, not knowing where his father s grave 



INCONSISTENT WITH CONFUCIANISM. 351 

was, he inquired of the mother of a friend. Learning from 
her the locality, he buried his mother there. In the Li-Jri 
it is said of Confucius that he was at first unwilling to 
make a mound over the grave, because the ancients did 
not. At last he consented to carry out the suggestion, but 
the person left in charge of this duty soon came to the sage 
to announce in an agitated manner that rain had fallen 
and reduced the mound to a level. Confucius regretted 
that he had allowed himself to depart from primitive sim 
plicity. These little incidents seem to show that he had 
no notion of geomancy, and that he loved simplicity. 

In early times it was enough for emperors to be buried 
on high mountains under a large mound, while feudatory 
princes were content with hillocks, and the common people 
found their last resting-place in the plain. There was no 
thought then of the course of water flowing past the tomb. 

An ancient said, " I have been of no benefit to man 
kind while living. Let me not injure them when I am 
dead. Choose my burying- place where the earth yields 
no food for man." Others have said, " If a man dies on 
the hills, let him be buried on the hills. If he dies in the 
lowlands, let him be buried in the lowlands." This was 
said with a view to economy. It would be a useless 
expense to convey the body to a distance. For the same 
reason another noted person of the Han period ordered his 
son to bury him without a coffin in a grave dug in the 
ground. In the T ang dynasty a high officer gave direc 
tions that he should be buried in a plain manner, without 
monument or stone of any kind, and over his grave the 
villagers were to be allowed to plough and sow as of old. 

Such dying instructions as these have been carefully 
preserved by the Chinese literati, who felt that they were 
more in accordance with true wisdom than the follies 
which afterwards grew into vogue. They show the proper 
standpoint of the genuine Conf ucianist. With him every 
thing must give way to moral considerations. 

In arguing against feng-shui and the other superstitions 



35 2 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

of the Chinese, we ought to find on this ground a fast 

friend in the true follower of Confucius. The freedom of 

Confucius from superstition is one of the best proofs of the 

greatness of his mind and a main cause of his ascendancy 

over the literary class. His utterances on the danger of 

excessive reverence to the kwei-shen have been a barrier 

against Buddhism, and prevented the extension of its 

soporific influence over the whole nation. The literati 

have thus been kept in an independent and self-sustained 

position, and have not become quite overwhelmed by this 

intrusive foreign element. Hence, the scions of scholarly 

families and students who have read extensively are 

trained in a school of ideas antagonistic to superstition. 

These men, therefore, may be appealed to in aid of our 

opposition to the feng-shui. They are ashamed of it. 

They disown it if brought in argument to close quarters. 

They only comply with it from an unwillingness to act 

contrary to custom. The great minds among them avoid 

even the appearance of compliance, but these are not 

many. 

Considering that the enlightened Chinese are thus dis 
posed, there could be no harm done by a studied attack on 
the whole system of geomancy in a book prepared for the 
purpose. It would not be offensive to the true Confu- 
cianist, and it would afford opportunity to teach much 
good philosophy and truer views of nature than those 
to which they have been accustomed. But perhaps the 
whole structure is so flimsy that it will fall of itself, 
without laying siege to it or directing the ordnance of 
argument against it. The shining of true science may 
pale its ineffectual fire, and cause it to disappear as a 
thing of darkness, without special effort to bring about 
its extinction. 



( 353 ) 



CHAPTER XXII. 

BUDDHIST PHRASEOLOGY IN RELATION TO CHRISTIAN 
TEACHING. 1 

Use of Buddhist terms in the Nestorian inscription, A.D. 781^0, 
" demon ; " in Sanscrit, mara Ti-yu, " hell," is naraka Ten 
judges of hell Among them Pau Cheng, the famous judge of 
the Sung dynasty The Sung philosophers encouraged the popu 
lar belief in future retribution This prepares for Christianity 
T ien-t ang, " heaven "Defects of this termMing-kung, &c., 
as names for " heaven "Buddhist paradises possibly borrowed 
from Western Asia or some other country farther west Eedemp- 
tion Ti-tsang and Kwan-yin Pity Instruction Effect of 
sin Decreed forgiveness to penitents Secret merit Happiness 
and merit confounded Sin and misery confounded Illustra 
tion from the narrative of a Christian convert. 

WE teach the Chinese the Christian religion by means of 
their own language, and in their vocabulary of religious 
terms many words and phrases of Buddhist origin have 
come into common use. 

The Syrian inscription, A.D. 781, shows that no scruple 
was felt by the first Christian missionaries in China in 
adopting many Buddhist terms. 

We find there mo, " devil." This is the common word 
used in mo-kwei. Both name and being are of Hindoo 
origin ; the " delusions of the devil " are called mo-wang. 
Hell is called " palace of darkness," an-fu. The " ship of 
mercy" conveys the faithful disciples across the sea to 
heaven. The ship is ts i-hang ; "heaven" is ming-kung ; 

1 This paper was read in the spring of 1878, before an association of mis- 
sionaries resident in Peking. 

Z 



354 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Christian "monks" were called seng, from the Sanscrit sanga, 
" assembly ;" a " monastery " is called si, as by the Chinese 
Buddhists ; a "monk s robe" is called Ida-ska, which is the 
Sanscrit word for " gown," kashaya, 

Buddhism throve in the T ang dynasty. It was the era 
when Hiuen-tsang went to India. His journey was an 
instance of the depth of religious faith which characterised 
the Chinese followers of Gautama in his age, and it also 
secured an immense increase of popularity to the ideas of 
his sect. Buddhism was very powerful in the court, and 
profoundly influenced the literature. Translations from 
Sanscrit were made with extreme care, and received from 
the literati a high literary finish. The influence of Bud 
dhism is distinctly seen in the dictionaries of the time, in 
the syllabic spelling, in the discovery of the four tones, and 
the settlement of the laws of poetry consequent on that 
discovery. The poets and critics of the T ang dynasty 
were conscious of great obligations to Buddhism, and 
made scarcely any decisive and persistent effort to check 
the spread of popular faith in that religion, and the general 
adoption of Hindoo phrases and terms in the language. 
Han Yti, in his Fo-Jw-piau, was an exception. 

The Syrian Christians extended their missions in China 
at a time when Buddhism was in the ascendant, and 
adopted terms from the professors of that religion which 
indicate a more extensive principle of imitation than either 
the Roman Catholics or the Protestants have in later times 
thought of adopting. The reason is found in the popularity 
of Buddhism in the capital of China in the time of the 
Nestorian missionaries. That religion was much favoured 
at court, and was the chief agent in teaching the future 
state and the superiority of the monastic life as a means of 
subduing the passions. Both Buddhism and Christianity 
came from the West ; and it would be for the Nestorians 
difficult to maintain the mutual independence of the two 
religions, agreeing as they did in a belief in a world of 
happiness and of misery for mankind after the present 



"MO," DEMON; IN SANSCRIT, "MARA." 355 

life. The fact that the Nestorian monks called themselves 
seng, as the Buddhists do, has some light thrown on it by 
an incident in the life of Matthew Eicci. He adopted 
a Buddhist priest s dress and shaved his head. But 
after making trial for a time of this costume he changed 
it for that of the Confucianists, as it was worn in the 
Ming dynasty. Perhaps the Nestorian priests adopted 
and retained the Buddhist costume in ordinary life, and 
reserved their own ceremonial robes for special occasions, 
as the Eoman Catholics do now with the Confucianist. 

The word seng, for " priest," they probably took to be an 
exact equivalent of their when. So in colloquial English, 
we call the Buddhist monks Buddhist priests. We have 
given up the word bonzes, the Japanese term introduced 
by Portuguese and other Eomish missionaries, into Euro 
pean accounts of the religion of this part of the world. 
To call them priests at all is, however, somewhat negligent 
English. The Eoman Catholics have done better to call 
their " monks " sieu-sh/i, and their " nuns " sieu-nil, rather 
than to style them seng or ho-sliang, and ni-Jm or ni-seng. 
Sieu is " cultivate moral virtues;" sM, " scholar," " person ; " 
nil is " woman." 

Times have changed. The Buddhists are not now wafted 
to a proud position by the gales of popular applause ; and 
still less in the present dynasty, than in the Ming dynasty, 
would the Jesuit gain any advantage by following the 
example of Eicci while he was in South China, in adopt 
ing the Buddhist garb. 

In discussing Buddhist phrases capable of being applied 
in Christian teaching, I will begin with mo, the " devil." 
This is in Sanscrit mara. The mams are, in Buddhist 
phraseology, a class of demons. They are not known to 
the Brahmans. The word is formed from the root mar, 
"death," and is an Aryan personification of death. By 
the Buddhists the maras are regarded as a king with a 
host of followers. They wage war against Buddhism, and 
when Shakyamuni was living he had successful contests 



356 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

with them. In Buddhist books all temptations are demons. 
A demon is hidden in everything that can cause evil to 
man. The demon of anger prompts to sin in every case 
of sinful anger. So of lust, of drunkenness, of theft, and 
each form of sin. 

The use of mo has become so extended that in our transla 
tions of the Bible it is freely used for the Greek Sta/3oXo9, 
diabolus in the literary and colloquial versions. To Chris 
tian converts it gradually assumes a Christian sense in 
proportion as they are instructed in the Biblical repre 
sentations of the power, agency, and character of Satan. 
But if not instructed, the views of the convert are Bud 
dhistic. These views are brought into connection with 
" possession/ as seen in an intoxicated man, an importu 
nate beggar who cannot be got rid of, an opium smoker 
who is under the dominion of his habit, or a scholar who 
cannot cease from study. Such persons are possessed by 
a demon who is called kwei, but in the poetry of the T ang 
and the Sung dynasties he might be called mo. A writer 
is free from the mo-chang, " demoniacal film or hindrance," 
when his thoughts and language flow freely and beauti 
fully. 

The main idea is often that of causing trouble by pos 
session. Ju-mo, " a demon entering," is a phrase which is 
quite commonly used to express the idea. To " become 
deluded," "to be deadened to," are also thus described. 
Nan-mo or nan-kwei are common examples of the way in 
which " demons causing trouble " is expressed. 

Evidently it is necessary in using mo for the Christian 
sense, to distinguish accurately the peculiar meaning of the 
word in the heathen religions. The Christian mo-kwei is 
more intensely wicked than the Buddhist mo-kwei. But 
both in Europe and in Asia, in ancient or modern times, 
we nowhere find the demon world dissociated from the 
phenomenon of possession in popular language. It is one 
of the primitive identities, permanently retained in the 
phraseology of all religions. 



" TI-YU? EARTH S PRISON, IS " NARAKA." 357 

Another common Buddhist expression is, ti-yii, " earth s 
prison." The Sanscrit naraka, "the abodes of demons," 
places of punishment underneath the world of men, are so 
designated. 

The advantage of the employment of this term is that it 
is ready for use, that it agrees with our word " hell " in being 
a place of punishment ; and, further, that the visible uni- 
verse being to the Chinese consciousness in two parts, viz., 
heaven and earth, it must always be convenient to the 
Christian teacher to speak of " hell " as belonging to earth. 
The objections to its use are great. It misplaces the locality. 
No modem Christian books place hell underground. It 
is plural as much as singular, while our word for the 
place of punishment is always singular. Further, it gives 
the Confucianist occasion to say that we have borrowed 
from the Buddhists, and that we must share in the same 
condemnation which the adherents of that religion have 
had to endure. 

The authors who have reasoned against Christianity on 
the ground of the identity of the doctrine of hell being 
much the same in the two religions, and that we have 
borrowed from the Buddhists, are Sii Ki-yii in Ying-hwan- 
ch i-lio, Wei Yuen in ffai-kwo-Pu-M, and the king of 
Corea in his edict against Christianity, taken away from 
the hill fort at the mouth of the Corean river, by the 
United States naval force which captured the fort eleven 
years ago. 

The words used for "hell" in our translations of the 
Bible are yin-fu (the hidden palace), yin-kien (the dark 
world). The natives also use yin-sl t the (place of hidden 
judgment). Ti-yu is never used in our translations, at 
least the recent ones; but all missionaries use it col 
loquially, and it finds its place in our catechisms. These 
phrases, yin-fu, yin-kien, yin-si, are very modern. They 
are subsequent to the teaching of the metempsychosis in 
China. The term used for hell in the Syrian inscription 
A.D. 781 is an-fu, "palace of darkness/ a phrase borrowed 



358 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

from the Buddhism of the time, and meaning the same as 
yin-fu. 

Since the Sung dynasty, the popular notion of hell 
in China has been formed chiefly by the prevalent repre 
sentations of the ten tribunals seen in temples and in 
the Yu-li (probably A.D. 1068) and other works. Punish 
ments are here depicted in the most frightful forms. The 
incendiary is bound by a chain to a hot cylinder, which he 
clasps with his arms and legs ; flames are being poured 
forth from the top and sides of the cylinder. Those who 
guard written characters from desecration enjoy honours 
and wealth. Those who waste grains of rice and millet are 
seen changed into horses, sheep, and oxen. The retribu 
tion corresponds with the sin and the merit in all cases. 

In the consent of the governing class to those popular 
representations of hell which we see painted with char 
coal on the white walls of temples, or formed with moulded 
and painted figures of clay, or taking the form of prints in 
popular Tauist literature, we see an important concession. 
"While the literary class do not believe in heaven or in hell, 
they see the advantage that may be derived from them in 
the inculcation of virtue. In the hands of the moral teacher, 
future retribution is a powerful engine for good. This 
is recognised by the governing class so far, that they 
encourage the people to have in temples the horribly gro 
tesque and alarming models in clay of future punishment 
which we see there. The celebrated judge Pau Cheng, 
of the Sung dynasty, who died A.D. 1062, is the fifth of 
the ten judges. The rest are all Chinese, as we know by 
their surnames, and probably actual judges of about the 
same period. 

The late Dr. Medhurst, when visiting T ien-mu shan, in 
the vicinity of Hang-cheu, was hospitably entertained 
by the magistrate of the hien city of Hiau-feng. In the 
course of conversation he asked his host what he expected 
would be his lot in the future state. He replied that he 
supposed he would become a C heng-hwang-ye. This little 



BELIEF IN FUTURE RETRIBUTION. 359 

circumstance shows how the Sung dynasty practice of 
canonising good magistrates has taken hold upon the 
country, and made the people think a magistracy in the 
invisible world quite as attainable as a like post of honour 
in the present state of existence. Often, however, they 
will, in using phrases of this kind, speak jokingly. Sung 
dynasty emperors were the first to practise, so far as I 
know, the appointment of local magistrates for the invi 
sible world, with jurisdiction over particular cities. None 
of the Sung philosophers lifted up a voice against it. 
They allowed the up-growth of the religious usages and 
arrangements connected with the Tung-yo miau, the 
Ch eng-hwang miau, and the T u-ti miau. All of these 
temples are erected to divinities who are supposed to deal 
with mankind in the future state in the way of just retri 
bution for their crimes. 

These and other judicial divinities were elevated to their 
posts with the assistance of the literary class, who are, 
however, ashamed to recognise them in their writings. 
They kneel before them as officers on duty, encourage the 
people to believe in the reality of their jurisdiction, and 
avoid protesting against them in their writings. What 
the literati believe in their hearts to be a monstrous fic 
tion, is to be allowed on account of its moral and political 
benefits. 

What shall the Christian missionary in these circum 
stances do with the native doctrine of retribution ? He 
will assure the people that there is revealed in the Chris 
tian Scriptures a retribution just, comprehensive, and 
inevitable. He may allude to the modern origin of the 
Ten judges, and condemn the Sung philosophers for their 
insincerity in allowing, if not inventing, this mytholo 
gical creation. He may proceed to condemn the Bud 
dhist also for teaching that Yama is judge in the invisible 
world, when, according to their own metaphysics, Yama 
is nothing ; and for urging the Chinese to accept a doctrine 
of hell punishments which they teach, not as what they 



360 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

really believe, but as a means to an end. In this they 
set an example of false teaching which the Confucianists 
were only too ready to accept and imitate. The Christian 
retribution will come before the Chinese mind on quite 
a different footing, as resting on the instruction of a divine 
Saviour. 

But let us be candid in acknowledging the aid we 
receive from Buddhists in previously spreading far and 
wide among the people the idea of a moral retribution ; 
for this helps us to bring over more quickly to the under 
standing of the Christian faith on this point, any of the 
population who are familiar with the Buddhist teaching. 

This is the case even with sects like the Sin-siu in 
Japan. That sect professes to believe in absorption into 
the absolute. Many Buddhists profess to take the Western 
heaven as the goal of their hopes. But these beliefs or 
aspirations are capable of being reconciled with beliefs in 
the heavens and hells of the metempsychosis, and they 
are actually taught along with them. Even the most 
metaphysical Buddhists, and those who have the most 
abstruse notion possible of the Nirvana, still teach as 
exoteric doctrine the metempsychosis as known in India. 

That I am not wrong in imputing to the literati who 
belonged to the later Sung dynasty, and especially Chu 
Hi, a principal part in the encouragement of the popular 
belief in future retribution, may be shown by the chrono 
logy. The author of the Yu-li, a Tauist named Tan Chi, 
who was the first to give currency to the legend of the Ten 
royal judges, lived more than a century before Chu Hi. 
The two brothers, Ch eng Ming-tau and Ch eng Yi-chwen, 
lived a little before Tan Chi, in the early part of the 
eleventh century. The elder died the year before the 
Yu-li was made; the younger lived for nearly twenty 
years after. Then came the time of Hwei-tsung, who is 
said to have deified Chang Yi with the title Yu-hwang 
ta-ti, and who was carried with his son into Tartary a 
prisoner under the Nu-chih dynasty. This was the period 



CHU FU-TSI TOLERATED BUDDHISM. 361 

of the founding of this new Tauist school of a future 
state, with ten judicial courts, and with Yii-hwang ta-ti 
enthroned as a judge of human actions. Then was the 
time also that Tsi-hwang shang-ti and Feng-tu ta-ti were 
made divine judges, each with his special court for the 
determination of the happiness or misery in the future 
state of each individual man. 

Chu fu-tsi witnessed all this and did not protest against 
it. He saw also rising round him the novelty of the 
Ch eng-hwang miau, with its judicial apparatus, its magis 
trate for trying cases in Hades, and its array of clay servi 
tors, with arrangements for periodical processions through 
the region over which he had jurisdiction, for the sake of 
knowing the good and bad conduct of individuals. He 
saw these things and made no struggle against the ex 
tension of superstition. The worst he said of Buddhism 
was, that the doctrine of Yang and Mill was better. The 
reaction against Buddhism, so far from beginning with 
him, began rather, as I think, with the expulsion of the 
images of Confucius, which had in the Sung dynasty 
found their way into the temples of Confucius in cities. 
This expulsion took place in the Ming dynasty, and in the 
present dynasty the reaction against Buddhism has been 
stronger among the literati. But the pictures of the ten 
hells have come to be more and more used. 

It is important to note that Chu fu-tsi lived in an age 
when the Tauist images, and the mythology connected 
with them received a great development, against which 
he made no protest. Chu Hi ought not to be put forward 
as the authoritative representative of Chinese thought ; 
and some foreign scholars appear to me to have erred in 
regarding his views as final, and as the accepted expres 
sion of Chinese thought, ancient and modern. In fact, 
there is scarcely any one who has been by later writers 
more heavily condemned. His influence has been great, 
and it continued long, and some of his works are still 
authorised school-books ; but his authority as a thinker 



362 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

and a scholar, is in the present dynasty challenged and 
criticised severely by all independent writers, without an 
exception. 

It is possible that Chu Hi may have felt that the 
doctrine of future retribution is likely to be true. He 
was certainly rather fond of reading Buddhist books. He 
may not have cared to contradict what was to some extent 
perhaps true. Let it be borne in mind that in the " Book 
of Odes " he approves of the rendering in a certain well- 
known passage, " The soul of Wen Wang moves up and 
down in the presence of the Eternal." Scholars not in 
favour of the continued existence of the soul after death 
usually explain this away. 

The term fun-fang, for " heaven," seems to be founded 
on the use of fang as a "hall" for holding a court. 
Heaven is present to the native mind as a vast hall 
where the Deity sits in celestial state with subordinate 
divinities as his assessors. The phrase is not Hindoo, but 
the idea is Hindoo. In other words, the Chinese have 
made a phrase of their own, to fit the Buddhist notion of 
a paradise or palace of the gods. The reason is not far to 
seek. The Buddhist translators, when rendering the word 
" god " used fien invariably. The Sanscrit dew, the Latin 
deus, and the Bengali debta, have no other equivalent in 
Chinese than fieri, "heaven." At the same time deva- 
loka, the "heaven of a deva," is also translated by fien, 
thus causing some confusion. This mixture of two senses 
has led to the addition of fang, in ordinary colloquial use, 
for heaven as a paradise. This phrase fien- fang, " hea 
venly hall," is of course modern and subsequent to the 
spread of Buddhism. 

The narrow limitation of the word to the sense " hall " 
is an objection, but Christians all feel that the chief and 
prevailing sense is in the word fien. The Christian usage 
omits fang as often as it admits it, even in colloquial inter 
course and in preaching. In the various translations of 
the Bible, fien- fang is never used. 



*MING-KUNG? ETC, AS NAMES FOR HEAVEN. 363 

T ien-kung, " palace of heaven," is not inappropriate for 
the throne-scene in the fourth chapter of the Book of 
the Eevelation ; but it is not used in the Chinese versions 
of the Scriptures. Like ti-yil for " hell," it is limited to 
colloquial use in Christian literature. In Buddhist books, 
Vien-t ang is not used for " heaven," but t ien-kung, 
"palace of the gods," which is so used, is a good deal 
like it, and resembles ming-kung, " bright palace," which 
is found in the Syrian inscription for " heaven," and in late 
Christian literature occasionally. Ming-kung and t ien- 
t ang are both of them phrases formed on the Hindoo 
notion of heaven. 

" Heaven" and "hell" are both embraced in yin-kien. 
The invisible world includes states of happiness as well as 
misery. This reminds us of Homer, where, in the eleventh 
Book of the Odyssey, he describes the interviews of Ulysses 
with many of the shades of the dead, including his own 
mother. The palace of Pluto and the abodes of the dead 
were regarded by Homer and his contemporaries as under 
ground. Was not the notion of ti-yu, "earth s prison," 
taken to India from countries farther west ? Egypt may 
have been the parent of the idea of a subterraneous prison 
of the dead. We find the notion in Egypt, in Greece, in 
Babylon, and in India ; but it is not in the Vedas. It was 
either originated in India after the Vedic age, or it was 
then introduced from elsewhere. I prefer somewhat the 
hypothesis of Western origin, on account of the similarity 
of the view held of the future state as given in Buddhist 
books, with those found in the religious books of Western 
races. 

We are beginning to find out how fruitful was the Greek 
mind, not only in inventing, but in communicating the 
knowledge of inventions. The traces of Greek influence 
are found in Hindoo architecture, in Hindoo astronomy, in 
Hindoo arithmetic, and in Hindoo philosophy. The San 
scrit writing is now admitted to be of Semitic origin. The 
Hindoo hells which are first found in the " Laws of Manu," 



3^4 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

of uncertain date, somewhere between B.C. 800 and B.C. 
500, and then in the Buddhist books, and which are inti 
mately connected with the metempsychosis, may have 
come from Western countries, and subsequently have 
been elaborated into the Hindoo shape, when the universe 
based on the metempsychosis was in course of construction 
by the Hindoo mind ; at any rate when Chinese critics 
charge Christianity with borrowing "heaven and hell" 
from the Buddhists, we are right in pointing out that the 
Olympus of the Greek gods, and the Hades of Pluto 
(Poseidon), in Homer, are more ancient conceptions than 
the Buddhist hells and paradises; and that, whether it 
was from Egypt, from Babylon, or from some other source, 
the borrowing is on the whole more likely to have been 
the other way. Otherwise, why do the oldest Hindoo 
books say nothing of the " earth prisons " and the " palaces 
of the gods " ? 

Redemption. Each Buddha and Bodhisattwa is a re 
deemer. I notice here Ti-tsang-wang p u-sa. He is called 
Yeu-ming-kiau-chu, " Teacher of the unseen world." Full 
of benevolence and grace towards mankind, he opens a 
path for self -reformation and pardon of sins. 

The phrases here used are such as we employ in describ 
ing the Christian redemption. The Buddhist redemption is 
moral ; for it includes repentance, and rescue from the net 
of the delusions of Maya, partly moral and partly mental 
(Maya-saus, " a juggler," " idealism," " delusion "). It brings 
the idea of grace before the people. That grace is pity in 
the heart of Buddha, or some Bodhisattwa such as Kwan- 
yin, prompting them to teach true doctrine to those who 
have gone astray. In the Buddhist books the Bodhisattwa 
expresses a wish and proceeds to accomplish it. In the 
Tauist books, however, the utterance of the wish is attri 
buted to Ti-tsang or Kwan-yin, but the issue of the decree 
of salvation is ascribed to Yu-Tiwang ta-ti or Tsl-hwang 
shang-ti. The love of Buddha is self-prompted, and is 
the result of a determination entered on millions of years 



DECREED FORGIVENESS TO PENITENTS. 365 

before in an earlier life. It may be doubted whether this 
self-originating love can logically be claimed by the Bud 
dhists ; for they also believe in an impersonal fate which 
compels the succession of events just as they happen. But 
it is better wherever we find a moral love like that of Bud 
dhism, being at once the enemy of vice and the friend of 
virtue, to recognise its existence and assign due credit to it. 

This being so, it seems proper to say, further, that the 
resemblances with Christianity are most striking, (i.) 
There is the self-prompted pity of P u-sa for mankind. (2.) 
P u-sa saves men by instruction, from the punishments in 
which they will certainly be involved in the hundred and 
thirty-eight hells. (3.) The cause of future punishment 
is sin committed in the "present life," yang-kien. (4.) 
The god of the Tauists is represented as promulgating a 
gracious decree, to remit the punishment of hell for those 
who repent. 

Such is the way in which redemption is represented in 
modern Tauist works, where a Buddhist element is freely 
intermingled. A mixed mythology and scheme for a fic 
titious salvation had grown up in the Sung dynasty, and 
continued to prevail till the present time in works like 
the Yu-li. In it we see a sort of preparation for Chris 
tianity, in the way of familiarising the minds of the people 
with phraseology which may be used in describing the 
Christian redemption in several particulars. 

The purely Buddhist notion of the Western heaven, and 
the disciples of the Tauist sect leading the soul to that 
abode of happiness, are also introduced without scruple in 
these Tauist representations. I have often thought that 
the religious pilgrims, pictured with banners in their 
hands inscribed with the sentence tsie-yin-si-fang, " we will 
lead you to the Western heaven," a Tauist priest in front, 
pencil in hand, ready to write on the head of new dis 
ciples met upon the way the sign of initiation to the reli 
gious life, might be very effectively used as an illustration 
to describe the zeal which Christians ought to show in 



3^6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

holding aloft their banner in the path of their pilgrimage, 
and in the readiness which they should exhibit to look out 
on the way for the victims of sin and error, and induce 
them to join in the march to the heavenly city. 

Secret merit. Any virtuous actions are meritorious, and 
form a stock which may be heaped up like grain in a barn, 
and constitute a man s treasure of benefits to come. No 
good action, says the Buddhist, is lost. The spirits un 
seen will be sure to take note of it. If you do good, there 
is an absolute certainty that you will receive benefits 
by way of recompense. Hence the phrase tsi-yin-kung, 
" accumulation of secret merit." 

A curious confusion takes place here, through that 
mental tendency which sometimes mixes the cause of an 
act with the event. Merit produces happiness. Therefore 
the name happiness is given to merit. In Mongolian 
Buddhism loyin is both " happiness " and " merit." Ety- 
mologically, it is the Chinese fu, " happiness ; " doctri- 
nally, it is any good action. In the ordinary language 
of social life, it is either happiness or religious merit. 
In Chinese Buddhism, tsui-fu means either " misery " and 
" happiness," or " sin " and " virtue." You may translate 
them either way ; tsui is " misery," but it is also " sin ; " 
fu is " happiness," but it is also "merit." In the ordi 
nary use of sheu-tsui in Chinese, "bear suffering" is the 
idea. The conception of " sin " is lost. This is the effect 
of Buddhist teaching. 

The following passages occur : T iau-t o-tsui-fu-cJii- 
kwan, "leap out of and escape the gate of misery and 
happiness ;" sien-t sung-tsui-fu-yin-kwo-i-jan-sing-wu, "first 
wake up with a shock from (the delusive dream of) causes 
and effects, of misery and happiness." 

Xhe effect of Buddhist doctrine on heaven and hell may 
be judged of partially by a statement in No. 480 l of the 
Wan-kwo-kung-pau. An account is there given by a con 
vert of the Basel mission, in the district of Sin- an, near 

1 Published at Shanghai, March i6th, 1878. 



NARRATIVE OF A CHRISTIAN CONVERT. 367 

Canton, of his personal experience, first as a heathen and 
afterwards as a Christian. After leading a dissolute life 
for some years, he began at the age of twenty-seven to 
read such books as Pau-ying-lu, Yin-chi-wen, and Kan- 
ying-p ien. These teach future retribution in the most 
appalling language when describing the torments of the 
wicked, and they make use of the most inviting pictures 
of the happiness of the virtuous. He then read also Yu-li- 
ch au-chwen. He says regarding it, that it speaks of 
" heaven," t ien-t ang, as a place of incomparable glory, and 
of " hell " or " earth s prison," ti-yu, as the abode of misery 
indescribable. He continues : " At this time I was so 
affected by what these books said, that I felt my very 
hair and bones grow stiff with fear at the thought of the 
character of my past life. Coming to myself I looked up to 
heaven and said, How shall I escape the punishment of 
earth s prison ? My conscience condemned me. Wak 
ing and sleeping I could get no rest. I continued to read 
books exhorting to virtue, and meditated deeply on them. 
I kept on saying to myself, Do nothing wrong, but 
practice every good deed ; or else I thought in my inner 
most mind about the words, Lust is the most deadly of all 
sins, and filial piety the chief of all virtues. Of these 
words I made a warning and a rule. Sometimes I pre 
sented a written petition to Wen-ch ang ti-kiiin, declaring 
my determination to live virtuously. At other times I 
made it a daily habit to go morning and evening to the 
image of Kwan-yin and burn incense before it, at the same 
time reading the Book (King) of Kwan-yin/ and praying 
to that divinity to rescue me from my miseries. I also 
prayed to High Heaven, making use of four sentences : 
I strike my head and worship the blue heaven ; My 
ruined life has been marked by thousands and tens of 
thousands of sins ; I pray thee to have pity on me ; I 
beg forgiveness for all past sins/ I was so full of alarm, 
that I was anxious to perform some meritorious act to free 
me from all my sins. 



