,,buddhism ,,and ,,buddhists ,,in       
,,china    by ,,lewis ,,hodous1 ,d4,d4  
,contents     ,,preface   ,,chapter ,i4 
,,introductory   ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the  
,,entrance ,,of ,,buddhism ,,into       
,,china   ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the        
,,establishment ,,of ,,buddhism ,,as    
,,the ,,predominating ,,religion ,,of   
,,china       #a4 ,the ,world of        
,invisible ,spirits       #b4 ,the      
,universal ,sense of ,ancestor ,control 
#c4 ,degenerate ,taoism       #d4 ,the  
,organizing ,value of ,confucianism     
#e4 ,buddhism an ,inclusive ,religion   
,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,buddhism ,,and ,,the  
,,peasant       #a4 ,the ,monastery of  
,kushan       #b4  ,monasteries ,control
 ,fng-shui       #c4 ,prayer for ,rain  
7a7 ,the altar           7b7 ,the prayer
 service           7c7 ,its ,meaning    
#d4 ,monasteries are ,supported because 
,they ,control ,fng-shui   ,,chapter ,v4
 ,,buddhism ,,and ,,the ,,family        
#a4 ,kuan ,yin1 the ,giver of ,children 
and ,protector of ,women       #b4 ,kuan

 ,yin1 the ,model of ,local             
,mother-,goddesses       #c4            
,exhortations on ,family ,virtues       
#d4 ,services for the ,dead   ,,chapter 
,,vi4 ,,buddhism ,,and ,,social ,,life  
#a4 ,how the ,laity is ,trained in      
,buddhist ,ideas       #b4 ,effect of   
,ideals of ,mercy and ,universal ,love  
#c4 ,relation to ,confucian ,ideal      
#d4 ,the ,embodiment of ,buddhist       
,ideals in the ,vegetarian ,sects       
#e4 ,pilgrimages   ,,chapter ,,vii4     
,,buddhism ,,and ,,the ,,future ,,life  
#a4 ,the ,buddhist ,purgatory       #b4 
,its ,social ,value       #c4 ,the      
,buddhist ,heaven       #d4 ,the        
,harmonization of ,these ,ideas with    
,ancestor ,worship   ,,chapter ,,viii4  
,,the ,,spiritual ,,values ,,emphasized 
,,by ,,buddhism ,,in ,,china       #a4  
,the ,threefold ,classification of ,men 
under ,buddhism       #b4 ,salvation for
 the ,common ,man       #c4 ,the ,place 
of ,faith       #d4 ,salvation of the   
,second ,class       #e4 ,salvation for 

the ,highest ,class       #f4 ,heaven   
and ,purgatory       #g4 ,sin       #h4 
,nirvana       #i4 ,the ,philosophical  
,background       #aj4 ,what ,buddhism  
,has to ,give   ,,chapter ,,ix4         
,,present-,,day ,,buddhism       #a4    
,periods of ,buddhist ,history       #b4
 ,the ,progress of the ,last            
,twenty-five ,years       #c4 ,present  
,activities           7a7 ,the          
reconstruction of monasteries           
7b7 ,accessions           7c7           
,publications           7d7 ,lectures   
7e7 ,buddhist societies           7f7   
,signs of social ambition       #d4 ,the
 ,attitude of ,tibetan ,lamas       #e4 
,the ,buddhist ,world ,versus the       
,christian ,world   ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the 
,,christian ,,approach ,,to ,,buddhists 
#a4 ,questions which ,buddhists ,ask    
#b4 ,knowledge and ,sympathy       #c4  
,emphasis on the sthetic in             
,christianity       #d4 ,emphasis on the
 ,mystical in ,christianity       #e4   
,emphasis on the ,social ,elements in   

,christianity       #f4 ,emphasis on the
 ,person of ,jesus ,christ           7a7
 ,as a ,historical ,character           
7b7 ,as the ,revealer           7c7 ,as 
the ,saviour           7d7 ,as the      
,eternal ,son of ,god       #g4 ,how    
,christianity ,expresses ,itself in     
,buddhist ,minds       #h4              
,christianity's ,constructive ,values   
,,appendix ,,one1 ,hints for the        
,preliminary ,study of ,buddhism in     
,china   ,,appendix ,,two1 ,a ,brief    
,bibliography          ,,preface        
,this volume is the third to be         
published of a series on 8,the ,world's 
,living  ,religions10 projected in #aibj
 by the ,board of ,missionary           
,preparation of the  ,foreign ,missions 
,conference of ,north ,america4 ,the    
series seeks to introduce  ,western     
readers to the real religious life of   
each great national area of the         
non-,christian world4    ,buddhism is a 
religion which must be viewed from many 
angles4 ,its original  form1 as preached

 by ,gautama in ,india and developed in 
the early years  succeeding1 and as     
embodied in the sacred literature of    
early ,buddhism1 is not  representative 
of the actual ,buddhism of any land     
today4 ,the faithful student  of        
,buddhist literature would be as far    
removed from understanding the working  
activities of a busy center of ,buddhism
 in ,burmah1 ,tibet or ,china today as a
  student of patristic literature would 
be from appreciating the ,christian life
  of ,london or ,new ,york ,city4       
,moreover ,buddhism1 like ,christianity1
 has been affected by national          
conditions4  ,it has developed at least 
three markedly different types1         
requiring1 therefore1  as many distinct 
volumes of this series for its fair     
interpretation and  presentation4 ,the  
volume on the ,buddhism of ,southern    
,asia by ,professor ,kenneth  ,j4       
,saunders was published in ,may1 #aibc2 
this volume on the ,buddhism of ,china  
by  ,professor ,hodous will be the      

second to appear2 a third on the        
,buddhism of  ,japan1 to be written by  
,dr4 ,r4 ,c4 ,armstrong1 will be        
published in #aibd4 ,each of  these is  
needed in order that the would be       
student of ,buddhism as practiced in    
those countries should be given a true1 
impressive and friendly picture of what 
he will meet4    ,a missionary no less  
than a professional student of ,buddhism
 needs to approach  that religion with a
 real appreciation of what it aims to do
 for its people and  does do4 ,no one   
can come into contact with the best that
 ,buddhism offers  without being        
impressed by its serenity1 assurance and
 power4    ,professor ,hodous has       
written this volume on ,buddhism in     
,china out of the ripe  experience and  
continuing studies of sixteen years of  
missionary service in  ,foochow1 the    
chief city of ,fukien ,province1 ,china1
 one of the important centers  of       
,buddhism4 ,his local studies were      
supplemented by the results of broader  

research and study in northern ,china4  
,no other available writer on the       
subject  has gone so far as he in       
reproducing the actual thinking of a    
trained ,buddhist  mind in regard to the
 fundamentals of religion4 ,at the same 
time he has taken  pains to exhibit and 
to interpret the religious life of the  
peasant as affected  by ,buddhism4 ,he  
has sought to be absolutely fair to     
,buddhism1 but still to  express his own
 conviction that the best that is in    
,buddhism is given far more  adequate   
expression in ,christianity4    ,the    
purpose of each volume in this series is
 impressionistic rather than  definitely
 educational4 ,they are not textbooks   
for the formal study of  ,buddhism1 but 
introductions to its study4 ,they aim to
 kindle interest and to  direct the     
activity of the awakened student along  
sound lines4 ,for further  study each   
volume amply provides through directions
 and literature in the  appendices4 ,it 
seeks to help the student to            

discriminate1 to think in terms of  a   
devotee of ,buddhism when he compares   
that religion with ,christianity4 ,it   
assumes1 however1 that ,christianity is 
the broader and deeper revelation of    
,god  and the world of today4           
,buddhism in ,china undoubtedly includes
 among its adherents many high-minded1  
devout1 and earnest souls who live an   
idealistic life4 ,christianity ought to 
make a strong appeal to such minds1     
taking from them none of the joy or     
assurance or devotion which they        
possess1 but promoting a deeper1 better 
balanced interpretation of the active   
world1 a nobler conception of ,god1 a   
stronger sense of sinfulness and need1  
and a truer idea of the full meaning of 
incarnation and revelation4    ,it is   
our hope that this fresh contribution to
 the understanding of ,buddhism as  it  
is today may be found helpful to readers
 everywhere4    ,the ,editors4    ,new  
,york city1 ,december1 #aibc4    ,the   
,committee of ,reference and ,counsel of

 the ,foreign ,missions ,conference of  
,north ,america has authorized the      
publication of this series4 ,the author 
of each  volume is alone responsible for
 the opinions expressed1 unless         
otherwise  stated4          ,,buddhism  
,,and ,,buddhists ,,in ,,china          
,i  ,,introductory      ,a well known   
missionary of ,peking1 ,china1 was      
invited one day by a ,buddhist          
acquaintance to attend the ceremony of  
initiation for a class of one hundred   
and eighty priests and some twenty laity
 who had been undergoing preparatory    
instruction at the stately and important
 ,buddhist monastery4 ,the beautiful    
courts of the temple were filled by a   
throng of invited guests and spectators1
  waiting to watch the impressive       
procession of candidates1 acolytes1     
attendants  and high officials1 all in  
their appropriate vestments4 ,no        
outsider was  privileged to witness the 
solemn taking by each candidate for the 
priesthood of  the vow to 8keep the ,ten

 ,laws10 followed by the indelible      
branding of his  scalp1 truly a 8baptism
 of fire40 ,less private was the        
initiation of the lay  brethren and     
sisters1 more lightly branded on the    
right wrist1 while all  about intoned   
8,na ,mah ,pen ,shih ,shih ,chia ,mou   
,ni ,fo40 7,i put my trust in my        
original ,teacher1 ,skyamuni1 ,buddha47 
,the missionary was deeply impressed by 
the serenity and devotion of the        
worshipers and by the dignity and       
solemnity of the service4 ,the last     
candidate  to rise and receive the      
baptism of branding was a young married 
woman of  refined appearance1 attended  
by an elderly lady1 evidently her       
mother1 who  watched with an expression 
of mingled devotion1 insight and pride  
her  daughter's initiation and welcomed 
her at the end of the process with      
radiant  face1 as a daughter1 now1 in a 
spiritual as well as a physical sense4  
,at that  moment an attendant1 noting   
the keen interest of the missionary1    

said to him  rather flippantly1 8,would 
you not like to have your arm branded1  
too80 8,i  might10 he replied1 8just out
 of curiosity1 but ,i could not receive 
the  branding as a believer in the      
,buddha4 ,i am a ,christian believer4   
,to be branded  without inward faith    
would be an insult to your religion as  
well as treachery  to my own1 would it  
not8 ,is not real religion a matter of  
the heart80    ,the old lady1 who had   
overheard with evident disapproval the  
remark of the  attendant1 turned to the 
missionary at once and said1 8,is that  
the way you  ,westerners1 you           
,christians1 speak of your faith8 ,is   
the reality of religion for  you also an
 inward experience of the heart80 ,and  
with that began an interesting          
interchange of conversation1 each party 
discovering that in the heart of the    
other was a genuine longing for ,god    
that overwhelmed all the artificial1    
material distinctions and the human     
devices through which men have limited  

to  particular and exclusive paths their
 way of search1 and drew these two      
pilgrims  on the way toward ,god into a 
common and very real fellowship of the  
spirit4    ,a ,buddhist monk was passing
 by a mission building in another city' 
of ,china  when his attention was       
suddenly drawn to the ,svastika and     
other ,buddhist  symbols which the      
architect had skilfully used in         
decorating the building4 ,his  face     
brightened as he said to his companion3 
8,i did not know that ,christians  had  
any appreciation of beauty in their     
religion40    ,these incidents reveal   
aspects of the alchemy of the soul by   
which the real  devotee of one religion 
perceives values which are dear to him  
in another  religion4 ,the good which he
 has attained in his old religion       
enables him to  appropriate the better  
in the new religion4 ,a converted monk1 
explaining his  acceptance of           
,christianity1 said3 8,i found in ,jesus
 ,christ the great  ,bodhisattva1 my    

,saviour1 who brings to fruition the    
aspirations awakened in me  by          
,buddhism40    ,just as it has been said
 that they do not know ,england who know
 ,england only1  so it may be said with 
equal truth that they do not know       
,christianity who know  it and no other 
faith4 ,there are many in ,china like   
the old lady at the temple1  who have   
found in ,buddhism something of that    
spiritual satisfaction and  stimulus    
which true ,christianity affords1 in    
fuller measure4 ,the recognition of     
such religious values by the student or 
the missionary furnishes a sound        
foundation for the building of a truer  
spirituality among such devotees4    ,as
 will be seen in what follows1 religion 
in ,china is at first sight a mixed     
affair4 ,from the standpoint of cruder  
household superstitions an average      
,chinese family may be regarded as      
,taoists2 the principles by which its   
members  seek to guide their lives      
individually and socially may be called 

,confucian2  their attitude of worship  
and their hopes for the future make them
 ,buddhists4  ,the student would not be 
far afield when he credits the religious
 aspirations  of the ,chinese today to  
,buddhism1 regarding ,confucianism as   
furnishing the  ethical system to which 
they submit and ,taoism as responsible  
for many  superstitious practices4 ,but 
the ,buddhism found in ,china differs   
radically from  that of ,southern ,asia1
 as will be made clear by the following 
sketch of its  introduction into the    
,flowery ,kingdom and its subsequent    
history4          ,,ii  ,,the ,,entrance
 ,,of ,,buddhism ,,into ,,china         
,buddhism was not an indigenous religion
 of ,china4 ,its founder was ,gautama of
  ,india in the sixth century ,b4,c4    
,some centuries later it found its way  
into  ,china by way of central ,asia4   
,there is a tradition that as early as  
#adb ,b4,c4  ,chang ,ch'ien1 an         
ambassador of the ,chinese emperor1 ,wu 
,ti1 visited the  countries of central  

,asia1 where he first learned about the 
new religion which  was making such     
headway and reported concerning it to   
his master4 ,a few years  later the     
generals of ,wu ,ti captured a gold     
image of the ,buddha which the  emperor 
set up in his palace and worshiped1 but 
he took no further steps4    ,according 
to ,chinese historians ,buddhism was    
officially recognized in ,china  about  
#fg ,a4,d4 ,a few years before that     
date1 the emperor1 ,ming-,ti1 saw in a  
dream a large golden image with a halo  
hovering above his palace4 ,his         
advisers1  some of whom were no doubt   
already favorable to the new religion1  
interpreted  the image of the dream to  
be that of ,buddha1 the great sage of   
,india1 who was  inviting his adhesion4 
,following their advice the emperor sent
 an embassy to  study into ,buddhism4   
,it brought back two ,indian monks and a
 quantity of  ,buddhist classics4 ,these
 were carried on a white horse and so   
the monastery  which the emperor built  

for the monks and those who came after  
them was called  the ,white ,horse      
,monastery4 ,its tablet is said to have 
survived to this day4    ,this dream    
story is worth repeating because it goes
 to show that ,buddhism was  not only   
known at an early date1 but was favored 
at the court of ,china4 ,in  fact1 the  
same history which relates the dream    
contains the biography of an  official  
who became an adherent of ,buddhism a   
few years before the dream took  place4 
,this is not at all surprising1 because 
an acquaintance with ,buddhism was  the 
inevitable concomitant of the military  
campaigning1 the many embassies and  the
 wide-ranging trade of those centuries4 
,but the introduction of ,buddhism  into
 ,china was especially promoted by      
reason of the current policy of the     
,chinese government of moving conquered 
populations in countries west of ,china 
into ,china proper1 ,the vanquished     
peoples brought their own religion along
 with  them4 ,at one time what is now   

the province of ,shansi was populated in
 this way  by the ,hsiung-nu1 many of   
whom were ,buddhists4    ,the           
introduction and spread of ,buddhism    
were hastened by the decline of         
,confucianism and ,taoism4 ,the ,han    
dynasty 7#bjf ,b4 ,c4-#bba ,a4 ,d47     
established a  government founded on    
,confucianism4 ,it reproduced the       
classics destroyed in the  previous     
dynasty and encouraged their study2 it  
established the state worship  of       
,confucius2 it based its laws and       
regulations upon the ideals and         
principles  advocated by ,confucius4    
,the great increase of wealth and power 
under this  dynasty led to a gradual    
deterioration in the character of the   
rulers and  officials4 ,the rigid       
,confucian regulations became burdensome
 to the people who  ceased to respect   
their leaders4 ,confucianism lost its   
hold as the complete  solution of the   
problems of life4 ,at the same time     
,taoism had become a  veritable jumble  

of meaningless and superstitious rites  
which served to support  a horde of     
ignorant1 selfish priests4 ,the high    
religious ideals of the earlier  ,taoist
 mystics were abandoned for a search    
after the elixir of life during         
fruitless journeys to the isles of the  
,immortals which were supposed to be in 
the ,eastern ,sea4    ,at this juncture 
there arose in ,north ,china a sect of  
men called the ,purists  who advocated a
 return from the vagaries of ,taoism and
 the irritating rules of  ,confucianism 
to the simple life practised by the     
,taoist mystics4 ,when these  thoughtful
 and earnest minded men came into       
contact with ,buddhism they were        
captivated by it4 ,it had all they were 
claiming for ,taoist mysticism and more4
  ,they devoted their literary ability  
and religious fervor to the spreading of
  the new religion and its success was  
in no small measure due to their        
efforts4  ,as a result of this early    
association the tenets of the two       

religions seemed so  much alike that    
various emperors called assemblies of   
,buddhists and ,taoists  with the       
intention of effecting a union of the   
two religions into one4 ,if the  emperor
 was under the influence of ,buddhism he
 tried to force all ,taoists to  become 
,buddhists4 ,if he was favorable to     
,taoism he tried to make all ,buddhists 
become ,taoists4    ,but such mandates  
were as unsuccessful as other similar   
schemes have been4 ,in  the third       
century ,a4 ,d4 after the ,han dynasty  
had ended1 ,china was broken up  into   
several small kingdoms which contended  
for supremacy1 so that for about  four  
hundred years the whole country was in a
 state of disunion4 ,one of the  strong 
dynasties of this period1 the ,northern 
,wei 7#chf-ece ,a4 ,d471 was  distinctly
 loyal to ,buddhism4 ,during its        
continuance ,buddhism prospered         
greatly4 ,although ,chinese were not    
permitted to become monks until #cce ,a4
 ,d41  still ,buddhism made rapid       

advances and in the fourth century1 when
 that  restriction was removed1 about   
nine-tenths of the people of            
northwestern ,china  had become         
,buddhists4 ,since then ,buddhism has   
been an established factor in  ,chinese 
life4          ,,iii  ,,the             
,,establishment ,,of ,,buddhism ,,as    
,,the ,,predominating ,,religion ,,of   
,,china      ,even the historical       
influences noted above do not account   
entirely for the  spread of ,buddhism in
 ,china4 ,in order to understand this   
and the place which  ,buddhism occupies1
 we need to review briefly the different
 forms which religion  takes in ,china  
and to note how ,buddhism has related   
itself to them4    #a4 ,the ,world of   
,invisible ,spirits    ,the ,chinese    
believe in a surrounding-world of       
spirits1 whose origin is  exceedingly   
various4 ,they touch life at every      
point4 ,there are spirits which  are    
guardians of the soil1 tree spirits1    
mountain demons1 fire gods1 the  spirits

 of animals1 of mountains1 of rivers1   
seas and stars1 of the heavenly  bodies 
and of many forms of active life4 ,these
 spirits to the ,chinese mind1 of  today
 are a projection1 a sort of spiritual  
counterpart1 of the many sided          
interests1 practical or otherwise1 of   
the groups and communities by whom they 
are worshipped4 ,there are other spirits
 which mirror the ideals of the groups  
by which they are worshipped4 ,some of  
them may have been incarnated in the    
lives of great leaders4 ,there are      
spirits which are mere animations1      
occasional  spirits1 associated with    
objects crossing the interests of men1  
but not  constant enough to attain a    
definite1 independent life as spiritual 
beings4  ,thus surrounding the average  
,chinese peasant there is a densely     
populated  spirit world affecting in all
 kinds of ways his1 daily existence4    
,this other  world is the background    
which must be kept in mind by one who   
would understand  or attempt to guide   