368 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

" Occasionally also on returning home, I presented in 
cense, and read a prayer to the kitchen god, and was 
accustomed to take the manual for the worship of the god, 
and recite passages to various members of the family, ex 
horting them to compliance with the direction to be very 
reverential to the kitchen god. I also urged my parents 
to avoid eating beef and dog s flesh, for the preservation of 
their good fortune. 

"My desire to be virtuous grew greater as I observed 
the cheats and craft of the world, and the selfishness and 
greed of many persons. I was at that time bent on be 
coming a good man, and superior to others, and so acquir 
ing a variety of high rewards." 

He then proceeds to show that all this time he was 
himself deluded in a multitude of ways, and firmly bound 
in the snares of ignorance, till, by the help of his grand 
mother, an old lady of eighty-seven years, who had been 
for years an excellent Christian, he was brought to the 
exercise of faith in Christ and His Gospel. 

Undoubtedly this is an example extremely interesting 
and instructive, as showing how the Buddhist doctrine of 
heaven and hell prepares for the Christian. I proceed to 
detail the steps of this man s conversion. The old lady 
had five sons, all of whom, except our convert s father 
and the eldest, followed their mother in adopting Chris 
tianity. The opposition of these two sons to Christianity 
continued for years, and the writer of the account was 
brought up an unbeliever. The grandmother, coming one 
day to chapel, slipped her foot, and sustained a severe in 
jury. A Christian helped our convert in taking care of 
her, and in applying his medical skill to cure her. While 
he was doing this, he plied our convert with exhortations 
to accept the new doctrine. As he spoke of the coming 
judgment, and of heaven and hell, our convert felt himself 
deeply moved. It just suited his mode of fear and of long 
ing. It helped him to make up his mind and give his 
will a fixed direction, so that he yielded himself to the 



PREPARA TION FOR CHRISTIANITY. 369 

influence of the new religion and became a secret believer. 
When his grandmother reiterated her earnest appeals to 
him to adopt the true faith, he consented. He still felt, 
however, afraid of calumny and reproach, and confined his 
praying to the schoolroom where he taught. At last, he 
says, he felt stronger faith, went to join in worship at the 
chapel, met the missionary, and was afterwards soundly 
chastised by his parents. He was subsequently baptized, 
and is now in the training institution of the Basel mission. 
Let attention be given here to the circumstance, that 
this man, a genuine convert to Christianity, had made an 
unsuccessful attempt at a moral self-reformation in con 
nection with the Buddhist doctrine of heaven and hell, and 
the moral teaching inculcated in the universally-known 
Tauist publications, the names of which he mentions in 
his account. 

The retribution proclaimed by Buddhism led him to an 
outward reformation, consisting in the abandonment of a 
vicious life. At this time he had a glimmering of certain 
truths, found imbedded in heathen beliefs. He had the 
moral intention leading him to forsake some sins, but he 
did not achieve a satisfactory escape from doubt and temp 
tation. ^ This could only be the gift of Christianity; yet, in 
Buddhism, he had the guidance of a certain light which 
led him to become a seeker for truth. Christianity found 
him not altogether cold and dull, but in an inquiring and 
unsatisfied attitude. He was looking for more light than 
that of Buddhism for stronger love than that of Buddhism 
for a brighter hope than that of Buddhism. These he 
found in the Gospel. 

Not only had the moral teaching of Tauist books and 
the Buddhist doctrine of heaven and hell a distinctly 
perceptible effect in inclining him strongly to self-refor 
mation, but the habit of Buddhist devotion, in the form of 
reciting passages from liturgical books, and prayers for aid 
to escape from misery, helped him in commencing a quasi- 
religious life. The petition to Wen-ch ang ti-kiun, a star 

2 A 



370 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

god, is a written prayer burnt in the incense flame. The 
prayer to Kwan-yin is an appeal to the powerful divinity, 
who promises to exercise her delivering power as a P u-sa 
to every supplicant. The habit of prayer was already 
formed, when he was induced by faithful Christian friends 
and relatives to pray to the God revealed in the Bible. 
When he did so, he begged the recovery of his grand 
mother, in order, he adds, that she might lead him and his 
family with her to the hall of worship. His grandmother 
recovered, and he felt that his prayer was answered. This 
led him to great earnestness in prayer and strength of 
faith ; for she was confident that the cure took place by 
the immediate exercise of God s power, and in answer to 
prayer. His habit of heathen devotion was transmuted 
into Christian devotion. Christianity takes man as it finds 
him, and makes him, by teaching and training, a servant 
of God. 

I do not in any way doubt that Buddhist doctrines have 
been, for the Christian teacher, most important prepara 
tion for Christianity ; and that, through the spread of these 
doctrines, the Chinese people look upon Christianity with 
much less strangeness, and accept its doctrines with much 
less difficulty, than otherwise they would have been able 
to do. 

On the other hand, it may be said that Buddhist priests 
do not easily become converts ; that Polynesians, Negroes, 
un-Mohammedanised Malays, and the mountain tribes in 
Birmah and India, become converts more readily than the 
Chinese. This, perhaps, has been so hitherto, but I doubt 
if it will be so in the future. There have been causes 
which have operated to check the progress of Christianity 
in China. They have been chiefly originated by the Con- 
fucianists. When opposition from the literati is removed, 
it is surprising with what ease Christianity can be pro 
pagated. One reason of this is, that the minds of the 
people are impregnated with Buddhist ideas and the 
language with Buddhist expressions. 



( 371 ) 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

NOTICE OF THE WU-WEI-KIAU, A REFORMED BUDDHIST 
SECT. 

Originated two hundred and seventy years ago by a native of Shan 
tungNo showy ceremonial No images Sacred books six in 
number Interview of the founder with the emperor of the 

period Cheng-te Discussion with opponents Victory One of 

their leaders was crucified. 

INTERSPERSED through the village population of the east 
ern provinces of China are to be found the adherents of a 
religion called the Wu-wei-kiaM. They are little known, 
usually belong to the lower ranks of life, and have few 
books. Their principles, however, render them remark 
able. They are a kind of reformed Buddhists. Their 
system is more like Buddhism than any other religion, 
but they are opposed to idolatry. They appear to be 
strongly and sincerely convinced of the goodness of their 
opinions, and they hold with tenacity the uselessness of 
image worship. This circumstance has often attracted the 
attention of missionaries at Shanghai and Ningpo, and I 
have thought that a notice of the sect would not be with 
out interest. 

This sect has existed in China for about two hundred 
and seventy years. Its originator was Lo Hwei-neng, 
a native of Shan-tung. In imitation of the Buddhist title 
tsu, he is called Lo-tsu, " the patriarch Lo." His opinions 
have spread with considerable rapidity through the adjoin- 
provinces Kiang-nan ; Che-kiang, and An-hwei, and may 
advance farther. 



372 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

The name of the sect is Wu-wei-kiau, which, translated 
literally, means the " Do-nothing sect." The idea intended 
by it is, that religion consists, not in ceremonies and out 
ward show, but in stillness, in a quiet, meditative life, and in 
an inward reverence for the all-pervading Buddha. Buddha 
is believed in, but he is not worshipped. There are temples, 
if they may be so called, but they are plain structures, 
destitute of images, and having in them only the common 
Chinese tablet to heaven, earth, king, parents, and teacher, 
as an object of reverence. 

The phrase wu-wei, to " do nothing," occurs in the writ 
ings of the early Tauists, long before Buddhism appeared 
in China. In the " Book of Eeason and Virtue " (Tau-te- 
king), it is said by Lau-kiiin : " The highest virtue is not 
(intentionally) virtuous, and on this account it is (de 
serving of the name) virtue. The lower sort of virtue is 
(anxious) not (to be) wanting in virtue, and therefore 
it is not (true) virtue. The highest virtue does nothing, 
and consequently does not trust to (or rest on) any action. 
Virtue of an inferior kind (anxiously) acts and trusts to 
action." 

This is the controversy that has been so often raised 
between the contemplative and the active man. In China 
Confucius and his school are the advocates of activity, 
and Lau-tsi and his followers of contemplation. These 
philosophers both discussed the art of government, the 
one with the aid of idealism, the other under the guidance 
of (something like) materialism. The phrase wu-wei is 
one of the watchwords of idealistic and mystical schools 
in China; while yeu-wei, "action," a phrase of opposite 
signification, is the cry of systems which favour mate 
rialism. 

I give another quotation. It is from the second of the 
great Tauist authors, Chwang-tsi. " The way of heaven," 
he says, " is not to act (wu-wei), and therein and thereby 
to be the most honoured of all things. The way of men 
is to act (yeu-wei), and to be involved in trouble." 



INTERVIEW WITH THE EMPEROR. 373 

When Buddhism entered China, a system much more 
purely idealistic than Tauism, this phrase wu-wei was 
soon recognised as the equivalent to the phrase hu-wu-tsi- 
mie, " vacancy, stillness, and destruction " of that foreign 
religion. The resemblance in principle between Bud 
dhism and Tauism was in this respect too evident not 
to be remarked. The similarity became still closer 
when the esoteric branch of Buddhism, established by 
Bodhidharma, and developed by the Chinese Buddhists 
who succeeded him, extended itself so much as quite to 
overshadow the older exoteric branch. External Bud 
dhism seeks after the Nirvana, encourages the worship 
of images, appoints prayers for the dead, and makes use 
of much outward show to win the multitude. This is yeu- 
wei, or " reliance on action." The mystic Buddhists resist 
such a method of attaining the ends of religion. They 
recommend " inaction," or wu-wei. It is from them that 
the Wu-wei sect has sprung. The name is a favourite 
Tauist expression, but the source of the religion is Bud 
dhism. 

Lo-tsu, the founder of this religion, was a native of Lai- 
cheu fu, in Shan-tung. He was introduced, say the books 
of the sect, to the emperor of the Ming dynasty of the 
period Cheng-te. The following account is given of the 
interview, in the work Lo-tsu-ch ( u-sTii-t ( ui-fan-ping-pau- 
kiuen. A hundred thousand foreign soldiers had invaded 
China, and an army of ten times that number had been sent 
out to repel them. The army failed in its enterprise, and 
Lo-tsu offered to the commander to drive back the invaders. 
He shot an arrow into the air, when a lotus-flower descended 
with a loud noise, and the enemy seeing it became terri 
fied and immediately fled. The emperor was informed of 
this, and Lo-tsu was called to his presence. The emperor 
thanked him for his success, and asked him how he came 
to possess this miraculous power. Lo-tsu denied having 
any supernatural power, and attributed the deliverance of 
the state to the protection of the dragons and the gods. 



374 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

The emperor then directed him to shoot arrows into the 
air, when a shower of lotus-flowers appeared. The emperor 
was enraged, and ordered him to be imprisoned and starved 
to death as a sorcerer. While he lay in captivity, mourn 
ing over his fate and reciting prayers to Buddha, a revela 
tion seemed to dart into his mind. He said to his jailer, 
" I have five books to make known to men." The jailer 
called in Chang Kung-kung to confer with him, who 
encouraged him to commit his books to writing. He 
therefore sent for two of his disciples, Fuh-hi and Fuh- 
pau, to come from the Wu-t ai mountain, where they 
resided, to act as his amanuenses. Two other persons, 
noted in the history of his religion, namely, Wei Kwo- 
kung and T ang Shang-shu, were witnesses of the correct 
ness of the transcript. 

The five works whose origin is thus described constitute 
the sacred books of the religion. They comprehend the 
following six subjects : 

1. Hing-kio-kiuen (which describes painful efforts after 
emancipation, resulting in perception of the excellence of 
this religion), " Chapter of the movement of the feet." 

2. T an-sM-kiuen, " Lament over the world." 

3. P o-sie-kiuen, " Overthrow of false doctrine." 

4. Cheng-sin-kiuen, " Inclination of the mind to the 
right doctrine." 

5. T ai-shan-kiuen, " Becoming like the mountain T ai- 
shan " (confirmation chapter). 

6. Ts ing-tsing-kiuen, " The mind and nature purified and 
quieted." 

These works were presented, continues the story, to the 
emperor, who recalled the author to his presence and 
received him more favourably than before. The three 
friends abovementioned, being officers high in rank, inter 
ceded for him, and became sureties for his good conduct. 

At this juncture seven foreign Buddhists arrived at 
court, bringing a brass Buddha as a present. Lo-tsu was 
appointed to hold a discussion with them. He was in- 



DISCUSSION WITH OPPONENTS. 375 

troduced as the Wu-wei-tau-jen, " Eeligious man who 
maintains the principle of non - action." The foreign 
priests asked him why he assumed this name. " By 
means of it," he replied, " I shall be able to overturn 
your brass Buddha of three thousand pounds weight 
to-day. Men do not know this principle, and therefore 
they seek for false doctrine. My method is clear and 
perfect ; it is suited for the whole world." To this it was 
replied by the foreign priest, " Do not use boastful words ; 
I can make a gourd sink to the bottom of the sea and iron 
tongs swim on the surface. Can you do so ? " The foreign 
priest expects that our hero will not be able to explain his 
riddle, but he is mistaken. A ready reply is given, " Man s 
nature is like the full moon, which, when it emerges from 
the horizon, shines to the bottom of the sea, across the 
surface, and everywhere. To sink and to swim, then, 
become the same. When my nature (sing), like the 
moon, shines bright and clear, my life returns to the 
bottom of the sea. In the view of my spiritual nature, 
born directly from heaven, iron may swim and the gourd 
may sink." 

The foreign priest then asked him why he did not chant 
books of prayers. He answered "That the great doctrine is 
spontaneous, man s nature is the same with heaven. The 
true unwritten book is always rotating. 1 All heaven and 
earth are repeating words of truth. The true book is not 
outside of man s self. But the deceived are ignorant of 
this, and they therefore chant books of prayers. The law 
that is invisible manifests itself spontaneously, and needs 
no book. The flowing of water, the rushing of the winds, 
constitute a great chant. Why, then, recite prayers from 
books ? " 

The founder of the Wu-wei religion was again asked 
why he did not worship images of Buddha. He answered, 

1 There is an allusion here to the chanting a liturgy, as the revolving 
common Buddhist description of of the wheel of the law. 
preaching Buddhist dogma, and 



376 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

"A brazen Buddha melts, and a wooden Buddha burns, 
when exposed to the fire. An earthen Buddha cannot save 
itself from water. It cannot save itself; then how can it 
save me ? In every particle of dust there is a kingdom 
ruled by Buddha. In every temple the king of the law 
resides. The mountains, the rivers, and the great earth 
form Buddha s image. Why, then, carve or mould an 
image ? " 

I remark here, in passing, that at this point we must 
consider Buddha as God in the view of these religionists. 
He is to them that Being whose glory and whose acts are 
seen in every object of nature. But, then, this Buddha is 
not a personal being, the ruler and father of the world. 
He cannot be prayed to. He cannot love me, or be the 
object of my love. When religionists of this class say they 
see Buddha everywhere, it is only the reflection of the 
thoughts and emotions of their own minds that thev refer 
to. 

Again he is asked why he does not burn incense ? He 
replies, " That ignorant men do not know that every one 
has incense in himself. What is true incense ? It is self- 
government, wisdom, patience, mercy, freedom from doubts, 
and knowledge. The pure doctriue of the Wu-wei is true 
incense, pervading all heaven and earth. Incense is every 
where ascending. That incense which is made by man, 
the smoke of fragrant woods, does not reach heaven. The 
winds, clouds, and dew are true incense, always shedding 
itself forth through the successive seasons of the year." 

He was asked once more, "Why do you not light 
candles ? " He answered " That the world is a candlestick. 
Water is the oil. The sky is an encircling shade. The 
sun and moon are the flame lighting up the universe. If 
there is light within me, it illumines all heaven and earth. 
If my own nature be always bright, heaven will never 
become dark. It will then be perceived that the king of 
the law is limitless." 

It should be noticed that the king of the law is a perso- 



VICTORY. 377 

nification of the doctrine believed. The mind reflects on 
the doctrine till imagination pictures it to the intellectual 
eye as a glorious image. This is the king of the law. 

When the discussion was over, the seven priests all con 
fessed themselves worsted, and begged Lo-tsu to become 
their instructor. The book adds that the emperor was 
highly pleased, and ordered the books of Lo-tsu to be 
engraved. They were published, continues the record, in 
the thirteenth year of Cheng-te from the imperial press, 
A.D. 1518. 

I met recently with a former adherent of this religion 
who is now a Christian. He was baptized recently by the 
late Bishop Eussell of Ningpo, of the Church Missionary 
Society. He gave me much information respecting the 
sect to which he had previously belonged. He still thinks 
its principles are good. It enjoins virtue, and its tenden 
cies are, he considers, of an excellent kind, but it does not 
show hoiv goodness is to be attained. He therefore left it 
and became a Christian. 

On asking him the meaning of the discussion before the 
emperor, and if it was not fictitious, he said that the army 
of foreign invaders means the sensorial organs, the six 
thieves, as they are called by the Buddhists. The arrow 
shot in the air is the heart. The foreign priests who 
oppose the true doctrine are mo-kwei, " demons." 

This use of fiction to recommend religious dogmas is in 
keeping with the usual character of the Buddhist books. 
Unlimited license is taken by the authors in inventing a 
suitable tableau of characters and scenery, in which the 
doctrines to be taught may be prominently represented. 

Two other persons Ying-tsu and Yau-tsu have, at 
different periods, taken the lead in this sect. Ying-tsu 
is said to have discoursed on fa (dharma) "the law," as 
Lo-tsu did on king the " books." 

There is another personage beside Buddha spoken of 
by these religionists, the Kin-mu, " Golden mother." She 
dwells in a heaven called Yau (to shake) dm (to dwell) 



378 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

hung (palace). My informant considered that she repre 
sents God, in the idea of this religion, more nearly than 
Buddha does, because she is an object of worship. On my 
inquiring why this divinity should be female, he said that 
Kin-mu was the mother of the soul, as the female parent 
was of the body. 

She is said to protect from various calamities, and is 
prayed to for deliverance from sickness, and to save the 
deceased from miseries in the unseen world. 

The origin of her name is found in the Chinese theory 
of the elements, among which kin, " gold," " metal gene 
rally," stands first in order. This and many other Tauist 
notions are blended with Buddhist principles in the system 
maintained by the followers of the Wu-wei-kiau. 

They have four principal festivals, of which two are to 
celebrate the day of the birth and death of Lo-tsu. The 
others are the new year and the middle of the eighth 
month. On these occasions, three cups of tea and nine 
small loaves of bread are placed on the table by appoint 
ment of Lo-tsu. The number nine refers to the strokes of 
the pa-kwa, or " eight diagrams," in which nine is the 
most fortunate number. The bread is called k ien-k wan, 
" heaven and earth," also in imitation of the names of the 
eight diagrams of the " Book of Changes." 

The sect is sometimes called Ch a-kiau, " Tea sect," and 
Man-t eu-kiau, " Bread sect," in consequence of the usage 
here mentioned. These appellations are, however, nothing 
but popular nicknames. 

They have in their chapels, tablets to the emperor and 
to the five names of honour heaven, earth, prince, parents, 
and teacher. They are strict vegetarians, and argue tena 
ciously for the metempsychosis. They have no ascetic 
institute like the Buddhists, but allow the family insti 
tution to be undisturbed. 

They were persecuted in the Ming dynasty. One of 
their leaders was crucified by nailing on the gate of a city 
in Shan-tang. On one occasion, some persons of this sect 



ONE OF THE LEADERS CRUCIFIED. 379 

addressed me in a missionary chapel in Shanghai, with the 
remark that their religion resembled the Christian in this 
respect, that one of their leaders was crucified. 

They have not since been subjected to persecution, but 
their religion is still prohibited, and its name is found 
among those charged with teaching depraved doctrines, in 
some editions of the " Sacred Edict." 

My informant told me, further, that the doctrine of the 
non-existence of matter is not held by this sect though it 
might have been expected from their close adherence to 
Buddhism that they would have maintained it but that 
they simply regard all material things as perishable. When 
the world comes to its end, the Golden mother will take all 
her children i.e., all believers in this religion home to 
the yau-chu heaven. 

The Wu-wei-Jciau is usually spoken of by the Confu- 
cianists as a corrupt sect, with secret political designs; 
but its adherents appear at present to be entirely innocent 
of any illegal aims. They are, so far as can be seen, intent 
on religious objects, and sincerely attached to their system. 
We may yet see many of them exchanging abstract philo 
sophical dogmas for Christian truth. Their opposition to 
idolatry is a preparation for Christianity, and they deserve 
great attention from those who are engaged in teaching the 
Chinese the religion of the Bible. 

They are very determined vegetarians. When they 
become Christians, they prefer to free themselves from the 
bondage of the prohibition by eating some small quantity 
of animal food, as a proof to others of their change of reli 
gion. This is entirely voluntary on their part. 

In the vicinity of Shanghai, a few years since, this hap 
pened in the case of a florist and his wife. The wife was 
a woman of influence and decision. She signalised her 
change of religion by inviting friends to a feast and par 
taking in their presence of a certain portion of animal 
food. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

BUDDHISM AND TAUISM IN THEIR POPULAR ASPECTS. 

The popularity of Buddhism rests on its doctrine of retribution, and 
not on its ethics Magical claims of the Tauists Kwan-yin, 
since the twelfth century, usually a female Powers and claims 
of Kwan-yin Popular Buddhism loves to have prayers said for 
the dead Hopes for paradise hereafter Popular Tauism believes 
in haunted houses, in charms, and in the efficacy of the wizard 
in controlling demons The present head of the Tauists and 
chief magician Went from Western China to Kiang-si, where 
he has ever since resided as hereditary Pope The Tauist divinity 
Yu-hwang shang-ti has incarnations assigned to him Chang 
Sien the bowman, a physician Tail-cutting delusion Tauist 
prayers for the dead The Buddhist Yen-lo wang, "God of 
death" The eight genii The eighteen Lo-hans The Tauist 
delusions dangerous politically T ien-tsin massacre Need of 
the light of education The effect of the assault of Christianity 
on these religions. 

BY the popular aspects of these two religions, I mean their 
aspects at the present time, in as far as they exercise an 
influence on the popular mind. They were popular for 
merly in a sense different from that in which they are 
popular at present. Thus, preaching was common among 
Buddhists in the early ages of their religion. The prin 
cipal duty of a shaven monk was to explain the doctrine 
of Shaky amuni as a deliverance from the misery of life. 
At present the popularity of Buddhism certainly does not 
rest on any activity in expounding the doctrines of their 
faith that we have the opportunity of witnessing. It rests 
rather on the supposed magical powers of the priests, on 



DOCTRINE OF RETRIBUTION. 381 

the merit believed to attach to gifts presented for the sup 
port of monks, monasteries, and liturgical services, and on 
the wide-spread belief that such merit will be followed by 
all kinds of happiness. The early books of Buddhism 
abound in beautiful moral precepts, proceeding from the 
lips of a man who, through a long life, was animated by a 
pure and lofty asceticism. They are tinged with a proud 
scorn of worldly glory, and with a firm consciousness that 
there is nothing so good for a man as to listen to the 
teaching of his own better nature, while he shuts his ears 
closely to the siren voices of all sins and all temptations. 
Assuredly this is not what makes Buddhism popular now. 
For these early books are never, or almost never, read in 
the liturgical services ; and as to trying to be good, the 
Buddhists do not evince much indication that this aim is 
vital and vigorous among them. The sharp eyes of the 
Confucianists are upon them, and the judgment they pass 
on them is unfavourable. The Confucianists represent them 
as drones in the community. They describe them as not 
like the useful silkworm, which gives to man the material 
of the textile fabric, but as being like the moth, which 
destroys that fabric. Then, why is Buddhism still believed 
by the people ? The answer is, that they believe in the 
magical efficacy of Buddhist prayers, and in moral causa 
tion ; or, in other words, the law of moral retribution 
which Buddhism teaches. It is on these accounts that 
money flows into the Buddhist treasury for the erection 
and repair of temples and pagodas, and for the support 
of innumerable priests. If I give money to gild sacred 
images, the law of causation will give me back happiness 
Yin-kwo-pu-mei. 

The history of Tauism has been similar. What has 
come now of the philosophy of Lau-kiiin and Chwang 
Cheu ? It is much too abstruse for the modern Tauist 
mind. The Tauists of the present day do not occupy their 
attention with mysterious speculations on the pure and 
the true. Nor yet do they give attention to the alchemy 



382 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

of the Han dynasty. They have ceased to experiment on 
the elixir of life, or the transmutation of all metals into 
gold. Instead of this, they occupy themselves with writ 
ing charms for driving demons out of houses, and with 
reading prayers for the removal of calamities. When you 
meet a Tauist of this generation, you do not meet with 
either an alchemist or a philosopher. The man you see 
claims, however, to be able to do very great things. He 
will undertake to drive out a demon from the body of a 
madman, and from a haunted house, to cure the sick by 
magic, and to bring rain in time of drought by his prayers. 
He will protect by his charms the quiet citizen and the 
adventurous traveller from all sorts of dangers; and, when 
there is mourning in the house, he will like the Buddhist 
monk hire out his services to read passages from the 
.liturgies of his religion, which shall, by their magic power, 
quickly transfer the soul of the dead to the land of happi 
ness on high. 

A Chinese writer says in a characteristic way : " The 
three religions differ in their doctrines. Yet as to the 
aim, to save mankind, they are at one. In Buddhism 
no personage holds so large a place in saving mankind as 
Kwan-shi-yin. In Tauism there is no one equal to Lii 
Ch un-yang. In the Ju-kiau there is no one to be com 
pared with Confucius and Mencius." In this extract, 1 
Kwan-yin is represented as more prominent in saving 
men than Buddha himself. Such is the modern develop 
ment of Buddhism, and it is the popular Buddhism of the 
day. Kwan-yin was introduced into Indian Buddhism 
not long before the Christian era. In China, Kwan-yin 
was worshipped probably in the Han dynasty, but was 
not so popular as afterwards. A modern change has 
taken place in the image of Kwan-yin. Down to the 
early part of the twelfth century, Kwan-yin was repre 
sented as a man. In a book of drawings of the time of 
Siuen-ho, 2 and in the works remaining of famous painters 

1 From Ping-shu-pi-t an. 2 From A.D. 1119 to 1126. 



K WAN-YIN USUALLY A FEMALE. 383 

of the T ang and Sung dynasties, Kwan-yin is always a 
man. In later times it has become the custom to repre 
sent Kwan-yin frequently as a woman. This has been 
the custom for about six hundred years. Kwan-yin is in 
masculine costume in temples where great attention is 
paid to precedent, but the popular taste is in favour of a 
goddess rather than a god. Hence the appellation in 
English, " Goddess of Mercy," founded on the phrases 
commonly applied to her, Ta-ts i ta-pei Jcieu-k u kieu- 
nan, " Great mercy, great pity ; salvation from misery, 
salvation from woe." That one of the many metamor 
phoses of Kwan-yin should have become a very common 
in fact the most common image of this divinity, may be 
taken as an indication that, in deifying ideas, the Bud 
dhist mind in China delights to assign feminine attributes 
to that of mercy. It is easy to understand how the Sung- 
ts i Kwan-yin, or " Kwan-yin, the giver of sons," should 
become extremely popular. 

The salvation of mankind by teaching is a conception 
very characteristic of Chinese Buddhism. This belongs 
to all those fancied personages called Fo and P u-sa. For 
example, the mission of Kwan-yin is the salvation of men. 
It is symbolised by her thirty-two metamorphoses. In 
these shapes she enters various kingdoms as a saviour. 
Among these representations are seen the eighty -four 
thousand arms and hands with which she guides the 
ignorant and the lost. The doctrines taught by Kwan-yin 
are the non-existence of matter, and the infiniteness of the 
knowledge and mercy of Buddha. All evils are summed 
up in ignorance. To acquire knowledge of the emptiness 
of existing things is to become saved. It is this that is 
meant by the salvation of men through the agency of the 
goddess of mercy. In accordance with a vow she assumes 
some one of her thirty-two shapes, and proceeds to the 
various kingdoms of the world to convert men, and to the 
regions where gods, giants, demons, and fairies reside, to 
protect, instruct, and save all. Kings, governors, and 



384 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

people are renovated by the power of mercy. They are 
said to lose their fear, to be extricated from the thrall of 
delusion, to become perfect, and to have the power of 
aiding themselves or others. Kwan-yin is represented 
as being able, by uttering charms, to assume numberless 
shapes for the sake of saving. She saves by mercy, by 
wisdom, by entering into a state. She obtains the great 
self-reliant power by which she can ensure that those who 
pray for sons and those who pray for the state of samadhi 
shall attain it, and those who pray for deliverance from 
dangers, or for old age, shall also secure them. She is able 
to give Nirvana to her petitioners by the same power. This 
is said to be her great mercy and pity. All the Buddhas 
and Bodhisattwas have powers analogous to these. But 
none are so prominent, perhaps, in this respect, as Kwan- 
yin. Manjusiri (Wen-shu), whose seat of worship is 
Wu-t f ai shan in Shan-si, is, even in North China, where his 
worship most prevails, much less thought of than Kwan- 
yin. Probably P u-hien, the seat of whose worship is 
Wo-mei shan, in the province of Si-ch wen, is even less 
esteemed than Manjusiri, and a fortiori than Kwan-yin. 
It would seem, then, to be a fact important in modern 
Buddhist history, that the most popular of the divinities 
of this religion should be presented first with male and 
afterwards with female attributes, and that the change of 
sex in the images should have been accomplished within 
the last few centuries. 

Yet it should not be forgotten that Kwan-yin is, pro 
perly speaking, to be regarded as masculine even at the 
present time. The feminine form is a specially popular 
metamorphosis. If we wish to go further back and to be 
still more careful in our analysis, Kwan-yin is but a form 
of Buddha, coming into the world of suffering mankind in 
a lower position than Buddha, in order more effectually 
to instruct and save the ignorant. Thus P u-hien and 
Wen-shu are in the same way said to be ancient Buddhas 
appearing among men as the two helpers of Shakyamuni, 



PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD. 3^5 

who styles one of them chtang-t&i, " eldest son; and the other 
siau-nan, "little boy." Wen-shu is the god of wisdom, 
and P u-hien of action. Wen-shu rides a lion, and P u-hieii 
an elephant. The lion symbolises boldness, bravery, and a 
fresh, eager, and advancing spirit. The elephant indicates 
care, caution, gentleness, and a weighty dignity. This is 
Buddhist symbolism. It is interesting in itself, because it 
explains the images. The object of the images is partly 
instruction, and partly the awakening of decent feelings in 
the minds of worshippers. The image of a Fo or a Pu-sa 
is intended to combine in its appearance wisdom, benevo 
lence, and victory the wisdom of a philosopher, the bene 
volence of a redeemer, and the triumph of a hero. All 
perfections are collected in the holy image perfect power, 
perfect virtue, infinite compassion, infinite boldness, and in 
finite knowledge. These are intended to be represented in 
the images. This symbolism is, however, not exactly what 
excites faith and devotion in the rich supporters of the 
Buddhist religion. It is rather a belief in the magical 
power of the Buddhist divinities and priests, and confidence 
in the doctrine of retribution for the bestowment of liberal 
gifts. 

Priests are invited to perform a liturgical service for the 
dead. It is called kung-te, " merit." Its object is to give 
the deceased a better position in the next life than he 
would otherwise enjoy. This is founded on the metem 
psychosis. Souls may be re-born in a better or worse state 
of existence. The magical power of Buddha may exalt a 
man from a birth into hell to a birth into the world once 
more. Buddha s power may cause a poor man to be born 
in the next life as a rich man. The choir of priests wield 
this power. They profess to have the power to ch au-tu- 
ling-hwun, " save the soul." This means to transfer the 
soul from an undesirable abode in the next life to a very 
happy one. The people believe that the priests by beating 
cymbals and drums, knocking the wooden fish and chant 
ing prayers, can redeem the deceased person from the 

2 B 



3 86 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

punishment due to Ms sins. This is expressed by the 
phrase, shu-tsui, " redeem from guilt." 

For a service of one day in the house of the dead person, 
the name tso-kung-te is used. For a service of three 
days, pai-ch an is often used. The favourite name (much 
may be learned from favourite names) 0-mi-to Fo tells of 
an expected paradise. It speaks of the longing for a happy 
hereafter. Here Buddhism has abandoned the legitimate 
Nirvana of Shakyamuni, and preferred to allow the people s 
craving for immortality to dominate the philosopher s 
clo^ma of a return to the absolute. A favourite title of 

O 

Oini-to Fo is Tsie-yin Fo, " The guiding Buddha." He 
guides from earth to the Western paradise. The legend of 
O-mi-to is connected with that of Kwan-yin. The school 
which teaches it is called that of " The peaceful land." 
In China and Japan this school has always been a popular 
one. It is so especially in Japan. I was much struck 
while in that country with inscriptions on tombs. A large 
number of the inscriptions in ordinary cemeteries indicate 
that the person there buried died in hope of being taken 
to " The peaceful land." It is different in China, where 
Confucianism lias prevented Buddhism from taking a firm 
hold on the hearts of the people. No such inscriptions 
occur in Chinese cemeteries. Japan has been more 
thoroughly penetrated with Buddhism than China. Yet 
in China the funeral procession for the dead bears many 
marks of Buddhist influence, though the ordinary ceme 
teries do not. Thus the hwun-fan, or " soul s banner," 
carried before a coffin in such a procession has on the 
top a lotus-flower, and below three strips of cloth, the 
middle one of which contains the characters pan-yi, which 
imply faith in the departure of the soul to the Western 
heaven. The " portrait of the dead," shen-siang, is placed 
beside it in what is called the tso-ting. Below the portrait 
is a tablet to be worshipped. On the right hand is an 
other banner called ming-tsing, on which are recorded the 
titles of the deceased. Now it will be noticed here that 



HAUNTED HOUSES AND CHARMS. 387 

the wooden frame like a baldachino holding the picture is 
Buddhist. It contains the stool on which a Buddhist monk 
its crosslegged when living, and on which he is placed 
sitting in the same attitude when dead. Five Buddhist 
priests and five Tauists read prayers at the grave of per 
sons who are rich and high in office. The liturgies read 
are such as the Sin-king, "Heart classic," and the Kwan- 
ym-kinr,. In reference to use in funeral processions, these 
liturgies are called Chivcn-ts ai-king, Liturgy for turnino- 
(or guiding) the coffin " on its path to the grave. The 
Nirvana is too abstruse for the popular faith. It has been 
replaced by the Paradise of the Western heaven. 

The belief in the existence of hermit heroes, and of 
various malevolent spirits and demons, is a marked charac 
teristic of popular Tauism. Haunted houses are avoided 
in all parts of China. The power of expelling demons 
from haunted houses and localities, is believed to belono- 
chiefly to the hereditary chief of the Tauists, Chang T^en-slri 
and subordinately to any Tauist priest. To expel demons 
he wields the sword that is said to have come down, a 
priceless heirloom, from his ancestors of the Han dynasty 
All demons fear this sword. He who wields it, the great 
Tauist magician, can catch demons and shut them up in jars. 
These jars are sealed with a " charm " (fu). I have heard 
that at the home of this chief of wizards on the Dragon 
and Tiger mountain in the province of Kiang-si, there 
are many rows of such jars, all of them supposed to hold 
demons in captivity. The wizard himself is believed to 
be a power. The charm is a power. The sword he wields 
is a power. The efficacy of a charm is increased by the 
supposed magical gifts of the Tauist wizard from whom it 
is obtained. To secure the services of the great Kiang-si 
wizard is very expensive. Only the wealthy who can "ex 
pend a thousand taels of silver without being pinched can 
afford the luxury of feeling quite sure that, by the agency of 
this wizard, the demons who trouble them are completely 
subjugated. The residence of this wizard is called Chen- 



388 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

jen fu. In giving him the title Ch$n-jn t the meaning is 
that he is regarded as having attained perfect power and 
virtue. He is the ideal man. Men under the domination 
of the passions are not called Chen-jen. The Tauist dis 
cipline gives a man the rule over himself and over nature. 
He who possesses this is called a " True man." The word 
chen, " true," cannot be fully translated into English in 
such cases as this without embracing the ideas "real," 
" perfect," " ideal," and " most elevated." It is higher than 
sien, " immortal," but not so high as slung, " holy." 

The present chief wizard is like his predecessors. His 
wife belongs to a Kiang-si family. Tauism in the persons 
of its wizards retains marriage. Buddhism introduced the 
disuse of marriage. Tauism, being anterior to that much 
more ascetic and self-denying system, knew nothing of 
celibacy. 

It may be asked, from whence came the wizards and 
their charms, and their supposed power to subdue the bad 
influences of demons in disturbing neighbourhoods by 
apparitions and uncanny noises, and in causing sickness and 
death ? It may be answered, that before the introduction 
of Buddhism, but especially in the Han dynasty, this folly 
was rife in the popular belief, and has continued so till 
now. There were wizards in the Shang dynasty, but no 
details remain of what they did. In the Han dynasty, the 
wizards stand out in their completeness. They were 
greatly honoured by prince and people, and have continued 
to be so in the person of the Chang T ien-shi till the 
present day. 

This personage assumes a state which mimics the im 
perial regime. He confers buttons like the emperor. He 
has about thirty persons constituting his courtiers and 
high officers. Tauists come to him from various cities 
and temples to receive promotion. He invests them with 
certain titles, and gives seals of office to those Tauists 
who are invested. They have similar powers to his, and 
can, for example like him, subdue demons by pasting 



TA UIST CHIEF MA GICIAN. 389 

charms on doors, which prevent them from entering. The 
Chang T ien-shi, in his capacity as a sort of spiritual em 
peror, addresses memorials to Yii-ti in heaven. His position 
will be understood from this circumstance. He is chief 
official on earth of Yii-hwang-ti in heaven, and as such 
is in the habit of addressing to him " memorials " called 
piau. His duty is defined as the driving away and expul 
sion of demons by charms, and their destruction by the 
magic sword. 

In all parts of China, the charms seen pasted on the 
doors of houses testify to the dominant idea of popular 
Tauism, and to the universal fear of demons, which Tauism 
encourages. Certainly it is not Confucianism that main 
tains in rigour this absurd dread of evil spirits wandering 
through the air, disturbing the public tranquillity, occasion 
ing alarms which sometimes spread like an epidemic from 
city to city, and leading the uninstructed populace to 
trace fevers, madness, ague, drowning, accidental death of 
travellers, suicide, and any sort of unaccountable discom 
fort, to the imaginary agency of invisible and malevolent 
beings. To subdue them is the office of the Tauist 
magician. The person honoured with the credit of having 
invented the charm is Chang Tau-ling. It was called fu, 
because written on bamboo tallies such as were anciently 
used by officers of government, and which are made to 
fit in shape one with another as a security against impos 
ture, in accordance with the meaning of the verb fu. 
They are to be seen pasted on door lintels, the occupants 
of the house believing that the sight of the magical char 
acters written on the charm will prevent evil spirits from 
entering. 

The magicians were in the Han dynasty called not 
without a touch of sarcasm the "Feathered scholars" (Yu- 
sJw), as being able to fly. The legend of Chang Tau-ling, 
ancestor of the Chang T ien-shi, head of the Tauist hier 
archy at the present time, is sometimes stated as follows : 
In the latter part of the second century, this Pope of 



390 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

the Tauists, if he may be so called, was engaged in the 
province now called Si-ch wen in the Ho-ming shan (Moun 
tain where the crane sien-ho calls), in manipulating the 
11 elixir of the dragon and tiger," lung-Jm-tan. He met a 
spirit who said, "In the Pe-sung mountain is a stone 
house where may be found writings of the three emperors 
and a liturgical book. By getting these you may ascend 
to heaven, if you pass through the course of discipline 
which they enjoin." He dug and found them. By means 
of them he was able to fly, to hear distant sounds, and to 
leave his body. Lau-kiun then came down to him on the 
night of the feast of lanterns, and ordered him to subdue 
the demons of the "Shu country" (S i-ch weri), in order to 
confer blessings on humanity. Lau-kiun gave him a 
powerful and secret "charm" (lu), a "liturgy" (king), a 
" composition in verse or measured prose " (kiue), a " sword " 
(kieri), and a " seal " (yiii). After going through a thou 
sand days of discipline, and receiving instructions from 
a certain goddess called Yu-nii, who taught him to walk 
about among the stars, he proceeded to fight with the king 
of the demons, to divide mountains and seas, and to com 
mand the wind and thunder to come and <ro. All the 
demons fled before him, leaving not a trace behind of 
their retreating footsteps. On account of the prodigious 
slaughter of demons by this hero, the wind and thunder 
were reduced to subjection, and various divinities came 
with eager haste to acknowledge their faults. In nine 
years he gained the power to ascend to heaven and pros 
trate himself before the first in rank of the Three Pure 
Ones. A temple in Ch eng-tu is said to have been the 
place where Lau-kiun discoursed to Chang Tau-ling. He 
afterwards went eastward, and settled his residenceon the 
mountain Lung-hu shan, where his descendants have ever 
since resided in possession of great honour and emolument, 
as his hereditary representatives. The present occupant 
of the patriarchate had to fly at the time of the T ai-p ing 
rebellion, and the temple where he resides was partially 



YU-HWANG SHANG-TL 391 

destroyed. The repairs of the buildings are now nearly 
completed. 

The popular divinity, Yii-hwang shang-ti, is an ancient 
magician, exalted to this dignity probably by the Tauist 
writers of the T ang dynasty. 1 In the Pcn-liing-ldng of 
the Tauist collection it is said, that a magician of the 
Chang family was the son of a king in a former kalpa, 
who, instead of succeeding his father, became a hermit, 
and after eight hundred kalpas, and much patient endur 
ance of injuries, attained to the rank of the " Golden 
immortals" (Kin-sien), and at the same time a Buddha 
with a special title, Tsiny-tsing-tsl-jan-cliio-ju-lai, " The 
pure, calm, and spontaneously perceiving Ju-lai." After a 
million more kalpas he became Yii-ti, or Yu-hwang ta-ti, 
" Emperor of all the immortals." In the same way, Tsl-wei 
ta-ti, " God of the stars round the north pole," is the 
emperor who rules over the presiding gods of all the stars, 
according to the one account. The magician Chang and 
the magician Liu mounted dragons and rode up through 
the sky towards heaven, and Chang gained in the race. 

In the Tsin dynasty, A.D. 300, Cheu Hing is reported 
to have died and risen again. He is said to have related 
what he saw when dead. He saw T ien-ti, the " Heavenly 
emperor," enter the chief hall of his palace. Clouds, 
purple in colour, dense and dark, obstructed the view 
above him. His face was a square foot in size. Cheu 
Hing was told by those on his right and left, " This is 
the heavenly emperor Chang." His palace is the Yii-ts ing 
kung, which is represented in temples by a building be 
neath the abode of the Three Pure Ones. It is the heaven 
to which the soul flies when Tauist prayers are supposed 
to help the dead to reach the Tauist heaven. The expres- 

1 The title Yii-ti occurs in Tauist phoses, and a former life, borrowed 

books earlier than the T ang dynasty, from India. I asked the Tauist patri- 

but not the full title with four char- arch when in Shanghai, how long it 

acters. This belongs evidently to the was since Chang T ien-ti first received 

T ang dynasty, the age of Buddhist in- his title. He only replied, "From 

fluence, and to the belief in metamor- the beginning of the universe." 



392 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

sions are Hwun-fei ch ung-siau, "The soul flies to the 
high firmament;" Ling-t eng t ien-kung, "The soul ascends 
to the heavenly palace." These passages are the earliest I 
have yet found giving the family name Chang to Yii-ti. 
This magician or god Chang is to be distinguished from 
Chang Tau-ling as already described, ancestor of the pre 
sent Chang T ien-sh i, and from the medical divinity Chang 
Sien, who was, in fact, a distinguished physician of the 
Sung dynasty. The personage called Chang Sien, in 
common Chinese paintings, with bow and arrow shooting 
at the moon, is this physician who lived about seven 
hundred years ago. 

In the tail-cutting delusion, which is now dying out 
after spreading over the country like an epidemic, we see 
an example of Tauist ideas. The fairy that cuts off hair 
is checked and prevented by a charm. A written charm 
curled up in the plaited queue at the back of the head is 
a protective shield against all the assaults of witchcraft. 
Tauism attempts to soothe the fears of the people by this 
artifice. In Peking lately I heard that a writer of charms 
hired men to go along the streets shouting to people that 
for safety they should place charms in their hair and 
detailing cases of the loss of queues in the night or 
while men were sleeping in the day-time. These hired 
men brought to the writers of charms a great increase of 
custom. Every one wished to buy one. There must be 
something in it, for every one talked of it. We must 
they said to themselves, buy a charm. The charm used 
in Peking against the danger of waking without a queue 
consists of four mysterious characters, which are all found 
m Kang-hi s dictionary. They were, we are there told 
used against a similar delusion in the Miner dynasty 

The Tauism of to-day meets us with this special charac 
teristic Yet it is but one part of the popular Tauism 
which in great part consists of a monastic institute for 
reading liturgical books after the Buddhist fashion 
Dr. Yates says, in his lecture on Ancestral Worship and 



TAUIST PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD. 393 

Fung-shui, that Buddhism borrowed from Tauism. But, in 
fact, it is rather the other way in the main. Buddhism 
indeed borrowed from Tauism the worship of Kwan-ti, as 
it has borrowed from Confucianism the use of ancestral 
tablets for the worship of the priests of a monastery. But 
there is no room for doubt, that the general programme of 
the arrangements of a Tauist monastery, with the occupa 
tions of the inmates, is Buddhistic. The whole scheme of 
prayers for the dead is so. As to prayers for rain, they 
are essential in China in every religion. For popular and 
for state reasons it is essential to have them, the reason 
being the same in all Buddhist countries. When therefore 
the Hindoos and other Buddhists came to China, and found 
prayers for rain already existing in the Confucian, the 
imperial, and the popular worship, they would in offering 
prayers for the same object, be only doing what they were 
accustomed to do in their own country. They can scarcely 
be said to be borrowed by any religion. The popular 
character of the prayers of the Tauists for the dead is 
different in some respects from the Buddhist, but in the 
chief features it is evidently imitated. The old classical 
word ts iau, for example, is not used in describing the ser 
vices of the Tauists for the dead. The phrase pai-ctian 
is used. One is called Ck au-t ien-ch an, or " Prayer of 
looking toward heaven ; " another is Yu-hwang-ch an, 
"Prayer of Yii-hwang." This word ch an is Buddhist. 
The object of reciting these books is to save the souls of 
the dead by affording them a speedy ascent to the palace 
of Yii-hwang. The hell of the Buddhists is repeated by 
the Tauists in their descriptions of the future state. The 
variety of torments and punishments to be inflicted on 
criminals in the next world may be seen with all the 
harrowing details in the temples of Tung-yo ta-ti, " The 
god of T ai-shan," a mountain god who is supposed to rule 
the under world. He corresponds in attributes somewhat 
to Ti-tsang-wang p u-sa, the Buddhist deliverer from hell. 
Like this Buddhist god, he rules only as a saviour and 



394 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

shares his authority with a large group of inferior divi 
nities, whose offices as ministers of punishment to those 
who deserve chastisement, are illustrated on the walls by 
rough paintings, or by clay images, moulded and painted 
in the Chinese method, in the temples of Tung-yo ta-ti. 
Among statements which I made years ago and have 
now to correct as imperfect or erroneous is this, that the 
Tauists have no hell, but only a heaven. In fact they 
have both, for the rough wall drawings and clay mould 
ings found in the east and west buildings of the temples 
of Tung-yo prove it. These are not, however, many cen 
turies old, and they form a part of the mass of legend and 
myth which they have unscrupulously borrowed from the 
Buddhists. Yama, " God of Death " in India, the Yen-lo- 
wang of China, with the ten courts of judgment which 
rule over the guilty, sentences them to punishment and 
lias it administered after death. This forms the basis of 
the Tauist hell. 

Modern Chinese art is very much pervaded with Tauist 
ideas. The eight genii meet us everywhere. The manu 
facturers of procelain, bronze, and carved bamboo orna 
ments are never weary of representing these eight person 
ages. They belong to the class of hermits. The love of 
external nature was very much developed in the T ang 
dynasty. Poetry was the favourite occupation of the 
literati. They gave attention to no severe studies. Every 
beautiful spot among lakes, waterfalls, and mountains was 
selected for a hermitage or a monastery. Buddhism and 
Tauism received a wonderful expansion. It was just 
the era for the legends of the eight genii to spring into 
existence. It was an age of sentimental feeling. The great 
national poets flourished in the same dynasty as the eight 
Tauist hermits. Li T ai-pe and Tu Fu gained their fame 
at the same time that the sixteen, and afterwards eighteen, 
Lo-hans became popular. These Lo-hans are the Buddhist 
equivalents of the fairies and hermits of Tauism. The 
sixteen were Hindoos, while the two added names were 



TA UIST DEL US IONS DANGERO US. 395 

those of Chinese Buddhists. All the eight genii were 
Tauists of the T ang dynasty. 

We see the effect of Buddhist and Tauist teaching in 
the present race of Chinese. The Tauist religion especially 
is responsible for those superstitions which have a dan 
gerous character. The epidemic of the fairy powder 
was fatal to the peace of communities. The absurd 
charges brought against the martyred Sisters of Mercy in 
Tientsin were based on ideas which, although usually 
represented as popular, and as the native growth of the 
Chinese mind, are in fact correctly placed to the account 
of Tauism. It is dangerous to the state that religious 
teachings should be encouraged which tend to foster and 
originate popular delusions entailing such frightful results. 
Every man, whether a Christian or not, ought on moral 
grounds, and on the greatest happiness principle itself, if 
he thinks that is a safer basis, to desire the extinction of 
a religious system which encourages dangerous and lying 
delusions. Then there is the tail-cutting. The Tauists 
accept and endorse the whole system of popular delusion 
which originated the tail-cutting. They believe in the 
existence of just such fairies as are said to cut off men s 
queues. They make money by selling the charms which 
are represented to be a protection against such demons. 
Popular Tauism then is worthy of decided condemnation, 
from every Christian and every enlightened lover of man 
kind, whatever be his belief. There are beliefs in the Tauist 
religion which not only need to be attacked by books 
written from the Christian standpoint of thought, but 
which may very properly be condemned in the proclama 
tions of magistrates, on account of their tendency to produce 
dangerous tumults and lamentable breaches of the peace. 
What a field is here presented for the teaching of science, 
and the spread of a practical system of improved educa 
tion in China ! Dense intellectual darkness clouds the 
people s minds. There is pressing need for the extension 
of a system of education which should strike at the root 



396 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

of superstition and enable the rising youth of the country 
to avoid falling into the thrall of those delusive imagina 
tions which have grown up under the fostering care of the 
Tauists during the last two hundred years. 

It is a great misfortune for a nation to have an exten 
sive sacerdotal caste, whose interest it is to continue, gene 
ration after generation, the belief in deceptive fancies 
which check the free growth of true ideas and all healthy 
habits of thought. Their livelihood depends on the people 
continuing to believe in demons, fairies, and charms. The 
missionary and the schoolmaster, the magazine and the 
newspaper, are all needed to check these bad influences, 
and replace dangerous and injurious popular notions, by 
healthy and useful knowledge, to be gathered from God s 
two books, that of Nature and that of Eevelation. Then 
as to the effects of Buddhism, it may be said to have been 
good in some respects. It bears a consistent testimony to 
the vanity of the world, and the essential and immense 
superiority of soul purity to earthly grandeur. But in 
founding on this a monastic institute, it has followed a 
wrong plan, and failed to attain the purity desired. It 
teaches the need of a personal redeemer to rescue from 
the moral evils attendant on our present existence. But 
this redeemer is a Buddha or a Bodhisattwa, a man or being 
possessing none of the powers attributed to him. Among 
the prominent and most pernicious evils for which the 
popular Buddhism of the present day is responsible is 
idolatry. It is an enormous evil that Buddhism has 
placed the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas in the position in 
the reverence of the people, that ought to be held only by 
the Creator and Father of the world. Idolatry puts fiction 
in the stead of truth, and, as we every day see in China, 
renders the mind indifferent to truth. This, too, is a vast 
evil. Confucianism makes everything of morality ; and the 
worship of Buddhist images, when it is complied with, 
becomes a moral duty on the part of the emperor or the 
magistrate, only because it is li (ceremonial duty), not 



ASSAULT OF CHRISTIANITY. 397 

because the Buddhist religion itself can have any just 
claim to it. But Buddhism, by putting forward the image, 
debases and misleads the national mind, by drawing it 
away from the proper object of human worship. Our great 
contest as Christian missionaries is with Confucianism. 
There is found the intellect, the thought, the literature, 
the heart of the nation. But we have also a preliminary 
struggle with Buddhism and Tauism. These constitute 
three mighty fortresses, erected by human skill and effort, 
to impede the progress of Christianity. Confucianism is 
the citadel of the enemy raising its battlements high into 
the clouds, and manned by multitudes who are animated by 
a belief in their superiority and their invincible strength. 
The taking of this fortress is the conclusion of the war. 
But Buddhism and Tauism each represents a fortress which 
must also be captured and destroyed. So far as argument 
and intellect are concerned, these fortresses are weakly 
manned. But think of the numbers, the millions on. 
millions, who are deceived by these superstitions, and 
held fast by chains of spiritual darkness. Let the Chris 
tian host of soldiers press on, and detail its battalions, first 
to overthrow these strongholds of rebellion against God ; 
and when they are destroyed, let another earnest effort be 
made to destroy the last and strongest of the towers of the 
enemy. Then, when all these three fortresses are over 
thrown, and China becomes a subject kingdom under the 
Messiah s peaceful reign, it will be the greatest triumph 
ever achieved for Christianity since the time when the 
emperor Constantine became a Christian, and the Eoman 
religion and power, and the Greek philosophy were dragged 
as captives behind the car of the victorious Eedeemer. 



( 3:3 ) 



CHAPTER XXV. 

OX THE USE OF SANSCRIT BY THE CHINESE BUDDHISTS. 

Changes in Chinese sounds since the time of the Buddhist translitera 
tion of Indian words Examples of Sanscrit words in old and new 
Chinese The importance of translations made in A.D. 60 to A.D. 
76 for reading the Four Books The Hindoo translators did not 
speak pure Sanscrit Sanscrit was the language of the books 
No Pali books in China The translators spoke Pracrit The 
tei-mpo-li, "glass" Use of Sanscrit words in magic Dharani 
Inscription in six languages at Kii-yung kvvan. 

THE Chinese characters have been written in the same 
form and with the same sort of pencils since the time of 
Wang Hi-ch i, A.D. 350. 

During these fifteen centuries, while the writing taught in 
all schools has been unchanged, the sounds attached to the 
characters have been in a state of slow and constant flux. 

Thus, the translator Kumarajiva wrote his name with 
four Chinese characters then called Ku-ma-la-zhip. They 
are now Kieu- (or Chieu) mo-lo-shi. 

All sonant initials, such as g, d, I, z, zh, j, have changed 
in the interval to surds, viz., k, t, p, s, sh, ch. In words 
pronounced with the tone called hia-ping, the aspirates 
/ , t , p , ch come in place of k, t, p, ch, which occur in words 
pronounced with the tones hia-ping, hia-ch u, and hia-ju. 

Final in has changed to final n. Finals k, t, p have been 
dropped ; also the vowels have all changed their values, 
a to o, ya to e, u to yen, &c. 

The compilers of Kang-hi s dictionary have provided 
tables of the old sounds, with characters chosen to repre- 



EXAMPLES OF SANSCRIT WORDS. 



399 



sent the pronunciation as it formerly was. They are to be 
read with the powers of the letters of the Sanscrit alphabet. 
Natives not knowing the Sanscrit letters cannot escape 
from the confusion in which they are involved by the dif 
ference between the old and new pronunciations. The 
foreign student will find that the principle here laid down 
is a key to unlock the difficulties of the subject. 

The following examples will help to familiarise the 
learner with the method : 



Sanscrit. 


Old Chinese. 


New Chinese. 


Buddha 


But 


Fo 


Amogha Viijru 


A-mo-ga lad-ja-ra 


O-mo-k ia po-clie-lo 


Upasaka 


U-pa-sa-ka 


Yeu-po-so-kia 


Viharapala 


Bi-ha-la-pa-la, 


Pi-lio-lo-po-lo 


Bodhiruclii 


Jjo-di-lu-chi 


P u-t i-lieu-chi 


Paramiti 


Fat-la-mit-ti l 


Po-le-mi-ti 


Mah^sliwara 


Ma-hi-shu-la 


Mo-hi-sheu-lo 


Shanaislichara 


Sha-nai-shat-chat-Ia 


She-na-yi-shi-clie-Io 


Prasenajit 


Pat-la-si-na-ji-ta 


Po-lo-si-na-sli i-to 


Mahapadma 


Ma-ha-pa-de-ma 2 


Mo-ho-po-t e-mo 


Udyana 


U-dyung-na 


U-chaug-na 


Sangadeva 


Seng-ga-de-ba 


Seng-k ia-t i-p o 


Achaiya 


A-cha-li-ya 


O-che-li-ye 


Shakradeva Indra 


Shak-ka-la-de-ba 


Shi-kia-fo-t/i-p o Yin 




In-da-la 


t o-lo 


Dlmrani 


Da-la-ni 


To-lo-ni 



The admission of the principle that the Chinese pronun 
ciation has changed, and that the recognised Mandarin 
orthography is nothing more than that of a modern dialect, 
will be found to throw a light much needed on the use of 
Sanscrit by the Chinese Buddhists. 

It is also necessary to recognise the principle, that the 
Hindoo Buddhists in China were men who spoke the 
dialects of Central India, Northern India, &c. 



1 S. Julien is wrong in making the 
first of these four characters end in n. 
It is pat in old Chinese ; but pat was 
often par. See p. 201 of my Intro 
duction to the Study of the Chinese 
Characters. Thus the famous word 
karma, " cause," "fate," was trans 



literated kat-ma, the t being heard 
as r. 

2 The character de should be trans 
literated dek. That the k was then 
lost is shown by its use in this case. 
The loss of k final was beginning. 



400 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

M. Stanislas Julien s Methode pour Decliifrer ct Trans- 
crire les noms Sanscrit* makes no allusion to these subjects. 
The consequence is that all his immense industry has 
failed to make a window that would have illuminated this 
dark room. Yet that does not hinder his work from being 
indispensable to the student on this subject. It gives the 
Sanscrit words. It gives the modern Chinese pronunciation. 
These two factors are tabulated alphabetically. The stu 
dent can with this help proceed rapidly. But if he wish 
to understand why such and such Chinese characters were 
chosen, and not prosecute his researches mechanically, he 
must allow for the influence of dialects and the incessant 
change of language on both sides of the Himalayas. 

It is necessary to take the finals of the Southern Chinese 
dialects, and the initials of the dialects spoken in Central 
China at the present time, as our sign-posts, pointing out 
to us what was the pronunciation of the T ang dynasty and 
of the previous age ; and this must be done with the addi 
tion of aid from the Japanese and Corean transliteration 
of Chinese sounds, through the spread of Buddhism many 
centuries ago. 

It was about three hundred and forty years after the 
death of Mencius, and five hundred and fifty after the 
death of Confucius, that the translations from Sanscrit 
were made. By learning the powers of the Chinese sylla 
bary with the help of the transliterations then made, we 
can come quite near to the classical age of Chinese litera 
ture, and approximate to the actual pronunciation of the 
great Chinese sages. For the method and proofs, I may 
here refer the reader to my Introduction to the Study of the 
Chinese Characters. 

Particularly is the " Sutra of Forty-two Sections " worthy 
of attention, on account of its being the translation of 
Kashiapmadanga and his friend Chu-fa-lan. It is highly 
important for fixing the pronunciation of the Chinese, at 
the time when they taught Buddhism at Lo-yang, in the 
reign of Ming-ti, A.D. 58 to A.D. 76. From their use of 



IMPORTANCE OF TRANSLATIONS. 401 

characters it is clear, that at that time the modern Fo was 
But; 0-lo-lian was A-la-Jutn ; ch an, " contemplation," was 
dian or dan; Nie-p an, " Nirvana," was Nit-ban or Nir- 
ban ; Kia-she, the name of " Kashiapa " Buddha, was Ka- 
shap or Ka-shiap ; Pu-t i, the word Bodhi, " knowledge," 
was Bo-di. Sha-men, the " Shramana," was Siva-men t hav 
ing about the same sound as now. Pi-k ieu or Pi-ch ieu, 
the " Bikshu," was Bi-k u. Ch iau-ch en-ju, for " Godinia," 
was Go-din-nia. 0-na-han, a certain grade in discipleship, 
was A-na-gam, agreeing with the Sanscrit " Anagama." 
P i-ch/i, for the Sanscrit " Pratyeka," was Pah-tie, the Pali 
being Patiekan. So it was probably not Pali that Kashiap- 
inadanga spoke, though he was a native of Central India. 
Su-t o-hwan, for " Srotapanna," another grade of disciple- 
ship, was So-da-ban or Su-da-wan. The last of these is the 
more likely, for the character is the same as that used in 
writing "Nirvana." The Pali is Sotapan ; so that the 
translator did not speak Pali. 