,chinese religious experience4 ,it is   
the basis on which all  organized forms 
of religious activity are built4 ,the   
nearest of these to his  heart is the   
proper regard for his ancestors4    #b4 
,the ,universal ,sense of ,ancestor     
,control    ,the ancestral control of   
family life occupies so large and       
important a place in  ,chinese thought  
and practice that ancestor worship has  
been called the original  religion of   
the ,chinese4 ,it is certain that the   
earliest ,confucian records  recognize  
ancestor worship2 but doubtless it      
antedated them1 growing up out of  the  
general religious consciousness of the  
people4 ,the discussion of that  origin 
in detail cannot be taken up here4 ,it  
may be followed in the literature  noted
 in the appendix or in the volume of    
this series entitled 8,present-,day     
,confucianism40 ,ancestor worship is    
active today1 however1 because the      
,chinese  as a people believe that these
 ancestors control in a very real way   

the good or  evil fortunes of their     
descendants1 because this recognition of
 ancestors  furnishes a potent means of 
promoting family unity and social       
ethics1 and1 most  of all1 because a    
happy future life is supposed to be     
dependent upon  descendants who will    
faithfully minister to the dead4 ,since 
each one desires  such a future he is   
faithful in promoting the observance of 
the obligation4  ,consequently1 ancestor
 worship1 like the previously mentioned 
belief in the  invisible spiritual      
world1 underlies all other religious    
developments4 ,no  family is so obscure 
or poor that it does not submit to the  
ritual or  discipline which is supposed 
to ensure the favor of the spirits      
belonging to  the community4 ,likewise1 
every such family is loyal to the       
supposed needs of  its deceased         
ancestors4 ,in a very intimate way these
 beliefs are interwoven  with the       
private and social morality of every    
family or group in ,chinese  society1   

and must be taken into account by any   
one who seeks to bring a  religious     
message to the ,chinese people4    #c4  
,degenerate ,taoism    ,taoism is that  
system of ,chinese religious thought and
 practice1 beginning  about the fifth   
century ,b4 ,c41 which was originally   
based on the teachings of  ,lao ,tzu and
 developed in the writings of ,lieh ,tzu
 and ,chuang ,tzu and found in  the ,tao
 ,t ,ching4 ,it is really in this       
original form a philosophy of some      
merit4 ,according to its teaching the   
,tao is the great impersonal background 
of  the world from which all things     
proceed as beams from the sun1 and to   
which all  beings return4 ,in contrast  
to the present1 transient1 changing     
world the ,tao is  unchangeable and     
quiet4 ,originally the ,taoists         
emphasized quiescence1 a life in        
accordance with nature1 as a means of   
assimilating themselves to the ,tao1    
believing that in this way they would   
obtain length of days1 eternal life and 

especially the power to become superior 
to natural conditions4    ,there is a   
movement today among ,chinese scholars  
in favor of a return to this  original  
highest form of ,taoism4 ,it appeals to 
them as a philosophy of life2 an  answer
 to its riddles4 ,among the masses of   
the people1 however1 ,taoism  manifests 
itself in a ritual of extreme           
superstition4 ,it recommends magic      
tricks and curious superstitions as a   
means of prolonging life4 ,it expresses 
itself very largely in these degrading  
practices which few ,chinese will       
defend1  but which are yet very commonly
 practiced4    #d4 ,the ,organizing     
,value of ,confucianism    ,confucianism
 brought organization into these hazy   
conceptions of life and duty4  ,it took 
for granted this spiritual-unspiritual  
background of animism1  ancestor-worship
 and ,taoism1 but reshaped and adapted  
it as a whole so that it  might fit into
 that proper organization of the state  
and nation which was one  of its great  

objectives4 ,just as ,confucianism      
related the family to the  village1 the 
village to the district1 and the        
district to the state1 so it  organized 
the spiritual world into a hierarchy    
with ,shang ,ti as its head4 ,this      
hierarchy was developed along the lines 
of the organization mentioned above4    
,under ,shang ,ti were the five cosmic  
emperors1 one for each of the four      
quarters  and one for heaven above1     
under whom were the gods of the soil1   
the mountains1  rivers1 seas1 stars1 the
 sun and moon1 the ancestors and the    
gods of special  groups4 ,each of the   
deities in the various ranks had duties 
to those above and  rights with         
reference to those below4 ,these duties 
and rights1 as they affected  the       
individual1 were not only expressed in  
law but were embodied in ceremony  and  
music1 in daily religious life and      
practice in such a way that each        
individual had reason to feel that he   
was a functioning agent in this grand   

,confucian universe4 ,if any one failed 
to do his part1 the whole universe would
  suffer4 ,so thoroughly has this idea  
been adopted by the ,chinese people that
  every one joins in forcing an         
individual1 however reluctant or        
careless1 to  perform his part of each  
ceremony as it has been ordered from    
high antiquity4    ,the emperor alone   
worshipped the supreme deity1 ,shang    
,ti2 the great officers of  state1      
according to the dignity of their       
office1 were related to subordinate     
gods and required to show them adequate 
respect and reverence4 ,confucius and a 
long line of noted men following him    
were semi-deified ,footnote3 ,confucius 
was  by imperial decree deified in      
#aijh4 and highly reverenced by the     
literati1 the  class from which the     
officers of state were as a rule        
obtained1 in connection  with their     
duties1 and as an expression of their   
ideals4 ,to the common people  were left
 the ordinary local deities1 while all  

classes1 of course1 each in its  own    
fashion reverenced1 cherished and obeyed
 their ancestors4 ,it should be         
remarked at this point that             
,confucianism of this official character
 has broken  down1 not only under the   
impact of modern ideas1 but under the   
longing of the  ,chinese for a universal
 deity4 ,the people turn to ,heaven and 
to the ,pearly  ,emperor1 the popular   
counterpart of ,shang ,ti4    ,viewed   
from another angle1 ,confucianism is an 
elaborate system of ethics4 ,in         
writings which are virtually the        
scriptures of the ,chinese people       
,confucius and  his successors have set 
forth the principles which should govern
 the life of a  people who recognize    
this spiritual universe and system4     
,these ethics have  grown out of a long 
and1 in some respects1 a sound          
experience4 ,much can be said  in their 
favor4 ,the essential weaknesses of the 
,confucian system of ethics lie  in its 
sectional and personal loyalties and its

 monarchical basis4 ,the spirit  of     
democracy is a deadly foe to            
,confucianism4 ,another element of      
weakness is  its excessive dependence   
upon the past4 ,confucius reached       
ultimate wisdom by  the study of the    
best that had been attained before his  
day4 ,he looked backward  rather than   
forward4 ,consequently a modern1 broadly
 educated ,confucianist finds  himself  
in an anomalous position4 ,he does not  
need absolutely to reject the  wisdom   
which ,confucianism embodies1 but he can
 no longer accept it as a sound1        
reliable and indisputable scheme of     
thought and action4 ,yet its simple     
ethical  principles and its social      
relationships are basal in the lives of 
the vast  masses of the ,chinese4    #e4
 ,buddhism an ,inclusive ,religion4     
,upon this1 confused jumble of          
spiritism1 superstition1 loyalty to     
ancestors and  submission to a divine   
hierarchy ,buddhism was superimposed4   
,it quickly  dominated all because of   

its superior excellence4 ,the form of   
,buddhism which  became established in  
,china was not1 to be sure1 like the    
,buddhism preached by  ,gautama and his 
disciples1 or like that form of         
,buddhism which had taken root  in      
,burma or ,ceylon4 ,except in name1 the 
,buddhism of ,southern ,asia and the    
,buddhism which developed in ,china were
 virtually two distinct types of        
religion4 ,the ,buddhism of ,burma and  
,ceylon was of the conservative ,hnayna 
78,little ,vehicle0 of salvation7       
school1 while that of ,china was of the 
progressive ,mahyna 78,great ,vehicle0  
of salvation7 school4 ,their differences
  are so marked as to be worthy of a    
careful statement4    ,the ,hinayana1   
which is today the type of ,buddhism in 
,ceylon1 ,burma and ,siam1  has always  
clung closely to tradition as expressed 
in the original ,buddhist  scriptures4  
,its basic ideas were that life is on   
the whole a time of suffering1  that the
 cause of this sorrow is desire or      

ignorance1 and that there is a  possible
 deliverance from it4 ,this deliverance 
or salvation is to be attained  by      
following the eightfold path1 namely1   
right knowledge1 aspiration1 speech1    
conduct1 means of livelihood1 endeavor1 
mindfulness and meditation4 ,to the     
beatific state to be ultimately attained
 ,gautama gave the name ,nirvana1       
explained by his followers variously    
either as an utter extinction of        
personality or as a passionless peace1 a
 general state of well-being free from  
all evil desire or clinging to life and 
released from the chain of              
transmigration4 ,hinayana ,buddhism     
appeals to the individual as affording a
 way  of escape from evil desire and its
 consequences by acquiring knowledge1 by
  constant discipline1 and by a         
devotedness of the life to religious    
ends through  membership in the monastic
 order which ,buddha established4 ,it   
encourages1  however1 a personal        
salvation worked out by the individual  

alone4    ,the ,mahyna school of        
,buddhists accept the general ideas of  
the ,hinayana  regarding life and       
salvation1 but so change the spirit and 
objectives as to  make ,buddhism into   
what is virtually another religion4 ,it 
does not confine  salvation to the few  
who can retire from the world and give  
themselves wholly  to good works1 but   
opens ,buddhahood to all4 ,the 8saint0  
of ,hinayana ,buddhism is  the arhat who
 is intent on saving himself4 ,the saint
 of ,mahyna  ,buddhism is the candidate 
for ,buddhahood 7,bodhisattva7 who      
defers his entrance  into the bliss of  
deliverance in order to save others4    
,mahyna ,buddhism is  progressive4 ,it  
encourages missionary enterprise and was
 a secret of the  remarkable spread of  
,buddhism over ,asia4 ,moreover1 while  
the ,hnayna school  recognizes no god or
 being to whom worship is given1 the    
,mahyan came to  regard ,gautama himself
 as a god and salvation as life in a    
heavenly world of  pure souls4 ,thus the

 ,mahyna type of thinking constitutes a 
bridge between  ,hnayna ,buddhism and   
,christianity4 ,in fact1 a recent writer
 has declared that  ,hnayna ,buddhists  
are verging toward these more spiritual 
conceptions4  ,footnote3 ,see ,saunders1
 ,buddhism and ,buddhists in ,southern  
,asia1 pp4  #aj1 #bj4    ,after the     
death of ,skyamuni ,footnote3 ,skyamuni 
is the name by which ,gautama1  the     
,buddha1 is familiarly known in ,china4 
,buddhism broke up into a number of     
sects usually said to be eighteen in    
number4 ,when ,buddhism came to ,china  
some  of these sects were introduced1   
but they assumed new forms in their     
,chinese  environment4 ,besides the     
sects brought1 from ,india the ,chinese 
developed  several strong sects of their
 own4 ,usually they speak of ten sects  
although the  number is far larger1 if  
the various subdivisions are included4  
,to indicate the manifold differences   
between these groups in ,buddhism would 
take us far afield and would not be     

profitable4 ,it will be of interest1    
however1 to consider some of the chief  
sects4 ,one of the sects introduced from
  ,india is the ,pure ,land or the      
,ching ,t'u which holds before the      
believer the  8,western ,paradise0      
gained through faith in ,amitbha4 ,any  
one1 no matter what  his life may have  
been1 may enter the ,western ,paradise  
by repeating the name of  ,amitbha4     
,this sect is widespread in ,china4 ,in 
,japan there are two branches of  it    
known as the ,nishi-,hongwanji and the  
,higashi-,hongwanji with their head     
monasteries in ,kyoto4 ,they are the    
most progressive sects in ,japan and are
  carrying on missionary work in ,china1
 the ,hawaiian ,islands and in the      
,united  ,states4    ,another strong    
sect is the ,meditative sect or the     
,ch'an ,men 7,zen in ,japan74  ,this was
 introduced by ,bodhidharma1 or ,tamo1  
who arrived in the capital of  ,china in
 the year #ebj ,a4,d4 ,on his arrival   
the emperor ,wu ,ti tried to impress    

the sage with his greatness saying3 8,we
 have built temples1 multiplied the     
,scriptures1 encouraged many to join the
 ,order3 is not there much merit in all 
this80 8,none10 was the blunt reply4    
8,but what say the holy books8 ,do they 
not  promise rewards for such deeds80   
8,there is nothing holy40 8,but you1    
yourself1  are you not one of the holy  
ones80 8,i don't know40 8,who are you80 
8,i don't  know40 ,thus introduced1 the 
great man proceeded to open his         
missionary-labors  by sitting down      
opposite a wall arid gazing at it for   
the next nine years4 ,from  this he has 
been called the 8wall-gazer40 ,he and   
his successors promulgated the  doctrine
 that neither the scriptures1 the ritual
 nor the organization1 in fact  nothing 
outward had any value in the attainment 
of enlightenment4 ,they held  that the  
heart of the universe is ,buddha and    
that apart from the heart or the        
thought all is unreal4 ,they thought    
themselves back into the universal      

,buddha  and then found the ,buddha     
heart in all nature4 ,thus they awakened
 the spirit  which permeated nature1 art
 and literature and made the whole world
 kin with  the spirit of the ,buddha4   
8,the golden light upon the sunkist     
peaks1  ,the water murmuring in the     
pebbly creeks1  ,are ,buddha4 ,in the   
stillness1 hark1 he speaks60            
,footnote3 ,k4 ,j4 ,saunders in ,epochs 
of ,buddhist ,history4    ,such         
pantheism and quietism often lead to a  
confusion in moral relations1 but  these
 mystics were quite correct in their    
morals because they checked up their    
mysticism with the moral system of the  
,buddha4    ,still another important    
sect originated in the sixth century ,a4
 ,d4 on ,chinese  soil1 namely1 the     
,t'ien ,t'ai 7,japanese ,tendai71 so    
called because it started in  a         
monastery situated on the beautiful     
,t'ien ,t'ai mountains south of ,ningpo4
  ,chih ,k'ai1 the founder1 realized    
that ,buddhism contained a great mass of

  contradictory teachings and practice1 
all attributed to the ,buddha4 ,he      
sought  for a harmonizing principle and 
found it in the arbitrary theory that   
these  teachings were given to different
 people on five different occasions and 
hence  the discrepancies4 ,the practical
 message of this sect has been that all 
beings  have the ,buddha heart and that 
the ,buddha loves all beings1 so that   
all beings  may attain salvation1 which 
consists in the full realization of the 
,buddha  heart latent in them4    ,there
 was a time when these sects were very  
active and flourishing in ,china4 ,at   
the present time the various tendencies 
for which they stood have been adopted  
by ,buddhism as a whole and the various 
sectaries1 though still keeping the name
  of the sect1 live peacefully in the   
same monastery4 ,all the monasteries    
practice meditation1 believe in the     
paradise of ,amitbha1 and are enjoying  
the  ironic calm advocated by the ,t'ien
 ,t'ai4 ,while the struggle among the   

sects of  ,china has been followed by a 
calm which resembles stagnation1 those  
in ,japan  are very active and the      
reader is referred to the volume of this
 series on  ,japanese ,buddhism for     
further treatment of the subject4       
,when ,buddhism entered ,china it       
brought with it a new world4 ,it was new
  practical and new spiritually4 ,it    
brought a knowledge unknown before      
regarding the heavenly bodies1 regarding
 nature and regarding medicine1 and a   
practice vastly above the realm of      
magical arts4 ,in addition to these     
practical  benefits1 ,buddhism          
proclaimed a new spiritual universe far 
more real and  extensive than any of    
which the ,chinese had dreamed1 and     
peopled with spiritual  beings having   
characteristics entirely novel4 ,in     
comparison with this new  universe or   
series of universes which ,indian       
imagination had created1 the  ,chinese  
universe was wooden and geometric4      
,since it was an organized system and  a

 greater rather than a different one1   
the ,chinese people readily accepted it 
and made it their own4    ,buddhism not 
only enlarged the universe and gave the 
individual a range of  opportunity      
hitherto unsuspected1 but it introduced 
a scheme of religious  practice1 or     
rather several of them1 enabling the    
individual devotee to attain  a place in
 this spiritual universe through his own
 efforts4 ,these 8ways0 of  salvation   
were quite in harmony with ,chinese     
ideas4 ,they resembled what had  already
 been a part of the national practice   
and so were readily adopted and  adapted
 by the ,chinese4    ,buddhism rendered 
a great service to the ,chinese through 
its new estimate of  the individual4    
,ancient ,china scarcely recognized the 
individual4 ,he was merged  in the      
family and the clan4 ,taoists1 to be    
sure1 talked of 8immortals0 and         
,confucianism exhibited its typical     
personality1 or 8princely man10 but     
these  were thought of as supermen1 as  

ideals4 ,the classics of ,china had very
 little  to say about the common people4
 ,the great common crowd was submerged4 
,buddhism1  on the other hand1 gave     
every individual a distinct place in the
 great wheel  dharma1 the law1 and made 
it possible for him to reach the very   
highest  goal of salvation4 ,this       
introduced a genuinely new element into 
the social and  family life of the      
,chinese people4    ,buddhism was so    
markedly superior to any one of the four
 other methods of  expressing the       
religious life1 that it quickly won     
practical recognition as the  real      
religion of ,china4 ,confucianism may be
 called the doctrine of the learned     
classes4 ,it formulates their principles
 of life1 but it is in no strict sense a
  popular religion4 ,it is rather a     
state ritual1 or a scheme of personal   
and  social ethics4 ,taoism recognizes  
the immediate influence of the spirit   
world1  but it ministers only to local  
ideals and needs4 ,in the usages of     

family and  community life1 ancestor    
worship has a definite place1 but an    
occasional one4  ,buddhism was able to  
leave untouched each of these           
expressions of ,chinese  personal and   
social life1 and yet it went far beyond 
them in ministering to  religious       
development4 ,its ideas of being1 of    
moral responsibility and of  religious  
relationships furnished a new psychology
 which with all its  imperfections far  
surpassed that of the ,chinese4         
,buddhism's organization was so         
satisfying and adaptable that not only  
was it taken over readily by the        
,chinese1 but it has also persisted in  
,china without marked changes since its 
introduction4 ,most of all it stressed  
personal salvation and promised an      
escape  from the impersonal world of    
distress and hunger which surrounds the 
average  ,chinese into a heaven ruled by
 ,amitbha ,footnote3 ,amitbha1 meaning  
8infinite  light10 is the ,sanskrit name
 of one of the ,buddhas moat highly     

revered in  ,china4 ,the usual ,chinese 
equivalent is ,omi-,to-,fo4 the         
,merciful4 ,the  obligations of         
,buddhism are very definite and         
universally recognized4 ,it  enforces   
high standards of living1 but has added 
significance because it draws  each     
devotee into a sort of fellowship with  
the divine1 and mates not this life     
alone1 but this life plus a future life1
 the end of human activity4 ,buddhism1  
therefore1 really expresses the deepest 
religious life of the people of ,china4 
,it will be worth while to note some    
illustrations of the conviction of the  
,chinese people that there are three    
religions to which they owe allegiance  
and  yet that these are essentially one4
 ,they often say1 8,the three teachings 
are  the whole teaching40 ,an old       
scholar is reported to have remarked1   
8,the three  roads are different1 but   
they lead to the same source40 ,a common
 story reports  that ,confucius was     
asked in the other world about drinking 

wine1 which  ,buddhists forbid but      
,taoists permit4 ,confucius replied3    
8,if ,i do not drink ,i  become a       
,buddha4 ,if ,i drink ,i become an      
,immortal4 ,well1 if there is wine1 ,i  
shall drink2 if there is none1 ,i shall 
abstain40 ,this expresses               
characteristically the ,chinese habit of
 adaptation4 ,such a decision sounds    
quite up to date4    ,the ,ethical      
,culture ,society of ,peking1 recently  
organized1 has upon its walls  pictures 
of ,buddha1 ,lao ,tzu1 ,confucius and   
,christ4 ,its members claim to worship  
,shang ,ti as the god of all religions4 
,an offshoot of this society1 the ,t'ung
  ,shan ,she1 associates the three      
founders very closely with ,christ4 ,it 
claims to  have a deeper revelation of  
,christ than the ,christians themselves4
 ,a new  organization1 the ,tao ,yuan1  
plans to harmonize the three old        
religions with  ,mohammedanism and      
,christianity4    ,buddhism has         
consistently and continually striven to 

bring about a unity of  religion in     
,china by interpenetrating ,confucianism
 and ,taoism4 ,quite early the          
,buddhists invented the story that the  
,bodhisattva ,ju ,t'ung was really      
,confucius  incarnate4 ,there was at one
 time a ,buddhist temple to ,confucius  
in the province  of ,shantung4 ,the     
,buddhists also gave out the story that 
,bodhisattva ,kas'yapa  was the         
incarnation of ,lao ,tzu1 the founder of
 ,taoism4 ,an artist painted ,lao  ,tzu 
transformed into a ,buddha1 seated in a 
lotus bud with a halo about his  head4  
,in front of the ,buddha was ,confucius 
doing reverence4 ,a ,chinese scholar1   
asked for his opinion about the picture1
 said3 8,buddha should be seated2 ,lao  
,tzu should be standing at the side     
looking askance at ,buddha2 and         
,confucius  should be grovelling on the 
floor40    ,a monument dating from #edc 
,a4 ,d41 illustrates this tendency of   
,buddhism to  represent its own         
superiority in ,chinese religious life4 