The greatest initiator of change in the choice of char-, 
acters was Hiuen-tsang, about A.D. 645. He altered the 
characters according to his opinion of what the selected 
symbols ought to be. His selection of characters is a 
gauge of the pronunciation of his time. His translations, 
however, have not become popular. The older usage of 
words has kept its place. 

The language in which the Buddhist sacred writings 
were first compiled may have been Pali; but that from 
which they were translated into Chinese was Sanscrit. 
The Pali books were a separate set of originals. The 
Sanscrit originals alone are known to the Chinese. The 
manuscripts, the inscriptions, the charms cut on cop 
per mirrors, the lucky sentences under eaves and over 
doors in monasteries, are in Sanscrit; and in polyglot 
books printed at Peking, Sanscrit is the language em 
ployed. 

Koeppen, page 186, in saying that the Chinese also 
have a number of Pali texts, has been misled by Gutzlaff. 

2 c 



402 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

This missionary had lived in Siam, where Pali is the sacred 
language, and was there accustomed to the idea that Pali 
was the original language of Buddhism. This view he 
brought with him to China, and when he saw Sanscrit 
inscriptions in the island of P u-to, he took them to be 
Pali. From him the opinion spread, but it is an error. 
The Buddhists of Birmah, Siam, and Ceylon have never 
spread their religion in China or Japan, or introduced their 
sacred books into those countries. 

The Nepaul Buddhists preserve the sacred books in San 
scrit, and not in Pali. But Burnouf also found certain 
portions of the Nepaulese books written in Pracrit. The 
groundwork was Sanscrit. The language occasionally used 
was Pracrit. The language known by the Chinese as the 
Fan language was shown to be undoubtedly Sanscrit, by 
Julien s version of the works of Hiuen-tsang, the traveller 
who visited India, and who has described the Sanscrit 
language in his autobiography. It is the language of 
" Brahma " (Fan ; old sound, Bam). 

Brahmanical ideas form a strong element in Buddhism. 
Sanscrit words and Sanscrit writing are peculiarly sacred 
in the view of the Brahmans. This idea has been borrowed 
by the Buddhists. They preferred to use the words and 
writing which were most sacred. With this Shakyamuni 
would naturally have nothing to do. His instructions 
were oral. He was a great moral teacher and metaphy 
sical logician. It was his disciples in the centuries that 
followed him that introduced Sanscrit writing, as the chief 
medium of recording his instructions. It is they that are 
responsible also for the charms, and for the faith in magic 
which stimulated their use. 

So many Brahmans announced themselves believers in 
Shakyamuni s doctrines, that Sanscrit became at once a 
favourite medium for the embodiment of his teaching by 
writing, even though Shakyamuni himself spoke Pali or 
Pracrit, as he probably did. 

In the same way it may be said that Pali was then so 



HINDOO TRANSLATORS. 4O3 

extensively spoken, that it was inevitable that it should, 
in the region watered by the Lower Ganges, become also a 
medium for the preservation of the sacred books. 

^This double form of the sacred books had much to do 
with the separation that sprang up between the Northern 
and Southern schools of Buddhism. The peculiarities of 
the Chinese transcription deserve to be considered. 

The Pracrit of the early Chinese translators was, for 
example, nearer to Sanscrit than to Pali in the sound of 
prajna, " wisdom." The characters adopted are directed 
to be pronounced pat-ma. The Pali is pannya. 

There was also in the Pracrit of the early Chinese trans 
lators a very clear pronunciation of b for the Sanscrit 
and Pali v. This is shown by the constant selection of 
Chinese characters sounded with b or p, according to the 
old pronunciation. For example, the city " Vaishali," near 
the modern Patna, is spelt Bai-sha-li. The Pali sound 
is Tesali. Dr. E. J. Eitel, in his Hand-book of Chinese 
Buddhism, page 27, has said, that " Chinese texts consider 
Pali as the ancient and Sanskrit as the modern form even 
as regards the system of sounds." If he will direct his 
attention to these facts, he will perhaps admit that not 
the Pali, but a certain Pracrit form or forms of the Hindoo 
language, prevalent at the time in Central and Northern 
India, was or were at the basis of the Chinese old texts. 
The Hindoo translators in China would have Sanscrit texts 
chiefly before them, and Pracrit texts occasionally. Their 
pronunciation was not pure Sanscrit, but was modified by 
Pracrit peculiarities. 

In the flourishing period of Buddhism, in the region 
watered by the Ganges, at the time of the Greek invasion, 
and afterwards, the art of writing lately introduced was 
put to extensive use in the Buddhist monasteries. Those 
institutions fostered education, which was then very much 
in Buddhist hands. While the people spoke Pali and 
Pracrit, Sanscrit was the language of education, and hence 
the fondness shown for it by the Buddhists. 



404 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

.Btirnouf held that there was a double text, a Pracrit 
text for the laity and a Sanscrit for the literati. 

King Kanishka in Cashmere called a council, the fourth ; 
and in the writings edited by this assembly, Sanscrit was 
the language. 

The language of Magadha in the time of the emperor 
Ashoka was a Pracrit. This was probably much used by 
the Hindoo Buddhists who came to China. 

An argument against Pali is to be found in the careful 
selection of Chinese words commencing with sh, to repre 
sent the Sanscrit sh; but sh is not a letter. known to the 
Pali. 

The original text of the early Chinese translations 
before the days of Hiuen-tsang must have had sh fully 
developed. It probably dropped ra in sharira, " a relic," 
and sti in Shravasti, name of the capital of an ancient 
kingdom called Kosala, and lying near Kapilavastu. 

I place here some remarks on po-li, " glass." 

In Buddhist glossaries, the Chinese po-li is derived from 
the Sanscrit word spatika, " crystal." Many of the Hindoo 
Buddhists who came to China perhaps all spoke dialects 
of Sanscrit, but not the Sanscrit itself. The s was dropped, 
and the final Jca. The t in ti became /, as in the Turkish 
belur. 

The rock crystal of China comes from Turkestan, and 
would bring its own name with it from that country. 
Buddhist makers of glossaries would prefer to derive the 
word from Sanscrit, as the mother of all knowledge. They 
have passed over without remark the possibility that the 
Chinese word may come from the Turkish. 

The word po-li for " glass," formerly pronouned pa-li, 
has been in common use in China since the T ang dynasty. 
It came in with Buddhism and the international trade 
with Turkestan. 

I believe that the initial s in spatika might be an accre 
tion and not original, just as most probably smelt is later 
than melt, and sneeze than nose, and stannum than tin. 



USE OF SANSCRIT WORDS IN MAGIC. 405 

Curiously we find in the Mongol vocabulary lolor, 
" crystal," " glass ; " lolor daboso, " rock salt ; " bolo ch ilagon, 
"a polishing stone," a rolling stone used in smoothing 
the clods of a ploughed field. Compare Turkish UlegM, 
" whetstone." Let it be noticed that glass-dust is used by 
polishers and grinders, 

Whether the boli or lali is of Turanian origin and has 
originated the Sanscrit spatika, it would be interesting to 
know. Ballur is Arabic for " crystal ; " spaskta is San 
scrit for " clear ; " lerrak is Turkish for " clear," " limpid." 
Probably here is the root ; but who shall decide ? 

In Buddhist magic there has been extensive use of the 
Sanscrit characters. The doctrine of magic has been 
developed by the Buddhists very systematically, and to an 
almost unexampled extent. It arose from the same ten 
dency in the Hindoo mind, which produced those vast 
fictions in the description of the universe, and in the nar 
rative of the past, that distinguish the native literature of 
that country. The love of the wonderful led the Hindoo 
authors to forsake, at the same time, the fair bounds of 
history and the sober reality of nature. Here it is easy to 
perceive a similarity to the Arabians. There is, in their 
fictions, the same fondness for splendid scenes and striking 
supernatural effects. This would be poetry were it not 
very much overdone. The same circumstances of gaudy 
magnificence are again and again repeated, and the reader 
is wearied with the unending recital of marvellous events, 
invented after one model, and whose one object is to excite 
an undistinguishing admiration of the power displayed. 

By magic is here meant the supernatural power attri 
buted to the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas, or claimed by the 
ordinary priests, and which is exercised by charms, mystic 
formulae, incantations, finger-postures, and such-like means. 

It is not the power of God acting through nature that is 
here intended, but the power of the priest, through his 
charms, virtues, and superior knowledge. The magical 
result is effected by the never-erring retributive fate which 



4 o6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

is the cause of everything that occurs, and which is respon 
sive in the most complete manner to Buddhist wisdom and 
goodness. 

The use of the Devanagari writing for the purposes of 
magic is an instructive instance of the power of super 
stition to delude the human mind. The words used by 
the magician for the most part have no meaning. They 
are senseless clatter. The sounds are Sanscrit, but the 
words usually not so. These absurd compositions of 
unmeaning sounds are of various lengths. They occur 
frequently in the books of the Great Development. They 
are engraved on stone monuments on the way side, on 
imperial roads, and at places of resort for Buddhist pil 
grims. They also form a chief part of the liturgies in use 
in the monasteries and at funerals. 

Om-mani-padme-hum is one of the most common. 
Padme is " lotus ; " mani is a " precious stone ; " om is a 
sacred " Hindoo symbol." It is written in Sanscrit charac 
ters under the eaves of all the lama temples in Peking. 
In these temples it meets the eye everywhere. 

The Thibetan character is based on the Sanscrit. It is 
also found cut on monuments, both for charms and for 
intelligible inscriptions. It is the chief language for litur 
gical use among the Thibetans and Mongol lamas in 
Peking, except in two instances. In the Mahakala miau, 
the Mongol sacred books are read. In a temple, Fa-hai si, 
near the hunting park, the Manchu is read. The Chinese 
lamas in Peking read Thibetan prayers, while the Chinese 
priests of the old Chinese Buddhism read, of course, in 
Chinese. 

In all these forms, the syllables of the charms are the 
same. They are written in Sanscrit, or in the other 
languages mentioned. 

At the pass called Kii-yung kwan, near Peking, there 
is a stone monument containing a charm in six languages, 
viz., Sanscrit, Chinese, Thibetan, Nii-chih, Ouighour, and 
Mongol. It was cut in the time of the Mongol emperors. 



SANS CX IT INSCRIPTIONS* 407 

It contains the same charm written with the characters 
employed for all these languages. It was intended as 
a protection to the emperor in going to and coming from 
the summer palace, at that time beyond Tu-shi k eu, and 
also to all travellers on this much frequented road between 
China and Mongolia. 

There are also some monuments inscribed with Sanscrit 
charms in Peking at the present time, which date from 
about seven hundred years ago. They are stone octagonal 
pillars. One is at the monastery called Hwa-yen si , near 
the park of the Altar of Heaven and the city gate known 
as Kiang-cha men. These octagonal pillars are called sh i- 
cliwang, and they are placed in the courts of temples. 
There is one kept on the premises of the London Mis 
sionary Society in Peking. 

Sanscrit inscriptions are supposed, like pagodas and 
monasteries, to have a lucky effect on the neighbourhood 
where they are found, and on those who erect them by 
their benefactions and goodwilL 

A muttered charm is called " dharani," or, in Chinese, 
ckeu. 



408 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

BOOKS AND PAPERS THAT MAY BE CONSULTED FOR THE 
STUDY OF CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

Foe kou8 ki, by Remusat Works of Julien Interesting passage 
from Fa-hien Translations by Beal Schott, Uber den Bud- 
dhaismus in Hoch Asien und in China Writings of Palladius 
Eitel s Hand-book for the Student of Chinese Buddhism Watters 
account of Chinese Buddhism Eitel s Three Lectures, and article 
on Nirvana. 

AMONG these works may be mentioned the translation of 
Fo% JcouZ ki, or " Eelation of the Buddhist Kingdoms," by 
Abel Eemusat. 1 This work is very fully annotated by 
Bemusat, Klaproth, and Landresse. 

The same interesting book of Chinese travels has been 
rendered into English by the Eev. S. Beal, 2 and also by 
Mr. H. A. Giles. 3 These two translations have not the 
advantage of abundant annotations. 

The works of Professor Stanislas Julien on Chinese 
Buddhism are (i) Histoire de la Vie de Hiouen-thsang 
et de ses Voyages dans I lnde, depuis Van 629 jusqu en 645 ; 
(2) Memoires sur les Gentries Occidentals, Traduits du San 
scrit en Chinois, en I an 648, par Hiouen-thsang, et du 
Chinois en Francois par S. Julien, 2 vols., royal 8vo ; (3) 
Les Avadanas, Contes, et Apologues Indiens, &c. 

These works are characterised by the thorough and exact 

1 FoZ kout ki, ou Relation des Roy- yun, Buddhist Pilgrims, from China 
aumes Bouddhiques;par Chy Fa-hian. to India. 

2 Travels of Fa-hian and Sung- Records of Buddhistic Kingdoms. 



INTERESTING PASSAGE FROM FA-HIEN. 409 

scholarship of the author. They form a most valuable 
addition to our knowledge of India and other Asiatic 
countries in the seventh century, and in the Sung period 
before that time, during which Buddhism had still the 
vigour of its youth. 

Both Fa-hien and Hiuen-tsang will be admitted by 
every candid reader to deserve the reputation for patience 
in observation, perseverance in travel, and earnestness in 
religious faith which they have gained by the journals and 
translations they left behind them. 

Fa-hien says, near the end of his narrative, that he 
sailed from Java in a ship on board of which were about 
two hundred men. They had provisions for fifty days, 
and were bound for Canton. After a month, a tempest 
and violent rain almost overwhelmed them. The passen 
gers were all in alarm. Fa-hien prayed to Kwan-yin, and 
all the believers in China, to implore of the gods to give 
them aid and quell the storm. When it became calm, 
the Brahmans on board said that this Samanean, meaning 
Fa-hien, ought to be put ashore on an island, because it 
was he that had brought on them this hurricane. " Why 
should we all be exposed to danger for the sake of one 
man ? " 

A friend of Fa-hien said, " If you put this Samanean 
on shore, put me ashore also, or else kill me. If you put 
this Samanean ashore, on arriving at the land of Han I 
will denounce you to the king. The king of the land of 
Han is very much attached to the doctrine of Buddha 
and honours the monks." 

The merchants were in doubt what to do, and did not 
venture on severe measures. The sky continued thickly 
overcast, and the embarrassment of the mariners in 
creased. 

They were seventy days on the voyage. Provisions and 
water began to fail. The cooks took sea water to use in 
cooking food, the good water they kept for drinking. Two 
pints were assigned to each. As the water came near its 



410 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

end, the merchants consulted together, and said that the 
voyage to Canton ought not to have been more than fifty 
days. They were long past this time, and ought now to 
change their course to the north-west,and make for the coast. 

In twelve days and nights they reached Lau-shan, 1 on 
the south shore of the Shan-tung promontory, and found 
there good water and beans. After so dangerous a voyage, 
with such fatigues and so many fears, they arrived at last 
at this unknown shore. On seeing a plant called Li-ho- 
ts ai, they were convinced that they were indeed in China. 
This plant was a proof of it, although they met no men 
nor any traces of men. Some thought they were all near 
Canton. Others thought Canton was long passed. No 
one knew what part of the coast they had reached. 

Going ashore in a boat they met two hunters, and Fa- 
hien was employed to interpret. From them they found 
that they were in Ts ing-cheu in the province now known 
as Shan-tung, and on the north side of the promontory in 
the Gulf of Pe-chi-li. From this point the merchants 
found their way to Yang-cheu, and Fa-hien to the capital, 
Ch ang-an. This was in the year A.D. 414. 

The student has also at his command A Catena of 
Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese, by Samuel Beal; 
and The Romantic Legend of Sdkya Buddha, by the same. 

The work of Schott, Uber den Buddhaismus in Hoch 
Asien und in China, contains much valuable information 
on the contents of Chinese Buddhist books. Written in 
1846, it was anterior to the clear drawing of the boun 
dary between Northern and Southern Buddhism by 
Burnouf, and also preceded by several years the publica 
tion of Spence Hardy s works 011 Singhalese Buddhism, 
viz., Eastern Monachism (1840), and Manual of Buddhism 

(1843). 

He says of Nirvana that it is the emptiness which every 
intellectual object will include in itself when liberated. 

1 Lau-shan is near Kiau-cheu, latitude 36, east longitude 5 25 . The port 
of Kiau-cheu exports felt hats, umbrellas, fruit, and cabbages to Shanghai. 



WRITINGS OF PALLADIUS. 411 

In so far the Nirvana is like the original being, before 
each creative act ; but it differs from the original essence 
in this, that all forms of life and matter come out of the 
original essence, but cannot come from the Nirvana ; be 
cause nothing can come from it, and it is incapable of 
having in it any individuality, mental or material. 

To the genuine disciple of the Buddhist teaching, to 
put himself under the mystic and heaven-sent guide to 
the Nirvana, is the alpha and omega of his efforts. Just 
so to the genuine follower of Confucius, to hold office, to 
serve the emperor, and become a cabinet minister or 
censor, constitute his great earthly aim. 

Our author points out, with great correctness, the rela 
tion of Tauism to Buddhism. Buddhism has borrowed 
nothing from Tauism, while Tauism has borrowed much 
from Buddhism. 

After his description of Chinese Buddhism, Schott has 
added a translation of a work of the school of the Tsing- 
tu or " Peaceful land." This work is also illustrated fully 
with notes by the translator. It is a well-selected example 
of current Buddhist teaching in China. 

The reader of the Tsing-tu-wen (that is the name of the 
book translated) is informed by the native author, that he 
is not to expect advantage only in the future life from his 
study of the books of the school of the Peaceful land. 
They are adapted to benefit him in the present life by 
transforming him into what the book represents as a good 
Buddhist. 

The late learned archimandrite Palladius, resident for 
man) 7 " years in Peking as a member of the Eussian Eccle 
siastical Mission, was a profound student of Chinese 
Buddhism. The result of his very extensive reading was 
embodied in two papers printed in the "Researches of 
the Members of the Eussian Mission in Peking." One is 
a " Life of Buddha ; " the other describes the subsequent 
philosophical development of Buddhism. These "Ee- 
searches " have been translated into German. 



4f2 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

The Hand-look for the Student of Chinese Buddhism, by 
Dr. E. J. Eitel, 1 is a dictionary of proper names, dogmas, 
and Buddhist terms generally, arranged alphabetically. 
The student of Buddhism obtains in this work an impor 
tant help to his studies. The author has devoted great 
attention to this subject, and has, in addition to his own 
investigations, here placed within reach of his readers, 
many contributions from the immense learning in this 
department, of Julien, Burnouf, and Koeppen. 

Buddhism is not so powerful in China as to cause alarm 
to the Christian missionary, in view of the coming struggle 
which he anticipates. But the history of its introduction, 
and the nature and extent of the influence it has produced 
on the Chinese mind and literature, are extremely interest 
ing subjects. The Hindoo missionaries tried hard to bring 
the Chinese to accept the mythology and religious doctrines 
of their country at the time when it was Buddhist. Their 
translations abound in Sanscrit words, which it was hoped 
the Chinese would learn, but this they failed to do. Names 
of things as well as names of persons, words expressive of 
doctrines, abstract names, classes of mythological beings, 
adjectives, arithmetical and astronomical expressions, and 
many long compound terms are imported in full into the 
Chinese text. To explain them glossaries were prepared. 
But they expected more zeal and perseverance in their 
Chinese neophytes than they have shown, and the conse 
quence is that the glossaries are not looked at, and the 
Sanscrit names are passed over by the reader of the 
Chinese texts as an abracadabra which he is glad to miss. 

Buddha s heart is, for example, spoken of as Anut- 
tara samyak sambddhi, pronounced in the era of the 
Hindoo translations, A-no-ta-la sam-mo sam-bo-di. An is 
the negative, uttara is " superior ; " sam means " perfect," 
"good," "same;" samydk is given in the Sanscrit dic 
tionary, all," " wholly," " fitly." Bddhi is " intelligence," 

1 This account of Dr. Eitel s book is reprinted from the Chinese Recorder, 
where it appeared in 1871 as a review. 



HAND-BOOK OF CHINESE BUDDHISM. 413 

" the intellect," " the holy fig-tree," " knowledge of God," 
and as an adjective, " wise ; " etymologically it is " that 
which distinguishes ; " that is, " the intellect," and hence 
"that which is distinguished," "doctrine," "the object of 
the highest study." From this has come the title Buddha 
the " perceiver," " the sage." 

Whoever will study Buddhism, must know what these 
and other such words mean; and Dr. Eitel s object has 
been to provide a handbook in which a mass of informa 
tion has been collected, adapted to aid the inquirer. In 
this instance he must look under the words Anuttara and 
Bodhi. If he is reading a Chinese Buddhist production, 
he must first consult the Chinese index at the end of the 
volume. This mode of using the Sanscrit- Chinese Dic 
tionary is a little cumbrous, but perhaps it is preferable 
to the perpetuation in a work of this kind of the Mandarin 
pronunciation, as given in Morrison, Wade, and other 
authors. Sanscrit books having been translated fourteen 
centuries ago, the powers of the Chinese characters which 
represented Hindoo words have changed in the mean 
time. As Dr. Eitel justly remarks : " To the language 
then spoken in China no modem Chinese dialect comes 
nearer in sound than the very Sanskrit or Pali forms 
themselves." 

The difficulty might be met, if we had a dictionary of 
Chinese words with the ancient and modern pronuncia 
tions arranged in succession, as in K ang-hi, but in a more 
complete form than in that work. Tor example, if in 
Morrison s Syllabic Dictionary, under the syllable Full, 
between the character and the meanings were inserted 
"old sound, But; Amoy, Put; Nanking, Fuh; Peking, 
Fo ; " every one would thus be in a position to know what 
the old sounds of the characters are. It would then 
be feasible to compile a Chinese-Sanscrit, instead of a 
Sanscrit-Chinese, dictionary. 

But as the student of Chinese must also learn to consult 
works arranged according to the radicals, like Kang-hi 



414 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

itself, Dr. Eitel s arrangement of the dictionary forms no 
bar to its usefulness. 

Among the longer and more valuable articles in this 
work are those on Kwan-yin or " Avalokites vara," 
Buddha or " S akyamuni," " Samadhi," " Sanskrita," " Na- 
ga," " Mandjus ri," " Amitabha," " Dhyana," " Nagar- 
djuua," " Naraka," " Triratna," " Nirvana," and " Trikaya." 
The spelling here given is that of an author who, some 
what oddly, has followed the French orthography in writing 
the Sanscrit sounds ch, sh, and j. 

The best key to the understanding of Buddhism is to 
be found in the study of the life of its founder. In 
Shakyamuni himself humanity is first seen, then divinity. 
A young prince, handsome, strong, heroic, surrounded by 
pleasures, and tempted by the most brilliant worldly 
prospects, is deeply affected by observing the miseries of 
human life. He becomes a changed man, forsakes his 
father s palace for a hermit s cell, practises and then 
teaches a rigid asceticism, and dies at eighty, after a long 
career occupied partly with the instruction of a numerous 
band of disciples, and partly with extatic contempla 
tion. He is deified at the moment of death ; that is, his 
disciples elevate him to the summit of humanity, honour 
him as the best of teachers, and announce that he is for 
ever rescued from the revolutions of life and death. He 
has entered the Nirvana, and when his body has been 
burned, the sharira, or small reddish residuum, is honoured 
as a sacred relic possessing marvellous powers, and over 
it a pagoda must be erected. 

Such a phenomenon a great and disinterested mind, 
founding the monastic institute, and teaching multitudes 
of both sexes and every caste the escape from sorrow to 
the eternal rest of the Nirvana was sufficient in the con 
dition of Hindoo society, as it was two centuries before 
the expedition of Alexander, to account for the early 
history of Buddhism. In his account of Kwan-yin 
(Avalokitesh vara) our author has gone too far, when he 



KWAN-SHI-Y1N. 



415 



supposes there was a Chinese divinity of this name before 
the introduction of the Mahay-ana into China. Nothing 
is easier than to attach to the imaginary former lives of 
the great Bodhisattwas, any incidents of old biography in 
any age or country, of a marvellous kind, and adapted to 
be, in the Buddhist sense, edifying. Such incidents were 
ascribed by the Chinese Buddhists to the presence of 
Kwan-yin, nearly as in Mr. Disraeli s Lothair the oppor 
tune arrival of a Eoman shopkeeper s wife, who shows a 
benevolent interest in the welfare of that hero, is believed 
by the pope and his cardinal to be an appearance of the 
Virgin Mary. Hence the author of that romance, sarcas 
tically describes Lothair as being for a time, in the opinion 
of every one in Eome, high and low, " the most favoured 
man in this century ; " yet the net failed to entrap him 
through his want of faith. 

Kwan-yin " looks on " (kwan) " the region " (shi) of suf 
ferers whose " voices " (yin) of many tones, all acknow 
ledging misery and asking salvation, touch the heart of 
the pitiful Bodhisattwa. She looks with a thousand 
eyes that she may see them all, and stretches out a 
thousand arms that she may save them all. 

Kumarajiva himself adopted the name Kwan-shft-yin. 
The translators of the Tang period, two centuries later, 
brought to view the true etymology as given by our 
author, but they did not succeed in changing the course 
of the legend or the name of the divinity. Kumarajiva 
preferred the more popular and edifying designation. The 
two meanings, Kwan-tsi-tsai and Kwan-shi-yin, doubtless 
existed together in Kumarajiva s country, Cashmere, just 
as afterwards in China. The Mahayana doctrine had 
prevailed there already for nearly two hundred years, 
from the time of Nagarjuna, given in the Hand-look, A.D. 
194. 

The remarkable extension of the Mahayana literature 
(Hwa-y en-king, Fa-hwa-king, &c.) in Cashmere, Kashgar, 
Balkh, and what is now Cabul, aided by the conversion 



4i6 CHINESE BUDDHISM. 

to Buddhism of the Indian Getse, the Yue-ti of Chinese 
history, renders the dialects there spoken early in the 
Christian era important for the determination of the 
language employed by the first Hindoo missionaries in 
China. 

Our author says the Pali was first used, and afterwards 
the Sanscrit. It would be more correct to say that the 
Magadha dialect was first used, then the dialect of Northern 
India, such as was spoken in Cashmere, and afterwards 
the Sanscrit. In the Han dynasty, under Ming-ti, Kashiap- 
madanga, who came from Magadha, the modern Bahar, 
used the dialect of that country, which differed from the 
Pali among other things in retaining from Sanscrit the 
letter sh. 1 If Kashiapmadanga, the most ancient of 
the translators, had chosen Chinese words whose initial 
was s to write the Sanscrit Shramana and Kashiapa, it 
might be said that he used the Pali. 2 In the " Sutra 
of Forty-two Sections" he used Ska-men, and thus ori 
ginated that name, to be used ever after as the designation 
of the members of the Buddhist community in China. 
For Kashiapa he wrote Ka-shiap. 

The second era of translators, A.D. 400, was that of 
Kumarajiva of Cashmere. There can be no doubt that 
he made use of sh and s as separate letters, for he never 
confounds them in his choice of Chinese characters. The 
Chinese words already introduced by his predecessors he 
did not alter, and in introducing new terms required in 
the translation of the Mahay ana literature (Ta-ch eng), 
or " Greater Development," he uses sh for sh, and usually 
b for v. Thus the city " Shravasti " was in Pali Savatthi, 
and in Chinese Sha-ba-ti. Probably Kumarajiva himself, 
speaking in the Cashmere dialect of Sanscrit, called it 
Shdbati. 

Two centuries later, the fashion of close adherence to 
Sanscrit came into use under the leadership of Hiuen- 

1 See Burnouf and Lassen s Essai sur le Pali. 

2 The Pali forms are Samaria, Kassapa. 



SAMADHI PARAMITA. 



417 



tsang. For example, instead of Bi-k u, which is like the 
Pali Bhikkhu (probably also found in the Magadha lan 
guage), Bit-ch u was written, evidently with the intention 
of restoring the Sanscrit sh. Our author gives a different 
reason. 

The great value of such a guide as this Hand-look in the 
study of Chinese Buddhism will be understood by the 
student, when he finds that almost all the important words 
in doctrine and biography are here traced to their Sanscrit 
originals, and explained with the aid of recent European 
criticism. Thus Ho-shang, the most popular term for 
"Priest," is Upadhydya, the president of an "assembly," 
or sangha. The " Three Precious Ones " are Buddha, the 
personal teacher; Dharma, the Law or body of doctrine ; and 
Sangha, the Priesthood. The term sam-mei is explained 
as the "samadhi" of the original Sanscrit. " Samadhi 
signifies the highest pitch of abstract ecstatic meditation, 
a state of absolute indifference to all influences from 
within or without, a state of torpor of both the material 
and spiritual forces of vitality, a sort of terrestrial Nir 
vana consistently culminating in total destruction of life. 
He consumed his body by Agni (the fire of) Samadhi 
is a common phrase." 

The expression Tau-pi-an, "Arrival at that shore," is 
explained as the Chinese equivalent of Paramita, embrac 
ing the six means of passing to the Nirvana. These are 
i. " Charity " (or giving), Ddna; 2. "Morality," Shila (good 
conduct); 3. "Patience," Kshdnti ; 4. "Energy," Virya ; 
5. " Contemplation," Dhydna ; 6. " Wisdom," Prajna. 

In the account of Nirvana, Dr. Eitel touches on a sub 
ject of great interest, namely, the expectation of immor 
tality asserting itself in Buddhism, in spite of the over 
whelming influence of a metaphysical system adverse alike 
to the belief in God and to that in immortality. Shaky a- 
muni said in his last moments, "The spiiitual body is 
immortal." But he said just before, " All you Bikshus, do 

2 D 



4 1 8 CHINESE B UDDHISM. 

not be sad. If I lived in the world for a kalpa, on arriv 
ing at the time I must still be annihilated. Not to leave 
you when the hour has arrived is impossible. In gaining 
benefit one s-self, others are benefited. The system of 
doctrine is already perfect. Should I live longer, it would 
be of no benefit to you. All that were to be saved, whether 
in the paradises of the Devas, or in the world of mankind, 
have already been saved. As to those who have not been 
saved, the causes which will ultimately lead to their salva 
tion have already been put in operation. From this time 
forward I exhort you, my disciples, to expand, explain, 
and propagate my doctrine, and thus " (here follows our 
author s quotation) " the spiritual body (fa-shen) of 
Ju-lai will be constantly present, and will not be anni 
hilated at all." 

Much cannot be built on this passage from the " Sutra 
of the dying instructions of Buddha," but Dr. Eitel is 
quite right in arguing the continued existence of the 
Buddhas from their occasional reappearance after death 
for the salvation of living beings, and also from the dogma 
of the " Western Paradise." 

Why, in his article on Dhyana, the author has omitted 
any reference to the Ch an-men does not appear. He has, 
however, given an account of the twenty-eight patriarchs, 
the last of whom, Bodhidharma, introduced into China 
the Buddhist sect called the Ch an-men, which has played 
in some respects the same part in China that the Jainas 
did in India. It has almost supplanted the original Bud 
dhism, and has always made much of the esoteric deposit 
of doctrine and its transmission along with the robe and 
rice bowl from patriarch to patriarch. The meaning of 
the names, however, differs. Jaina means " the conqueror," 
while dhydna, the Indian prototype of the Chinese dan, 
later ch an, signifies " meditation." 

In the notice of the nagas there are some interesting 
references to " serpent " worship, that very widespread 



IV A TTERS ON CHINESE B UDDHISM. 4 1 9 

and ancient superstition, which seems to Lave originated 
in the first ages, and to have spread from the Babylonian 
region to the most widely separated countries. The stones 
of Avebury in Wiltshire, not far from Stonelienge, retain 
the serpentine shape in which the Druids, or the prede 
cessors of the Druids, arranged them. The Hebrew nahasli, 
Gaelic narar, and English " snake," are word-forms which 
preserve the old idea ; and the account of the temptation 
in Genesis furnishes us with a probable origin for the 

.traditions of serpent worship among various nations. 

In Eastern Asia the nagas were looked on as well 
disposed. Hence the Birmese confound them with the 
devans, while the Chinese regard them as good and power 
ful and call them lung, the Greek drdkon, and the German 

schlange. 

On the six paths of transmigration the reader will 

find information under the heads Gdti, Pretas, Asum, 

Amdgha, &c. 

But it is time to stop. Buddhism is a subject which 

easily ramifies into so many directions, that it is necessary 

to limit these remarks. 

Mr. Watters papers on Chinese Buddhism have been 

already referred to, in the sketch of the history of Chinese 

Buddhism in an early part of this volume. They contain 

a historical summary of Chinese Buddhism, an account of 

the Buddhas, and a sketch of the Confucianist opposition. 
Dr. Eitel s valuable Three Lectures on Buddhism, and 

an article by him on the "Nirvana of Chinese Buddhism," 

in the Chinese Recorder, June 1 870, should be consulted by 

the student. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 
AND SUBJECTS. 



A-CHA-LI-YA, 399. See Acharya, A-je- 

fi, and O-che-ii-ye. 
Acharya (A-che-li), 35, 399. See A-je- 

li, A-cha-li-ya, and O-chc-li-ye. 
Ach obhya, 234, 236, 279, 281. 
Adam, 14. 
Adam s Peak, 38. 
^Enesidemus, 312. 
Afghanistan, 21, 60, 6r, 91, 117, 135, 

322. See Getce. 
Again a period, 51. 
Age of Wise men, 222. See Hien 

kalpa, and Mahabhadra-kalpa. 
Ajatashatru, 15, 31, 52, 64, 215. 
Ajeli, 133. 
A-je-li, 291, 292. See Acharya, 

A-cha-li-ya, and O-che-ii-ye. 
Akanit a, 224. 
Alabaster, Mr. H., 249. 
A-la-han, 311, 401, see Arhan, 

Arhans, Lo-han, and Lo-hans. 
Aleui, Julius, 121. See N<jai Ju-lio. 
Alexander the Great, 67, 249, 322, 

342, 414- 

Alexius Cornnenus, 117. 
Aliyin, 145. 
Alopen, 117. 
Altai mountains, 214. 
Amida Euddha, 171-174, 208. See 

Amitabha Buddha, 
Amitabha Buddha, 198, 208, 209,233, 
2 34, 2 36, 246, 261, 262, 273, 279, 
281, 414. See Amida Buddha. 
Amitabha Paradise, 233, 235. 
A-mi-toFo, 171. See Amida Buddha. 
A-mo-ga bad-ja-ra, 399. See Amogha 
and O-mo-k iapo-che-lo. 



Amogha, 125, 132, 399 , 4T9 . a]s<) 
called Amogha Vajra. See 0-mo- 
k ia po-che-lo and A-mo-ga bad- 
ja-ra. 

Amoy (dialect), 413. 
Amravati, 287. 

Anagam, 182, 3 ir, 4or . See Ana- 
gamin. 

Anagamin, 69, 311. See Anagam. 
Anagamins, 225. 

Ananda, 13, 36, 37, 42-45, 49 , 52 _ S4i 

57, 64-66, 68, 70, 71, 106, 168, 232, 

241, 243, 248, 276, 291-300. See 

O-nan. 

Anathapindada, 296. See Andtha- 

pindika. 

Anathapindika, 295, 296. See Ana 
thapindada. 
Anaxagoras, 342. 
Anaximander, 342. 
Auaximenes, 341. 
An-fu (Palace of darkness), 353, 357. 

See Naraka. 
dn-hwei, 139. 
An-lo-yen-sheu-tang, 254. 
An-shi-kau, 280. 
An-si, 108, 150, 280. See Arsa>. 
Antony, 257. 

An-tsien (Secret arrow), 338. 
Anuruddha, 53, 56, 57. 
Apsaras, 216. 
Arabic language, 335, 405. 
Arabians Arabs, 117, 405. See 

Ta-shih. 

Aranya, 20. See Aranyaka. 
Aranyaka, 231. See Aranya. 
Arara, 24. 



4 22 



INDEX. 



Aratan, 92. 

Arhan, 28, 29, 32, 53, 58, 66, 69, 79-81, 

182, 184, 264, 276, 290, 311. See 

A-la-han and Lo-han. 
Arhans, 28, 31, 58, 64, 65, 68, 76, 

138, 184, 185, 214, 241-245, 248, 

263, 264, 291, 297, 304, 311. See 

A-la-han and Lo-hans. 
Aristotle, 342. 
Arsae, 108. See An-si. 
Aryan personification, 355. 
Asengha, 132, 169, 278, 279. See 

Wu-cho. 
Ashoka, 13, 22, 31, 58, 59, 69, 83, 

104-107, 215, 273, 277, 278, 282, 

283, 404. See A-yo. 
Ashwagosha, 74, 278. See Ma-ming. 
Asia, 3, 28, 356. 
Asiatic countries, 90, 409 ; fetishism, 

41; monkish establishments, no; 

speculator, 166 ; world, 60. 
Asita, 71. 
Asura, 115, 419. See Sieu-lo (Su- 

la). 
Asuras, 77, 156, 195, 206, 214, 215, 

217, 220, 310. 

Augustus, 257 ; of the East, 118. 
Avalokite, 262. See AvaUkitesh- 

wara. 
Avalokiteshwara, 139, 208, 262, 266, 

414. See Avalokite and Kican- 

yin. 

Avatars, 156. 
Avebury, 419. 
Avichi naraka, 45, 196, 225. See 0- 

pi ti-yu. 
A-yo, 104, 105, 107. See Ashdka. 

BABYLON, 339, 363, 364. 

Babylonia, 211. 

Babylonian region, 418 ; view of 

nature, 341. 
Bactria, 343. 
Baga, 192. 

Ba-ga-vam, 120. See Bhagavat. 
Bahar, 19, 31, 137, 215, 289, 416. See 

Magadha. 

Bai-sha-li, 403. See Vaishali. 
Baishevu, 14. 

Ba-la-men, 102. See Brahman. 
Balkh, 415. 



Banban, 104. 

Baschpa, 147. See Pa-ho-si-pa. 

Basel Mission, 366, 369. 

Basiasita, 85, 156. 

Baur, 166. 

Beal, Rev. S., 3, 33, 107, 283, 287, 408, 

410. 
Benares, 4, 22, 24-28, 30, 42, 51, 75, 

94. See Paranai. 
Bengal, Bay of, 145. 
Bengali, 362. 
Berar, 42. See Kosala. 
Bhadra, 109. 
Bhadra-kalpa, 71. See Kalpa of the 

Sages. 

Bhagavat, 120. See Ba-c/a-ram. 
Bhaishajyaguru Buddha, 208, 235. 

See Yo-shi Fo. 
Bhaishajyaraja, 210. See Yo-Kaixj 

p u-sa. 

Bharhut, 287. 

Bhikkhu, 417. See Bikshu. 
Biba Buddha, 14. 
Bi ch u, 120. See Bikshu and Bi- 

fc tt. 

Bigandet, Bishop, 202. 
Bi-ha-la-pa-la, 399. See Viharapala 

and Pi-ho-lo-po-lo. 
Bikshu, 4, 17, 18, 35, 276, 315, 401. 

See Bi-ch u and Bi-k u. 
Bikshuni, 35. 
Bikshus, 20, 21, 28, 30, 36, 45, 51, 54, 

81, 214, 276, 277, 290, 292, 297, 307, 

3*4, 417- 
Bi-k u, 120, 401, 417. See Bi-ch u 

and Bikshu. 

Bimbasala, 31. See Vimbasunt. 
Bimbisara, 15. See Vimbasdm. 
Bindupala, 106. 
B ing-an, 263. 
Birmah, 171, 200-202, 211, 228, 370, 

402. 
Birmese, 202, 217, 419 ; chronology, 

15 ; peninsula, 104, 145. 
Bit-ch u, 417. See Bikshu. 
Black river, 255. 
Black warrior, 337. 
Blue dragon, 337. 
Bod, 202. 
Bodhi, 21, 37, 52, 53, 64, 401, 412, 

413 ; tree, 14, 20, 22, 23, 104. 



INDEX. 



423 



Bodliidharma, 85, 86, 99, 100, 102, 
103, 105, 116, 129, 130, 140, 142, 
W i55- l6o > T 7, 179, i9 8 , 2 9, 247, 
263, 373, 418. See Ta-mo. 

Bodhiruchi, 131, 280, 399. See Bo-di- 
lu-cfii and P^u-fi-lieu-chi. 

Bodhisattwa, 7, 12, 22, 23, 39, 51, 97, 
128, 132, 182, 183, 195, 196, 208- 
210, 226, 227, 229, 233, 235, 236, 
241-243, 246, 247, 263, 264, 279, 
287, 310, 364, 396, 415. See Bosat 
and P l u-sa. 

Bodhisattwas, 19-22, 25, 36, 39, 43, 
51, 128, 132, 135, 138, 139, 162, 169, 
172, 186, 193, 197, 206-208, 211, 214, 
223, 229-232, 234, 236, 237, 241, 
244, 248, 254, 258, 261, 264, 265, 
282, 290, 291, 384, 396, 405, 415. 

Bo-di, 401. See Bodhi. 

Bo-di-lu-clii, 399. See Bodhiruchi 
and P u-t i-lieu-ch i. 

Bokharia, 322. 

Bonpa deities, 63. 

Bosat, 5-7. See Bodhisattwa and 
P u-sa. 

Bowring, Sir John, 107. 

Brahma, 24, 36,55, 185, 215-217, 224, 
243, 248, 285, 292, 293, 402. See 
Fan-den and Fan-fien-wang. 

Brahma heaven, 71, 79, 221, 264, 340. 
See Brahma- loka. 

Brahmachari, 32, 53. 

Brahma-loka, 217. See Brahma hea- 
ren. 

Brahman, 27, 62, 78, 79, 85, 285, 286, 
303 ; caste, 145, 225, 226 ; family, 
61 ; maiden, 17, 225-227. 

Brahmanical arithmetic, 123; books, 
289; ideas, 402; literature, 118 ; 
mythology, 21; persecution, 99; 
rules of purity, 32 ; use of a word, 
216 ; wisdom, 232. 

Brahmanism, 84, 132, 145, 315. 

Brahmans, 2, 17, 31, 73, 77, 86, 88, 
190, 213, 285, 355, 402, 409 ; of pure 
life, 83. See Fan-hing. 

Brahmas, 215, 217, 220, 224. 

Brass Buddha, 374-376. 

Bread sect, 378. See Man-t eu-kiau. 

Brilliant vapour, 347. See Yau-k i. 

Brown, Dr., 313. 



Budanandi, in. 

Buddha of wisdom unmoved, 231. 

Buddhamitra, 71-74. 

Buddhanandi, 71-73. 

Buddha s bone, 58, 127, 135 ; chair, 
118; father, 44; footstep, 135,256; 
hair, 104, 135 ; heart, 412 ; image, 
256 ; law, 39, 43, 48, 103 ; mou 
staches, 59 ; nature, 48 ; Northern 
biographers, 38 ; power, 385 ; statue, 
118; teaching, 47, 65, 79; tooth, 
58, 135, 250, 256 ; true words, 41. 

Buddhas of the ten regions, 37. 

Buddhayasha, no. 

Buddhistic character of embassies, 
147; classics, 114; doctrine, 97; in 
scriptions, 265 ; system, 2; thought, 
204 ; views, 356. 

Buddojanga, 89, 108, 168. See Fo- 
t u-cheng. 

Bunam, 104. See Siam. 

Burger, Dr., 167. 

Burnouf, Eugene, 2, 3, 12, 99, 100, 
106, 107, 214, 229, 277, 278, 283, 
315, 402, 404, 410, 412, 416. 

But, 120, 399, 401, 413. See Fo. 

Byzantine emperor, 116, 117. 

CABDL, 42, 277. 322, 415. See Cophcn 

and Kipin. 
Cadmus, 114. 
Cambodia, 145. 
Candahar, 67, 83-85, 100. See Getce 

and Kipin. 
Canton, 100, 114, 150, 289, 367, 409, 

410 ; province, 126. 
Cashmere, 72, 73, 83, 144, 256, 277, 

290, 404, 415, 416. See Ka-shi-mi-lo. 
Caspian Sea, 91. 
Caucasus, 20. 
Central Asia, 91, 190, 337 ; China, 

400 ; India, 4, 44, 63, 70, 82, 84, 85, 

88, 91, 195, 280, 289, 399, 401, 403; 

kingdom, 44 ; philosophy, 184. See 

Madhyamika. 
Ceylon, 15, 36, 38, 39, 88, 91, 94, in, 

132, 171, 189, 211, 228, 244, 248, 

249, 277, 287, 402. See Lenya 

Island. 

Chai-tang, 328. 
Chai-waug, 269. See Prince of Fuel. 



424 



INDEX. 



Ch a-kiau, 378. See Wu-wei-kiau. 

Chakravarti, 22. See Wheel king. 

Chaldeans, 332. 

Ch an, 129, 156, 401, 418. 

Chandaka, 54. 

Chandra, 214. 

Chandragupta, 106, 256, 282. See 
Yue-hu. 

Chang K ien, 88. 

Chang Kung-kung, 374. 

Chang Sien, 392. 

Chang Tau-ling, 387-392 ; also called 
Chang T ien-shi. 

Chang T ien-ti, 391, 392. See Chang 
Yi, Yu-hwang, Yii-hwang shang-ti, 
Yii-hwang ta-ti, Yu-hwang-ti, and 
Yii-ti. 

Chaug Yi, 360. See Chang T ien-ti. 

Ch ang-an, 89-91, 108, 109, 117, 119, 
131, 410. See Si-anfu. 

Chang-king s i, 125. 
Chang-pi-mo-wang, 159. 

Ch ang-ts ien monastery, 105. 

Ch an-hio, 102. See Ck l an-men. 

Ch an-men, 102, 179, 418. See Ch an- 

hio. 

Ch an-shi, 129. 
Ch au kingdom, 89, 90. See Pe-cld- 

li and Shan-si. 
Chau-cheu, 126. 
Chau-chiun, 255. 

Che-kiang, 137, 178, 255, 275, 371. 
Chen-cheu, 165. See Chen-tiny fu. 
Ch en dynasty, 156, 179. 
Chendaras, 291-293. 
Ch eng Ming-tau, 142, 360. 
Ch eng Yi-chwen, 142, 360. 
Cheng-fa-yen-tsang, 63, 142. 
Cheng-te period, 373, 377. 
Ch eng-tu, 390. 
Ch eng-hwang miau, 359, 361. 
Ch eng-hwang-ye, 358. 
Chen-jeu fu, 388. 
Chen-sing (planet Saturn), 211. 
Ch en-sing (planet Mercury), 211. 
Chen-tan (China), 21, 92, 93. 
Chen-ting fu, 165. See Chen cheu. 
Chen-tsung, 136. 
Cheu, 407. See Dharani. 
Cheu dynasty, 16 ; emperors, 93, 129 ; 
family, 133 ; kingdom, 107. 



Cheu Hing, 391. 

Cheu Kung, 322, 324. 

Chi Fa-ling, no. 

Ch iau-ch en-ju, 401. See Godinia. 

Chi -che, 172, 209. See Chi-k ai. 

Ch i-cheu fu, 139. 

Ch ih-ch eng (a hill), 175. 

Chi-hiii, 190. 

Ch i-k ai, 41, 140, 156, 160, 170, 176- 

182, 184, 186, 187. See Ch i-che. 
Ciri-kian, 280. 
Ch i-kio, 171. 
Chi-kung-ming, 108. 
Chi -kwan system, 140, 172, 179, 181. 

See T ten-fai-kiau. 
Ch i-kwo, 239. See Dhritarashtra 

and T i-to-lo-to. 
Chi-li, 165. See Pe-chi-li. 
Chi-lu-ka-ts an, 280. 
Chi-meng, 109. 
Ch in dynasty, 107. 
China Branch of the Royal Asiatic 

Society, 107, 120. 
Ch ing-ch ia, 121. See Ganges, Ga iuj- 

ya, and Hcng. 

Ch i-p an, 58, 72, 73, 85, 157, 160. 
Chitsin, 108. 
Chi -tun, 168. 
Chi-yau, 280. 
Chosroes L, 116, 117. See K u-sa-ha 

and Nushirvan. II., 117. See Jcn- 

ki. 

Chu Fo, 261. See Kwan-yln. 
Chu fu-tsi, 38, 325, 361. See Chu Hi, 
Chu Hi, 152, 288, 360-362. See Chu 

fu-tsi. 

Chu Si-hing, 109. 
Chu-dharma-lan, 280. 
Chu-dharmaraksha, 280. 
Chufahu, 109. 

Chu-fa-lan, 107, 168, 280, 400. 
Chu-hung, 171. 
Chu-liii-yen, 280. 
Chii-meu (a moving star), 346. 
Chunda, 50. 

Chung-tsung (emperor), 275. 
Chun-ti, 208. 

Church Missionary Society, 377. 
Chusan, 139 ; archipelago, 267. 
Chwang Cheu, 381. 
Colebrooke, H. T., 2, 308-310, 313. 



INDEX. 



425 



Comte, 141. 

Confucian, 97, 98 ; classics, 112 ; 
doctrine, 194, 319, 323 ; element of 
feng-shui, 339, 345 ; historian, 99, 
105, in, 129; mandarins, 125, 130, 
131 ; memorialists, 151 ; preju 
dices, 136 ; reasoning, 98 ; religion, 
152; system, 200, 325; worship, 

393- 

Confucianism, 201, 203, 320, 386, 
389, 393, 396, 397- 

Confucianist, 200, 202, 326, 351, 352, 
355) 357 ; commentary, 125 ; criti 
cism, 201 ; historian, 148 ; moun 
tain, 159 ; opposition, 419 ; view, 
200. 

Confucianists, 95, 116, 122, 127, 194, 
202, 203, 288, 321, 325, 345, 355, 

360, 370, 379, 381. 

Confucius, 37, 55, 96, 98, 114, 131, 
143, 153, 200, 202, 258, 269, 270, 
318-320, 323-3 2 5, 333, 350-352, 

361, 400, 411. 

Conqueror of the Dragon, 171. See 

Lung-sheng and Nayarjuna. 
Coustans II., 117. See Pa-ta-Hk. 
Constantine, 397. 
Constantinople, 116. 
Cophen, 42, no, 150, 280. See 

Calul and Kipin. 
Corea, 114, 132, 146, 178, 357. 
Corean letters, 115; river, 357; 

transliteration, 400. 
Coreans, 114. 
Council of Cashmere, 229, 274 ; 

fourth do., 404; Fataliputra, 273, 

282. 

Cousin, M., 312, 315. 
Csoiua Korosi, 230. 
Cyrus, 31. 

DABADAKA, 280. 

Dahse (Dai-he), 88, 89. See Ta-hia. 

Dalai Lama, 266. 

Daluchi, 123. 

Da-la-ni, 132. See Dharani and To- 

lo-ni. 

Dan, 129, 155, 401, 418. See Dhyana. 
Dana (Charity), 417. 
Dardu, 256. 
Dasaratha, 287. 



Daughter of the Dragon king, 242. 

See Lung-nil. 
Deer garden, 51. See Lu-ye-yuen 

and Mriyadava. 
De Guignes, J., 117. 
Demon, 75, 76, 115, 217, 226, 347, 356. 
Demons, 39, 52, 53, 93, 206, 217, 219, 

227, 228, 255, 270, 310, 335, 338, 

343, 35, 355-357, 377, 382, 383, 

387-390, 395, 396. 
Deva, 17, 23, 53, 77, 115, 190, 192, 

206, 207, 214, 225, 240, 279, 362. 

See Tien paradises, 18, 21. 
Deva-loka (Deva world), 362. 
Devanagari, 137, 406. 
Devaus, 419. 
Devas, 24, 25, 28, 39, 40, 56, 58, 70, 

77, n5, i5 8 , 172, 190, 194, i97 206- 

208, 214-217, .220, 223, 225, 243, 

244, 248, 285, 310. 
Devatas, 216. 
Dharani, 53, 100, 132, 142, 399, 

407. See Cheu, Da-la-ni, and To- 

lo-ni. 
Dharma, 28, 54, 56, 58, 64, 65, 69-73, 

77, 8 1, 85, 86, 189, 260, 267, 377, 

417. See Fa and Law. 
Dharmaguptas, 118. See Fa-mi-pu. 
Dharmakakala, 108. 
Dharmanandi, no. 
Dharmapara, 279. See Hu-fa. 
Dharmaraksha, 109, no, 280. 
Dharmashoka, 282, 283. 
Dharmati, 280. 
Dharmayagama, no. 
Dhritarashtra, 216, 239, 285. See 

Ch i-kwo and T i-to-lo-to, 
Dhyana, 129, 156, 414, 417, 418. See 

C7t a?z, Dan, Dian, and Djan. 
Dhyana Buddhas, 132. 
Dian, 401. See Dhi/ana. 
Dipankara, 12, 210. See Jan-teny. 
Discipline, 108, 109, 118, 147, 190, 

209,281,287. See Lit, and Vinaya. 
Disraeli, B., 415. 
Djan, 129. See Dhyana. 
Do-nothing sect, 372. See Wu-wei- 

kiau. 
Dragon, 76, 133, 216, 263, 323, 328, 

329, 333-335, 343, 347-349, 390. 
See Lung and Naga. 



426 



INDEX. 



Dragon kings, 58, 215 ; palace, 230, 

279 ; tower, 347. See Lung-leu. 
Dragon-horse, 323. 
Dragon-king, 207. See Lung-wang 

and Naga-raja. 
Dragon-tree, 170, 210. See Lung-shu 

and Nayarjuna. 
Dragons, 39, 40, 216, 218, 261, 373, 

391. See Nagas. 
Dravida country, 279. 
Drikata, 70, 71. 
Druids, 419. 
Dudgeon, Dr., 252, 272. 
Duk a, 27. 
Dura, 256. 
Durga, 220. 

Dzin dynasty, 93. See Ts in dynasty. 
Dzin-ba-da, 159. 
Dzinlon, 108. 

EASTERN ASIA, 419 ; Asiatics, 341 ; 
Buddhas, 281; coutinent,2i6; India. 
82, 85, 144 ; paradise, 279 ; Persia, 
90, 108 ; provinces, 371 ; Thibet, 
109 ; Ts in, 89-91 ; Turkestan, 35. 

Egyp*. 339, 363, 364- 

Eight-faced Kwan-yin, 262. 

Eitel, Dr. E. J., 6, 20, 31, 35, 39, 
71-73, 125, 143, 160, 169, 170, 266, 
278, 403, 412-414, 417-419. 

Elburz mountain, 20. See Sumeru. 

English critic, 313 ; language, 336, 
355, 383, 3 8 8, 408, 419. 

Ephesus, 341. 

Esoteric branch, 158, 373 ; Buddhism, 
142, 159; Buddhists, 231 ; deposit, 
418; doctrine, 43, 63; element, 
158; school, 141, 155, 160, 166; 
system, 162 ; tradition, 161. See 
Tsung-men. 

Europe, 3, 123, 211, 325, 330, 340, 356. 

European accounts, 355 ; astrono 
mers, 348 ; criticism, 417 ; fashion, 
2 53 ; governments, 201 ; kings, 
131 ; moralists, 193 ; schoolmen, 
184 ; speculation, 166. 

Europeans, 3, 117. 

Exoteric branch, 373 ; Buddhism, 
142, 168 ; Buddhists, 168 ; doctrine, 
43 ; school, 141, 170 ; sects, 167 ; 
teaching, 25. See Kiau-men. 



FA, 377. See Dharma and Law. 

Fa-ch i, 187. 

Fa-hai si , 406. 

Fa-hien, 16, 90, 91, 107, 109, 121, 

150, 280, 287, 409, 410. 
Fa-kii, 280. 
Fa-lin, 16. 
Fa-ling, 109. 

Fa-mi-pu, 118. See Dharmaguptas. 
Fan language, 402. See Sanscrit. 
Fang-kwang monastery, 177. 
Fan-hing, 83. See Brahmans of pare 

life. 

Fan-t ien, 243. See Brahma. 
Fan-t ien, 217. See Brahma-loka. 
Fan-t ien-wang, 215, 217. See King 

of the Brahma heaven and Malta- 

brahma. 
Fa- shun, 170. 
Fa-siang-tsung, 170. 
Fa-sing-tsung, 170. 
Fa-t ien-pen, 137. 
Fa-tsang, 233. See Treasure of the 

Law. 

Fa-yen school, 161. 
Feng-shui, 135, 250, 251, 327, 329, 

330, 332, 333, 33 8 , 339, 343-345- 

349-352, 393- 
Feng-shui sien-sheng, 331. See Ge> 

mancer. 

Feng-tu ta-ti, 361. 
Ferghana, 83. 
Feringi, 117. 
Fichte, J. T., 166. 
Fo, 24, 383, 385, 399, 401, 413. See 

But. 
Fo-ku-piau, 126, 354. See Memorial 

on the bone of Buddha. 
Fo-ting shan, 264. 

Fo-t u-cheng, 168. See Buddojanga. 
Foochow, 136. 
Four great kings of Devas, 25, 44, 57, 

207, 216, 223, 239, 241-245. See 

Dhritardshtra, Vaishramana, Vi- 

rudhaka, and Virupaksha. 
Fu Yi, 115. 

Fu-kien province, 114, 159. 
Fu-luiig feng, 177. 
Fu-lung monastery, 180. 
Fuh, 413. See Fo. 
Fuh-hi, 374. 



INDEX. 



427 



Fuh-pau, 374. 

Fulim, 116, 117. See Ferinyl. 

Fung-siang fu, 126, 133. 

French orthography, 414; philoso 
pher, 313 ; revolution, 236 ; sinolo 
gues, 6; translator, 215; writers, 4. 

GAELIC language, 419. 

Ga-lam, 245. See K ia-lan. 

Galle, 42, 248. 

Gandhara, 278. 

Gandharvas, 214-217. 

Ganges, 4, 13, 15, 82, 117, 118, 121, 

J 73, 2 34, 235, 291, 293, 403. See 

Ch iny-ch ia, Gang-ga, and Heng. 
Gang-ga, 121. See CVi i^-c/i /, and 

Ganges. 
Garuda, 248. 
Garudas, 215, 217. 
Gatakana, 42. 
Gati, 419. 

Gaudama Prajnaluti, 303. 
Gaudamara, 122. 
Gaudamsenghadeva, 280. 
Gaudamsiddha, 123, 211. 
Gautama, 22, 120, 157, 207, 211, 228, 

354. See Shakyamuni. 
Gaya, 43. 
Geomancer, 328-337, 345, 347, 349. 

See Feng-shui sien-sheng. 
Geomancers, 346, 350. See Lung-kia. 
Geomancy, 327, 329, 332, 343, 344, 

35 3S 2 - See Feng-shui. 
German language, 100, 411, 419. 
Germany, 236. 
Getse, 61, 75, 86, 88, 108, 109, 150. 

See Yue-ti and Afghanistan. 
Gibbon, E , 116-118. 
Gi-ja-ku-ta, 276. See Gridhrakula. 
Giles, H. A, 408. 

Godam, 120, 248. See Gautama. 
Goddess of Mercy, 209, 383. See 

Kwan-yin. 
Godinia, 27, 28, 42, 52, 53, 401. See 

Ch l iau-ch l en-ju and Go-din-nia. 
Go-din-nia, 401. See C/t iau-ch en-ju 

and Godinia. 

Gogerly, Rev. Mr., 287, 317. 
Golden Mother, 377, 379. See Kin- 

mu. 
Grand canal, 165. 



Great hear, 347, 350. See Pe-teu. 

Great Bosat, 6. See Ma-ha-sat. 

Great Development, 230, 277, 281, 
283 ; books, 278, 406 ; class, 214, 
230, 281; classics, 100; course, 
109; school, 51, no, 118, 190,281 ; 
sutras, 99, 236, 279 ; system, 209. 
See Mahayana and Ta-ch eug. 

Great Extreme, 320-322. See T ai- 
ki. 

Great Vehicle, 279. See Great De 
velopment, Mahayana, and Ta- 
ch eng. 

Greater Development, 19, 25, 38, 277, 
289, 416. See Great Development. 

Greece, 3, 40, 202, 269, 339, 363. 

Greek dates, 13; doctrine, 339, 340; 
domination, 343 ; dragon, 333 ; 
genius, 322 ; gods, 364 ; historian, 
257 ; influence, 363 ; invasion, 403 ; 
kingdom, 184; kings, 343; lan 
guage, 419 5 mind, 363 ; philoso 
phy, 343, 344, 3975 race, 336; 
sculpture, 249 ; view of nature, 
341 ; word, 356. 

Greeks, 267, 322. 

Gridhrakuta, 57, 214, 276. See Gi- 
ja-kit-ta. 

Gulf of Pe-chi-li, 410. 

Gunabadara. 280. 

Gunabidi, 286. 

Gutzlaff, Dr. K., 401. 

HAKLENA, 83, 84, 86. 

Hamilton, Dr., 156. 

Han dynasty, 16, 88, 113, 126, 171, 

319, 321-324, 337, 339, 344, 350, 

351. 382, 387-389, 416. 
Han "\Ven-kung, 126, 127, 151, 319. 

See Han Yii. 
Han Yii, 126, 354. See Han Wen- 

kung. 
Hang-cheu, 143, 151, 171, 175, 249, 

256, 275, 358. 
Hardy, Rev. Spence, 106, 169, 189, 

217, 230,244, 277, 317, 410. 
Heavenly emperor, 391 . See T ien-ti. 
Hebrew language, 335, 419; name, 

2l6. 