,at the top of the  monument is ,brahma1
 lower down is ,skyamuni with his       
disciples1 ,ananda and  ,kas'yapa on one
 face1 and on the other ,skyamuni again1
 conversing with ,buddha  ,prabhutaratna
 and worshipped by monks and            
,bodhisattvas4 ,on the pedestal are     
,confucian and ,taoist deities1 ten in  
number4 ,thus ,buddhism sought to rank  
itself clearly above the other two      
religions4 ,from the early days         
,buddhism  regarded itself as their     
superior and began the processes of     
interpenetration  and absorption4 ,in   
consequence the values originally       
inherent in ,buddhism have  come to be  
regarded as the natural possession of   
the ,chinese4 ,it does express  their   
religious life1 especially in ,south    
,china1 where outward manifestations  of
 religion are perhaps more marked than  
in the north4          ,,iv  ,,buddhism 
,,and ,,the ,,peasant      ,in order    
that1 one may realize the place that    
,buddhism holds in the religious  life  

of the ,chinese people as a whole1 he   
must turn to the organizations  through 
which it functions4 ,it is sometimes    
difficult to estimate the place of      
,buddhism in ,china1 because it so      
interpenetrates the whole cultural and  
social  life of the people4 ,it becomes 
their 8way40 ,to see how it touches the 
life of  the average man or woman in    
various ways will1 therefore1 be        
illuminating4 ,the  most outstanding    
evidence of devotion are the many       
monasteries which dot the  land in all  
,buddhist countries4 ,china is less     
dominated by them than other  lands1 yet
 they form a very important reason for  
the persistence and strength  of        
,buddhism there4 ,one of the famous old 
shrines will represent them as a class  
and give evidence of their importance4  
#a4 ,the ,monastery of ,kushan          
,kushan ,monastery1 located about four  
hours' ride by sedan-chair from         
,foochow1  is a famous shrine of ,south 
,china4 ,it occupies a large            

amphitheater about  fifteen hundred feet
 above the plain1 part way up ,kushan1  
the 8,drum ,mountain10  some three      
thousand feet high4 ,from the top of the
 mountain on clear days with  the help  
of a glass the blue shores of ,formosa  
may be seen on the eastern  horizon4    
,the spacious monastery buildings are   
surrounded by a grove of noble  trees1  
in which squirrels1 pheasants1 chipmunks
 and snakes enjoy an undisturbed  life4 
,the ascent to the monastery begins on  
the bank of the ,min ,river4 ,at the    
foot of  the mountain in a large temple 
the traveler may obtain mountain chairs 
carried  by two or more coolies4 ,the   
road1 paved with granite slabs cut from 
the  mountain side1 consists of a series
 of stone stairs1 which zig-zag up the  
mountain under the shadow of ancient    
pine trees4 ,every turn brings to view a
  bit of landscape carpeted with rice1  
or a distant view where mountains and   
sky  meet4 ,a brook rushes by the side  
of the road4 ,here it breaks into a     

beautiful  waterfall4 ,there it gurgles'
 in a deep ravine4 ,the sides of the    
road are  covered with large granite    
blocks which1 loosened from the mountain
 side by  earthquakes1 have disposed    
themselves promiscuously4 ,their        
blackened1  weather-beaten sides are    
incised with ,chinese characters4 ,one  
of them bears the  words3 8,we put our  
trust in ,amitbha40 ,another            
immortalizes the sentiments of  some    
great official who has made the         
pilgrimage to the mountain4 ,near the   
monastery stand the sombre dagobas where
 repose the ashes of former abbots and  
monastery officials4 ,not far away on   
the other side of the road1 hidden by   
trees1 is the crematory where the last  
remains of the brethren are consumed by 
the flames4    ,as one approaches the   
monastery he hears the regular sounds of
 a bell tolled by  a water-wheel1       
reminding the faithful of ,buddha's law4
 ,he sees monks strolling  leisurely    
about and lay brethren carrying wood1   

cultivating the gardens1 or  tending the
 animals released by pious devotees to  
heap up merit for themselves  in the    
next world4 ,just inside the main gate  
is a large fish pond1 where  goldfish of
 great size struggle with one another1  
and with the lazy turtles1  for the     
round hard cakes purchased from the     
monks by the merit-seeking devotee4     
,the monastery itself consists of a     
large group of buildings erected about  
stone-paved courts1 rising in terraces  
on the mountain side4 ,the large court  
at  the entrance leads to the 8,hall of 
the ,four ,kings40 ,as one enters the   
spacious  door1 he is faced by a jolly1 
almost naked image of the 8,laughing    
,buddha40 ,this is ,maitrya1 the ,mea   
siah of the ,buddhists1 who will return 
to  the world five thousand years after 
the departure of ,skyamuni4 ,in the     
northern  monasteries ,maitrya is often 
represented as reaching a height when   
standing of  seventy feet or more1 which
 indicates the stature to which man will

 attain when  he returns to earth4 ,on  
each side of the visitor are two immense
 images of the  ,deva kings4 ,in        
,brahman cosmogony they were the        
guardians of the world4 ,in this        
entrance hall of the ,buddhist monastery
 they stand as guardians of the         
,buddhist  faith4 ,in the same hall     
looking toward the open court beyond is 
,wei ,to1 another  guardian deity of    
,buddhism4 ,somewhere near by is ,kuan  
,ti1 the god worshipped by  the soldiers
 and merchants4 ,although a ,confucian  
god1 he was early adopted by  ,buddhist 
monks into their pantheon and made the  
guardian of their ,order4    ,beyond    
this entrance hall is a large           
stone-paved court4 ,on the right side is
 a  bell-tower whose bell is tolled by a
 monk who has kept the vow of silence   
for  fourteen years4 ,on the left is a  
drum-tower4 ,on the right one finds a   
series of  small shrines4 ,a passage way
 leads to the library where numerous    
,buddhist  writings repose in lacquered 

cases1 some of them written in their own
 blood by  devout monks4 ,on the same   
side are guest halls1 the dining room   
for three  hundred monks1 and the       
spacious1 well equipped kitchen with    
running water piped  from a reservoir in
 the hills above4 ,a store where books1 
images and the simple  requirements of  
the monks can be obtained is just above 
the dining room4 ,on the  left side of  
the court are large buildings used as   
dormitories far the monks1  storerooms1 
and for housing the great printing      
establishment with its thousands  of    
wooden blocks on which are carved       
passages from the ,buddhist scriptures4 
,here also are kept the coffins in which
 the monks are to be burned4    ,on a   
terrace above the north side of the     
court rises the main hall1 called the   
8,hall of the ,triratna10 the ,buddhist 
,trinity1 where three gilded images are 
seated on a lotus flower with halos     
covering their backs and heads4 ,the    
center  image is that of ,skyamuni1 the 

,buddha4 ,on his right is ,yao ,shih1   
the ,buddha of  medicine1 and on the    
left1 ,amitbha4 ,quite often these      
images are said to  represent the       
,buddha1 the ,law and the ,community of 
,monks4 ,on the altar are  candlesticks 
and a fine incense burner from which    
curls of smoke arise4 ,an  immense lamp 
hangs from the ceiling4 ,in the rear are
 banners with praises to  ,buddha given 
by pious devotees4 ,the floor is tiled  
and covered with round mats  made of    
palm fiber on which the monks kneel     
during worship4 ,before the mats are    
low stands for books4 ,on each side of  
this main hall are the images of nine   
,buddhist saints 7arhats71 eighteen in  
all4 ,behind this large temple  opens   
another court and on a terrace above it 
stands the hall of the ,law with  the   
images of ,kuan ,yin1 the goddess of    
,mercy1 and the twenty-four devas4 ,here
  also are small images of viceroys and 
patrons of the monastery4    ,the       
hillsides are dotted with numerous      

temples and shrines4 ,there is one to   
,chu-,hsi1 the great philosopher of the 
,sung dynasty1 who was born in ,fukien4 
,in  it are preserved a few characters  
indited by his hand4 ,on the west side  
of the  monastery are large buildings   
for the housing of animals released by  
merit-seeking devotees4 ,here cows1     
hogs1 goats1 chickens1 geese and ducks  
spend  their old age without fear of    
beginning their transmigration by       
forming the  main portion of a ,chinese 
feast4    ,the monastery is governed by 
an abbot1 usually a man of good business
 ability1  elected by the monks4 ,under 
him are the officers of the two wings or
 groups of  attendants4 ,one set looks  
after the spiritual interests1 of the   
monks2  the-other takes care of their   
material needs3 ,the monks have worship 
about two  o'clock in the morning and   
again at about four in the afternoon4   
,the rest of  the long day they spend in
 meditation1 or study1 in strolling     
about the  mountain side or in sleep4   

,their life is separated from all       
stirring contact  with the life of the  
world4    #b4 ,monasteries ,control     
,fng-shui    ,this monastery with its   
appointments is a good type of the      
monasteries all over  ,china4 ,it was   
founded at the request of the           
inhabitants of the neighborhood1        
because the dragons of the region used  
to cause much damage to the crops in the
  surrounding country4 ,a holy monk     
came1 founded the monastery1 and by his 
good  influence so curbed the dragons   
that the country-side has enjoyed peace 
ever  since and the monastery has       
prospered4 ,since the fourth century of 
our era  records show that by the       
building of monasteries in strategic    
place's holy  monks brought rains and   
prosperity to various regions1 or       
prevented floods and  calamities from   
damaging the villages4 ,in other words  
the monasteries are  regarded as the    
controllers of fng-shui 7wind and       
water74 ,according to  the ,chinese     

philosophy winds and water are spiritual
 forces and may be so  controlled by    
other spiritual forces that instead of  
bringing harm they will  confer benefit 
upon the people4 ,floods and dry seasons
 are so frequent in ,china  that any    
institution holding out the promise of  
regulating them would become  firmly    
established in the affection of the     
people4 ,the monasteries have taken     
this place4    ,one of the picturesque  
features of a ,chinese landscape is the 
pagoda4 ,these  structures were         
introduced in the early stages of       
,buddhism to enshrine the  relics of    
,buddha4 ,it was said that ,buddha's    
body consisted of eighty thousand       
parts1 hence numerous pagodas were      
erected to shelter these relics4        
,inasmuch as  a pagoda contained the    
relics of ,buddha1 it possessed magic   
power and so came  to play a great part 
in the control of the winds and the     
rains4 ,the pagoda in  ,china has an odd
 number of stories varying from three to

 thirteen4 ,the odd  numbers belong to  
the positive principle in nature which  
is superior to the  negative principle4 
,the pagoda plays quite a part in the   
festivals of the  people4 ,on certain   
occasions the stories are hung with     
lanterns and the pagodas  are visited by
 numerous throngs4    #c4 ,prayer for   
,rain    ,prayers for rain afford such a
 common illustration of the relation of 
,buddhism  to the life of the peasant   
that a detailed presentation of such a  
service may  be of seal value4          
,during a prolonged drought in some     
district of ,china1 when the heat opens 
gaping cracks in the fields and the     
grain is drying up1 the populace may    
visit  their highest official and       
apprise him of the dire situation4 ,he  
often forbids  the slaughter of all     
animals for three days and1 in case rain
 has not thereby  come1 he goes in      
person or sends a deputy to the nearest 
monastery to direct  the monks to pray  
for rain4    7a7 ,the ,altar4--,on such 

an occasion the great hall of the ,law  
may be used  for the ceremony4 ,quite   
often a special altar is erected in an  
enclosure near  the monastery on a      
platform one foot high and twenty-five  
feet on each side1  overspread by a tent
 of green cloth4 ,in the center seats   
are arranged for the  presiding monk and
 his assistants4 ,on each of the four   
sides of the altar is  placed an image  
of the ,dragon ,king who is supposed to 
control the rain4 ,if an  image is not  
obtainable a piece of paper inscribed   
with the name of the dragon  may be     
used4 ,flowers1 fruits and incense are  
spread before the images4 ,on the  doors
 of the tent are painted dragons with   
clouds4 ,the tent and altar are green   
and the monks wear green garments1      
because green belongs to the spring and 
suggests rain4 ,for this ceremony the   
monks prepare themselves by abstinence  
and  cleansing4 ,the presiding monk is  
one of high moral character and         
religious  fervor4 ,while some monks    

recite appropriate sutras1 two others   
look after the  offerings1 the incense1 
and the sprinkling of water during the  
ceremony to  suggest the coming of rain4
 ,the services continue day and night1  
being  conducted by groups of monks in  
succession4    7b7 ,the ,prayer         
,service4--,the ceremonial is opened by 
a chant as follows3    8,pearly dew of  
the jade heavens1 golden waves of       
,buddha's ocean1 scatter the  lotus     
flowers on a thousand thousand worlds of
 suffering1 that the heart of  mercy may
 wash away great calamity1 that a drop  
may become a flood1 that a drop  may    
purify mountains and rivers4    8,we put
 our trust in the ,bodhisattvas and     
,mahsattvas that purify the earth40     
,the chant ended1 a monk takes a bowl of
 water and repeats thrice3 8,we put our 
trust in the great merciful ,kuan ,yin  
,bodhisattva40 ,then follows the chant3 
8,the ,bodhisattva's sweet dew of the   
willow is able to make one drop spread  
over  the ten directions4 ,it washes    

away the rank odors and dirt4 ,it keeps 
the altars  clean and pure4 ,the        
mysterious words of the doctrine will be
 reverently  repeated40    ,this chant  
ended1 the monks intone incantations of 
,kuan ,yin1 quite  unintelligible even  
to them1 but of magical value4 ,while   
these are being  uttered1 the presiding 
monk and his attendants walk around the 
altar1 while one  of them with a branch 
sprinkles water on the floor4 ,this     
symbolizes the  cleansing of the altar  
and of the monks from all impurities    
which might render  the ritual          
ineffective4 ,when the perambulating    
monks have returned to their  place1    
while the sprinkler continues his       
duties1 the monks repeat the words3     
8,we put our trust in the sweet dew     
kings1 ,bodhisattvas and ,mahsattvas40  
,the ,bodhisattvas have now come to the 
purified altar and while the abbot      
offers  incense to them1 the monks      
repeat the words3    8,the fields are   
destroyed so that they resemble the back

 of a tortoise4 ,the  demons of drought 
produce calamity4 ,the dark people      
,footnote3 ,a term denoting  the        
,chinese4 pray earnestly while crops are
 being destroyed4 ,we pray that         
abundant1 limpid liquid may descend to  
purify and refresh the whole world4 ,the
  clouds of incense rise40    ,this     
plaint is repeated thrice and is        
followed by an invocation3              
8,wholeheartedly we cast ourselves to   
the earth1 ,o ,triratna1 who dost exist 
eternally in the realm of dharma of the 
ten directions40    ,the leader remains 
quiet a long time with his eyes closed1 
visualizing the  ,buddhas1 the          
,bodhisattvas1 the dragon kings1 and the
 saints1 all with their  heavenly eyes  
and ears knowing that this region is    
afflicted with drought1 that  an altar  
has been constructed and that all have  
come to make petition4 ,this  meditation
 is regarded as of chief importance4 ,it
 is followed by an  announcement to the 
effect that the sutra praying for rain  

was given by the  ,buddha1 that a       
drought is afflicting the land1 that the
 altar has been erected  in accordance  
with the regulations and that prayer is 
being made for rain4 ,but  fearing that 
something may have been overlooked1 the 
magic formula of 8the king  of light who
 turns the wheel0 is read seven times so
 as to remedy such  oversight4    ,the  
altar having thus been cleansed of all  
impurities1 the rain sutra is opened    
and the one hundred and eighty-eight    
dragon kings are urged by name in groups
  of ten to take action4 ,the formula is
 as follows3    8,we with our whole     
heart invite such and such dragon kings 
to come4 ,we desire  that the heart and 
wisdom which knows others intuitively   
will move the spirits  above to obey the
 ,buddha1 to take pity on the people    
below and to come to our  province and  
send down sweet rain40    ,when the     
dragons have all been duly invited1 the 
monks chant suitable magical  formulas1 
while the leader sits in meditation     

visualizing these dragon kings  and     
their tender solicitude for the people  
in distress4 ,the monastery bell is     
sounded and the wooden fish is beaten1  
while drums and cymbals add their       
effect4 ,the whole is intended to draw  
the attention of the dragon kings to the
  drought4 ,then the fifty-four ,buddhas
 are invited in a similar manner in     
groups  of ten1 the sixth group         
consisting of four4 ,a similar form of  
address is used  and similar magical    
formulas are recited with the noisy     
accompaniment4 ,the  ceremony concludes 
by the expression of the hope that the  
three jewels 7,buddha1  the ,law and the
 ,community of ,monks7 and the dragon   
kings will grant the rain4    ,upon the 
altar are four copies of an announcement
 to the dragon kings and  ,buddhas4 ,on 
the first day three copies are sent to  
them through the flames1 one  to the    
,buddhas1 one to the dragon kings and   
one to the devas4 ,one copy is read     
daily and then sent up at the           

thanksgiving ceremony4 ,the announcement
 is as  follows3    8,we put our trust  
in the limitless1 reverent ocean clouds1
 the dragons of  august virtue and all  
their host1 all dragon kings and holy   
saints4 ,their  august virtue is        
difficult to measure4 ,in accord with   
the command of ,buddha  they send liquid
 rain4 ,may their quiet mercy descend to
 the altar2 may they  send down purity  
and freshness1 spreading over the ten   
directions4 ,we put our  trust in the   
company of dragon kings of the clouds1  
the saints and the  ,bodhisattvas40     
,the offerings are made only in the     
morning inasmuch as the ,buddhas1       
following  ancient custom1 are not      
supposed to eat after the noonday meal4 
,great care is  taken that the altar    
shall not be desecrated by any one who  
eats meat or drinks  wine4 ,the magic   
formulas of great mercy are uttered or  
the name of ,kuan ,yin is  repeated a   
thousand times4 ,the monks1 take turn in
 these services which  continue day and 

night until rain comes4    7c7 ,its     
,meaning4--,in the religious            
consciousness of the people is the  idea
 that the drought is a punishment for   
sin4 ,the altar is made pure and        
acceptable and sin is removed in various
 symbolic ways4 ,this fits in with the  
idea that man is an intimate part of the
 world order4 ,his sin disturbs the     
order of nature4 ,heaven manifests      
displeasures by sending down calamities 
upon  men4 ,men should cease their      
wrongdoing which disturbs the natural   
order and  should also wash away the    
effects of their sins4 ,the services for
 rain with  their magic formulas help to
 clear away the consequences of sin and 
to  predispose ,heaven to grant its     
blessings again4    #d4 ,monasteries    
,are ,supported ,because ,they ,control 
,fng-shui    ,the prayers for rain are  
an important part of the ,chinese       
peasant's world  order4 ,drought is the 
manifestation of ,heaven's displeasure  
at the infraction  of ,heaven's laws4   

,it calls for self-examination and      
repentance4 ,thus the  monastery opens  
up the windows of the universal order as
 this touches the  humble tiller of the 
soil4    ,the ,buddhist monasteries not 
only hold services in time of drought1  
but also in  time of flood and at times 
when plagues of grasshoppers afflict the
 land1 or  when diseases afflict human  
beings4 ,their adoption of ,chinese     
customs led them  to have special       
ceremonies at the eclipse of the sun and
 moon1 although they  knew the cause of 
the eclipse4 ,peasants and officials    
support the monastery  because of these 
services regulating the wind and water  
influences and through  them bringing   
the people into harmonious relation with
 the great world of  spirits4           
,v  ,,buddhism ,,and ,,the ,,family     
,one of the criticisms of the ,chinese  
against ,buddhism is that it is opposed 
to  filial piety4 ,according to ,mencius
 the greatest unfilial act is to leave  
no  progeny4 ,in spite of this charge   

,buddhism has done much for the family4 
,it has  taken over the ethics of the   
family1 filial piety1 obedience and     
respect for  elders1 and has made them a
 part of its system4 ,transgression of  
these  fundamental duties is visited by 
dire punishments in the next world4 ,the
  faithful observance is followed not   
only by the rewards of the ,confucian   
system1 but results in the greatest     
rewards in the future life4    #a4 ,kuan
 ,yin1 the ,giver of ,children and      
,protector of ,women    ,buddhism has   
done more4 ,out of its atmosphere of    
love and mercy toward all  beings has   
developed ,kuan ,yin1 the ideal of      
,chinese womanhood1 the goddess of      
,mercy1 who embodies the ,chinese ideal 
of beauty1 filial piety and compassion  
toward the weak and suffering4 ,she is  
especially the goddess of women1 being  
interested in all their affairs4 ,her   
image is found in almost every household
  and her temples have a place in every 
part of ,china4    ,a brief history of  

this deity will enable us to understand 
the significance of  the cult4 ,kuan    
,yin started as a male god in ,india1   
called ,avalkitsvara1 who  was          
worshipped from the third to the seventh
 century of our era4 ,he was the        
protector of sailors and people in      
danger4 ,in the course of time1 either  
in  ,china or in ,india1 the god became 
a goddess4 ,some think that this was due
 to  the influence of ,christianity4 ,in
 ,china both forms survive1 though the  
goddess  is better known4 ,a ,buddhist  
once said that a ,bodhisattva is neither
 male nor  female and appears in        
whatever form is convenient4    ,kuan   
,yin is a very popular goddess4 ,her    
experiences in ,hades are dramatically  
presented by traveling theatrical       
companies4 ,her deeds of mercy are      
portrayed  in art4 ,her well known story
 runs as follows3    ,kuan ,yin was the 
daughter of the ruler of a prosperous   
kingdom located  somewhere near the     
island of ,sumatra4 ,her birth was      

announced to the queen by a  dream4 ,the
 little girl ate no meat nor milk4 ,her 
disposition was very good4 ,her         
intelligence was most extraordinary4    
,once she read anything she never forgot
  it4    ,at the age of sixteen her     
father tried to betroth her to a young  
prince4 ,she  refused and decided to    
give herself to a life of fasting and   
abstinence4  ,angered b-v her obstinacy 
the father ordered her to take off her  
court dress  and jewels1 to put on the  
garb of a servant and to carry water for
 the garden4  ,the garden never looked  
so beautiful4 ,the daughter also looked 
well and showed  no signs of weariness1 
because the gods assisted her in her    
work4    ,relenting a little the king   
sent an older sister to urge ,kuan ,yin 
to accept the  husband he had found for 
her4 ,when she refused1 he sent her to a
 monastery and  charged the abbess to   
treat her harshly1 so that she might be 
forced to return  home4 ,expecting to   
win the king's favor1 the abbess put the

 most unpleasant  tasks on the girl4    
,but again the gods assisted her and    
made her work light1 so  that her tasks 
were always well done and the young     
woman was cheerful4    ,one day the     
report came to the king that his        
daughter was associating with a  young  
monk discussing heterodox doctrines and 
that she had given birth to a  child4   
,this news so enraged the king that he  
burned the monastery1 killing many      
monks4 ,the princess was captured and   
brought before him4 ,inasmuch as she was
  obdurate1 the king ordered her to be  
executed4 ,the executioner's sword1     
however1 broke into a thousand pieces   
without doing her any injury4 ,the king 
then ordered her to be strangled4 ,a    
golden image sixteen feet high appeared 
on  the spot4 ,the princess laughed and 
cried3 8,where there was no image1 an   
image  appeared4 ,i see the real form4  
,when body flesh is strangled1 then     
appear the  lights of ten thousand      
roads40 ,she went to purgatory and      

purgatory at once  changed into         
paradise4 ,yama1 in order to save his   
purgatory1 sent her back to  the world4 
,she appeared at ,puto1 an island off   
the coast of ,chekiang near  ,ningpo4   
,here she rescued sailors and performed 
many miracles for people in  distress4  
,in the meantime the father1 who had    
committed many sins1 became sick4 ,his  
allotted time of life had been shortened
 by twenty years4 ,moreover1 an ulcer   
grew on his body for every one of the   
five hundred monks he had killed when he
  burned the monastery4 ,a miserable1   
loathsome old man1 he came to an old    
monk1  who was really the princess in   
disguise1 and asked for help4 ,the monk 
told him  that an eye and an arm of a   
blood relative made into medicine was   
the only cure  for his trouble4 ,the two
 living daughters were willing to make  
such an  offering1 but their husbands   
would not permit them to do so4 ,the old
 monk urged  the monarch to take up a   
life of abstinence1 to rebuild the      

monastery he had  burned1 and to provide
 money for services to take the five    
hundred monks whom  he had killed       
through purgatory4 ,he also said that a 
nun in the convent would  offer an arm  
and an eye4 ,when the monarch entered   
the monastery1 he found  hanging before 
the incense burner an arm and an eye4   
,these were boiled1 mixed  with medicine
 and rubbed on the king's body4 ,he soon
 became well4 ,further  inquiry revealed
 that these members belonged to his     
daughter4    ,this is the story of the  
most popular goddess in ,china4 ,she is 
worshipped by  her devotees on the first
 and fifteenth of every month1 on the   
nineteenth of  the sixth month1 when she
 became a ,bodhisattva1 and on the      
nineteenth of the  ninth month1 when she
 put on the necklace4 ,a month after    
marriage every young  bride is presented
 with an image of the ,goddess of       
,mercy1 an incense-burner and           
candlesticks4    ,this goddess is       
worshipped whenever trouble comes to man

 or woman4 ,her names  signify her      
willingness to listen to all prayers4   
,she is the 8one who regards  the       
voice10 i4e41 prayer2 8one who hears the
 prayers of the world20 8one who        
regards and exists by himself as        
sovereign20 8the ancestor of ,buddha who
  regards prayer20 8one who frees from  
fear20 8,buddha the august king20 8the  
great white robed scholar20 8great      
compassion and mercy40    #b4 ,kuan     
,yin1 the ,model of ,local              
,mother-,goddesses    ,this conception  
is the creation of the social and       
religious consciousness of  the women in
 ,china4 ,it reveals their aspirations  
for mercy1 compassion1 filial  piety and
 for the beauty that crowns a well      
developed character4 ,such an ideal     
does not mean that these have been      
realized in all the numerous homes of   
the  ,chinese1 but it manifests their   
sense of such an ideal to be realized in
 life  and their ardent longing for its 
realization4    ,mother-goddesses are   

found all over ,china and they have all 
of them been  influenced by ,kuan ,yin4 
,some of them have originated with      
actual women who were  deified after    
death4 ,here is the story of one of     
these goddesses who presides  over the  
censer in a small temple in ,formosa4   
,she was born in the province of        
,kuangtung4 ,at the age of seven she was
 adopted by a family as the future wife 
of their eighteen-year-old son4 ,one day
 while crossing a river he was drowned4 
,this was a great blow to her4 ,when she
 was fourteen years old the father of   
the  family died4 ,the two women1 thus  
left alone1 wept bitterly day and night4
 ,the  comfort of relatives was of      
little avail4 ,the mother was becoming  
emaciated  with grief4 ,the daughter1   
unable to bear the strain any longer1   
washed herself1  burned incense before  
the ancestral tablet of her betrothed1  
and then took this  vow3    8,i am      
willing to remain a virgin1 to apply    
myself to carrying water and working  at

 the mortar and to serve my             
mother-in-law4 ,if ,i cherish any other 
purpose and  change my chastity and     
obedience1 may ,heaven slay me and earth
 annihilate me40    ,when the mother    
heard this vow she stopped her weeping4 
,inasmuch as they had no  uncle to look 
after them1 they worked day and night4  
,a relative of her future  husband gave 
her one of his sons as an adopted son4  
,the child died after a few  months4    
,this was a great grief4 ,then the      
mother died4 ,the daughter sold her     
possessions to obtain money for a proper
 burial4 ,she had only a coarse mourning
  cloth for her dress4 ,after a while   
she adopted a child as her son4 ,when he
 grew  up she found him a wife who      
served her as faithfully as she had     
served her  mother-in-law4 ,when she was
 eighty years old1 she dreamed that the 
golden maid  and jade messenger of ,kuan
 ,yin stood beside her saying3 8,the    
court of ,heaven  has ordered you to    
become a god 7shn740 ,she died soon     

after this4 ,she said of  herself3      
8,shang ,ti took compassion upon me     
during my life1 because with a firm     
heart ,i  kept my chastity and served my
 mother-in-law with complete obedience4 
,therefore  he gave me the office of    
,kuan ,pin4 ,i have performed my duties 
in several  places4 ,now ,i am          
transferred to ,formosa40    ,this story
 and many others like it mirror the     
moral ideals of the women of  ,china in 
the midst of their struggles for help   
and light and guidance4    #c4          
,exhortations on ,family ,virtues       
,the ,buddhists issue a large number of 
tracts4 ,these are very commonly paid   
for  by devotees who make a vow that1 if
 their parent becomes well1 they will   
pay  for the printing of several hundred
 or thousand of these tracts for free   
distribution4 ,in these tracts are      
usually many stories illustrating the   
rewards  of filial piety4 ,the story is 
told in one of them about a ,mrs4 ,chin 
whose  father-in-law being ill was      

unable to sleep for sixty days4 ,his    
condition grew  worse4 ,mrs4 ,chin knelt
 before ,kuan ,yin's altar1 cut out a   
piece of flesh from  her arm and cooked 
it with the father's food4 ,his health  
at once improved and  he lived to the   
age of seventy-seven4 ,another story is 
told in the same tract  of a woman who  
cut out a piece of her liver and gave it
 as medicine to her  mother-in-law4     
,these ,buddhist tracts take up all the 
moral habits which make the family and  
clan strong and stable and surround them
 by the highest sanctions4 ,a tract     
picked up in a ,buddhist temple at      
,hangchow purports to be the revelation 
of the  will of ,buddha4 ,it urges      
sixteen virtues4 ,the first is filial   
piety4 ,the tract  says3    8,filial    
piety is the chief of all virtues4      
,heaven and ,earth honor filial piety4  
,there is no greater sin than to cherish
 unfilial thoughts4 ,the spirits know   
the  beginning of such thoughts4 ,heaven
 openly rewards a heart that is filial40

    ,the second one mentioned is another
 important family virtue1 namely1       
reverence3    8,the saints1 sages1      
immortals and ,buddhas are the outgrowth
 of reverence4 ,the  greatest sin is to 
lack reverence for father and mother4   
,when brothers lack  reverence for one  
another1 they harm the hands and feet4  
,when husband and wife  lack reverence1 
the harmony of the household is ruined4 
,when friends do not  have reverence1   
they bring about calamity40    ,then    
follow similar exhortations on          
sincerity1 justice1 self-restraint1     
forbearance1 benevolence1 generosity1   
absence of pride1 covetousness1 lying1  
adultery1 mutual love1 self-denial1 hope
 for the consolations of religion and   
for an undivided heart ruled by peace4  
,these are virtues quite essential to   
the  integrity of the family4 ,they are 
taught1 not in the abstract but by the  
exhibition of shining examples1 by vivid
 representations of the rewards both    
here and hereafter1 and by pictures of  

awful punishments4 ,so by precept and   
example1 by threat of punishment here   
and hereafter and by declaration of     
reward in the future ,buddhism has tried
 to maintain the family virtues of the  
,confucian system and has attempted to  
permeate them by the spirit of          
sacrifice4  ,still it has always been   
the sacrifice of the weak for the       
strong1 of the young  for the aged1 of  
the low for the high1 of women for men4 
#d4 ,services for the ,dead    ,buddhism
 very early took over the relatively    
simple services for the dead and        
developed them into an elaborate ritual 
which made very vivid the spiritual     
universe which ,buddhism introduced4 ,in
 the sixth century a service was held in
  behalf of the father-in-law of        
,emperor ,ning ,ti 7#eaf-ebh ,a4 ,d47   
for seven times  every seven days4 ,he  
feasted a thousand monks every day1 and 
caused seven  persons to become monks4  
,on the hundredth day after the death he
 feasted ten  thousand monks and caused 

twenty-seven persons to become monks4   
,since that time services on every      
seventh day after the decease until the 
forty-ninth day1 when a grand finale    
ends the ceremonies1 have been very     
popular4    ,the object of such services
 is to conduct the soul of the dead     
through  purgatory1 in order that it may
 return to life or enter the ,western   
,paradise4  ,this is done by making a   
pleasing offering to the guardians and  
officers of  purgatory1 and to the gods 
and ,bodhisattvas whose mercy saves     
people4 ,numerous  missives are         
consigned to the flames1 informing the  
rulers of the nether world  about the   
soul of the dead2 offerings of gold and 
silver1 of various articles  of apparel1
 of trunks1 houses1 and servants are    
made1 all1 however1 made out of  bamboo 
frames covered with paper4 ,various     
powerful incantations are recited  which
 force open the gates of purgatory and  
let the soul out4    ,the services may  
be crowded into one day or they may be  

held on every seventh  day until the    
forty-ninth day1 i4e41 seven sevens4    
,various explanations are  given' for   
these services4    ,during the first    
week the soul of the dead arrives at the
 8,demon ,gate ,barrier40  ,here money  
is demanded by the demons on the ground 
that in his last  transmigration the    
deceased borrowed money4 ,accordingly   
large quantities of  silver shoes       
,footnote3 ,the silver used for this    
purpose is molded1 in  accordance with  
ancient usage1 in the shape of shoes and
 carried about in that  form by         
merchants4 must be sent to the dead so  
that he may settle all claims  and avoid
 beating and inconvenience4 ,during the 
second week the soul arrives at  a place
 where he is weighed4 ,if the evil      
outweighs the good1 the soul is sawn    
asunder and ground to powder4 ,in the   
third week he comes to the 8,bad ,dog0  
village4 ,here good people pass         
unharmed1 but the evil are torn by the  
fierce  beasts until the blood flows4   

,in the fourth week the soul is         
confronted with a  large mirror in which
 he sees his evil deeds and their       
consequences1 seeing  himself degraded  
in the next transmigration to a beast4  
,in the fifth week the  soul views the  
scenes in his own village4    ,in the   
sixth week he reaches the bridge which  
spans the 8,inevitable ,river40  ,this  
bridge is #ajj1jjj feet high and one and
 three-tenths of an inch wide4 ,it  is  
crossed by riding astride as on a horse4
 ,beneath rushes the whirl-pool  filled 
with serpents darting their heads to and
 fro4 ,at the foot of the bridge        
lictors force unwilling travelers to    
ascend4 ,the good do not cross this     
bridge1  but are led by 8golden youth0  
to gold and silver bridges which cross  
the stream  on either side of this      
8,bridge of ,sighs40    ,in the seventh 
week the soul is taken first to ,mrs4   
,wang who dispenses a drink  which blots
 out all memories of the earthly life4  
,then the individual enters  the great  

wheel of transmigration4 ,this is       
divided into eighty-one sections  from  
which one hundred and eight thousand    
small and tortuous paths radiate out    
into the four continents of the world4  
,the soul is directed along one of these
  paths and is duly reborn in the world 
as an animal or as a human being or     
passes on into the ,western ,paradise4  
,in imitation of this bridge a bridge is
 built of tables in front of the home of
  the dead4 ,at the end the tables are  
placed upside down and a lantern placed 
on  each table-leg4 ,at night this      
bridge is illuminated4 ,a company of    
monks repeat  their prayers and         
incantations1 while others mount upon   
the bridge to  impersonate devils4 ,the 
pious son with the tablet of his        
deceased parent comes  to take his      
father over the bridge4 ,when his way is
 disputed by the demons1 he  falls on   
his knees and begs and gives them money1
 negotiating the passage at  last with  
the aid of a large quantity of silver4  