Hei-lung-t an, 335. 
Heng, 121. See Ganges. 



INDEX. 



JTeng, 240. See Heng-ho-er-tsiang. 

Heng-cheu, 159. 

Heng-ho-er-tsiang, 240. See Hent) 
and Ho. 

Heng-shau, 159. 

Heraclitus, 341, 342. 

1 Ha dynasty, 16, 159. 

Hiau-feng, 358. 

Hiau Wu (ernperor), 89. 

Hien kalpa, 222. See Mahabhadra- 
kalpa. 

Hien-sheu, 170, 171, 209. 

Hien-tsung (emperor), 126, 127. 

Hieou-thou, 88. 

High Asia, 171. 

Hi-k iau, 160. 

Himala (forest), 217. 

Himalayas, 3, 18, 20, 92, 99, 193, 264, 
400. 

Hinayana, 38, 63, 277. See Siau- 
ch eng and Smaller Development. 

Hindoo, 7, no, 169-1^1, 341 ; archi 
tecture, 363 ; arithmetic, 363 ; arts, 
202; astronomy, 319, 363 ; author, 
303 ; authors, 405 ; books, 364 ; 
Buddhists, no, 112, 146, 209, 212, 

282, 344, 404; cosmogony, 218, 282; 
deities, 197 ; divinities, 215 ; gods, 
197, 216, 220, 242, 264; hells, 363 ; 
idea, 362 ; influence, 344 ; Jains, 
157 ; king of death, 196 ; language, 
403 ; Lo-hans, 249 ; mind, 9, 202, 
364, 405 ; minds, 28 ; missionaries, 

283, 412, 416 ; monastic societies, 
19 ; mythology, 186, 198, 206, 207, 
212, 214, 218-220, 223; name, 93, 
218, 262, 263 ; nakshatras, 344 ; 
nation, 228 ; nomenclature, 336 ; 
notion, 363 ; notions, 197, 339 ; 
origin, 353; original, 211; pan 
theon, 186; patriarch, 179 ; philo 
sopher, 313 ; philosophy, 323, 339, 
34i, 342, 3 6 3 ; phrases, 354, 362 ; 
physics, 339 ; popular account, 194; 
practice, 138 ; Pretas, 268 ; race, 3, 
20, 202 ; religion, 202 ; sages, 14 ; 
sects, 227 ; shape, 364 ; society, 
414 ; symbol, 406 ; thought, 344 ; 
translations, 412; translators, in, 
2 74? 43J universe, 229 ; view, 220; 
words, 413; world, 3; worship, 220. 



Hindoo Kush, 117. 

Hindoos, 6, 13, 93, 99, 115, 122. 124, 

146, 156, 172, 191, 213, 216, 217, 
222, 229, 260, 268, 279, 309, 322, 
339, 34i, 342, 393, 394- 

Hindostan, 3, 21, 213. 

Hing-si, 160. 

Hing-si-fang-fei-chi -ngo (school), 169. 

Hippolytus, 332. 

Hiuen-tsang, 40, 107, 116-121, 136, 

1 47, 170, 171, 256, 262, 274, 275, 
280, 289, 292, 296, 354, 401, 402, 
404, 409, 416. 

Hiuen-tsung (emperor), 132. 

Hiung-er (mountain), 103. 

Hiung-nu, 83, 255. 

Ho, 240. See Heng-ho-er-tsiang. 

Hodgson, Brian, H., 2. 

Homer, 363, 364. 

Ho-ming shan, 390. 

Ho-nan province, 303. 

Ho-nan fu, 99, 103, 109, 303. See 

Lo-yang. 
Hongkong, 120. 
Hordern, Mr. P., 200, 202. 
Hormouz, 117. See Shi-li. 
Ho-shang, 35, 143, 269, 272, 315, 355, 

417. See Upadhydya. 
Hu T o, 16. 
Hue, Abbe, 139, 242. 
Hu-fa, 279. See Dharmapara. 
Hu-fa-wei-to, 240. See Veda and 

Wei-to. 

Hume, David, 312. 
Hu-nan province, 159, 180. 
Hung-fa-t aug (temple), 263. 
Hungry ghosts, 81, 125, 126, 132, 195, 

196, 210, 218, 233, 268, 310. See 

Yii-lan-p en. 
Hu-to (river), 165. 
Hwai An-ts i, 350. 
Hwai-jang, 160. 
Hwai-nan-tsi, 321. 
Hwai-neng, 160-162. 
Hwa-kwang, 207, 247. 
Hwa-lo, 223. See Nimala paradise. 
Hwa-sh i, 74, 109. See Pataliputra. 
Hwa-shie, 143. See Ho-sliang. 
Hwa-ting (mountain), 178. 
Hwa-tsang universe, 265. 
Hwa-yen (Bodhisattwa), 210. 



INDEX. 



429 



Hwa-yen doctrine, 19, 20, 26, 51, 281. 
Hwa-yen si (monastery), 407. 
Hwang-cheu, 343. 
Hwei-hwei word, 211. See Persian 

language. 

Hwei-niang (school), 161. 
Hwei-sheng, 100. 
Hwei-si , 170, 172. 
Hwei-tsung (emperor), 142, 360. 
Hwei-wen, 160, 171, 184. 
Hwei-yuen, 171, 209. 

I-DZl-zi, 117. See Yezdegerd. 

Independent Tartary, 88. 

India, 3, 9, 15, 20, 27, 29, 30, 32, 35, 
40, 60, 77, 82, 83, 86-94, 100, 101, 
103 ,108, 109, 114, 116-118, 121, 129, 
13 1, 137, 144, 145, 150, 156, 157, 

l66, 190, 2O7, 211, 212, 215, 22O, 
222, 2 3 0, 2 3 I, 23 9 , 249, 2 5 0, 275, 
277, 279, 280, 287, 289, 292, 313, 

322, 339, 342, 344, 35, 354, 360, 
363, 370, 39i, 394, 402, 409, 418. 

Indian, 89, 90, 109, 145; Buddhism, 
144, 382 ; Buddhist, 89 ; Buddhists, 
167 ; dialect, 120; geographers, 139 ; 
geography, 139; Getse, 83,416; ideas, 
344; kalpas, 342; king, 106; king 
doms, 35 ; kings, 40, 58 ; literature, 
106 ; models, 134; monarch, 93; my 
thology, ii ; name, 92; numerals, 
123; Ocean, 266 ; philosophers, 312; 
philosophy, 319, 339, 344; Pluto, 
21 ; priests, 2, 108, 126; prototype, 
418 ; race, 4 ; religion, i, 319 ; 
sage, 89, 102 ; shastras, 323 ; spell 
ing, 319 ; statement, 86 ; states, 
42; strangers, 113; titles, 142; 
year, 212. 

Indians, 2, 88, 92, 99, 145. 

Indo-Chinese peninsula, 4, 202. 

Indo-European mind, 322. 

Indra Shakra, 20-22, 24, 45, 48, 49, 
56, 58, 190, 195, 210, 214, 215, 243. 
See Ti-shi. 

Indus, 91, 117, 266, 267. 

Ionian philosophers, 341 ; philosophy, 
342. 

lonians, 343. 

Ishwara, 23, 214-216, 219, 234. 

I-t a-chi, 117. 



I-tsung (emperor), 130. 

JAINA, 129, 156, 418. 

Jainas, 418. 

Jainism, 158. 

Jains, 31, 156, 157. See Swaracs. 

Jambu continent, 55, 93, 122, 225, 

226. See Jambudvipa. 
Jambudvipa, 49, 56, 59, 216, 222. 
Jam-ma-la-ja, 218. See Yama and 

Yen-lo-wang. 
Jam-ma-raja, 218. See Yama and 

Yen-lo-wang. 
Jan-teng, 12, 210, 241, 243. See 

Dipankara. 
Japan, 132, 146, 147, 163, 167, 214, 

360, 386, 402. 
Japanese, 4, 133 ; intercourse, 146 ; 

narrative, 157 ; term, 355 ; trans 
literation, 400. 
Java, 214, 239, 409. 
Jaxartes, 116. 
Jayata, 82. 
Jebabada, 93. 
Jehol, 266. 

Jen-ki, 117. See Chosroes II. 
Jen-tsung (emperor), 137, 138. 
Jen- wan g, 41. 
Jesuit, 355. 

Jeta, 5, 21, 31, 45, 290, 292, 295-297. 
Jetavana, 31, 49. 
Jewish light, 37 ; scriptures, 14. 
Ji-kwang-pien-chau, 235. 
Jonah, 284. 
Judaism, 37. 
Judsea, 117, 202. 
Ju-kiau, 382. 
Julai, 4, 6-8, 12, 18, 34, 50, 51, 54, 

75, 139, 207, 245, 293, 391, 418. 

See Tathdgata. 
Julien, Stanislas, 3, 93, 117, 289, 292, 

399, 400, 402, 408, 412. 
Jupiter (planet), 211. See Sui-sing. 
Jyotishprabha (a Brahma), 215. 

K AI-FENG FU, 246. See Pien-ch eiig 

and Pien-liang. 
Kalashoka, 283. 
Kalavingka, 290, 292. 
Kalpa, n, 12, 14, 51, 71, 167, 196, 208, 

210, 221, 222, 233, 26l, 391, 417. 



430 



INDEX. 



Kalpa of the Sages, 71. 

Kalpas, n, 12, 71, 173, 195, 196, 221, 

222, 22 7 , 233, 234, 340, 34 2, 39 I. 

Kalutanasi, 149. 

Kanade, 310. 

Kanadeva, 77-79. 

Kan-do (country), 89. 

K ang-hi, 4, 152, 222, 261, 413. 

K ang-ku, 280. See Thibet. 

K ang-meng-ts iang, 280. 

K ang-seng-hwei, 280. 

K ang-seng-k ai, 280. 

Kanishka, 72, 257, 277, 283, 404. 

Kan-lu, 132. 

Kan-mu-lu, 149. 

Kan-su province, 90, 93. 

K an-yii, 337. 

Kapila (country), 78. 

Kapila (a philosopher), 306, 312-314. 

Kapilavastu, 15, 42, 94, 404. See 

Kapili. 

Kapili, 94. See Kapilavastu. 
Kapimara, 76. 

Karma (fate), 197, 203, 204, 272, 332. 
Kasha (priest s robe), 28, 31, 103, 249. 

See Kashaya. 

Ka-shap, 401. See Kashiapa. 
Kashaya, 354. See Kasha. 
Kashgar, 93, 143, 415. 
Ka-shiap, 401, 416. See KasJiiapa. 
Kashiapa, 14, 21, 30, 31, 43, 55, 57, 

5 8 , 63-65, 81, 156, 241, 243, 248, 

276, 277, 291, 293, 401, 416. See 

Kia-she. 
Kashiapmadanga, 16, 88, 107, 168, 

280, 400, 401, 416. 
Ka-shi-mi-lo, 144. See Cashmere. 
Kashyapiyas, 118. See Kia-she-pi- 

ye-pu. 

Kassapa, 416. See Kashiapa. 
Kau Hwei-wen, 156, 160. 
Kau-ch ang (country), 109, 146. 
Kau-ming monastery, 137, 176, 177. 
Kaushambi (country), 49. 
Kau-tsung (emperor), 143. 
Ketu, 212, 344. See Ki-tu. 
Khodin, 109. See Khoten and Udin. 
Khoten, 35, 109, 143. See Udin and 

Yu-tian. 

Ki (name of a star), 348. 
Kia-hing, 275. 



Kia-k iug, 263. 
K ia-lan, 245. See Ga-lam. 
Kia-pi-lo, 313. See Kapila. 
Kia-sha, 354. See Kashaya. 
Kia-she, 277, 401. See Kashiapa. 
Kia-she-pi-ye-pu, 118. See Kdshya- 

ptycu. 

Kia-t.sing, 151. 
Kiai-hien, 169, 170. 
Kiai-lii, 108. See Discipline and 

Vinaya. 

Kiai-t an (altar), 35, 253. 
Kiarig T ai-kung, 338. 
Kiang-nan province, 109, 371. 
Kiang-si province, 159, 160, 264, 387, 

388. 

Kiau-cheu, 410. 
Kiau-men, 72, 73, 141, 158, 167, 168. 

See Exoteric branch. 
Kie (emperor), 16. 
Kie-tan, 114. 
Kieu-hwa, 139, 247, 265. 
Kieu-kiang, 264. 
Kieu-lung-tien (hall), 261. 
Kieu-mo-lo-sh i, 168, 398. See Ku- 

marajiva. 
Ki-k ing, 263 
Ki-lo-shi -kiai, 235. See Paradise of 

Amitabha. 
Kin dynasty, 137. See Nii-chih 

dynasty. 

Kin-kang-chi, 169. See Vajramati. 
Kin-kang-sat-wa, 169. See Vajra- 

sattwa. 
Kin-mu, 377, 378. See Golden 

Mother. 

Kinnaras, 207, 215, 216. 
King, 41, 104, 108, 133, 168, 182, 275, 

276, 279, 281, 377. See Sutra. 
King of the Brahma heaven, 214. 

See Fan-t ien-wang. 
Kipin, 67, 84, no, 150. See Canda- 

har and Cophen. 
Kitchen god, 207, 368. 
Ki-tu, 212. See Ketu. 
K iung, 88. 

Klaproth, Jules, 12, 190, 191, 200,408. 
Koeppen, Fried., 15, 64, 256, 257, 

401, 412. 
Kosala, 31, 42, 404. See Berar and 

Oude. 



INDEX. 



Krishna, 197, 220. 

Kshatrya, 85, 231, 291, 293. 

Kshatryas, 231, 292. 

Kubandas, 216. 

Kublai khan, 147-149. 

Kucha (country), 42. 

Kiih Yuen, 318. 

Kui-tsi (country), 90, 150. 

Kulu (country), 42. 

Kulusan (a Buddha), 14. 

Ku-ma-la-zhip, 398. See Kumara- 

jiva. 

Kumarada, 81, 82. 
Kumarajiva, 40, 41, 89-91, 108-110, 

119, 120, 168, 171, 215, 262, 280, 

283, 287, 398, 415, 416. 
Kunashemuni (a Buddha), 14. 
K u-sa-ha, 117. See Chosrocs I. and 

Nushirvan. 
Ku-shan, 16. 
Kushinagara, 50, 52, 62. See Kush- 

inara. 

Kushinara, 42. See Kushinagara. 
Kustana, 143. See Khoten. 
Kii-yung kwan, 406. 
Kwan-fu-tsi, 240. See Kwan-ti. 
Kwang-fu-s i (monastery), 241. 
Kwang-ming, 171. 
Kwang-mu, 239. See Pi-lieu-pa-cha 

and Virupaksha. 
Kwang-ngo-tu-ri, 159. 
K\vang-yin-t ien, 340. See The hewen 

of brightness and sound. 
Kwan-sh i-yin, 128, 139, 150, 208, 214, 

234, 262, 382, 415. See Kwan- 

yin. 
Kwan-ti, 207, 245, 247, 338, 393. 

See Kwan-fu-t&i. 
Kwan-tsi-tsai, 262, 415. See Ava- 

lokiteshwara and Kwan-yin. 
K\van-yin, 128, 163, 171, 208, 209, 

236, 241, 242, 245, 246, 249, 250, 

255, 258, 259, 261-267, 273, 370, 

382-384, 386, 409, 414, 415. See 

Avalokiteshwara. 
Kwan-yiu-tien (hall), 245. 
Kwei-ki, 170. 
Kwo-hai Kwan-yin, 262. 
Kwo-ts ing monastery, 137, 176, 177, 

1 80. 
Kwun-lun (mountains), 336. 



LAHAN, 5. See Arhuti and Lo-han. 
La-hu, 344. See Lo-heu and Rahu. 
Lai-cheu fu, 373. 
Lama, 237, 259 ; monasteries, 266 ; 

temples, 406. 

Lamas, 152, 260, 262, 263, 270. 
Lamaseries, 212. 
Lamasery, 256. 
Lan-chin, 132. 
Land of Han, 409. 
Landresse, C., 408. 
Larger Development, 280. See Great 

Development. 
Lassen, Ch., 416. 
Later Sung dynasty, 360. 
Later T ang dynasty, 133. 
Later Tsin dynasty, 133. 
Latin language, 362. 
Latins, 40. 

Lau-kiiin, 372, 381, 390. See Lau-tsl. 
Lau-shan, 410. 

Lau-tsi, 55, 168, 372. See Lau-kiiin. 
Law, 30, 35, 81, 93, 173, 190, 226, 233, 

240, 260, 377, 417. See Dhartna 

and Fa. 

Lay Buddhists, 272. See Updsaka. 
Legge, Dr. J., 216. 
Lenga Island, 38, 39. See Ceylon. 
Lenga (a priest), 131. 
Leng-yen monastery, 275 ; fan, 253. 
Lesser Conveyance, 77. See Lesser 

Development. 
Lesser Development, 51, 277, 280, 

281. See Hinayana and Siau- 

ch eng. 
Lhassa, 266. 

Li Hwei-si, 156, 160. See Hwei-s i. 
Li Lau-tan, 55. See Lau-kiiin and 

Lau-ts i. 
Li T ai-pe, 394. 
Liang dynasty, 98, 99, 101, 102, 104, 

107, 112-115, 126, 127. 
Liang-cheu, 108, 116. 
Liang-shau, 270. 
Lien-cheng (a star), 347 
Lien-si -ta-sh i, 198. 
Lieu-tsung, 170. See Tsing-tu. 
Lieu Hing-s i, 160. 
Lieu Pei, 270. 
Lieu Te-wei, 16. 
Lin Ling-su, 142. 



432 



INDEX. 



Lin-tsi school, 161, 163-166, 260. 
Lion kingdom, 94. See Shl-tsl-kwo. 
Liu (a magician), 391. 
Lo Hwei-neng, 371. See Lo-tsu. 
Lo-han, 5, 32, 138, 256. See ArJtan 

and O-lo-han. 
Lo-hans, 50, 177, 178, 184, 225, 241, 

242, 249, 254, 263, 394. 
Lo-heu, 212, 344. See Rahu. 
Lokadjyesht a, 6. See Shl-tsun. 
Lokeshwararaja, 6. See Shl-tsun and 

World s Honoured One. 
London Missionary Society, 407. 
Loo-choo, 146. 
Lo-tsu, 371, 373, 374, 377j 378. See 

Lo Hwei-neng. 
Lower Ganges, 403. 
Lo-yang, 88, 99, 102, 108, 109, 118, 

134, 142, 168, 303, 400. 
Lii, 168, 182, 275, 281. See Discipline 

and Vinaija. 
Lii Ch un-yang, 382. 
Lun, 108, 133, 182, 275, 281. See 

Shastra. 
Lung, 216, 333, 419. See Dragon 

and Naga. 
Lung-hu shan, 390. 
Lung-hu-tan, 390. 
Lung-hwa, 241. 

Lung-kia, 346. See Geomancers. 
Lung-leu, 347. See Dragon tower. 
Lung-nii, 242. See Daughter of the 

Dragon king. 
Lung-sheng, 171. See Conqueror of 

the Dragon. 
Lung-shu, 77, 170, 172, 184, 210, 230, 

278, 279, 302, 303, 311-317. See 

Dragon-tree. 
Lung-wang, 207, 247. See Drayon- 

king and Naga-raja. 
Luther, Martin, 325. 
Lu-tsun (a star), 346. 
Lu-ye-yuen, 28. See Deer garden 

and Mrigadava. 

MA TWAN-LIN, 12, no. 
Madhyamika, 160, 184, 230. 
Madhyantika, 73, 256. 
Madura, 68. 

Magadha, 15, 20, 30, 31, 42, 52, 63, 
137, 215, 231, 289, 404, 416, 417. 



Magian worship, 31. 

Mahabhadra-kalpa, 222. See Age of 
Wise men and Hien kalpa. 

Mahabrahma, 217, 221, 224, 285. See 
Fan-t ien-wang. 

Maha Ishwara, 181, 224. See Mahe- 
shwara and Ta-tsl-tsai-t ien. 

Mahakala miau, 406. 

Maha Kashiapa, 51, 62. 

Maha Kuhila, 290. 

Maha Maudgalyayana, 290. See 
Maudgalyayana. 

Ma-ha-pa-de-ma, 399. See Malta- 
padma and Mo-ho-po-t e-mo. 

Mahapadma, 399. See Ma-ha-pa-de- 
ma and Mo-ho-po-t l e-mo. 

Ma-ha-pa-ja-pa-ti, 214. See Mahd- 
prajdpatt. 

Mahaprajapati, 49, 214. See Ma-ha- 
pa-ja-pa-ti. 

Ma-ha-sat, 6. See Great Botat. 

Mahashasaka school, 169. 

Mahayana, 38, 47, 63, 64, 100, 415 ; 
books, 273, 277, 278; doctrine, 
415 J literature, 415, 416 ; philoso 
phy, 132 ; school, 77, 160 ; sutras, 
238, 244, 279 ; system, 169, 230. 
See Great Development. 

Maheshwara, 214, 224, 399. See Ma 
ha Ishwara and Ta-tsi-tsai-t icn. 

Mahishashakas, 118. See Mahatha- 
saka school and Mi-sha-se-pu. 

Ma-hi-shu-la, 399- See Maheshwara 
and Ta-tsl-tsai-tfien. 

Mahoragas, 217. 

Maitreya, 43, 80, 122, 170, 208, 240, 
244, 254, 256, 263, 279. See Mi-li. 

Malach a, 280. 

Malays, 370. 

Maleya (kingdom), 123. 

Ma-ming, 74-76, 278. See Ashu-ago- 
sha. 

Man, 63. See Svastika and Wan. 

Manchu, 271 ; emperors, 152, 260, 
335 ; language, 406. 

Manchurian mountains, 334. 

Manda mountain, 66. 

Mandarin language, 6, 90, 114, 121, 
399, 4*3- 

Maildjus ri, 414. See Mavjusiri. 

Mandu-kalpn, 222. 



INDEX. 



433 



Manes, 146. 

Manjusiri, 20, 21, 36, 48, 52, 53, 128 

J 39, 159, 162, 186, 208, 214, 227 

231, 236-238, 264, 265, 284, 291 

292, 300, 384. See Wen-shu. 

Man-t eu-kiau, 378. 

Manura, 82-84. 

Mara, 115, 159, 218, 225, 355. 

Maras, 22, 23, 30, 53, 218, 220, 355 

See Mo-kicei. 

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, 108. 
Marga (the path of reformation), 27. 
Mars (planet), 211. See Yung-hwo. 
Marshman, Dr. J., 200. 
Martin, Sir James, 339. 
Massagetse, 280. See Ta-yue-chl. 
Matenga, 36, 37, 291-293, 295. 
Ma-tsu, 129, 160. 
Maudgalyayana, 14, 31, 34, 35, 42 

49, 68, 241. 

Max Miiller, Professor, 200, 282. 
Maya, 15, 21, 30, 57, 364. 
Medhurst, Dr. W. H., 358. 
Megasthenes, 257. 
Meh Ti, 318. 
Memorial on the bone of Buddha, 

126. See Fo-ku-piau. 
Mencius, 203, 318, 324, 325, 382, 400. 
Men-ju-si-li, 128. See Manjusiri and 

Wen-shu. 

Mercury (planet), 211. See Ch en-sing. 
Metempsychosis, 23, 115, 163, 166, 
167, 183, 191, 196, 197, 200, 202- 
204, 228, 243, 244, 268, 279, 296, 
33 2 , 357, 360, 364, 378, 385. 
Miau-feng shan, 271. 
Michaka, 71-73. See Mikkaka and 

Misuchaka. 
Migashakya, 290. 
Mih-li-i-ling kai-sa, 117. 
Mikkaka, 72. See Michaka. 
Miletus, 341, 342. 
Mi-li, 208, 240. See Maitreya. 
Milton, John, 340. 
Min (kingdom), 135. 
Min-kung, 247. 
Min-tsi, 247. 

Ming dynasty, 151, 161, 253, 274, 282, 
293, 335, 355, 36i, 373, 378, 392 ; 
emperor, 151, 265, 335 ; tombs, 
329, 334, 335- 



Ming-cheu, 105. See Ningpo. 
Ming-ti (emperor), 16, 87, 108, 400, 

416. 
Mi-sha-se-pu, 118. See Mahlshdsha- 

kas. 

Misuchaka, 72. See Michaka. 
Mitarani, 290. 
Mithras, 211. 

Mogallana, 248. See Maudgalyayana. 
Moginlin, 126. 
Mohammedan sages, 14. 
Mohammedanism, no. 
Mohammedans, 151. 
Mo-hi-sheu-lo, 399. See Malifaliwara. 
Mo-ho-po-t e-mo, 399. See Maha- 

padma. 
Mo-kwei, 30, 115, 218, 225, 353, 356, 

377. See Maras. 

Mongol account, 236 ; emperor, 147 ; 

emperors, 149, 150, 406 ; lamas, 

406 ; language, 237 ; sacred books, 

406 ; vocabulary, 405. 

Mongolia, 20, 36, 152, 212, 259, 266, 

270. 

Mongolian Buddhism, 149, 366; dy 
nasty, 260 ; emperors, 150. 
Mongolians, 150. 

Mongols, 4, 41, 147, 148, 171, 335. 
Morrison, Dr. R., 4, 413. 
Mount [Ida, 69. 

Mo-wang (king of the Maras), 218. 
Mrigadava, 28. See Deer garden and 

Lu-ye-yuen. 
Muh-kien-lien, 247. 

N"AGA, 24, 67, 414. See Dragon and 
Lung. 

Saga-raja, 207, 215. See Dragon- 
king and Lung-wang. 

fagardjuna, 414. See Nagarjuna. 

Vagarjuna, 40, 43, 77, 78, 156, 160, 
170, 184, 210, 230, 237, 238, 278, 
283, 415. See Dragon-tree, and 
Lung-shu. 

fagas, 24, 39, 40, 50, 58, 59, 66, 216 
217, 418, 419. See Dragons. 

^airanjana (river), 22, 30. 

^akshatras, 344. 

sTalana, 24. 

^alanda, 118, 170, 289. 

STamo (a monk), 147. 

2 E 



434 



INDEX. 



Nanda (a king of the Nagas), 59. 
Nan-haip u-to, 139. SeeP u-to of the 

Southern sea. 
Nanking, 89, 101, 105, no, 169, 179, 

247, 260, 265, 274, 275, 413. 
Nan-ngo school, 156, 159, 160, 170. 
Nan-shan school, 169. 
Naraka, 195, 225, 310, 357, 414. 
Narakas, 217. 
Na-t o (a prince), 159. 
Nats, 217. 
Neander, 166. 

Nebuchadnezzar s image, 256. 
Negroes, 370. 
Nepaul, 2, 15, 88, 100, 132, 309, 315, 

402. 
Nepaulese books, 402 ; Sanscrit, 120, 

214, 238. 
Nestorian missionaries, 354 ; monks, 

355 ; priests, 355. 
Nestorians, 146, 148, 354. 
Neumann, Professor C. F., 100. 
Ngai Ju-lio, 121. 
Ngan-hwei, 371. 
Ngo-kwei, 115, 126. See Hungry 

ghosts. 

Nicephorus Bataniares, 117. 
Nie-p an, 401. See Nirvana. 
Nifwan, 7. See Nirvdna. 
Nikan, 73. See Nirgrantha. 
Ni-ku, 35, 355. 
Nilgherries, 266. 

Nimala paradise, 223. See Hwa-lo. 
Ningpo, 85, 105, 107, 136, 137, 191, 

37i, 377- See Ming-cheu. 
Nirban, 401. See Nirvdna. 
Nirbana, 7. See Nirvdna. 
Nirgrantha, 73, 74. See Nikan. 
Niroda, 27. 

Nirvana, 15, 19, 22, 24, 30, 45-57, 62- 
64, 66, 68, 70, 71, 79, 81, 86, 93, 97, 
135, 163, 168, 171, 174, 185, 197- 
199, 208, 214, 224, 225, 228, 248, 
263, 264, 276, 279, 281, 293, 305 
311, 360, 373, 384, 386, 387, 401 
410, 411, 414, 417, 419. See 
Nie-p an. 

Nirwana, 7. See Nirvdna. 
Ni-seng, 355. See Ni-ku. 
Nit-ban, 401. See Nirvdna. 
No, 269. See Yang-ko, 



North China, 89, 160, 236, 250, 384. 

Northern Buddhism, 36, 55, 208, 233, 
235, 410 ; Buddhists, 13, 21, 38, 42, 
46, 99, 107, 128 ; China, 121, 171, 
179 ; collection, 275 ; India, 71, 
82, 109, no, 145, 229, 277, 399, 
403, 416 ; school, 13, 65, 403 ; sea, 
241 ; Siberia, 190 ; Ts i, 170. 

^orth-western India, 184, 343. 

STii-chih alphabet, 114; dynasty, 
360 ; language, 406. 

sushirvan, 117. See Chosroes I. and 
K u-sa-ha. 

O-CHE-LI-YE, 399. See A-cha-li-ya 

and AcMrya. 
3-lo-han, 401. See A-la-han and 

Arhan. 
Olympus, 364. 
0-mi-to Fo, 208, 233, 245, 246, 258, 

386. See Amida Buddha. 
0-mo-k ia po-che-lo, 399. See 

Amor/ha Vajra. 

Om-mani-padme-hum, 139, 406. 
0-na-han, 401. See Anagam. 
O-nan, 276. See Ananda. 
O-pi ti-yii, 196. See Avichi naraka. 
Origen, 332. 

Oude, 19, 42, 290. See Kosala. 
Ouighour characters, 149 ; country, 

146 ; language, 406 ; writing, 149. 
Ouighours, 91. 
Oujein, 280. 
Oxus, 116. 

PA-HO-SI-PA, 147. See Baschpa. 

P ak-tie, 401. See Pratyeka. 

Palats anga, 91. 

Paley, Dr., 194. 

Pali, books, 401 ; Buddhistical an 
nals, 12 ; history, 106 ; inscriptions, 
402; language, 13, 401-404, 413, 
416,417; originals, 120; tongue, 100. 

Pa-li-chwang pagoda, 251. 

Palinput, 106. See Pataliputra. 

Palladius, Archimandrite, 411. 

Pa-nan Kwan-yin, 246. 

Pan-cheu, 171. 

P ang-kii-shi, 247. 

Paimya, 403. See Prajna. 

Pan-shi, 178. 



INDEX. 



435 



Paradise of Amitabha, 235 ; of Indra 
Shakra, 195, 223, 224 ; of the West 
ern heaven, 167, 170, 172, 174, 
198, 208, 234, 246, 261, 262, 273, 
360, 365. 386, 387, 418. 