,another ceremony is the breaking       
through purgatory4 ,five supplications  
duly  signed are addressed to the proper
 authorities1 four being suspended at   
each of  the four sides of the table and
 one at the center4 ,tiles are then     
placed over  the table or on the ground4
 ,after incantations have been repeated 
to the  accompaniment of the sounding of
 the bell and the wooden fish1 the      
supplications are burned and the tiles  
are broken as a symbol of breaking      
through purgatory and of releasing the  
soul4    ,thus ,buddhism has taken over 
the most important function of ancestor 
worship1  has extended it and made it   
more significant to each individual as  
well as to  the family4          ,,vi   
,,buddhism ,,and ,,social ,,life        
#a4 ,how the ,laity is ,trained in      
,buddhist ,ideas    ,a common way of    
emphasizing moral ideas among the people
 by ,buddhist teachers  is the use of   
tracts purporting to have a divine      
origin4 ,the following gives  the       

substance of such a tract3    ,not long 
ago in the province of ,shantung1 there 
was a sharp and sudden clap of  thunder4
 ,after the frightened people had       
collected their wits1 they discovered  a
 small book written in red in front of  
the house of a certain ,mr4 ,li4 ,mr4   
,li  picked up the book1 copied it and  
read it reverently4 ,he gave a copy to  
,mr4 ,ma1  the prefect1 but ,mr4 ,ma did
 not believe in the book4 ,thereupon    
,maitrya1 the  ,messiah of the          
,buddhists1 spoke from the sky as       
follows3    8,these are the years of the
 final age4 ,the people under heaven do 
not reverence  ,heaven and ,earth1 they 
are not filial to father and mother1    
they do not respect  their superiors4   
,they cheat the fatherless1 impose upon 
the widow1 oppress the  weak2 they use  
large weights for themselves and small  
measures for others4 ,they  injure the  
good4 ,they covet for their own profit4 
,they cheat men of money1 use  the five 
grains carelessly1 kill the cow that    

draws the plow4 ,this volume is  sent   
for their special benefit4 ,if they     
recite it they will avoid trouble4 ,if  
they disbelieve1 the years with the     
cyclical character ,ping and  ,ting will
 have fields without men to plant them  
and houses without men  to live in them4
 ,in the fifth month of these years evil
 serpents will infest  the whole        
country4 ,in the eighth and ninth months
 the bodies of evil men will  fill the  
land4    8,those who believe this book  
and propagate its teachings will not    
encounter the  ten sorrows of the age3  
war1 fire1 no peace day and night1      
separation of man  and wife1 the        
scattering of the sons and daughters1   
evil men spread over the  country1 dead 
bones unburied1 clothing with no one to 
wear it1 rice with no one  to eat it1   
and the difficulty of ever seeing a     
peaceful year4 ,skyamuni  foreseeing    
this final age sent down this volume in 
,shantung4 ,the ,goddess of  ,mercy saw 
the sorrows of all living beings4       

,maitrya commanded the two runners  of  
,t'ai ,shan1 the god of the ,eastern    
,mountain1 to investigate the conduct of
  men and as a first punishment to      
increase the price of rice1 and then    
besides  the ten sorrows already        
mentioned above1 to inflict the         
punishments of flood1  fire1 wind1      
thunder1 tigers1 snakes1 sword1 disease1
 famine and cold4 ,the rule  of         
,skyamuni which has lasted twelve       
thousand years is now fulfilled1 and    
,maitrya succeeds to his place40        
,these sorrows may be escaped by        
reciting this sutra whose substance we  
find  above4 ,if it is repeated three   
times the person will escape the        
calamity of  fire and water4 ,if one man
 passes it on to ten men and ten men    
pass it on to a  hundred1 they will     
escape the calamities of sword1 disease 
and imprisonment1  and receive blessings
 which cannot be measured4 ,he who in   
addition to repeating  the sutra        
practices abstinence will insure peace  

for himself4 ,he who presents  one      
hundred copies to others will insure his
 personal peace4 ,he who presents a     
thousand copies will insure the peace of
 his family4 ,he who is attacked by     
disease1 may escape it by taking five   
cash of the reign of ,shun ,chih        
7#afdd-affa  ,a4 ,d471 the first emperor
 of the ,ch'ing dynasty1 one mace of the
 seed of  cypress1 one mace of the bark 
of mulberry1 boil in one bowl of water  
until only  eight-tenths of the water   
remain1 drink and he will become well4  
,in this way the five ,buddhist         
commandments for the laity not to kill  
any living  creature1 not to steal1 not 
to commit adultery1 not to lie1 and not 
to use  intoxicating liquor are         
propagated and made real to the common  
man4 ,the method  is quite efficient4   
,whole provinces have been put into a   
panic by such  prophecies4    #b4       
,effect of ,ideals of ,mercy and        
,universal ,love    ,the command not to 
kill any living being has had           

considerable influence in  ,china4      
,there are volumes of stories telling of
 the punishments which will be  visited 
upon those who disobey and of the       
rewards of those who release living     
animals4 ,every monastery has a special 
place for animals thus released by pious
  devotees4    ,there is a popular story
 about a fishmonger of the ,t'ang       
dynasty who was taken  sick and during  
his illness dreamed that he was taken to
 purgatory4 ,his body  was aflame with  
fire and pained him as though he were   
being roasted4 ,flying  fiery chariots  
with darting flames swept around him and
 burned his body4 ,ten  thousand fish   
strove with one another to get a bite of
 his flesh4 ,the ruler of  the lower    
regions accused him of killing many fish
 and hence his punishment4  ,for a      
number of days he was hanging between   
life and death4 ,his relatives were     
urged to perform some works of penance4 
,they had his fishing implements burned4
  ,with reverent hearts they made two   

images of ,kuan ,yin1 presented         
offerings and  repented4 ,the whole     
family performed abstinence1 stopped    
killing living things1  printed and gave
 away over a hundred copies of the      
,diamond ,sutra1 and ferried  over a    
large number of souls through purgatory4
 ,as a result of their efforts  the sick
 man became well4    ,the following     
comment was made on the above story by a
 scholar4 ,if its premises  are granted1
 the conclusion is inevitable3    8,if  
the fiery chariots are seal1 why does   
not man see them8 ,if they are false1   
how is it that man feels the pain8 ,but 
where do the fiery chariots come from8  
,they come from the heart and head of   
the one who kills fish4 ,the fire in the
  heart 7heart belongs to the element   
fire7 causes destruction4 ,the chariot  
fire  also causes destruction40    ,this
 attitude of mercy has been extended to 
human beings4 ,there are numerous       
tracts against the drowning of little   
girls in those regions where this custom

  is prevalent4 ,one tells the following
 story3    ,in the province of          
,kwangtung there lived a ,mrs4 ,chang   
who daily burned incense  and repeated  
,buddha's name4 ,one day she and her    
husband died4 ,much to their  surprise  
and consternation ,yama 7the potentate  
of hell7 decided that ,mr4 ,chang  must 
become a pig and ,mrs4 ,chang a dog4    
,mrs4 ,chang accordingly went to ,yama  
and  said1 8,during life we honored     
,buddha and so why should we become     
animals after  death80 ,yama said1      
8,what use is it to honor ,buddha8      
,during life you drowned  three girls   
whom ,i sent into life4 ,people with the
 face of a man and the heart  of a      
beast1 should they not be punished80    
,the husband accordingly took on a      
pig's skin and the wife a dog's4 ,then  
by a dream they revealed to their       
brother  ,chang number two that1        
although they repeated ,buddha's name1  
they were not  permitted to be reborn as
 men1 because they had drowned little   

girls4    ,perhaps the extent of this   
spirit1 of mercy and its possibilities  
may be  illustrated by the reverence for
 the ox4 ,while there is a great deal of
 cruelty  in ,china to animals and men1 
it is rarely that one sees an ox abused4
 ,up to the  advent of the foreigner an 
ox was not killed for meat4 ,in many    
places in ,china  today the slaughter of
 an ox would bring the punishments of   
the law upon the  butcher4 ,no doubt    
this reverence is due to the great      
,indian reverence for the  cow4 ,the law
 of kindness has been extended to other 
animals1 taking the rather  spectacular 
form of releasing a few decrepit animals
 and allowing them to spend  their last 
days in a monastery compound4 ,there are
 many kindly things done in  ,china4    
,the dead are buried1 the sick are      
provided with medicine4 ,every year     
numerous wadded garments are given away 
to poor people4 ,various groups carrying
  on a humble ministry of helpfulness   
have found a real inspiration in the    

ideals  held before them in ,buddhism1  
the rewards promised and punishments    
threatened4    #c4 ,relation to         
,confucian ,ideals    ,why have not     
these ideals exercised a larger         
influence in ,china8 ,the answer is     
quite simple4 ,the activities of the    
monks have been strenuously opposed by  
the  ,confucian state system4 ,the      
philosopher1 ,chang ,nan-hsan1 a        
contemporary of  ,chu-,hsi1 states      
concisely for us the differences betwen 
,confucianism and  ,buddhism in his     
comment on a passage in the ,book of    
,records4    8,strong drink is a thing  
intended to be-used in offering         
sacrifices and  entertaining            
guests1--such employment of it is what  
,heaven has prescribed4 ,but  men by    
their abuse of such drink come to lose  
their virtue and destroy their          
persons--such employment of it is what  
,heaven has annexed its terrors to4 ,the
  ,buddhists1 hating the use of things  
where ,heaven sends down its terrors1   

put  away as well the use of them which 
,heaven has prescribed4    8,for        
instance1 in the use of meats and       
drinks1 there is such a thing as wildly 
abusing and destroying the creatures of 
,heaven4 ,the ,buddhists1 disliking     
this1  confine themselves to a vegetable
 diet1 while we only abjure wild abuse  
and  destruction4 ,in the use of        
clothes1 again1 there is such a thing as
 wasteful  extravagance4 ,the           
,buddhists1 disliking this1 will have no
 clothes but those of  a dark and sad   
color1 while we only condemn            
extravagance4 ,they1 further1  through  
dislike of criminal connection between  
the sexes1 would abolish the  relation  
between husband and wife1 while we      
denounce only the criminal  connection4 
8,the ,buddhists1 disliking the excesses
 to which the evil desires of men lead1 
would put away1 along with them1 the    
actions which are in accordance with the
  justice of heavenly principles1 while 
we1 the orthodox1 put away the evil     

desires of men1 whereupon what are      
called heavenly principles are the more 
brightly seen4 ,suppose the case of a   
stream of water4 ,the ,buddhists1       
through  dislike of its being foul with 
mud1 proceed to dam it up with earth4   
,they do  not consider that when the    
earth has dammed up the stream1 the     
supply of water  will be cut off4 ,it is
 not so with us1 the orthodox4 ,we seek 
only to cleanse  away the mud and sand1 
so that the pure water may be available 
for use4 ,this is  the difference       
between the ,buddhists and the ,learned 
,school40 ,footnote3 ,shu  ,king1 ,pt4  
,v1 ,bk4 ,x1 p4 #abb4    ,this statement
 reveals at once the opposition of the  
sect of the ,learned and  the influence 
which ,buddhism exerted upon its        
members4    ,buddhism while enjoying    
occasional favor from the state was     
often zealously  persecuted4 ,in #hai   
,han ,y issued his celebrated act of    
accusation4 ,in #hde the  emperor ,wu   
,tsung issued his decree of             

secularization4 ,at that time #dfjj     
monasteries and #dj1jjj smaller         
establishments were pulled down and     
#bfe1jjj  monks and nuns were sent back 
to lay life4 ,their rich lands were     
confiscated4  ,under the ,ming dynasty1 
as well as under the ,ch'ing dynasty1   
,buddhism enjoyed a  precarious         
existence4 ,whether ,buddhism would have
 improved the moral conditions  of the  
,chinese2 if it had been given a free   
hand1 is difficult to affirm4 ,still    
its failure is at least partly due to   
the opposition of ,confucian orthodoxy4 
#d4 ,the ,embodiment of ,buddhist       
,ideals in the ,vegetarian sects    ,the
 state persecutions of ,buddhism forced 
it to leave temporarily its             
institutional life and trust itself to  
the people4 ,these persecutions were    
usually followed by a revival of piety  
and religion among the people4 ,the     
,buddhist teachers gathered about       
themselves a large number of lay        
devotees who  formed societies which    

practice religious rites in secret4     
,these sects have  preserved the genuine
 ,buddhist piety1 not only in times of  
persecution1 but at  times when the     
,buddhist organization under imperial   
favor was departing from  its           
simplicity4    ,a number of these sects 
have continued under different names for
 several  centuries4 ,for example1 the  
,tsai ,li1 a society now enjoying a     
quiet existence  in ,north ,china1 is   
successor to the ,white ,lotus society4 
,the latter started in  the fifth       
century4 ,its members sought salvation  
in the ,pure ,land of ,amitabha4  ,in   
the eleventh century it enjoyed imperial
 favor4 ,during the ,mongol dynasty it  
fought against the throne with rebels   
and placed one of its leaders1 ,chu     
,yan-chang1 a monk1 on the throne1 who  
became the founder of the ,ming dynasty4
  ,the sect was soon proscribed and its 
members persecuted by the government4   
,during the ,ch'ing dynasty it took part
 in a rebellion and was ruthlessly      

exterminated4 ,at present it goes under 
the name of ,tsai ,li1 i4e41 within  the
 ,li or principles of the three         
religions4 ,it is a mediator among the  
three  religions4    ,there are         
thirty-one organizations of this sect in
 ,peking and branches  throughout ,north
 ,china4 ,the society forbids the use of
 wine and opium1 though  it does not    
forbid the use of meat4 ,it usually has 
a ,buddhist image1 ,kuan ,yin  or some  
other4 ,it uses ,buddhist prayers and   
incantations4 ,the outstanding          
doctrines held during its long history  
have been the hope of salvation in the  
,western ,heaven of ,amitbha1 the early 
coming of ,maitrya1 the ,buddhist       
,messiah1  and the large use of magic   
formulas and incantations4    ,another  
sect which embodies ,buddhist ideals is 
the ,chin ,tan1 the sect of the         
philosopher's stone or pill of          
immortality4 ,its founder was the writer
 of the  ,nestorian tablet and so the   
sect is related to ,christianity4 ,it   

exalts the  teaching of universal love4 
,this is one of several examples of a   
supposed  contact between ,buddhism and 
,christianity4    ,these sects of which 
the two above are examples are present  
in all parts of  ,china4 ,they obey the 
five ,buddhist commandments for laymen4 
,the members spend  much time in fasting
 and prayer1 and in the repetition of   
,buddhist books4 ,their  lives as a rule
 are simple and sincere4 ,they are      
preparing for rebirth in the  land of   
,amitbha1 or are expecting the early    
coming of the ,buddhist ,messiah to  set
 this world right4 ,in the meantime1 by 
means of incantations1 personal  regimen
 and cooperative action they are doing  
all they can to usher in a better       
state4    #e4 ,pilgrimages              
,pilgrimages are very popular in ,china4
 ,the famous ,buddhist shrines are ,wu  
,t'ai  ,shan in ,shansi1 ,puto on the   
coast of ,chekiang1 ,chiu ,hua ,shan in 
,anhwei1 and  ,omei ,shan in ,szechuan4 
,these1 one on each side of ,china1     

represent the four  elements of         
,buddhist science1 wind1 water1 fire and
 earth4 ,they are also the  centers of  
the worship of the four great           
,bodhisattvas1 ,wenshu1 ,kuan ,yin1     
,titsang and ,puhsien4 ,besides these   
large centers there are many others to  
which  pilgrims direct their footsteps4 
,in the spring of the year1 when the god
 of spring covers the earth with a green
  mantle1 when the sky and winds call1  
many start on their pilgrimage4 ,many go
  singly and laboriously1 kneeling and  
bowing every few steps4 ,others go in   
happy  companies1 chaperoned by a pious1
 village dame1 who has organized the    
group4  ,some go because their turn has 
come4 ,they are members of a guild which
 has a  fund devoted to pilgrimages by  
its members4 ,some go for the           
performance of a  vow made to ,kuan     
,yin1 when the father was sick unto     
death and the goddess  prolonged his    
life4 ,to others it is the culmination  
of a pious life4 ,all go for  the joy   

which travel in the spring gives4       
,puto1 an island off the coast of       
,chekiang1 is the goal of many pilgrims 
from  all parts of ,china4 ,in1 the     
monasteries on the island are about two 
thousand  monks4 ,in the pilgrim season 
this number is increased to ten thousand
 monks and  thousands of lay pilgrims4  
,a group of pilgrims was going along    
merrily4 ,the sun was bright1 lighting  
up  the white caps on the deep blue sea4
 ,spring was rioting all about4 ,one    
member  was an abbot from ,hangchow4 ,a 
small1 humble-looking man with a few    
straggling  long hairs where the        
mustache usually grows1 was a lay       
,buddhist from ,wuchang4  ,one was a    
bright young monk from ,tientsin4 ,last1
 but almost omnipresent and  always     
bubbling over1 was a servant of the     
abbot from ,hangchow4 ,he was in the    
presence of divinity and his whole life 
was heightened for the time being4 8,why
  did you come60 they were asked4 8,we  
came to worship the holy mother1 ,kuan  

,yin40  ,when they entered a shrine each
 purchased three sticks1 of incense and 
two  candles and reverently placed them 
before the image of the goddess1        
kneeling  and bowing4 ,then they sat and
 partook of the tea offered by the      
attendant4  ,after paying a small       
gratuity1 they went on to the next      
shrine4    ,on the way a large black    
snake as thick as an arm lazily crossed 
over the road4  ,they stood1 reverent   
and awestruck1 until he disappeared in  
the grass1  remarking that this was a   
good omen4 ,when crossing a sand dune   
piled up by the  winds the abbot from   
,hangchow remarked that this was called 
the flying sand1  wafted there by the   
goddess who took pity on some travelers 
who had been  compelled to cross a      
narrow strait in order to come to a     
cave4 ,this cave1  called ,fan ,yin     
,tung1 is one of the rifts made by an   
earthquake and washed out  by wind and  
waves4 ,below it rushes the tide2 from  
above the sun sends down a  few rays4   

,each pilgrim after offering incense    
looks into the darkness to see  whether 
he can behold in the dark cavern an     
image of some ,buddha4 ,one sees ,kuan  
,yin and is acclaimed as having had a   
good vision4 ,another sees the ,laughing
  ,buddha4 ,all exclaim that he has been
 the most fortunate of all1 for this    
,buddha  is the ,messiah to come and he 
who beholds him will be blessed4 ,so    
from place to  place they wander1       
chatting and seeing the sights of the   
island4 ,thus thousands  are doing in   
various parts of ,china1 and in this way
 strengthening the hold of  ,buddhism   
upon themselves and their communities4  
,,vii  ,,buddhism ,,and ,,the ,,future  
,,life      ,before the advent of       
,buddhism the ,chinese had only a vague 
idea regarding life  after death4 ,the  
,land and ,water ,classic mentions the  
,tu ,shuo mountain in the  ,eastern     
,sea1 under which spirits of the dead   
live1 the entrance guarded by two       
spirits1 ,shn ,tu and ,y ,lei1 who are  

in general control of the demons4 ,in   
some  parts of ,china the names or      
pictures1 of these spirits are placed on
 the doors  of a house to guard it4 ,the
 ,taoists early developed the idea of a 
western  paradise presided over by the  
,queen of the ,west1 located at first in
 the ,k'un  ,lun mountains and later in 
the islands of the ,eastern ,sea4 ,this 
heaven1  however1 was limited to ,taoist
 hermits and mystics4 ,buddhism made a  
complete  purgatory and heaven known to 
every one in ,china4    #a4 ,the        
,buddhist ,purgatory    ,this is really 
,buddhism's most noteworthy addition to 
,china's religious  equipment2 ,buddhism
 lays much stress upon the experiences  
of a soul immediately  after death4 ,its
 punishments are well known to every    
individual4 ,the temple of  the ,city   
,guardian found in every walled city has
 a replica of the court in  purgatory   
over which he presides4 ,in the temples 
of ,t'ai ,shan there is an  elaborate   
exhibit of the tortures inflicted on    

culprits in purgatory4 ,every  funeral  
service conducted by ,buddhists or      
,taoists is intended to conduct the     
soul of the dead through purgatory and  
pictures vividly the progressive        
experiences from the first seventh day  
to the seventh seventh day4 ,on the the 
seventh month1 on the fifteenth day     
about ,august a special service is held 
for the souls of the dead in purgatory4 
,furthermore1 every community has a     
general service about ,october for the  
souls of those who died a violent death 
or who have no one to look after them4  
,during the war many services were thus 
held for those who died on the          
battlefields of ,europe4 ,at such       
services the  scenes in purgatory are   
vividly portrayed by pictures and       
figures4 ,the temples  distribute tracts
 with pictures of purgatory so that     
women may see them and  understand4 ,on 
the stage are often acted powerful plays
 whose scenes are laid  in ,hades4 ,this
 propaganda is perhaps the most         

efficient of its kind4    ,purgatory is 
depicted as consisting of ten courts    
each surrounded by small  hells1 where  
the soul undergoes punishment and       
cleansing4 ,the fifth court1  which may 
be taken as an example of the other     
courts1 is in charge of ,yen ,lo or     
,yama4 ,yama was once in charge of the  
first court1 but his tender heart pitied
  the souls who came before him and sent
 them back to earth4 ,because of this   
leniency he was placed in charge of the 
fifth court4    ,when a soul has passed 
through the first four courts and it has
 been discovered  that there is no good 
conduct to its credit1 it is led to the 
fifth court and  examined every seven   
days regarding past conduct4 ,in order  
to get back to the  world of men1 it    
eagerly promises to complete various    
unfinished vows1 such as  to repair     
monasteries1 schools1 bridges1 or roads1
 to clean wells1 to deepen  rivers1 to  
distribute good books1 to release       
animals1 to take care of aged  parents1 

or to bury them suitably4 ,but it is    
plainly told that the gods know  its    
artifices1 and that now these unfinished
 tasks can never be completed4 ,the     
gods have reached the unanimous opinion 
that no injustice is being done4        
,accordingly there is no appeal1 but    
each soul is led by attendants with     
bulls'  heads and horses' faces to a    
tower whence they may see their native  
village4  ,its front is in the shape of 
a bow with a perimeter of twenty-seven  
miles2 its  height is four hundred and  
ninety feet4 ,it is guarded by walls of 
sword trees4    ,good men1 whose deeds  
of omission are balanced by the good    
they have done1  return to life4 ,only  
souls judged to be evil see their       
village from this tower4  ,these can see
 their own families moving about1 and   
can hear their conversation4  ,they     
realize how they disobeyed the teachings
 of their elders4 ,they see that  the   
earthly goods for which they have       
struggled are of no value4 ,their       

plottings rise up with lurid reality4   
,they see how they planned a new        
marriage  although already married1 how 
they appropriated fields1 state         
property1 and  falsified accounts1      
putting the blame on persons who were   
dead4 ,while they  observe their village
 they behold their erstwhile friends    
touch their coffin  and inwardly        
rejoice4 ,they hear themselves called   
selfish and insincere4 ,but  their      
punishment does not stop here4 ,they    
behold their children punished by       
magistrates1 their women afflicted with 
strange diseases1 their daughters       
ravished1 their sons led astray1 their  
property taken away1 the ancestral house
  burned and their business ruined4     
,from this tower all passes before them 
as a  lurid dream and they are stricken 
in heart4    ,about the fifth court are 
sixteen small hells where the soul is   
punished4 ,in  each one are stakes      
buried in the ground and fierce animals4
 ,the hands and feet  of the guilty one 

are bound to a stake1 his body is opened
 with small knives1  and his heart and  
intestines quickly devoured4    ,in each
 of these sixteen hells is a certain    
type of sinner3 7#a7 ,those who do  not 
reverence the gods and demons and who   
doubt the existence of rewards and      
punishments2 7#b7 those who hurt and    
kill living beings2 7#c7 those who break
  their vows to do good2 7#d7 those who 
resort to heterodox practices and vainly
  hope to attain eternal life2 7#e7     
those who upbraid good men1 fear the    
wicked  and hate men because they do not
 die speedily2 7#f7 those who strive    
with other  people and then put the     
blame upon them2 7#g7 men who force     
women2 and women who  seduce young men1 
and all who have libidinous desires2    
7#h7 those who gain  profit for         
themselves by injuring others2 7#i7 the 
stingy and those who  absolutely        
disregard others1 whether alive or dead1
 giving them no help in dire  need1 when
 they can do so without injury to       

themselves2 7#aj7 those who steal  and  
put the crime upon others2 7#aa7 those  
who requite favors with hate2 7#ab7     
those whose hearts are perverse and     
poisonous1 who instigate others to do   
wrong  even if they may not have carried
 out their suggestion2 7#ac7 those who  
tempt  others by deceit2 7#ad7 those who
 involve others in their squabbles and  
in  gambling and then themselves win    
out2 7#ae7 those who stubbornly persist 
in  their false ideas1 do not repent1   
and slander others2 7#af7 those who hate
 good  and virtuous men4    ,besides    
these sixteen sorts of sinners the fifth
 court deals with other types  of wicked
 people2 those who do not believe in    
rewards and punishments after  death1   
who hinder good causes1 who burn incense
 without a sincere heart1 speak  of the 
sins of others1 who burn books that urge
 men to be good and worship the  ,great 
,dipper1 but persist in eating meat2    
those who hate men2 who repeat sutras   
and incantations1 and take part in      

religious ceremonies1 but do not fast   
beforehand2 who slander the ,buddhist   
and ,taoist religions2 who know how to  
read1 but refuse to read the ancient and
 modern exhortations regarding rewards  
and punishments2 who dig into graves and
 destroy their marks1 who purposely set 
fire to trees and underbrush1 or are    
careless with fire in their own houses2 
who shoot arrows at animals with the    
intent1 to kill2 who urge and tempt the 
sick and weak to enter into contests of 
any kind with themselves2 who throw     
tiles and stones over neighboring walls1
 poison fish in the river1 fire guns1   
or make nets or traps for birds2 who sow
 salt on the ground1 who do not bury    
dead eats and snakes very deep and thus 
cause death to those who dig2 who cause 
men to dig the frozen ground in winter  
or spring 7the vapors of earth chill    
such diggers to death72 who tear down   
adjoining walls and compel their        
neighbors to move the kitchen stove2 who
 appropriate public highways1 lands1    

close wells and stop gutters4    ,those 
who have committed any of the above sins
 are taken1 to the tower whence  they   
can see their own village and then are  
consigned to the great crying hell1     
,rurava1 that is1 the fourth of the     
,buddhist hot hells4 ,footnote3         
,buddhism  distinguishes hot and cold   
hells4 ,in a country like ,india severe 
cold is a  serious torture4 ,thence they
 go to their respective small hells4    
,when their  time has expired1 they are 
examined in order to see whether they   
have any other  sins which need         
punishment4    ,those who have committed
 any of the above sins may not only     
escape punishment1  but may have their  
punishment in the sixth court lessened1 
if they fast  regularly on the eighth   
day of the first month and take a vow   
not to commit  these sins4 ,some sins1  
however1 cannot be arranged for in such 
a way1 such as  the killing of living   
beings and hurting them2 the associating
 with heretics2  committing fornication 

with women and then poisoning them2     
committing adultery1  violence1 envy1 or
 injuring the good name of others2      
stealing1 requiting favors  with hatred1
 and hearing exhortation but not        
repenting4 ,these are major sins4    #b4
 ,its ,social ,value    ,the social     
value of purgatory is quite plain from  
the description of the fifth  court and 
of the sinners who are punished therein4
 ,purgatory is the social  mirror of    
,china1 wherein the consequences of all 
unsocial acts are pictured in  such a   
vivid way as to deter the individual    
from committing them4 ,it is  effective 
in ,china1 not only because of the      
realistic presentation1 but because  the
 opinion of the community is against    
such acts and in favor of repressing    
them on every occasion4    #c4 ,the     
,buddhist ,heaven4    ,buddhism brought 
into ,china not only a fully developed  
purgatory but also a  heaven which all  
may enter4 ,the sovereign of the western
 heaven is ,amitbha 7or  in ,chinese    

,o-mi-to-fo71 with whom ,kuan ,yin1 the 
goddess of ,mercy1 is usually           
associated4 ,amitbha is explained as    
meaning 8boundless age40 ,the original  
meaning is 8boundless light10 which     
suggests a ,persian origin with         
,mannichean  influences4 ,the           
translations of the ,amitbha sutras were
 wholly made by natives  of central     
,asia4    ,amitbha is one of the        
thousand ,buddhas2 he is regarded as the
 reflex of  ,sakyamuni and is connected 
also in his earthly incarnation with a  
monk called  ,dharmkara4 ,this monk     
desired to become a ,buddha4 ,this wish 
he presented to  ,lks'vararja asking him
 to teach him as to what a ,buddha and a
 ,buddha country  ought to be4          
,lks'vararja imparted this knowledge4   
,then the monk after  meditation        
returned having made forty-eight vows   
that he would not become a  ,buddha1    
until all living beings should attain   
salvation in his heaven4    ,the        
eighteenth vow expresses his ideal3     

8,o ,bhagavat1 if those beings who have 
directed their thought towards the      
highest perfect knowledge in other      
worlds1 and who1 after having heard my  
name1  when ,i have obtained ,bodhi     
7knowledge71 have meditated on me with  
serene  thoughts2 if at the moment of   
their death1 after having approached    
them  surrounded by an assembly of      
monks1 ,i should not stand before them  
worshipped  by them1 that is1 so that   
their thoughts should not be troubled1  
then may ,i not  obtain the highest     
perfect knowledge40    ,a few extracts  
from the ,amitbha ,vyha ,stra will      
illustrate the  ,buddhist idea of life  
in this ,pure ,land3    8,in the western
 region beyond one hundred thousand     
myriads of ,buddhist lands  there is a  
world4 ,great ,happiness by name4 ,this 
land has a ,buddha called  ,amitbha4    
,the living beings there do not suffer  
any pain1 but enjoy all  happiness4     
,therefore1 it is called the land of    
,pure ,delight ''' the land of ,pure    

,delight has seven precious fountains   
full of water containing the eight      
virtues4 ,the bottom of these fountains 
is covered with golden sand4 ,on four   
sides there are steps made of gold1     
silver1 crystal and glass1 precious     
stones1  red pearls1 and highly polished
 agates4 ,in the pools are variously    
colored1  light emitting lotus flowers  
as large as cart wheels1 delicate1      
admirable1  odorous and pure'''0        
8,the ,buddha of this land makes        
heavenly music4 ,it is covered with     
gold4 ,morning  and evening during six  
hours it rains the wonderful celestial  
flowers  7,erythrina ,indica74 ,all the 
inhabitants of this land on clear       
mornings after  dressing offer these    
celestial flowers to the hundred        
thousand myriads of  ,buddhas of the    
regions who return to their country at  
meal time4 ,when they have  eaten they  
go away again40    8,this country       
possesses every kind of wonderful       
varicolored birds1 the white  egret1 the

 peacock1 the parrot1 the s'rarika 7a   
long legged bird71 the  ,kalavingka 7a  
sweet voiced bird7 ''' ,all these birds1
 morning and evening during  the six    
hours1 utter forth a beautiful          
harmonious sound4 ,their song produces  
the five indrya 7roots of faith1 energy1
 memory1 ecstatic meditation1  wisdom71 
the five bala 7the powers of faith1     
energy1 memory1 meditation  and wisdom71
 the seven bodhyanga 7the seven degrees 
of intelligence1  memory1               
discrimination1 energy1 tranquillity1   
ecstatic contemplation1  indifference71 
and the eight portions of the correct   
path marga1 7the  possession of correct 
views1 decision and purity of thought   
and will1 the  ability of reproducing   
any sound uttered in the universe1 vow  
of poverty1  asceticism1 attainment of  
meditative abstraction of self-control1 
religious  recollectedness1 honesty and 
virtue71 and such doctrines4 ,when all  
beings of  this land have heard the     
music1 they declare their faithfulness  

to the ,buddha1  ,dharma and the ,sangha
 7the ,buddha1 the ,law and the         
community of monks740    ,as to those   
who enter this land it says3    8,all   
living beings who hear this should make 
a vow to be born in that land4 ,how  can
 they reach the ,pure ,land8 ,all very  
good men will gather in that place '''  
,he  whose blessedness and virtue are   
great can be born into that country4 ,if
 there  is a good man or woman who1 on  
hearing of ,amitbha1 takes this name and
 holds  it in his mind one1 two1 three1 
four1 five1 six1 or seven days1 and his 
whole  heart is not distracted1 to that 
man at death ,amitbha will appear4 ,his 
heart  will not be disturbed4 ,he will  
at once enter into life in the land of  
,pure  ,delight of ,amitbha4 ,i see this
 blessing and hence utter these words4  
,those  living beings who hear these    
words should make a vow to be born in   
that land40    #d4 ,the ,harmonization  
of ,these ,ideas with ,ancestor ,worship
    ,the extension of life beyond the   

grave in purgatory1 or in the ,pure     
,land and  through transmigration was   
readily accepted in ,china4 ,both the   
new ideas and  the disciplines through  
which to realize them were eagerly      
adopted1 and have  held their place to  
this day4 ,in other lands the creation  
of a heaven and a  hades has weakened   
the grip of ancestor worship and        
ultimately displaced it4 ,in  ,china the
 opposite result has obtained1 due1 no  
doubt1 to the fact that the  family     
system and along with it the supreme    
duty of filial piety were fostered  by  
the state and ,buddhism and its         
teachings were permitted only in so far 
as  they bolstered it up4 ,another      
reason lies in the agricultural basis of
 ,china's  civilization1 reenforced by  
the great difficulty of communication1  
which tended  to make the family system 
dominant in ,china4 ,today1 the         
improvement of  communication and the   
introduction of the industrial system of
 the ,west with  the individual emphasis

 of modern education are factors which  
are weakening the  family system and    
with it ancestral worship4              
,,viii  ,,the ,,spiritual ,,values      
,,emphasized ,,by ,,buddhism ,,in       
,,china      ,near the ,house of        
,parliament in ,peking is located a     
small monastery dedicated  to the       
goddess of ,mercy1 ,kuan ,yin4 ,before  
her image the incense burners send      
forth curling clouds of smoke4 ,the     
walls are decorated with old paintings  
of  gods and goddesses4 ,the temple with
 its courtyard has the appearance of    
prosperity4 ,its neat reception room1   
with its tables1 chairs and clock1 shows
  the influence of the modern world4    
,here a monk in the prime of life spent 
a few months recently lecturing on      
,buddhism to members of parliament and  
to scholars from various parts of       
,china4  ,frequently the writer used to 
drop in of an afternoon to discuss      
,buddhism and  its outlook4 ,usually a  
simple repast concluded these           

conversations1 the  substance of which  
forms the greater part of this section4 
#a4 ,the ,threefold ,classification of  
,men ,under ,buddhism    8,what does    
,buddhism do for men80    8,there are in
 the world at least three classes of    
men4 ,the lowest class live  among      
material things1 they are occupied with 
possessions4 ,their life is  entangled  
in the crude and coarse materials which 
they regard as real4 ,a  second1 higher 
class1 regard ideas as realities4 ,they 
are not entangled in the  maze of       
things1 but are confused by ideas1      
ascribing reality to them4 ,the third   
and highest class are those who by      
meditation have freed themselves from   
the  thraldom of ideas and can enter the
 sixteen heavens40    #b4 ,salvation for
 the ,common ,man    8,what can         
,buddhism do for the lowest class80     
8,for this class ,buddhism has the ten  
prohibitions4 ,every man has in him ten 
evils1 which must be driven out4 ,three 
have to do with evil in the body1       

namely1 not to steal1 not to kill1 not  
to commit adultery2 four belong to the  
mouth1 lying1 exaggeration1 abuse1 and  
ambiguous talk2 three belong to the     
mind1 covetousness1 malice1 and         
unbelief40    8,is not this entirely    
negative80    8,yes1 but it is          
necessary1 for during the process of    
eliminating these evil  deeds1 man      
acquires patience and equanimity4       
,buddhism does not stop with the        
prohibitions4 ,the believer must        
practice the ten charitable deeds4 ,not 
only  must he remove the desire to kill 
living beings1 but he must cultivate the
  desire to save all beings4 ,not only  
must he not steal1 but he must assist   
men  with his money4 ,not only must he  
not give himself to lasciviousness1 but 
he  must treat all men with propriety4  
,so each prohibition involves a positive
  impulse to virtue1 which is quite as  
essential as the refraining from evil40 
8,what energizing power does ,buddhism  
provide80    8,first1 is purgatory with 

its terrors4 ,the evil man1 seeing the  
consequences of  his acts upon himself1 
becomes afraid to do them and does that 
which is good4  ,then there is          
transmigration with the danger of       
transmigration into beasts and  insects4
 ,again1 there are the rewards in the   
paradise of ,amitbha4 ,moreover1  there 
is even the possibility not only of     
saving one's self1 but by accumulated   
merit of saving one's parents and       
relatives and shortening their stay in  
purgatory40    #c4 ,the ,place of ,faith
    8,can any man enter the western     
paradise of ,amitbha80    8,yes1 it is  
open to all men4 ,the sutra says3 #8,if 
there be any one who commits  evil      
deeds1 and even completes the ten evil  
actions1 the five deadly sins and  the  
like2 that man1 being himself stupid and
 guilty of many crimes1 deserves to     
fall into a miserable path of existence 
and suffer endless pains during many    
long ages4 ,on the eve of death he may  
meet a good and learned teacher who1    

soothing and encouraging him in various 
ways1 will preach to him the excellent  
,law and teach him the remembrance of   
,buddha1 but being harassed by pains'1  
he  will have no time to think of       
,buddha4'0    8,what hope has such a    
man80    8,even such a man has hope4    
,the sutra says3 #8,some good friend    
will say to him3  ,even if thou canst   
not exercise the remembrance of ,buddha1
 utter the name of  ,buddha ,amitabha4' 
,let him do so serenely with his voice  
uninterrupted2 let him  be 7continually7
 thinking of ,buddha1 until he has      
completed ten times the  thought1       
repeating #8,namah ,o-mi-to-fo1' ,i put 
my trust in ,buddha6 ,on the  strength  
of 7his merit of7 uttering ,buddha's    
name he will1 during every  repetition  
expiate the sins which involve him in   
births and deaths during  eighty        
millions of long ages4 ,he will1 while  
dying1 see a golden lotus-flower1  like 
the disk of the sun1 appearing before   
his eyes2 in a moment he will be  born  

in the world of highest happiness4      
,after twelve greater ages the          
lotus-flower will unfold2 thereupon the 
,bodhisattvas1 ,avalkitsvaras and       
,mahasattva's1 raising their voices in  
great compassion1 will preach to him in 
detail the real state of all the        
elements of nature and the law of the   
expiation of sins40    8,does faith save
 such a man80    8,yes1 not his own     
faith1 but the faith which prompted the 
vow of ,amitabha4  ,amitbha's faith in  
the possibility of his salvation gives  
him supreme  confidence that he will    
attain salvation4 ,all he needs is to   
have the desire to  be born in that     
paradise and to repeat the name of      
,amitabha40    #d4 ,salvation of the    
,second ,class    8,how do those of the 
second class attain salvation80    8,the
 men of the second class regard ideas as
 realities4 ,they are not entangled  in 
the maze of things1 but are confused by 
ideas1 regarding them as real4 ,these   
men do not need images and outward      