Paramita, 417. 

Paramitas, 40. 

Paramiti, 289, 399. See Pat-la-mit-ti. 

Paramoda, 280. 

P.iranai, 42. See Benares. 

Paranimita, 223. See T a-hwa-ts i-tsai. 

Paranirvana, 56. 

Parshva, 74. 

Parthia, 343. 

Parthians, 75. 

Pa-ta-lik, 116, 117. See Constans II. 

Pataliputra, 74, 75. 106, 109, 257, 
2 73, 28 3- See Hwa-sh i and Palin- 
put. 

Patiekan, 401. See Pratyeka. 

Pat-la-mit-ti, 399. See Paramiti. 

Pat-la-si-na-ji-ta, 399. See Prasen- 
ajit. 

Patna, 13, 289, 403. 

Pat-nia, 403. See Prajna. 

Pati iarchs 

1. Indian. See Maha Kashiapa. 

2. ,, ,, Ananda. 

3. ,, ,, Shangnavasu. 

4. ,, ,, Upagupta. 

5. ,, ,, Drikata. 

6. ,, Michaka. 

7. ,, ., Vasumitra. 

8. ,, ,, Buddhanandi. 

9. ,, ,, Buddhamitra. 
TO. ,, ,, Parshva. 

11. ,, ,, Punayadja. 

12. ,, ,, Ashwagosha. 

13. ,, ,, Kapimara. 

14. ,, ,, Nagarjuna. 

15. ,, ,, Kanadeva. 

1 6. ,, ,, Rahulata. 

17. ,, ,, Sanghanandi. 

18. ,, ,, Sangkayasheta. 

19. ,, ,, Kumarada. 

20. ,, ,, Jayata. 

21. ,, ,, Vasub indu. 

22. ,, ,, Manura. 

23. ,, ,, Haklena. 

24. ,, Singhalapulra. 

25. ,, ,, Basiasita. 



Patriarchs continued. 
26. Indian. See Putnomita. 
2 7- ,, ,, Pradjnatara. 

28. ,, ,, Bodhidharma. 

29. Chinese. See Hwei-k o. 
3- >, ,, Seng-tsan. 
31- Tau-sin. 
3 2 - ,, Hunff-jin. 
33- ,, ,, Hu-ai-neng. 

Pattala, 267. See Tatta. 

Pau Cheng, 358. 

Pau Po-ts i, 350. 

Pau-ch i, 168. 

Pe-chang, 209. 

Pe-chi-li province, 90, 128. 

Peguans, 12. 

Peh-yen, 280. 

Peking, 128, 137, 150, 152, 165, 211, 

249-252, 254-256, 259, 260, 262, 

266, 268, 270-272, 274, 275, 329, 

334, 335, 337, 33 8 , 353, 392, 401, 

406, 407, 411, 413. 
Pe-ma si (temple), 168. See White 

horse temple. 
Persia, 31, 93, no, 116, 117, 150, 214, 

249, 343- 
Persian, 145 ; language, 211 ; priests, 

146. 

Peruvians, 63. 
Peshawur, 256. 
Pe-sung (mountain), 390. 
Pe-teu, 347. See Great Bear. 
Pe-ts i dynasty, 171. 
Philing, 117. See Fulim. 
Pi-ch i, 401. See Prati/cka Buddha. 
Pi-ch ieu, 401. See Bikxhu. 
Pien-ch eng, 246. See K ai-feng fu. 
Pien-liang, 270. See K l ai-feny fit. 
Pi-hia yuen-chiiin (a divinity), 271. 
Pi-ho-lo-po-lo, 399. See Viharapala. 
Pi-k ieu, 276, 401. See Bikshu. 
Pi-lan-na-shi-li, 149. 
Pi-leu-le-cha, 239. See Tseng-chang 

and Virudhaka. 
Pi-leu-pa-cha, 239. See Kwang-mu 

and Virupaksha. 
Pi-lu-si, 117. 
Pishabarma (a king), 92. 
Pishacha demons, 285. 
Pi-sha-inen, 239. See To-wen and 

Vaishramana. 



436 



INDEX. 



Pitaka, 230. See San-ts ang. 

P it-ti, 290. See Pratyeka Buddha. 

P it-ti-ka-la, 290. See Pratyeka. 

Piyadasi, 278. See Ashoka. 

Pi-yiin si (temple), 254. 

Plato, 38, 342. 

Platonic dialogues, 38. 

Pluto, 363, 364. 

Po-je, 281. See Prajna. 

Pd-kiun (a star), 348. 

Pole star, 336. 

Po-le-mi-ti, 399. See Paramiti. 

Po-lo-si-na-shi-to, 399. See Prasena- 

jit. 

Polynesians, 370. 

Portuguese, 253, 355. SeeSi-yang-jen. 
Poseidon, 364. 
Po-siiin, 218. See Mo-wang. 
Potala, 139, 266. See Potaraka. 
Potaraka, 139. See Potala. 
Pracrit, 309, 402-404. 
Pradjiiatara, 85. 

Prajna, 19, 40, 41, 51, 181, 281, 403, 
417. See Po-je. 

Prasenajit, 31, 41, 45, 49, 29 1 , 2 9 2 > 
399. See Po-lo-si-na-shi-to. 

Pratyeka Buddha, 66, 80, 135, 183, 
254, 290, 401. See Pi - ch i and 
Yuen-kioh. 

Pratyekas, 290. 

Priesthood, 30, 35, 81, 93, 190, 226, 
233, 240, 417. See Sanga. 

Prince of fuel, 269. See Chai-wang. 

Protestants, 354. 

Ptolemy, 93. 

P u-hien, 20, 21, 128, 139, 163, 187, 
208, 241, 243, 255, 265, 384, 385. 
See Samantabhadra. 

Pu-k ung, 125, 132, 169. See Amogha. 

Pu-lu-sha, 144. See Purusha. 

Punayadja, 74. 

Punjab, 83, 256, 278, 322, 343. 

Purana Kashiapa, 52. 

Puruna, 290. 

Purusha, 278. See Pu-lu-sha. 

P u-sa, 5, 24, 39, 206, 247, 266, 365, 
370, 383, 385. See Bodhisattwa. 

Put, 413. See Fo. 

Putaloka, 262. See Potaraka. 

P u-ta-lo-kia, 139. See Potaraka. 

Putanas, 216. 



u-t l i, 401. See Bodhi. 

u-t i-lieu-chi , 399. See Bodhiruchi. 

utnomita, 85. 
? u-to, 128, 137, 139, 259, 262, 265-267, 

402. 
P u-to of the Southern sea, 139. See 

Nan-hai p u-to. 
Pythagoras, 337, 342. 

RAHU, 212, 344. See La-hu and Lo- 
heu. 

Rahula, 14, 32-34, 248. 

Rahulata, 78, 79. 

Rajagriha, 5, 31, 64, 66, 214, 273. See 
Wang -she. 

Raksha, 58. 

Rakshas, 156, 206. 

Rakshasas, 216, 217. 

Rama, 220, 287. 

Ras Algethi (a star), 348. See Ti-tso. 

Ratnaprabha, 214. 

Red bird, 337. 

Remusat, J. A., 2, 6, 62, 88, 91, 109, 
114, 207, 408. 

Rhode, H., 156. 

Ricci, Matteo, 151, 152, 171, 355. 

Rishi, 71, 173. See Sien-jen. 

Roman Catholic missionaries, 151, 355. 

Roman Catholics, 354, 355. 

Roman emperor, 108 ; empire, 86, 
117, 211, 222; merchant, 108 ; re 
ligion, 397 ; sculpture, 249 ; shop 
keeper s wife, 415. 

Romans, 117. 

Rome, 86, 202, 269, 415. 

Ruli, 45. 

Russell, Bishop, 377. 

Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, 411. 

SABA (a world), 209, 214. See Saha. 
Sabikaras (a heretical sect), 292, 293. 
Sagardagam, 311. See Sidagam. 
Sage of the house of Shakya, n. See 

Shakyamuni. 

Saha, 209, 214, 222. See Saba. 
S akyamuni, 414. See Shakyamuni. 
Salaribhu, 52, 53. 
Samadhi, 21, 24, 52, 62, 66-68, 76, 

77, 186, 187, 296, 384, 414, 417. 
Samana, 416. See Shramana. 
Samanean, 409. See Shramana. 



INDEX. 



437 



Famanta, 144. 

Samantabhadra, 20, 139, 208. See 
P u-hien. 

Samantagandha, 214. 

Samarcand, 93. 

Samidhi, 308. 

Sam-mei, 417. 

Sammitiyas, 118. See San-mi-ti-pu. 

Samudaya, 27. 

Sanchi topes, 287. 

Sandracottus, 106. Saj/S/saKorros, 257. 
See Chandrayupta. 

Sandy desert, 150. 

San-fo-ts i, 145. 

Sanga, 28, 29, 189, 354, 417. See 
Priesthood. 

Sangadeva, no, 399. See Seng-k ia- 
tfi-p o. 

Sangarama, 29, 168, 245. 

Sanghanandi, 79, 80. 

Sangkayasheta, 80, 81. 

Sang-nmn, 89. See Shamen. 

Sankhya philosophy, 314; school, 
312. 

San-kung, 346. 

San-kwau, 247. 

San-mi-ti-pu, 118. See Sammitiyas. 

Sanscrit alphabet, 112, 113, 399; 
books, 116, 118, 136, 144, 413; 
character, 137 ; characters, 131, 
I 3 2 > r 37, 2 49, 4S, 406; charm, 
407; Chinese dictionary, 413 ; copy, 
109; dialect, 404; dictionary, 412; 
equivalent, 93; form, 118, 222; 
forms, 413 ; grammar, 6, 1 18, 302 ; 
inscriptions, 137, 402, 407; lan 
guage, 2, 5, 6, 13, 20, 63, 67, 90, 
100, 107, 118, 119, 123, 132, 135, 
137, 140, 149, 173, 192, 213, 222, 
225, 231, 260, 262, 274, 282, 283, 
287, 290, 309, 311, 354, 399, 400- 
406, 416, 417 ; letters, 115, 169, 399 ; 
literature, 137, 228 ; manuscript, 
176 ; manuscripts, 2, 144, 146 : 
metres, 303; mode, 114; name, 
94, 210, 240 ; names, 214, 239, 412 ; 
originals, 117, 401,417; professor, 
107 ; pronunciation, 121 ; scholar, 
238 ; scholars, 107 ; sentences, 137, 
40 r ; sounds, 406, 414 ; sutras, 107 ; 
syllable, 120 ; term, 7, 129, 302 ; 



termination, 35; text, 215, 403, 
404 ; translations, 107 ; version, 13 ; 
word, 4, 12, 100, 107, 115, 168, 354, 
357. 3 62 , 401, 404, 405. 416 ; words, 
4, 6, 222, 400, 402, 412 ; works, 
107 ; writing, 149, 363, 402. 

Sanskrita, 414. See Sanscrit lan 
guage. 

San-t ai (three constellations), 348. 

San-tsang, 230, 283. See Tripitaka. 

San-tsang-fa-shi, 129. 

Sarvastivadas, 118. See Shang-tso- 
pu and Shwo-i-tsie-yeu-pu. 

Sarvavainasicas, 309. 

Saturn (planet), 211. See Chen-sing. 

Savatthi, 416. See Shravasti. 

Scandinavian inscriptions, 63. 

Schlegel, A. W., 106. 

Schmidt, I. J., 166, 

Schott, W., 171, 410, 411. 

Scinde, 88. See Shin-do. 

Seleucus Nicator, 106, 257. 

Semite, 341. 

Semitic origin of Sanscrit, 363. 

Seng-chau, 109. 

Seng-ga-de-ba, 399. See Sangadeva. 

Seng-k ia-t i-p o, 399. See Sanga 
deva. 

Serampore, 200. 

Sha-ba-ti, 416. See Shravasti. 

Shak-de-wan-yin, 214. See Shakra- 
deva Tndra. 

Shak-ka-la-de-ba In-da-la, 399. See 
Shakradeva Indra. 

Shakradeva Indra, 399. See Shak-de- 
wan-yin. 

Shakya, 12, 25, 28, 31, 96, 100, 102, 
104, 106, 145, 208, 261. See Shak- 
yamuni. 

Shakya clan, 43, 45 ; family, 17. 

Shakyamuni, 4, 9, n, 13-15* J 9> 23, 
26, 29-32, 35, 38, 40-42, 45, 47, 50- 
52, 62, 64, 70, 71, 94, 99, 106, 119, 
126, 141, 154, 157, 159, 167, 168, 
171, 180, 192, 207, 208, 210, 213- 

215, 217, 218, 222, 227, 228, 232, 
241-244, 246-250, 253, 255, 256, 
258, 259, 26l, 264-266, 276, 277, 

279, 282-284, 287, 302, 344, 355, 
380, 3 8 4, 386, 402, 414, 4i7. See 
Shakya. 



433 



INDEX. 



Sha-la, 150. 

Shamen, 65, 89, 192, 315, 401, 416. 

See Shramana. 

Shami, 65, 66. See Shramanera. 
Sha-nai-shat-chat-lu, 399. See Sha- 

naishchara. 
Shanaishcliara, 399. See Sha-nai- 

shat-chat-la. 
Shang dynasty, 388. 
Shanghai, 107, 119, 120, 134, 241, 328, 

3^6, 371, 379, 391, 410. 
Shangnavasu, 62, 66-69, 73- 
Shang-tso-pu, 118. See /Sarvdstivd- 

das. 

Shan-hwei, 168. 
Shan-si province, 90, 116, 128, 139, 

146, 165, 166, 171, 259, 265, 384. 
Shan-ts ai, 21, 159, 242. 
Shan-tung province, 163, 246, 270, 

272, 371, 373, 378, 410. 
Shariputra, 14, 21, 31, 35, 49, 159, 

241, 248, 290. 
Shastra, 76, 160, 169, 170, 279, 288, 

304, 306, 312. See Lun. 
Shastras, 68, 77, 108, no, 120, 133, 

147, 149, 210, 232, 277, 279, 302, 

303- 

Sha-wei, 4, 5. See Shravasti. 
Shen Yo, 113. 
She-na-yi-shi-che-lo, 399. See Ska- 

naishchara. 
Sheng-t ien, 279. 
Sheng-wen, 243, 248, 304, 306, 310. 

See Shrdvaka. 
Shen-kung, 112. 
Shen-si province, 88, 90, 93, 103, 126, 

133- 

Shen-tsung (emperor), 142. 
Sheu-leug-yen Rajah, 296. 
Shi-chi, 14, 163, 241, 246, 249. 
Shi -chwang, 407. 
Shi-hwang, 326. 
Shi-kia Fo, 258. See Shaky a. 
Shi-kia-lo-t i-p a Yiu-t o-lo, 399. See 

Shakradeva Indra. 
Shikhin (a Brahma), 215. 
Sliila (morality), 417. 
Shi-li, 117. See Hormouz. 
Shin-do, 88. See India. 
Shin-sieu, 160, 162. 
Shipara discipline, 54. 



Shira, 226. 

Shi -t eu, 160. 

Shi-ts i, 84. See Singhalapntra. 

Shi-tsi-kwo, 94. See Ceylon. 

Shi-tsun, 6. See Julai arid World a 

Honoured One. 
Shiva, 63, 150, 215, 216, 220. 
Shivaism, 132. 
Shramana, 65, 79, 192, 401, 416. See 

Shamen. 

Shramanas, 28, 89. 
Shramanera, 65. See Shami. 
Shravaka, 304. See Sheng-wen. 
Shravakas, 19, 310. 
Shravasti, 4, 14, 31, 36, 41, 42, 49, 

79, 119, 290, 292, 296, 297, 404, 

416. See Sha-wei. 
Shu country, 390. See S i-ch wen. 
Shun-ch i, 91, 152. 
Shwo-i-tsie-yeu-pu, 118. See Sar- 

vdstivddas. 
Siam, 36, 104, 171, 211, 246, 249, 

402. 
Siamese, 12 ; chronology, 15 ; prince, 

265. 

Si-an fu, 89, 146. See Ch ang-an. 
Siang-pe mountain, 67. 
Siau it, 115, 116. 
Siau-ch eng, 277, 280, 281. See Hin- 

ayana and Smaller Development. 
Si-ch wen province, 128, 139, 265, 270, 

384, 390. See Shu country. 
Sidagam, 182, 311. 
Siddharta, 15, 18. See Shakyamuni. 
Sien-jen, 173. See Rishi. 
Sieu-lo (Su-la), 115. See Asura. 
Si-fan, 149. See Thibet. 
Si-hien, no. 
Si-ma Chien, 350. 
Si- ma Wen-kung, 143. 
Sin-an (district), 366. 
Sin-chang (town), 256. 
Singhalaputra, 84. See Shi-titi. 
Singhalese, 4, 12, 94, 249, 277; Bud 
dhists, 282 ; dates, 13 ; priest, 125 ; 

temples, 42. 

Sinhala, 94, See Sh i-ts i-kwo. 
Sinim, 93. 

Sin-la, 132. See Corea. 
Sin-siu (sect), 360. 
Sisters of Mercy, 395. 



INDEX. 



439 



Si-ta-t ien-wang, 239. See Four 

Great Kings of Devas. 
Si-tso, 179. 
Siuen-ho, 382. 
Siuen-tsung (emperor), 128. 
Siuen-wang, 203. 
Siiin King, 318. 

Si-yang-jen, 253. See Portuguese. 
Si-yii si , 272. 
Small Development school, 20. See 

Lesser Development. 
Smaller Development course, no ; 
school, 281 ; sutras, 38. See Hin- 
ayana. 

Smith, Dr. W., 342. 
Socrates, 38, 342. 
So-da-ban, 401. See Srotapanna. 
Sotapan, 401. See Srotapanna. 
South China, 355 ; India, 77, 279. 
Southern Bahar, 15 ; Buddhism, 36, 
410; Buddhist traditions, in; 
Buddhists, 12, 13, 15, 42, 211, 273, 
277 ; China, 101, 330 ; Chinese 
dialects, 400 ; collection, 275 ; 
continent, 206 ; India, 21, 76, 77, 
85, 86, 100, 156, 280 ; ocean, 222, 
schools, 403 ; sea, 139, 241, 242. 
Southey, K,., 197. 

Srotapanua, 68, 311, 401. See So-da- 
ban. 

St. Hilaire, B., 2. 
Stoics, 342. 
Stonehenge, 419. 
Sii Fa, 283. 
Sii Kien, 343. 
Sii Ki-yu, 357. 
Sii Kwang-k i, 152. 
Su Yeu, 16. 
Subhadra, 53. 

Subhuti, 5-7, 159, 290, 291, 293. 
Sudatta, 292, 296. 
Su-da-wan, 48, 182, 311, 401. See 

Srotapanna. 

Suddhodana, 15. See Tsing-fan. 
Sui dynasty, in, 117, 176, 206, 250. 
Sui-sing (planet), 211. See Jupiter. 
Sumeru mountain, 20, 21, 32, 44, 59, 
93, 222, 223, 233, 234, 239, 336, 344. 
Sun K iueu (a prince), 108. 
Sun Tsiau, 129. 
Sung dynasty, 47, 58, 133, 134, 139, 



142, 152, 270, 281, 322, 323, 325, 
356, 358, 359, 361, 365, 383, 392 ; 
(Earlier), 91, 93, 94, 98, 409 ; Ju, 

318, 319, 326 ; philosophers, 318, 

319, 321-326, 359 ; philosophy, 344. 
Sung-kiang, 119. 

Sung-tsii Kwan-yin, 262, 383. 

Sung-yiin, 100, 103. 

Susima, 106. 

Sii-t o-hwan, 68, 401. See Srota 
panna. 

Sutra, 21, 41, 42, 44, 55, 88, 109, 119, 
120, 149, 150, 182, 215, 218, 230, 
275, 279, 293, 307, 308. 

Sutras, 17, 38, 41-44, 51, 54, 68, 70, 
100, 106-109, II8 , I2 8, 131, 133, 
146, 147, 149, 168, 186, 214, 219, 
230, 232, 234, 236, 302, 305, 307, 
308, 311, 312, 314-316. 

Su-tsung (emperor), 124. 

Svastika, 63. See Wan. 

Swaracs, 156. 

Sykes, Colonel, 213. 

Syria, 106. 

Syriac, 148. 

Syrian. Christians, 117, 354; inscrip 
tion, 117, 353, 357, 363. 

TA-CH ENG, 99, 100, no, 209, 230, 
277, 278, 281, 416. See Great De 
velopment and Makayana. 

Ta-hia, 88. See Dahce. 

T a-hwa-tsi-tsai, 223. See Parani- 
mita. 

T ai-cheu, 175. 

T ai-ki, 323. See Great Extreme. 

T ai-pe (planet), 211. See Venus. 

T ai-ping rebellion, 169, 275, 390. 

T ai-shan, 246, 338, 374, 393. 

T ai-tsi-t a, 265. 

T ai-tsu (emperor), 134. 

T ai-tsuug (T ang emperor), 16, 117, 
124, 171 ; (Sung emperor), 134. 

Tai-wei (constellation), 16. 

T ai-yuen fu, 128. 

Ta-kio-kin-sien, 142. See Shakya- 
muni. 

Tamil, 82. 

Ta-ming fu, 165. 

Ta-mo, 99, 102, 103, 209, 247. See 
Sodhidharma. 



440 



INDEX. 



Tan Chi, 360. 

Tan-cho si (temple), 2^2. 

T ang dynasty, 66, 103, 107, 115, 116, 
122, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 146, 
158, 163, 207, 209, 211, 238, 249, 
250, 275, 351, 354, 356, 383, 391, 

394, 395, 400, 404, 415. 
T ang (emperor), 333. 
T ang Shang-shu, 374. 
Tantra, 269 ; school, 125, 169. 
Tartar chief, 92 ; family, 91. 
Tartary, 91, 145, 255, 336, 360. 
Ta-shi-chi, 209, 234, 255, 262. 
Ta-shih, 117. See Arabs. 
Tathagata, 6, 34, 47, 51, 158, 172, 

207, 290, 292-297. See Julai. 
Ta-ts in, 86, 117. See Roman empire. 
Ta-tsi-tsai-t ien, 214. See Mahesh- 

wara. 

Tatta, 267. See Pattala. 
Tau, 98, 164. 
Tau-an, 108, 168. 
Tauisra, 107, 130, 142, 147, 247, 320, 

323, 373, 38i, 382, 387-389, 392- 

395, 397, 4". 

Tauist, 121, 321, 324, 382 ; authors, 
372 ; books, 364, 369, 391 ; collec 
tion, 391 ; discipline, 388 ; divi 
nity, 210, 246; doctiine, 319; ele 
ments, 339 ; expression, 373 ; genii, 
142 ; heaven, 391 ; hierarchy, 389 ; 
hell, 394 ; hermits, 394 ; ideas, 392 ; 
idols, 247 ; images, 361 ; literature, 
358; magic, 319; magician, 387, 
389 ; mind, 381 ; monastery, 393 ; 
notions, 378 ; part, 345 ; patriarch, 
391 ; personage, 271 ; philosophers, 
319 ; physical system, 325 ; prayers, 
391 ; priests, 107, 220, 387 ; publi 
cations, 369 ; recluses, 175 ; reli 
gion, 395 ; school, 361 ; sects, in ; 
superstition, 207 ; teaching, 395 ; 
temple, 153; tone, 319; wizard, 
387 ; writers, 391. 

Tauists, 220, 321, 324, 325, 350, 365, 
372, 381, 387, 388, 393-396. 

Tau-kwang, 263. 

Tau-li heaven, 20, 48, 93, 218, 223. 

Tau-lio, 287. 

Tau-siuen, 209. 

Tau-wu, 150. 



Tau-yuen, 144. 

Ta-yue-chi, 280. See Massagctce. 

Teda (king), 83. 

Te-shau, 178. 

Te-ts ing, 293, 296. 

Teu-shwai si (temple), 250. 

Thales, 341, 342. 

The guiding Buddha, 246, 386. See 
Tsie-yin Fo. 

The heaven of brightness and sound, 
340. See Kwang-yin-t i ien. 

The pure calm and spontaneously- 
perceiving Ju-lai, 391. See Tsing- 
tsing-tsi-jan-chio-ju-lai. 

The secret teaching of Yoga, 169. 
See Yo-ga-mi-kiau. 

Thibet, 63, 66, 90, 145, 149, 152, 170, 
184, 230, 242, 259, 261, 266, 280, 
336. See Si-fan. 

Thibetan, 147 ; architecture, 266 ; 
Buddhism, 149; Buddhists, 150; 
character, 406 ; image, 261 ; in 
cense, 251 ; inscriptions, 139, 255, 
260, 263 ; language, 149, 406 ; 
letters, 115, 169; prayer, 251; 
prayers, 406 ; priest, 150 ; priests, 
262; route, in; word, 117. 

Thibetans, 4, 114, 171, 202, 230, 406. 

Thinaj, 93. 

Thor, 63. 

Thousand-handed Kwan-yin, 262. 

Three Precious Ones, 417. See Fo, 
Fa, and Sang a. 

Three Pure Ones, 390, 391. 

Three Sages, 209, 246, 262. 

T ien, 28, 40, 115, 172, 229, 310, 362. 
See Deva. 

T ien-feng (mountain), 178. 

T ien-mu shan (mountain), 178, 358. 

T ien-ning si (temple), 250. 

T ien-t ai, 41, 136-140, 146, 156, 171, 
172, 175, 179, 1 80, 259 ; kiau, 140, 
184, 187 ; school, 186,^209, 230, 231; 
system, 184. 

T ien-t ai shan (mountain), 170. 

T ien-ti, 391. See Heavenly emperor. 

Tientsin, 328, 395. 

T ien-ts in p u-sa, 159, 169, 278. See 
Vasubandu. 

T ien-t uug, 191. 

T in-do, 89. See India. 



INDEX. 



441 



Ting-kwang Fo, 65. 

Tirthancaras, 156. 

Ti-shi, 210, 243. See Indra Shakra. 

T i-to-lo-to, 239. See Dhritarashtra. 

Ti-tsang, 139, 195, 209, 227, 242, 245- 
247, 254, 255, 263, 265, 364, 393. 

Ti-tso (constellation), 348. See Mas 
Alaethi. 

To-lo-ni, 399. See Dliarani. 

To-wen, 239. See Vaishramana. 

Treasure of the Law, 233. See Fa- 
tsang. 

Tripitaka, 64, 169, 180, 277, 283. See 
San-tsang. 

Ts ai-shen, 247. 

Tsai-sheu, 227. 

Ts au-k i, 159. 

Tsau-kiiin, 207. 

Ts au-tung (school), 161, 260. 

Tseng-chang, 239. See Virudhaka. 

Tsi (state), 203. 

Ts i dynasty, 95, 107. 

Tsi Liang, 95. 

Tsie-yin Fo, 246, 386. See Tie guid 
ing Buddha. 

Ts i-hang, 266, 353. See Vessel of 
Mercy. 

Tsi-hwang shang-ti, 361, 364. 

Tsi -pe ta-sh i, 275. 

Tsin dynasty (Western), 171, 391. 

Ts in dynasty, 93, 326. See Dzin 
dynasty. 

Ts ing-cheu, 410. 

Tsing-fan, 15. See Saddhodana. 

Tsing-tsing-tsi -jan-chio - ju - lai, 391. 
See The pure, calm, and spontane 
ously-perceiving Ju-lai. 

Tsing-tu, 262 ; school, 170, 198, 209, 
234, 411 ; sect, 172. 

Ts ing-yuen school, 159, 160. 

Ts iuen-cheu, 159. 

Tsi-wei ta-ti, 391. 

Tso-f u (a star), 348. 

Tso-ts i, 269. 

Ts ung-ling mountains, 90, 131, 144. 

Tsung-men, 141, 158, 160, 247, 260. 
See Esoteric branch. 

Tu Fu, 394. 

Tu Hwai-jang, 160. 

T u-ha-la, 117. 

Tu-kiue, 117. See Western Turks. 



Tung-ngo ti-kiiin, 246. 

T ung-tae monastery, 105. 

Tung-yo temple, 359, 393, 394. 

Tun-hwang, 170. 

Turanian language, 405. 

Turkestan, 35, 61, 404. 

Turkish language, 404, 405. 

Turks, 116. 

Tumour, G., 12, 13, 15, 106. 

Tu-shi k eu, 407. 

Tushita heaven, 12, 21, 30, 57, 170, 

223, 225, 244, 256. 
Tushito. 12. See Tushita. 
T u-ti miau, 359. 

U-CHANG-NA, 399. See Udyana. 

Udaya, 32. 

Udayana (king), 49. 

Udin, 109, no, 143,280. SeeKhoten. 

Udyana, 100, 290, 399. See U-chang-na. 

U-dyung-na, 399. See Udi/ana. 

U-lam, 126, 210. See Yu-lan-hwci 

and Yu-lan-p en. 

Uluka, 306, 313. See Yeu-leu-kia. 
Uluvilva Kashiapa, 30. 
Ulysses, 363. 
United States, 357. 
Upadhyaya, 143, 417. See Ho-shang. 
Upagupta, 67-70. 
Upakutta, 58. 

Upali, 168, 277. See Yeu-po-li. 
Upanishata, 290. 
Upasaka, 20, 35, 50, 143, 399. See 

Yeu-po-so-kia. 

VAISESHIKAS, 310. 

Vaishajas, 216. 

Vaishali, 42, 45, 284, 403. See 

Vesali. 

Vaishramana, 216, 239. See To-iven. 
Vajramati, 169. See Kin-kang-chl. 
Vajrasattwa, 169. See Kin-kany- 

sat-wa. 

Varanasi, 28. See Benares. 
Vasubandu, 159, 278. See T ien-ts in 

p u-sa. 

Vasumitra, 72, 73, 277, 283. 
Veda, 207. See Wei-to. 
Vedas, 27, 213, 363. 
Ve-nu Deva, 219. See Vishnu. 
Venus (planet), 211. See 2"ai-pe. 



442 



INDEX. 



Vesali, 403. See Vaishali. 
Ve-shi-uu, 219. See Vishnu. 
Vessel of Mercy, 265, 353. See Ts i- 

hang. 

Viharapala, 399. See Bi-lxt-la-pa-la. 
Vimakita, 163, 284. See Wei-mo-kie. 
Vimbasara, 31. See Bimbisara. 
Vinaya, 108, no, 168, 182, 253, 275- 

277, 281, 287, 290. See Lil. 
Virga (Energy), 417. 
Virgin Mary, 242, 415. 
Virudhaka, 216, 239. See Tseng- 

chang. 

Virupaksha, 216,239. SeeKwang-mu. 
Vishnu, 63, 215, 216, 219, 220, 248. 