sanctions1 but they need heaven and     
purgatory though regarding them as      
ideas4 ,by performing the ten good deeds
 they  will obtain a quiet heart1 having
 no fear1 and become saints and sages4  
,among  men1 saints and sages occupy a  
high rank1 but not so among ,buddhists4 
,by merit  of good works merely they    
enter the planes of sensuous desire1 the
 six  celestial worlds located          
immediately above the earth40    #e4    
,salvation for the ,highest ,class      
8,and the third class80    8,this class 
has many ranks4 ,there are those who by 
the practice of meditation  7four       
dkyanas7 ,footnote3 ,dhyana means       
contemplation4 ,in later times  under   
the influence of the idea of            
transmigration heavens were imagined    
which  corresponded to the degrees of   
contemplation4 can enter the sixteen    
heavens  conditioned by form4 ,by the   
practice of the four arpa-dhynas        
,footnote3 ,that degree of abstract     
contemplation from which all sensations 

are  absent4 they enter the four highest
 heavens free from all sensuous desires 
and  not conditioned by form4 ,these    
heavens are the anteroom of ,nirvana40  
8,what is the driving power in all      
this80    8,it is vrya or energy40      
#f4 ,heaven and ,purgatory    8,do      
heaven and purgatory exist80    8,heaven
 and purgatory are in the minds and     
hearts of men4 ,really heaven is in  the
 mind of ,amitbha and purgatory exists  
in the illusioned brains of men40       
8,does anything exist80    8,ngrjuna    
says3 #8,there is no production1 no     
destruction1 no annihilation1 no        
persistence1 no unity1 no plurality1 no 
coming in and no going forth4'0    #g4  
,sin    8,does sin exist80    8,in the  
mind of the real ,buddhist sin and      
virtue are different aspects of the     
all4 ,sin is illusion2 virtue is        
illusion1 ,there is a higher unity in   
which they  are reconciled40    #h4     
,nirvna    8,do you know of any one who 
attained ,nirvna80    8,yes1 ,i have    

experienced it4 ,it is not a state      
beyond the grave4 ,it is a state  into  
which one can enter here40    8,can you 
express this experience in words80      
8,impossible4 ,i can only indicate the  
shore of this great ocean4 ,at first ,i 
was  in great distress and agony1 as    
though carrying the illusions of the    
world4  ,then came a great peace and    
calm1 ineffable1 serene1 and surpassing 
the power  of language to express40     
#i4 ,the ,philosophical ,background     
8,what is behind this universe60        
8,underlying this universe of phenomena 
and change there is a unity4 ,it is the 
basis of all being4 ,it is within all   
being and all being rests in it4 ,it is 
because of this common background that  
men are able to apprehend it4 ,this     
universal basis we call dharma1 or law4 
,its characteristics are that           
everything born grows old1 is subject to
 disease and death2 that the teachings  
of ,buddha purify the mind and enable it
 to obtain supreme enlightenment2 that  

all ,buddhas by treading the same way of
 perfection will attain the highest     
freedom40    8,you speak of the         
,buddhist ,trinity40    8,yes1 we have  
the ,dharmakya4 ,this is the            
essence-body1 the ground of all  being1 
taking many forms1 ,buddhas1            
,bodhisattvas1 spirits1 angels1 men and 
even  demons4 ,it is impersonal1        
all-pervasive4 ,it may be called the    
first person4 ,the  second person is the
 ,sambhogakya1 the body of bliss4 ,this 
is the heavenly  manifestation of       
,buddha4 ,the third person is the       
,nirmnakya4 ,this is the  projection of 
the body of bliss on earth40    ,some   
identify this trinity with that of the  
,christian faith4 ,while there is a     
resemblance1 we should note that the    
first person of the ,buddhist trinity   
would  correspond to ,god as the        
absolute or the impersonal background of
 universal  ,being4 ,the second         
corresponds to the glorified ,christ and
 the third to the  historic ,jesus4     

,there is no counterpart either to ,god 
the ,father or to the ,holy  ,spirit4   
8,do you believe in the salvation of all
 beings80    8,yes1 all have the ,buddha
 heart4 ,all living beings will finally 
become  ,buddhas40    ,then turning to a
 friend of mine the speaker said3 8,what
 have you done in  ,buddhism80 ,the     
friend answered3 8,i have written and   
translated many books40 8,i  do not mean
 that10 he answered4 8,what work have   
you done80 ,the friend  confessed that  
he had not done much else4 ,then he     
said3 8,every morning when you  awake1  
reflect deeply and profoundly upon your 
state before you were born4  ,think back
 to that state where your soul was      
merged with ,buddha4 ,find yourself  in 
that state and you will find ineffable  
enlightenment and joy40    ,the sun was 
setting behind the ,western hills4 ,the 
blare of trumpets sounded on  the city  
wall4 ,outside of the door was the      
whirling sound of ,peking returning     
home from its mundane tasks and joys4   

,we joined the rushing1 restless crowd  
and  still we felt the calm of another  
world4 ,has not ,christianity a message 
of balm  and peace for these sons of the
 ,east who are so sensitive to the touch
 of the  eternal and sublime8    #aj4   
,what ,buddhism ,has to ,give    ,an    
important government official obliged to
 deal with many vexatious requests  and 
demands declared3 8,i could not get     
through my day's work1 if ,i did not    
spend an hour every day in meditation1  
just as ,buddha did when he became      
enlightened40 ,he was asked what he did 
when he meditated or prayed4 8,nothing  
at  all40 8,well1 about what do you     
think80 8,of nothing at all4 ,i stop    
thinking when  ,i engage in religious   
meditation4 ,life makes me think too    
much4 ,i should lose  my sanity1 if ,i  
did not stop thinking and enter into the
 #8void'1 whence we all  came and into  
which we all are going to drop back40   
,his ,christian inquirer still was      
unsatisfied by the ,buddhist's          

description of  his prayer life1 and    
pressed further for details4 8,what     
happens when you  meditate or pray80    
8,nothing happens1 ,i tell you1 except1 
that ,i experience a peace which the    
passing world cannot give and which the 
passing world cannot altogether take    
away4 ,the secret of religion is simply 
to realize that everything is passing   
away4 ,when you accept that fact1 then  
you become really free4 ,the ,christian 
world seemed to have been tremendously  
impressed by the slogan of the ,french  
soldiers at ,verdun1 #8,they shall not  
pass6' ,perhaps the ,german soldiers did
 not  pass just then or there4 ,but the 
,french soldiers themselves are all     
passing  away4 ,and everything in the   
world is passing away4 ,what our        
,buddhist religion  teaches us is3      
#8,let it pass6' ,you cannot keep       
anything for very long4 ,and  prayer or 
meditation is simply to practice        
yourself in that thought  deliberately4 
,oh1 it is a wonderful peace when you   

fully believe that gospel1  and enter   
into it every day4 ,vanity of vanities1 
everything is vanity6 ,why  worry8 ,we  
do altogether too much worrying4 ,to    
pray means simply to quit  worrying1 to 
quit thinking1 to enter into the        
indescribably passionless peace  of     
,nirvana40    ,here seemed to be an     
ardent ,buddhist4 ,when asked what he   
thought as the  difference between a    
,buddhist and a ,christian1 he answered 
promptly3    8,yes1 there is my wife4   
,she is a very good woman4 ,all the     
neighbors come to  her1 when there is   
any one sick or in trouble4 ,so ,i say  
to her3 #8,wife1 ,i should  think you   
would make a first-class ,christian4'   
,but ,i think she lets herself be       
worried by altogether too many troubles4
 ,she is all the time thinking and      
fussing and planning4 ,to be sure1 it is
 mostly about other people1 ,but then   
she  does have the children and the     
house and the relatives and friends and 
neighbors to look after4 ,perhaps she   

really cannot be a ,buddhist4 ,perhaps  
it is  all a matter of temperament4 ,oh1
 but ,i tell you it is great to be a    
,buddhist1  because it gives you such a 
wonderful peace40          ,,ix         
,,present-,,day ,,buddhism3      #a4    
,periods of ,buddhist ,history    ,the  
history of ,buddhism in ,china may be   
divided into four periods4 ,buddhism    
entered ,china1 as we have seen1 in the 
second century ,b4,c4 ,the first period1
  that of the translation and           
propagation of the faith1 ended in #dbj 
,a4,d4 ,the  second period1 that of     
interpenetration1 lasted to the         
beginning of the ,t'ang  dynasty1 #fah  
,a4,d4 ,the third1 the period of        
establishment1 ended with the close  of 
the five dynasties1 in #ifj ,a4,d4 ,the 
fourth period1 that of decay1 has       
extended to the present day4    #b4 ,the
 ,progress of the ,last ,twenty-five    
,years    ,there are signs of a revival 
of ,buddhism in ,china4 ,whether this is
 a tide1 or a  wave1 only the future can

 reveal4 ,in #ahic ,dharmapala1 an      
,indian monk1 stopped  in ,shanghai on  
his way back from the ,congress of      
,religions in ,chicago4 ,it was  his    
purpose to make a tour of ,china1 to    
arouse the ,chinese ,buddhists to send  
missionaries to ,india to restore       
,buddhism there1 and then to start a    
propaganda  throughout the whole world4 
,he addressed the monks of ,shanghai4   
,dr4 ,edkins1 the  veteran missionary1  
acted as his interpreter4 ,dharmapala   
was surrounded by a  horde of curious   
monks who were more interested in his   
strange appearance and  in the cost of  
his garments than they were in his great
 ideals4 ,they were also  feeling the   
iron heel of the ,confucian government  
and at once inquired about  the attitude
 of the government toward such an       
innovation4 ,dharmapala did not go      
beyond ,shanghai4    ,japanese          
,buddhists1 especially the members of   
the ,hongwanji sect1 have taken a  deep 
interest in ,chinese ,buddhists4 ,count 

,otani once visited the chief           
monasteries of ,china4 ,numerous        
,japanese ,buddhists have made such     
visits4 ,in  #aijb1 the ,empress        
,dowager1 fired by a reforming zeal1    
decided to confiscate  ,buddhist        
property and to use the proceeds for the
 spread of modern education4  ,the      
,buddhist monasteries put themselves    
under the protection of ,japanese monks 
in order to hold their property4 ,when  
by #aijf the ,empress ,dowager saw the  
consequences of her edict1 she at once  
issued a new edict1 reversing the former
  one1 and the ,japanese monks took     
their departure4    ,the ,japanese      
,buddhists have been fired by missionary
 zeal for ,china4 ,in many of  the large
 cities of ,china are the temples of the
 ,hongwanji sect4 ,established          
primarily for the ,japanese1 these      
temples are intended to serve as points 
of  departure for a nation-wide         
missionary work4 ,the twenty-one demands
 made upon  ,china included two         

significant items in the last group     
which the ,chinese  refused to sign3    
8,art4 #b3 ,japanese hospitals1 churches
 and schools in the  interior of ,china 
shall be granted the right of owning    
land40 8,art4 #g3 ,china  agrees that   
,japanese subjects shall have the right 
of missionary propaganda in  ,china40   
,under ,japanese influence there was    
established in #aijg at ,nanking1 under 
the  leadership of ,yang1 a lay         
,buddhist devotee1 a school for the     
training of  ,buddhist missionaries4    
,the students were to go to ,japan for  
further training1  and the more         
promising ones were to study in ,india4 
,this project was  discontinued after   
the death of ,yang on account of the    
lack of funds4    ,when the republic was
 established ,buddhism felt a wave of   
reform4 ,the  monasteries established   
schools for monks and children4 ,a      
magazine was  published which appeared  
irregularly for several numbers and then
 stopped4 ,a  national organization was 

formed with headquarters at ,peking4 ,a 
survey of  monasteries was begun4 ,the  
activities in lecturing and propaganda  
were  increased1 but ,yuan ,shih-kai    
issued twenty-seven regulations for the 
control of  ,buddhist monasteries1 which
 markedly dampened the ardor of the     
reformers4    ,the world war which      
accentuated the spirit of nationalism   
had the added effect  of stirring up    
,buddhist enthusiasm4 ,there are at     
present signs of new activity  among    
them in ,china4    #c4 ,present         
,activities    ,while ,buddhism may be  
standing still or even dying in certain 
parts of ,china1  it is showing signs of
 new life in the provinces of ,kiangsu  
and ,chekiang and in  the large cities4 
,such revival in centers subject to the 
influence of the  modern world shows    
that ,buddhism in ,china as in ,japan   
has sufficient vitality  to adjust      
itself to modern conditions4 ,let us    
consider some of these  activities4     
7a7 ,the ,reconstruction of             

,monasteries4--,during the ,t'ai ,ping  
rebellion1  which devastated ,china in  
#ahej-ahfe1 the monasteries suffered    
with the towns4  ,not only were the     
monasteries burned to the ground1 but   
their means of support  were taken away 
and the monks were scattered4 ,there are
 still many of these  ruined monasteries
 in the ,yangtze valley and in southern 
and western ,china4  ,quite a number of 
them have been rebuilt4 ,perhaps the    
most notable example is  that at        
,changchow which was destroyed during   
the rebellion4 ,today it is the  largest
 monastery in ,china1 having about two  
thousand monks4 ,in ,fukien several  new
 monasteries have been built in the last
 few decades4 ,in the provinces of      
,chekiang and ,kiangsu1 in the large    
cities and about ,peking there are      
building  activities1 showing that the  
monasteries are feeling a new wave of   
prosperity4    ,t'ai ,hsu1 one of the   
leaders' of modern ,buddhism1 is holding
 up an ideal  program for ,buddhism in  

this time of reconstruction4 ,he        
proposes that there  should be #egf     
central monasteries1 #dfjh preaching    
places1 #gb ,buddhist hospitals  and #gb
 orphanages4    7b7                     
,accessions4--,regarding the number of  
monks it is almost impossible to  obtain
 any reliable figures4 ,a conservative  
estimate1 based upon partial  returns1  
makes the number of monks about #djj1jjj
 and that of nuns about #aj1jjj4  ,the  
impression among the ,buddhists is that 
the number of monks is increasing4      
,that is quite probable in view of the  
rebuilding and repairing which is now in
  progress4    ,more significant is the 
number of accessions from the learned   
class4 ,many  officials1 disheartened by
 the present confused political         
situation1 have  sought refuge in the   
monasteries4 ,some of them are now      
abbots of monasteries  and are using    
their influence to build them up4 ,all  
over ,china there are  ,confucian       
scholars who are giving themselves to   

the study of ,buddhism and to           
meditation4 ,some of the ,chinese       
students who have studied in ,buddhist  
universities in ,japan are propagating  
,buddhism by lecture and pen4    7c7    
,publications4--,quite as significant is
 the increase in the  publication of    
,buddhist literature of all kinds4 ,many
 of the monasteries have  printing      
departments where they publish the      
sutras needed for their own use4 ,in    
addition1 there are eight or more       
publishing centers where ,buddhist      
literature  is printed4 ,the most famous
 are ,yang's establishment at ,nanking1 
the ,buddhist  ,press in ,yangchow and  
that in ,peking4 ,in these              
establishments about nine  hundred      
different works are being published4    
,the most noteworthy recent  publication
 has been that of the ,chinese ,buddhist
 ,tripitaka in ,shanghai4    ,among     
these publications are a few modern     
issues4 ,the ,chung ,hua ,book ,company 
has published several works on          

,buddhism4 ,other books have been issued
 for the  sake of harmonizing ,buddhism 
with western science and philosophy4 ,in
 this  enterprise ,japanese influence is
 visible4 ,in #aiba a ,shanghai press   
published a  dictionary of ,buddhist    
terms containing #ccjb pages1 based on  
the ,japanese  ,dictionary of ,buddhism4
 ,other works also show the influence of
 ,japanese  scholarship4    ,among the  
publications have appeared two          
magazines4 ,one published at ,ningpo1 is
  called 8,new ,buddhism40 ,this is     
struggling and may have to succumb4 ,the
 other is  known as the 8,sound of the  
,sea ,tide10 now published in ,hankow4  
,moreover1 in all  the large cities     
there are ,buddhist bookshops where only
 ,buddhist works are  sold4 ,these all  
report a good business4 ,this literary  
activity reveals an  interest among the 
reading classes of ,china4 ,few such    
books are purchased by  the monks4 ,the 
,chinese scholars read them for their   
style and for their deep  philosophy1   

but also for light and for help in the  
present distracting  political situation
 of their country4    7d7               
,lectures4--,along with publication goes
 the spread of ,buddhism by  lectures in
 the monasteries and the cities of      
,china4 ,a few years ago ,buddhist      
sermons1 however serious1 were only     
listened to by monks and by a few pious 
devotees4 ,today such addresses are     
advertised and are usually well attended
 by  the intellectuals4 ,often many     
women are found listening4 ,monks like  
,t'ai ,hs  and ,yuan ,ying have a       
national reputation4 ,not only monks1   
but laymen trained in  ,japan are       
delivering lectures on the ,buddhist    
sutras4 ,the favorites are the          
,awakening of ,faith and the ,suddharma 
,pundarika sutra4    7e7 ,buddhist      
,societies4--,with the lectures goes the
 organization of  ,buddhist societies   
for all sorts of purposes4 ,there is a  
central society in  ,peking which has   
branches in every province4 ,the        

connection is rather loose4  ,buddhism  
has never been in favor of              
centralization4 ,nor for that matter    
would  the government have allowed it4  
,the chief ends aimed at by these       
societies are  fellowship1 devotion1    
study1 propagation1 and service4 ,such  
societies1 often  short lived1 are      
springing up in many quarters4 ,they    
meet for lectures on  ,buddhism or to   
conduct a study class in some of the    
sutras4 ,occasionally the  more         
ambitious conduct an institute for      
several months4 ,some spend part of the 
time in meditation together4 ,several   
schools for children are supported by   
these societies4 ,they also encourage   
work of a religious nature among        
prisoners1 distributing tracts and      
holding services4 ,such activities are  
especially appreciated by those who are 
to suffer the death penalty4 ,the       
societies are also doing publishing     
work4 ,the two magazines are supported  
by  the members of the larger societies4