See Ve-nu Dera. 
Vishvakarma, 39. 

WADE, SIR T. F., 4, 413. 

Waidehi, 215. 

Wan, 63. See Man and Svastika. 

Wang (royal name), 135. 

Wang Hi-ch i, 398. 

Wang-she, 214. See Rajagriha. 

Wan-nien monastery, 179. 

Ward, W., 14. 

Waiters, T., in, 127, 134, 143, 419. 

Wei dynasty, 91, 92, 98-100, 102, no, 
129. 

Wei Kwo-kung, 374. 

Wei Pe-yang, 321, 324, 350. 

Wei Yuen, 357. 

Wei-ma, 159. See Wci-mo-kie. 

Wei-mo, 163. See Wei-mo-kie. 

Wei-mo-kie, 284. See Vinicucita. 

Wei-shi-siang-kiau, 169. 

Wei-to, 207, 240, 244, 245. See Veda. 

Wen Wang (king), 324, 333, 362. 

Wen-ch ang ti-kiiin, 367, 369. 

Wen-chii (a star), 346. 

Wenger, Dr., 216. 

Wen-shu, 21, 128, 139, 208, 231, 236, 
241, 243, 255, 284, 384, 385. See 
Manjusiri. 

Wen-ti (emperor), 92, 94. 

Western Asia, 117,350; authors, 282; 
Buddhas, 281 ; China, 145 ; coun 
tries, 119, 144, 364; heaven, 158; 
hills, 249, 252 ; India, 82, 83, 144, 
280 ; origin, 363 ; races, 363 ; tribu 
taries, 260; Turks, 117. 



Wheel king, 22, 278 ; kings, 54, 80, 
185; of a thousand spokes, 58; of 
Buddhist preaching, 28 ; of cease 
less revolution, 294 ; of doctrine, 
22, 27, 28, 246 ; of the Buddhist 
law, 28 ; of the holy doctrine, 278 ; 
of the honoured law, 93 ; of the law, 
237, 266, 375 ; of the metempsy 
chosis, 243 ; of the wonderful law, 

75- 
White horse temple, 168. See Pc- 

ina s i. 

White tiger, 337. 
Wight, O. W., 312. 
Williams, M., 302. . 
Williams, S. W., 62. 
Wilson, Professor H. H., 106, 107, 

137, 30 8 , 3 J 3- 
Wiltshire, 419. 

Wo-mei shaii (mountain), 139, 384. 
Woo-wei mountain, 265. 
World s Honoured One, 6, 50, 57, 63, 

2 97> 37> 38- See Sh i-tsun. 
Wu (empress), 122. 
Wu state, 108. 

Wu-cho, 169, 279. See Asengha. 
Wu-chii (a star), 347. 
Wu-kien ti-yii, 195, 225. See Avichi 

naraka. 
Wu-leu, 132. 
Wu-liang-sheu, 234. See Amitabha 

Buddha. 
Wu-t ai (mountain), 128, 133, 139, 

146, 236-238, 259, 374, 384. 
Wu-ti (Ch in emperor), 107; (Han), 

88; (Liang), 98, 101, 104, 113-115, 

126, 127 ; (Ts i), 95. 
Wu-tsung (emperor), 128. 
Wu-wei, 311, 372, 373, 376 ; kiau, 371, 

372, 37 8 > 379 5 religion, 375 ; sect, 

373 ; tau-jen, 375. 
Wu-yen-tso-wang, 159. 
Wu-yeu-wang, 107. 
Wylie, Mr. A., 211. 

XENOPHON, 38. 

YAJA, 82, 83. 

Yaksha, 39. 

Yakshas, 39, 216, 217, 223. 

Yama, 21, 196, 214, 217-219, 242, 246, 



INDEX. 



443 



359, 3945 naraka, 225; paradise, 

223. 

Yang (Choo), 361. 
Yang-cheu (kingdom), 93 ; (province), 

109, 410. 
Yangimara, 159. 
Yang-ko, 269. See -ZVo. 
Yang-tsze keang, 102, 264. 
Yarkand, 88. 
Yashaita, in. 
Yashodara, 17, 32, 33. 
Yates, Dr. M. T., 334, 392. 
Yau-chu heaven, 377, 379. 
Yau-k i, 347. See Brilliant rapour. 
Yau-tsu, 377. 
Yellow river, 303. 
Yem-ma, 218. See Yama. 
Yen Hwei, 55. 
Yen-cheu, 128. See Peking. 
Yen-lo, 196, 218. See Yama. 
Y r en-lo-waug, 219, 242, 394. See 

Yama. 

Yen-ma, 218. See Yama. 
Y^en-mo-lo-she, 218. See Yama. 
Yen-tsung (emperor), 122. 
Yetili, 226. 

Yeu-leu-kia, 313. See Uluka. 
Yeu-pi (a star), 348. 
Yeu-po-li, 168. See Updli. 
Yeu-po-so-kia, 399. See Updsaka. 
Yezdegerd, 117. See I-dzi-zi. 
Yih-hing, 123. 
Ying-tsu, 377. 
Yi-tsing, 21 r. 
Yoga school, 132, 169, 170. See 

Yogachara school. 
Yogachara school, 125, 132, 169. See 

Yoga school. 
Yo-ga-mi-kiau, 169. See The secret 

teaching of Yoga. 
Yogatchara, 169. See Yogachara 

school. 



Yo-slu Fo, 208, 235, 236, 245, 246. 

See Bh 1 ishajyagu rti. 
Yo-tsang p u-sa, 246. 
Yo-wang p u-sa, 210, 246. See Bhai- 

shctjyardja. 

Yo-wang shan (mountain), 105. 
Yu (emperor), 159, 323. 
Yii Chau-shi, 125. 
Yue-hu, 106. See Chandragupta. 
Yue-kwang-pien-chau, 235. 
Yuen dynasty, 139, 146, 149-151, 281. 
Yuen Wei dynasty, 303. See Wei 

dynasty. 
Yuen-kioh 290, 304, 306, 310. See 

Pratyeka. 

Yuen-ming-yuen, 335. 
Yue-ti, 86, 416. See Getce. 
Yii-hwang, 264, 393. See Yii-hwang 

shamj-ti. 

Yii-hwang shang-ti, 391. See Yii- 
hwang ta-ti. 
Yu-hwang ta-ti, 360, 361, 364, 391. 

See Yii-hwang shang-ti. 
Yii-hwang-ti, 389. See Yii-hwan(i 

shang-ti. 

Yii-lan-hwei, 268. $3e U-lam. 
Yii-lan-p en, 210. See Yu-lan-hu ei. 
Yung-ho-kung, 256. 
Yung-hwo (planet), 211. See Mars. 
Yung-lo, 274, 275, 329, 334. 
Yung-pi, 289. 
Yiin-men (school), 161. 
Yiin-ts i monastery, 171 ; school, 

198. 

Yii-nii, 390. 
Yii-ti, 210, 247, 389, 391, 392. See 

Yii-hwang shang-ti. 
Yu-tian, 143. See Khotcn. 
Yii-ts ing kung, 391. 

ZENO, 342. 

Zoroastrian fire worship, 27. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 

OF 

TITLES OF BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS WORK. 



A Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese, 3, 283, 410. 

Abhidharma Kosha, 1 20. 

Abhidharma-lun, 1 10. See Shastra of Metaphysics. _ 

Abhinishkramana Sutra, 287. See Fo-pen-liing-tsi-ldng. 

Account of Buddhist Kingdoms, 91,121. See Fo-lcwo-ki. 

Additional Agama Sutra, no. 

Agama Sutras, 20, 51. 

Amida Sutra, 171. See Amitabha Sutra and A-mi-ta-kwg. 

Amitabha Sutra, 198, 233, 234, 236. See Amida Sutra, A-mi-ta- 

Icing, and Wu-liang-sheu-king. 
A-mi-ta-king, 180. See Amida, Sutra. 
An Account of Astronomy by the Brahman Gigarishi, 123. See 

Ba-la-men-gih-ga-sien-jen-t ien-wen-shwo. 
Asangkhyea Vinaya, 109. See Seng-ki-lu. 

Ba-la-men-gih-ga-sien-jen-t ien-wen-shwo, 123. See An Account 

of Astronomy by the Brahman Gigarishi. 
Ba-la-men-swan-fa. 123. 
Ba-la-men-swan-king, 123. 
Ba-la-men-yin-yang-s\van-li, 124. 

Book for shaking the Dragon, 339. See Han-lung-kmg. 
Book of a Hundred Parables, 286. See Pe-yii-king. 
Book of a Thousand Characters, 281. See Tsien-tsi-wen. 
Book of Changes, 324, 378. See Yi-king. 
Book of Forty-two Sections, 20, 188, 283. 
Book of History, 1 59. 

Book of Kwan-yin, 367. See Kwan-yin-king. 
Book of Miscellaneous Parables, 287. See Tsa-yu-king. 
Book of Odes, 362. 
Book of Keason and Virtue, 372. See Tau-te-king. 



446 INDEX. 

Book of the Dliarma in Sentences, 286. See Fa-kii-king. 
Book of the Nirvana, 178. See Nirvana Sutra. 
Brahmajala, 287. See Fan-wang-king. 
B rah man ical Astronomy, 123. See l^o-lo-mcn-Vien-w^n. 
Bright Sutra, 109. See Ming-king. 

Central Agama Sutra, 215. 

Central Shastra, 171, 219, 230. See Chung-lun. 

Ceylon Friend, 287. 

Ch ung-a-han-king, 1 10. See Longer Agama Sutra. 

Chan-tsi-king, 287. See Sdma Jdtaka. 

Ch eng-shih Sutra, 109. See Complete Sutra. 

Cheng-sin-kiuen, 374. 

Ch eng-wei-shi-lun, 278, 279. 

Cheu-li, 270. 

Cheu-shu-yi-ki, 16. 

Chih-fang-wai-ki, 121. 

Chinese Recorder, 127, 211, 412, 419. 

Chinese Repository, 167. 

Ching-tsz-t ung, 6. 

Chi-tu-lim, 41. See Shastra of the Measure of Wisdom. 

Chi-yue-luh, 103, 159-161, 277. 

Chung-Inn, 170, 171, 184, 230, 278. See Central Shastra and 

Medial Shastra. 
Chung-sheng-tien-ki, 16. 
Chung-yin-tu-na-lan-to-ta-tau-ch ang-king, 289. See Tlie Sutra 

of Nalanda, the great seat of worship in Central India, and 

Leng -yen-king. 
Chwang-tsi, 321, 372. 

Chwen-ts ai-king, 387. See Liturgy for turning the coffin. 
Complete Sutra, 109. See Ch eng-shih Sutra. 
Curse of Kehama, 197. 

Daily Prayers, 119. 

Description of Western Countries, 121. See Mtmoires sur le* 

Contrees Occidentalcs. 
Dharmapitaka Sutra, 86. 
Diamond Classic, 4, 41. See Diamond Sutra. 
Diamond Sutra, 8, 97. See Kin-kang-king. 
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology 342. 
Discipline of the Four Divisions, no, 169. See S i-fun-lu. 
Discipline of the Ten Chants, 1 10. See Shih-sung-lH. 

Eastern Monachism, io6 ; 169, 244, 277, 317, 410. 



INDEX. 447 



Essai sur le Pali, 416. 
Essay on Buddhism, 317. 



Fa-hwa Sutra, 47, 108, 109. See Fa-hwa-kuig. 

Fa-hwa-hwei-i, 186, 231. 

Fa-hwa-king, 38, 43, 100, 172, 180, 184, 208, 209, 214, 231, 235, 

269, 283, 415. See Lotus of the Good Law and Saddharma 

pundarika. 

Fa-kii-king, 286. See Book of the Dharma in Sentences. 
Fang-kwang-pat-nia-king, 109. See Light-emitting Prajna Sutra. 
Fan-wang-king, 51, 190, 287. See Brahmajala. 
Fan-wang Sutra, 216. See Fan-wang-king. 
Fan-yi-ming-i, 35. 

Fa-yuen-chu-lin, 86, 106, 135, 158, 215, 218, 340. 
Foe koue ki, 88, 91, 207, 408. 
Fo-ki-siang-king, 137. See Sutra of Good Fortune. 
Fo-kwo-ki, 91. See Foe koue hi, Travels of Fa-hian and Suncj- 

yiin, and Records of Buddhistic Kingdoms. 
Fo-pen-hing-tsi-king, 287. See Abhinishkramana Sutra and The 

Romantic Legend of Sdkya Buddha. 
Fo-tsu-t ung-ki, 15, 32, 41, 42, 56, 72, 73, 82, 85, 86, 156. 

Gatha of One Shloka, 306. See The S/iastra of One Shloka. 

Golden Light Sutra, 109. See Kin-kwang-king. 

Great cloud Sutra, 122. See Ta-yiin-king. 

Great Lotus of the Good Law, 43. See Lotus of the Good Law. 

Great Prajna, 116. See Ma-ha-pat-nia. 

Hai-kwo-t u-ch i, 357. 

Han-lung-king, 339, 345. See Book for shaking the Dragon. 

Han-wei-ts ung-shu, 91. 

Handbook for the Student of Chinese Buddhism, 6, 31, 35. 39, 

403,412, 4i5,4i7- 
Heart Classic, 387. See Sin-king. 
Hing-kio-kiuen, 374. 

Histoire de la Vie de Hiouen-thsang, 117, 292, 408. 
History of Modern Philosophy, 312. 
History of the Northern Wei dynasty, 106, 107. 
History of the Sui dynasty, 112, 123. 
History of the Sung dynasty, 94, 96. 
History of the T ang dynasty, 1 16. 
History of the Wei dynasty, 16, 1 1 1. 
History of T ien-t ai-shan, 137. 
Hundred Discourses, 210. 



448 INDEX. 

Hwa-yen Sutra, 20, no, 131, 170. See Hiva-y en-king. 
II wa-y en-king, 18, 21, 24, 109, 139, 180, 230, 231, 237, 238, 265, 
278, 279, 415. See Hwa-yen Sutra. 

Influence of Tropical Climates on Europeans, 339. 

In-ming-lun, 120. 

In-ming-shu-kiai, 120. 

Institutes of Manu, 302. See Laws of Manu. 

Introduction a 1 Histoire du Buddhisme Indien, 106, 229. 

Introduction to the Study of the Chinese Characters, 1 1 2, 399, 400. 

Japanese Encyclopaedia, 62. 

Jen-wang-king, 1 24. See Sutra of the Benevolent king. 

K ai-yuen-chan-king, 123. 

K ai-yuen-shi-kiau-lu, 278, 280. 

K ang-hi s Dictionary, 392, 398. 

Kan-ying-p ien, 367. 

Kia-yii, 325. 

Kiau-ch eng-fa-shu, 189, 190. 

Kieu-chii-li, 211. See Kieu-ch i-sliu. 

Kieu-chi-shu, 123. See Kieu-chi-li. 

Kin-kang-king, 8, 21, 153, 180, 269. See Diamond Sutra. 

Kin-kang-pat-nia-pa-la-ini-ta-king, 119. See Vajra-chedika- 

prajna-paramita Sutra. 

Kin-kwang-king, 109. See Golden Light Sutra. 
Kin-kwang-ming-king, 206, 240. See The Bright Sutra of Golden 

Light. 

Kin-shi-t u-shu-pu, 117. 

K i-sin-lun, 278. See Shastra for awakening Faith. 
Kung-ch io-king, 211. See Peacock Sutra. 
Kwang-tse-li, 122. See The Calendar of the Bright house. 
Kwan-wu-liang-sheu-king, 234. 
Kwan-yin-king, 387. See Book of Kwan-yin. 

Laws of Manu, 93, 363. See Institutes of Manu. 

Lenga Sutra, 39, 51, 103, 130. 

Leng-yen-king, 19, 20, 36, 37, 149, 153, 253, 269, 288, 289. 

Les Avadanas, 3, 408. 

Liang History, 104, 108, 113. 

Life of Buddha, 143, 192. 

Light-emitting Prajna Sutra, 109. See Fang-kwang-pat-nia- 

king. 
Li-ki, 351. 



INDEX. 449 

Li-men-lun, 120. 

Liturgy for turning the coffin, 387. See Chwen-ts ai-king. 
Longer Agama Sutra, no. See Ch ( ang-a-han-king. 
Lothair, 415. 

Lo-tsu-cli u-shi-t ui-fan-ping-pau-kiuen, 373. 
Lotus of the Good Law, 2, 19, 38, 46, 47, 89, 100, 108, 180, 214. 
269, 283. See Fa-hua-king. 

Ma-ha-pat-nia, 116. See Great Prajna. 

Maha Prajna paramita, 275, 281. See Ta-poh-je-king. 

Mahavanso, 106. 

Manual of Buddhism, 189, 217, 230, 410. 

Manual of Buddhist Regulations and Festivals, 205, 210. See 
Pe-chang-ts ing-kwei. 

Medial Shastra,i84. See Central Shastra and Chung-lun. 

Melanges Asiatiques, 6. 

Memoires sur les Contrees Occidentales, 292, 408. See Descrip 
tion of Western Countries. 

Methode pour D6chifrer et Transcrire les noms Sanscrits, 93, 400. 

Miau-fa-lien-hwa-king, 3, 100, 180. See Fa-hwa-king. 

Ming-king, 109. 

Mirror of History, in. See T ung-kien-kang-mu. 

Mythology of the Hindoos, 14. 

Narrative of Buddha pacifying and subduing Samidhi, 308. See 

Tiau-fuh-san-mih-t i-king. 
Neng-twan-kin-kang-pat-nia-pa-la-mi-ta-king, 119. See Vajra- 

chedika-prajna-paramita Sutra. 
New Testament, 275. 

Nirvana Sutra, 53, 108, 109, 114, 180. See Book of the Nirvana. 
Ni-wan-king, 109. See Nirvana Sutra. 
Notions of the Chinese concerning God and spirits, 216. 

Olanggi sodar, 237. See Hwa-y en-king. 
Old Testament, 333. 
O-mi-to-king-su-ts au, 198. 

Pat-no-pa-la-mit-ta, 40. See Prajna paramita. 

Pau-tsih Sutra, 131. 

Pau-ying-lu, 367. 

Peacock Sutra, 211. See Kung-ch io-king. 

Pe-chang-ts ing-kwei, 205, 209, 210. See Manual of Buddhist 

Regulations and Festivals. 
Pei-hwa-king, 236. 

2 F 



450 INDEX. 

Pei-tsang-mu-lu, 275. 
Pen-hing-king, 391. 
Pen-ting-lii, 109, no. 
Pe-ye-kie-la-nan, 120. 

Pe-yii-king, 286. See Book of a Hundred Parables. 
Ping-shu-pi-t an, 382. 

P i-shih-shi-chu-wang, 152. See The Errors of the Buddhists Ex 
posed. 

P o-lo-men-t ien-wen, 123. See Brahmanical Astronomy. 
P o-sie-kiuen, 374. 

Pradimoksha Sutra, 55. See Pratimoksha. 
Prajna paramita, 20, 40, 42, 47, 119, 184, 266, 279. 
Prajna-teng-lun, 278. 
Pratimokslia, 288. See Pradimoksha Sutra. 

Records of Buddhistic kingdoms, 408. 

Religiose Bildung, u. s. w. der Hindus, 156. 

Researches of the Members of the Russian Mission in Peking, 411. 

Sacred Edict, 152, 379. 

Saddharma pundarika, 43, 108, 214. See Fa-hwa-king. 

Sama Jataka, 287. See Chan-tsi-king. 

Sankhya Karika, 313. 

San-kiau-yi-su, 13, 72, 73, 157, 160. See Supplementary Account 

of the Three Religions. 
San-mei-king, 104. 
Seng-ga Sutra, 104. 

Seng-ki-lu, 109, See Asangkhyea Vinaya. 
Shanghai Almanac, 1 24. 

Shastra for awakening faith, 278. See K i-sin-lun. 
Shastra of fixed position, no. See Ti-cWi-lun. 
Shastra of Metaphysics, no. See Abhidharma-lun. 
Shastra of the Measure of Wisdom, 40. See Chi-tu-lun. 
Shastra of the Method of Great Wisdom, 77. See Ta-clii-tu-lun. 
Shastra of the Non-ego, 76. See Sutra of the Not-me. 
Shastra of the ten positions, no. See Shl-ti-lun. 
Sheng-t ien-shih-kiai-king, 189. See The book of birth in heaven 

through keeping the ten prohibitions. 
Sheu-shan-ko-ts ung-shu, 119. 
Shi -er-men-lim, 278. 

Shih-sung-lii, no. See Discipline of the Ten Chants. 
Shih-tsien, 51. See Tallies of the Shakya communities. 
Shing-ming-lun, 120. 
Shi-ti-lun, no. See Shastra of the Ten Positions. 



INDEX, 45 r 

Shui-hu, 270. 

Shu-king, 321. 

Shwo-fu, 91. 

Siang-cheng-ki, 16. 

Si-fun-lii, 1 10. See Discipline of the Four Divisions. 

Sing-king, 322. See Star classic. 

Sin-king, 387. See Heart classic. 

Si-pu-lii, 1 68. 

Si-yeu-chen-ts euen, 121. See Si-yeu-ki. 

Si-yeu-ki, 121. See Si-yeu-chen-ts ( euen. 

Star classic, 322. See Sing-king. 

Sung History, 144-146. 

Supplement to Wen-hien-t ung-k au, 132, 149. 

Supplementary account of the three religions, 13. See San-kiau- 

yi-su. 

Sutra of Boundless Age, 137. See Wu-liang-sheu-king. 
Sutra of Forty-two Sections, 19, 88, 120, 400, 416. 
Sutra of Good Fortune, 137. See Fo-ki-siang-king. 
Sutra of Pure name, 177. See Tsing-ming-king. 
Sutra of the Benevolent King, 124. See Jen-wangling. 
Sutra of the Diamond, 21. See Diamond Sutra. 
Sutra of the dying instructions of Buddha, 418. 
Sutra of the Lotus of the Good Law, 43. See Fa-hwa-king. 
Sutra of the Not-me, 83. 
Sutra of the ten points of rest, 108. 
Sutra of Tornbs in connection with sympathetically operating 

causes, 55. See Tsung-mu-yin-yuen-king. 
Syllabic Dictionary, 413. 

Ta-chJ-tu-lun, 77, 160, 278. See Shastra of the Method of Great 

Wisdom. 

T ai-shan-kiuen, 374. 

Tallies of the Shakya communities, 51. See Shi/i-tsien. 
T ang-yun, 146. 
T an-shi-kiuen, 374. 
Ta-pei-ch an, 269. 
Ta-pei-ts an, 140, 187. 

Ta-poh-je-king, 275. See Maha Prajna-paramita. 
Ta-t ang-si-yu-ki, 1 19. See Memoires sur les Contrees Occidentals. 
Ta-tsi-king, 39. 

Tau-te-king, 168, 372. See Book of Reason and Virtue. 
Ta-yun-king, 122. See Great Cloud Sutra. 
The book of birth in heaven through keeping the ten prohibitions, 

189. See Sheng-Vien-shih-kiai-king. 



452 INDEX. 

The Bright Sutra of Golden Light, 206. See Kin-kwang-ming- 

Jcing. 

The calendar of the bright house, 122. See Kwang-tse-li. 
The Errors of the Buddhists exposed, 152. See P i-shih-shi-chu- 

wang. 
The magical formula of the Bodhisattwa Kwan-shi-ym, who 

has a thousand hands and eyes and a merciful heart, 

1 32. See Ts ieii-sheu-ts ien-yen-kwan-shi-yin-p u-sa-ta-pei-sin- 

to-lo-ni. 

The Romantic Legend of Sakya Buddha, 3, 33, 410. 

The Shastra of One Shloka, 302, 303, 308, 316. See Fih-shu-lu- 
kia-lun. 

The Sutra of Nalanda the great seat of worship in Central India, 
289. See Chung-yin-tu-na-lan-to-ta-tau-ch l ang-king. 

Thousand Character Classic, 281. See Tsien-tsi-wen. 

Three Lectures on Buddhism, 419. 

Tiau-fuh-san-mih-t i-king, 308. See Narrative of Buddha pacify 
ing and subduing Samidhi. 

Ti-ch i-lun, 1 10. See Shastra of fixed position. 

T ien-t ai-shan-chi, 177. See History of T ien-t ai-shan. 

Ti-tsang Sutra, 218, 225. See Ti-tsang-king. 

Ti-tsang-king, 195, 269. See Ti-tsang Sutra. 

Transactions of the Second Oriental Congress, 107, 287. 

Travels of Fa-Han and Sung-yun, 408. 

Treatise on the four tones, 113. 

Ts an-t ung-ki, 321, 322. 

Tsa-yu-king, 287. See Book of Miscellaneous Parables. 

Ts ien-sheu-ts ien-yen-kwan-shi-yin-p u-sa-ta-pei-sin-to-lo-ni, 132. 
See The magical formula of the Bodhisattwa Kwan-shi-yin, 
who has a thousand hands and eyes and a merciful heart. 

Tsien-tsl-wen, 281. See Book of a Thousand Characters. 

Ts in history, 90. 

Tsing-ming-king, 177. See Sutra of Pure Name. 

Ts ing-tsing-kiuen, 374. 

Tsing-tu-sheng-hien-luh, 278. 

Tsing-tu-shi, 174. 

Tsing-tu-wen, 411. 

Tso-chvven, 16. 

Tsung-mu-yin-yuen-king, 55. See Sutra of tombs in connection 
with sympathetically -operating causes. 

T ung-kien-kang-mu, 89, 100, 105, 1 1 1. See Mirror of History. 

Twan-tsi-sin-yau, 163. 

tJber den Buddhaismus in Hoch Asien und in China, 410. 



INDEX. 453 

Vajra cliedika prajna paramita Sutra, 119. See Kin-kang-pat- 

nia-pa-la-mi-ta-king. 

Vibhasha-lun, 278. See Vibhasha Shastra. 
Vibhasha Shastra, 83. See Vibhasha-lun. 
Vie de Gaudama, 202. 
Vishnu Purana, 106. 

Wan-kwo-kung-pau, 366. 

Wei-ma Sutra, 108, 109, 284. 

Wei-shi-lun, 169. 

Wu-liang-sheu-king, 137, 171, 233, 234. See Amitabha Sutra. 

Yih-shu-lu-kia-lun, 302, 303. See The Shastra of One Skloka. 

Yi-king, 320, 322, 325, 339. See Book of Changes. 

Yin-chi-wen, 367. 

Ying-hwan-ch i-lio, 357. 

Yi-sho-lo-ka-lun, 306. See The Shastra of One Shloka. 

Yi-ts ie-king-yin-i, 222, 231. 

Yo-shi-king, 235. 

Yo-si-lieu-li-kwang-ju-lai-kung-te-king, 1 20. 

Yuen History, 148. 

Yii-k ia-yen-k eu, 132, 137. 

Yii-lan-p en Sutra, 210. 

Yti-li, 358, 360, 365- 

Yii-li-ch au-chwen, 367. 

Yu-p ien, 112, 146. 



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henceforth as being the first to undertake the discovery of the old sounds by 
means of a scientific method, and the first also further to establish thereby 
the etymology of the Chinese monosyllables. . . . The phonetic additions to 
the characters were treated by Marshman, Goncalves, and Callery, as helps 
to reading, rather than as means by which to discover the history of the 
language. It remained for our author to choose the latter as his point of 
view, and he has made it the centre of gravity of his work and of his 
investigations. . . . His recovery of the ancient sounds of old poems, and 
his directions for the use of Kanghi s dictionary, will, we hope, have a 
stimulating influence in a wider sinological circle." G. v. d. G. in Literar- 
isches Centralblatt, March 31, 1877. 

"Already had the wish been expressed by me ( Humboldt, p. 69) that 
a man so versed in the knowledge of Chinese and its dialects as Edkins 
undoubtedly is, might take on himself the difficult but also uncommonly 
thankworthy task to bring to light as far as possible all changes of sound 



and mutilations in Chinese. . . . And, what I could not expect, this has 
already been performed by him, and performed in a manner which, leaving 
out of view the many differences of opinion between us on linguistical 
subjects, as before explained, elicits from me the confession, given without 
reserve, that I surrender myself to him as an eager scholar, with open mind 
and ear, in that branch of study which concerns the origin of the ideographic 
and phonetic values of the Chinese written character. 

* The Chinese writing deserves, as much as the Egyptian and the Assyrian, 
that the fullest attention should be directed to its origin and progressive 
development, and not less to the method of construction that lies at its 
foundation ; and certainly the present writer, so far as he has a right to 
pronounce judgment in a field of knowledge unfamiliar to him, is free to 
acknowledge with joy that by Mr. Edkins an often surprisingly new light, 
clearing up many an obscurity, has been shed on the object already illus 
trated on all sides. . 

"Our author s peculiar merit, and for which he cannot be sufficiently 
praised, consists not only in his having obtained the most learned and 
interesting conclusions on a vast number of characters, but also m his 
valuable and in many ways successful efforts to recover the original sound, 
so far as attainable, of Chinese words, which is etymologically of extreme 
importance. 

"Certainly we may without error venture to give m our allegiance 1 
general proposition, that the sound of the phonetic part of a character is an 
index to the pronunciation of the character at the time of its formation. 

"Of what value this work is to the sinologue it is not for me to estimate 
in its full extent. But that to the philologists it opens up in many peculiar 
ways an idiom so singular, as the Chinese shows itself to be, in the written 
character, in sound, and in its own constitution, thus rendering it more 
capable of being understood, I believe that I can testify with the most 
thankful acknowledgments to the author out of a full soul." Professor Pott 
of Halle in Gottinyische gdehrte Anzeigen, March 14 and 21, 1877. 

A Grammar of the Chinese Colloquial Language, 

commonly called the Mandarin Dialect. Second Edition. 
Svo, pp. viii.-28o, half-calf. Shanghai, 1864. 303. 

This work was used by the late Professor Stanislas Julien in his classes, 
and recommended to his students. 

Progressive Lessons in the Chinese Spoken Language, 

with lists of common words and phrases, and an appendix 
containing the laws of tones in the Peking Dialect. Third 
Edition. Svo, pp. vi.-io4, sewed. 1862. 128. 

A Vocabulary of the Shanghai Dialect. 8vo, pp. vi.-i52, 

half-calf. Shanghai, 1869. 2 is. 

A Grammar of the Shanghai Dialect. Second Edition. 

8vo, pp. viii.-226, half-calf. Shanghai, 1869. 2 is. 

China s Place in Philology. An Attempt to show that the 

Languages of Europe and Asia have a Common Origin. 
Svo, pp. xxiv.-404, cloth. London, 1876. los. 6d. 



BQ 

62M 

EM5 

1880 

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ROBA