    7f7 ,signs of ,social               
,ambition4--,social work is a prominent 
feature of some  of these ,buddhist     
societies4 ,they have raised money for  
famine stricken  regions1 have opened   
orphanages1 and assist in ,red ,cross   
work4 ,one of the  largest ,chinese     
institutions for ministering to people  
who are sick and in  trouble is located 
at ,hankow4 ,around a central ,buddhist 
temple is a  modern-built hospital1 an  
orphanage and several schools for poor  
children4 ,it  may not maintain western 
standards of efficiency1 but it         
certainly represents  the outreach of   
modern ,buddhism4    ,perhaps their most
 far-reaching advance has been made     
because of the  realization that leaders
 are needed and that they must be       
trained4 ,several  schools for this     
purpose have sprung into existence4     
,such schools are  necessarily very     
primitive and are struggling with the   
difficulties of finding  an adequate    
staff and equipment and of obtaining the

 best type of students4    ,another sign
 of new life has been the making of     
programs for the future  development of 
,buddhism4 ,one of the most             
comprehensive appeared a short time     
ago4 ,for the individual it proposes the
 cultivation of love1 mercy1 equality1  
freedom1 progressiveness1 an established
 faith1 patience and endurance4 ,for all
  men it proposes 7#a7 an education     
according to capacity2 7#b7 a trade     
suited to  ability2 7#c7 an opportunity 
to develop one's powers2 7#d7 a chance  
for  enlightenment for all4 ,for society
 it urges the cultivation of            
cooperation1  social service1 sacrifice 
for the social weal1 and the social     
consciousness in  the individual4 ,on   
behalf of the country it urges          
patriotism1 participation in  the       
government1 and cooperation in          
international movements4 ,for the world 
it  advocates universal progress4 ,as to
 the universe it specifies as a goal the
  bringing of men into harmony with     

spiritual realities1 the enlightenment  
of all  and the realization of the      
spiritual universe4    ,a ,buddhist     
writer sums up the aims of new ,buddhism
 as follows3    8,formerly ,buddhism    
desired to escape the sinful world4     
,today ,buddhism not only  desires to   
escape this world of sin1 but longs to  
transform this world of sin  into a new 
world dominated by the ideals of        
,buddhism4 ,formerly ,buddhism was      
occupied with erecting and perfecting   
its doctrines and polity as an          
organization4 ,today it not only hopes  
to perfect the doctrines and polity1 but
  desires to spread the doctrines and   
ideals abroad so as to help mankind to  
become truly cultured40    #d4 ,the     
,attitude of ,tibetan ,lamas    ,not    
only the ,chinese ,buddhists1 but the   
,lamas of ,mongolia and ,tibet are      
feeling  the impulses of the new age4   
,quite recently an exhibition was held  
in the ,lama  temple at ,peking which   
attracted thousands of visitors4 ,its   

object was to  obtain money to repair   
the temple1 and thus to give its work a 
fresh impulse4  ,that these impulses are
 not necessarily hostile to             
,christianity is shown by a  letter     
written by the ,kurung ,tsering ,lama of
 ,kokonor district to the ,rev4 ,t4     
,srensen of ,szechuan3    8,i1 your     
humble servant1 have seen several copies
 of the ,scriptures and1 having  read   
them carefully1 they certainly made me  
believe in ,christ4 ,i understand a     
little of the outstanding principles and
 the doctrinal teaching of the ,one     
,son1  but as to the ,holy ,spirit's    
nature and essence1 and as to the origin
 of this  religion1 ,i am not at all    
clear1 and it is therefore important    
that the  doctrinal principles of this  
religion should be fully explained1 so  
as to  enlighten the unintelligent and  
people of small mental ability4    8,the
 teaching of the science of medicine and
 astrology is also very important4  ,it 
is therefore evident if we want this    

blessing openly manifested1 we must     
believe in the religion of the only ,son
 of ,god4 ,being in earnest1 ,i         
therefore  pray you from my heart not to
 consider this letter lightly4 ,with a  
hundred  salutations40    ,enclosed with
 this letter was a poem written in most 
elegant language4    8,o thou ,supreme  
,god and most precious ,father1 ,the    
truth above all religions1  ,the ,ruler 
of all animate and inanimate worlds6    
,greater than wisdom1 separated  from   
birth and death1 ,is his son ,christ the
 ,lord shining in glory among endless   
beings4 ,incomprehensible wonder1       
miraculously made6 ,in this teaching ,i 
myself  also believe--,as your spirit is
 with heaven united1 ,my soul undivided 
is seeking  the truth ,jesus the        
,savior's desire fulfilling1 ,for the   
coming of the ,kingdom  of ,heaven ,i am
 praying4 ,happiness to all40    #e4    
,the ,buddhist ,world ,versus the       
,christian ,world    ,looking back over 
the last twenty-five years we see rising

 quite distinctly a  ,buddhist world    
growing conscious of itself1 of its past
 history and of its  mission to the     
world4 ,this ,buddhist1 world has much  
more of a program than it  had          
twenty-five years ago4 ,its object is to
 unite the ,mahayna and the ,hnayna     
branches of ,buddhism and to spread     
,buddhist propaganda over the world4 ,at
  present the leadership of this        
movement is in ,japan4 ,it is in part a 
political  movement4 ,there is no       
question that ,christianity is not at   
all pleasing to the  ,japanese          
militarists4 ,it is regarded by them as 
the advance post of western             
industrialism and political ambition4   
,quite naturally such leaders desire to 
make the ,buddhist world a unit4 ,it is 
also a social movement4 ,the spirit of  
the  ,japanese ,buddhist has been       
brought to consciousness by the new     
position of  ,japan4 ,japan is seeking  
to take its place in the world as a     
first rate power4  ,by this not only    

will ,japan's industry and commerce     
profit1 but its spiritual  values must  
also be adapted to the world4 ,the      
movement then has its spiritual  side4  
,japanese travelers and people are going
 to all parts of the world4 ,they  carry
 with them the religious ideals which   
have been shaped by ,buddhism4          
,buddhism in the past was one of the    
great religions of salvation with an    
inspiring missionary message4 ,it is    
again awakening to this task of         
evangelization4 ,under the leadership of
 ,japanese scholars and religious       
statesmen the ,japanese are seeking to  
unite the ,buddhist world so that it    
shall  become a force in the new world4 
,japan is thus trying to give back what 
it has  received in the past4    ,at    
present in ,buddhist countries there is 
a strong force working against this     
movement4 ,nationalism is a new force to
 be reckoned with4 ,still even with the 
spirit of nationalism permeating every  
group1 the ,buddhist world is getting   

together and will strive to make its    
contribution to the life of the whole   
world4          ,x  ,,the ,,christian   
,,approach ,,to ,,buddhists      #a4    
,questions ,which ,buddhists ,ask       
,buddhists are approaching              
,christianity4 ,in many places a spirit 
of inquiry and  interest in the         
,christian religion is met4 ,it is not  
necessary that there  should be a       
,buddhist world permanently over against
 a ,christian world4 ,the  questions    
which ,buddhists ask a missionary       
indicate an interest in vital  themes4  
,some of them are as follows3    ,we put
 our trust in the three ,precious ,ones4
 ,in what do you trust8 ,is not your    
,shang ,ti 7name for ,god used in       
,china7 a being lower than ,buddha and  
just a  little higher than a            
,bodhisattva8 ,is not ,shang ,ti the    
tribal god of the ,jews8  ,do you       
believe in the existence of purgatory8  
,what sufferings will those  endure who 
do not live a virtuous life8 ,do you    

believe in the reality of the  ,western 
,paradise8 ,how can one enter it8 ,there
 being three kinds of merit1 by  what   
method is the great merit accumulated8  
,how is the middle and the small  merit 
accumulated8 ,what are the fruits of    
these proportions of merit and what  are
 they like8 ,tell me how to believe     
,christ4 ,what work of meditation do you
  perform8 ,is not ,buddhism more       
democratic than ,christianity1 because  
it holds  out the possibility of        
,buddhahood to all beings8 ,is not      
,buddhism more  inclusive1 because it   
provides for the salvation of all       
beings8    #b4 ,knowledge and ,sympathy 
,these questions make it plain that the 
worker who is to deal with ,buddhists   
should have a broad background of       
general culture4 ,he must be thoroughly 
humanized4 ,he should have a good       
knowledge of the history of philosophy  
and  religion1 including the work of the
 modern philosophers4 ,a knowledge of   
the  life of ,buddha and of the         

doctrines of the ,hnayna or ,southern   
,buddhism1 as  well as the tenets of the
 ,mahayna should be in his possession4  
,the psychology  of religion should     
interpenetrate his historical learning2 
the best methods of  pedagogy should    
guide his approach to men4 ,of course he
 must speak the language  of the        
,buddhist1 not only the spiritual       
language1 but his everyday patois4 ,he  
will find it an advantage to know some  
,sanskrit4 ,while this requirement is   
not  very urgent at present1 it will    
rapidly become a necessity for doing the
 best  work4    ,this knowledge should  
be interpenetrated by a genuine         
sympathy1 that is1  imagination tinged  
with emotion4 ,the worker should be able
 to view doctrines1  values and actions 
from the point of view of the ,buddhist 
and his past history4  ,he must have a  
genuine interest in and a great capacity
 for friendship4 ,the  ,buddhists are   
very human1 responding to friendship    
very quickly4 ,such  friendship forms a 

link between the man and the larger     
friendship of ,christ4    #c4 ,emphasis 
on the ,aesthetic in ,christianity    ,a
 ,chinese ,christian leader described   
his idea of a church as a place removed 
from the din of the street1 approached  
by a walk flanked with trees and flowers
  and adorned within by symbols speaking
 to the heart of the ,chinese4 ,he      
longed  for the mystic silence and the  
beauty of holiness which would open the 
windows  of the world of spiritual      
reality and throw its light upon the    
problems of  life4 ,he was asked1       
8,would you adapt some of the symbols of
 the ,chinese  religions80 ,he said1    
8,many of those symbols are neutral4    
,they suggest religious  emotion4 ,their
 character depends upon the content     
which the occasion puts into  them4 ,if 
the content is ,christian then the      
symbols and emotions will become        
,christian40    ,christianity is a      
religion of beauty4 ,the beautiful in   
architecture1 symbol and  ritual1       

expressing the spiritual universe of the
 past1 present and future1  makes a     
strong appeal to the ,chinese heart4 ,it
 may well be emphasized in the  future  
as never before4    #d4 ,emphasis on the
 ,mystical in ,christianity    ,not long
 ago a ,buddhist in one of the large    
cities of ,china was converted4 ,he     
found great joy in the experience which 
revived him and gathered into unity the 
broken fragments of his life4 ,he       
attended church regularly and           
participated in  the prayer meetings4   
,gradually he discovered that he was not
 being nourished4  ,he felt his joy     
slipping away from him and his divided  
life reinstating itself4  ,he went to   
,buddhism for consolation4 ,he is not   
hostile to the church4 ,he  appreciates 
the help he received1 but he said that  
he came for consolation and  peace and  
found the same--hard orthodoxy and      
morality so familiar to him in          
,confucianism4    ,while the case of    
this man may have individual            

peculiarities1 it may be made  the      
starting point for a discussion of the  
situation in many churches in ,china4   
,the early message to the ,chinese was  
doctrinal4 ,the false notion of many    
gods  had to be displaced by the idea of
 the one true ,god4 ,with this idea of  
the true  ,god a few other tenets of the
 ,christian religion are often held as  
dogmatic  propositions to be repeated   
when questions are asked4 ,the great sin
 preached is  the worship of idols4     
,the second part of the ,christian      
message is salvation by faith in ,jesus 
,christ4  ,this salvation is            
other-worldly to a large extent4 ,the   
extreme emphasis upon it  has made of   
the church an insurance society1        
membership in which insures bliss  in   
the world beyond4    ,the third part of 
the message has been concerned with     
moral acts1 abstinence  from opium      
7liquor and tobacco in some churches71  
polygamy1 and the gross sins4           
,attendance upon church services1       

contribution for the support of the     
church1  and the refusal to contribute  
to idolatry have also been required4    
,the emphasis to a large extent was     
doctrinal1 moral and individual4 ,the   
result  has been a body of people free  
from the gross sins1 but also innocent  
of the  great virtues and               
individualistic in their outlook upon   
this world and the  next4 ,this emphasis
 is needed1 but in addition there should
 be the cultivation  of the presence of 
,god in the soul by appropriate means4  
,the ,christian ,church  of ,china      
should develop a technique of the       
spiritual life suited to the ,east4     
,the formation of habits of devotion    
should be emphasized4 ,intercessory     
prayer  should be given a larger place4 
,contemplation and meditation should be 
regarded  not merely as an escape from  
the turmoil and strife of the world1 but
 as a  preparation for the highest life 
of service and sacrifice4 ,buddhist     
mysticism  united the whole universe and

 was the great foundation of ,chinese   
art1  literature and morality4 ,the     
spiritual world of ,christianity must   
likewise seep  through into the very    
thought of ,asia and inspire the new    
art1 literature and  morality which will
 be the world expression of a ,christian
 universe4    #e4 ,emphasis on the      
,social ,elements in ,christianity      
,to the aesthetic and mystical emphasis 
must be attached a social emphasis4     
,buddhism is often criticized as not    
being social4 ,it is a highly socialized
  religion4 ,it has had a large         
influence upon social life in the ,east4
 ,this  social life is different from   
ours4 ,we see its wrongs and weaknesses4
 ,likewise  do the ,buddhists see the   
materialism and injustice of our social 
life4  ,christianity must relate itself 
to the modern world as it is rising in  
,china  and seek not merely to remedy a 
few wrongs or heal a few diseases1 but  
must  release the healing stream into   
the social life of the ,east4 ,this will

 be done  and is being done through the 
,church community which has become      
conscious of  itself1 realizing its     
needs and wants1 seeking in an          
intelligent and systematic  way to      
rehabilitate itself4 ,it is not so much 
the external unrelated efforts  that    
accomplish the thing needed1 but it is  
rather the community life stirred  by   
ideals and fired by a new dynamic which 
begins the work of reformation4    #f4  
,emphasis on the ,person of ,jesus      
,christ    7a7 ,as a ,historical        
,character4--,the great asset of the    
missionary among  ,buddhists is the     
historical person of ,christ4 ,in       
contrast to many of the  ,bodhisattvas1 
the saviours of the ,buddhists1 ,jesus  
is a historical character4  ,his life   
among men was the life of ,god among    
men4    7b7 ,as the ,revealer4--,god is 
like ,christ4 ,christ reveals ,god as   
the  complete1 the perfect person4 ,he  
possessed the pure spiritual            
personality4 ,the  chief characteristic 

of this personality is love4 ,this love 
conscious of itself  finds its highest  
joy in the well-being of others4 ,this  
love of ,god produced  human life which1
 springing from the lowest form1 broke  
through the material  elements and is   
capable of attaining the highest        
development4    ,christ reveals to man  
his heavenly relationship4 ,man created 
in the likeness of  ,god stands in the  
highest relation of one person to       
another through love4 ,he  likens this  
relation to that of father and son4 ,he 
lifts man to the fellowship  with the   
divine4 ,yet such a fellowship that man 
preserves his personality4    ,christ   
reveals man in his relation to men as a 
brother and the form of love  which     
shall control the relation of man to    
,god as well as man to man4    ,christ  
revealed and founded the ,kingdom1 a    
society of the saved1 dominated by  the 
spirit of the founder and making this   
spirit of love and service the          
organizing power in the world4    7c7   

,as the ,saviour4--,mahayna ,buddhism   
emphasized saviourhood4 ,christ is  the 
saviour of men4 ,in ,buddhism the stress
 is placed upon the merit of the        
saviour and the saved4 ,there is no     
question that merit has some value4 ,yet
  ,christ does not save us by merit1 nor
 do we help to save one another by      
merit4  ,salvation is a moral and       
spiritual process4 ,it is concerned with
 the biology of  the soul4 ,the         
salvation that we preach is not the     
salvation by knowledge1 or  meditation1 
or merit1 but by the interpenetration of
 ,christ's spirit in ours1  by the      
mystic and moral union of our life with 
his4 ,as ,paul says3 8,that ,i may  know
 ,him and the power of ,his resurrection
 and the fellowship of ,his  suffering40
 ,yet ,he is not the saviour of the     
individual alone4 ,he saves the         
community1 the church4 ,only as ,his    
spirit permeates and dominates the      
community  does he find his true self   
and the real salvation4    7d7 ,as the  

,eternal ,son1 of ,god4--,the ,mahayna  
system does not emphasize  the          
historicity of ,amitabha or of the      
,bodhisattvas4 ,spiritual truth is the  
development of the soul4 ,it is not     
limited by time and place4 ,likewise    
,christianity must emphasize the eternal
 character of ,jesus ,christ4 8,the     
,logos  existed in the very beginning1  
the ,logos was with ,god1 the ,logos was
 ,god40 ,to  the ,mahynist this         
spiritual history is more real than any 
fact conditioned by  time and place4    
,the ,christian worker must learn to    
understand the import of the ,gospel of 
,john4  ,he must see in ,jesus ,christ  
8,the real ,light1 which enlightens     
every man40 ,he  must be able to        
convince himself that the ,christ is the
 fulfillment of the  highest aspirations
 of the ,mahyna system4    #g4 ,how     
,christianity ,expresses ,itself in     
,buddhist ,minds    ,in #aibj a number  
of ,buddhist monks1 under the leadership
 of ,rev4 ,k4 ,l4 ,reichelt  formed a   

,christian brotherhood4 ,the members of 
this small brotherhood decided  that    
they must subscribe to vows and they    
took the four following3    8,i promise 
before the ,almighty and ,omniscient    
,god1 that ,i with my whole heart  will 
surrender myself to the true ,trinity1  
,god the ,father1 the ,son and the ,holy
  ,spirit4 ,i will with my whole heart  
have faith in ,jesus ,christ as the     
,saviour of  the world who gives        
completion to the profoundest and best  
objects of the  higher ,buddhism4 ,i    
will live in this faith now and ever    
after4    8,i promise solemnly before   
,god with my whole heart to devote      
myself to the  study of the true        
doctrine and break wholly with the evil 
manners of the world  and show forth in 
my public and private life that ,i am   
truly united with  ,christ4    8,i      
promise that ,i in every respect will   
try so to educate myself that ,i can be 
of use in the work of ,god on earth4 ,i 
will with undivided heart devote myself 

to the great work2 to lead my brethren  
in the ,buddhist ,association forward to
  the understanding of ,christ as the   
only ,one1 who gives completion to the  
highest and profoundest ideas of ,higher
 ,buddhism4    8,i promise that until my
 last hour ,i will work so that out of  
our ,christian  ,brotherhood there may  
grow forth a strong church of ,christ   
among ,buddhists4 ,i  will not permit   
any evil thing to grow in my heart1     
which could divide the  brotherhood1 but
 will always try to promote the progress
 of every member in the  knowledge of   
the holy obligations laid down in these 
vows and our  constitution40    ,such   
men ought1 to make choice ,christians4  
#h4 ,christianity's ,constructive       
,values    ,buddhism in the course of   
its long history developed certain      
religious ideas  and values which we    
find in ,christianity4 ,it faced the    
fact of sin and placed  it in the heart4
 ,it diagnosed the fundamental instincts
 of men1 sex-appetite1  will-to-achieve1

 and pugnacity4 ,these must be overcome4
 ,it regards them as  delusions which   
must be eliminated4 ,christianity also  
deals with these  instincts4 ,it is     
under no delusion as to their strength4 
,there are certain  tendencies in       
,christianity which have tried to       
annihilate them4 ,the central  tendency 
of ,christianity1 however1 recognizing  
their power for good1 seeks to          
sublimate them and make them serve the  
individual and society4 ,this attitude  
of  the two religions toward these      
instincts is fundamentally different4   
,the  attitude of ,christianity has been
 justified even in ,buddhist lands where
 the  religious life of the people has  
followed the same line that             
,christianity  advocates4    ,early     
,buddhism tried to dissolve man's       
personality4 ,later ,buddhism corrected 
this and perhaps has appealed too much  
to the desire on the part of the        
individual to enter a heaven which is   
merely a replica of the earth4          

,christianity starts with a personal    
,god and holds up before the believer   
the  goal of perfection for his own     
personality4 ,it finds man without a    
self and  confers a real selfhood upon  
him4    ,early ,buddhism taught that    
salvation is accomplished by the        
individual alone4  ,it denies the       
possibility and the necessity of help   
from a divine source4  ,subsequent      
history has proved this to have been    
wrong4 ,in ,india1 ,buddhism has  been  
displaced by ,hinduism1 and in ,china1  
and ,japan1 the ,mahyna has developed   
the idea of salvation through another4  
,the great stream of ,buddhism has      
recognized that man by himself is       
helpless4 ,he must have the help of a   
divine  power in order to obtain        
salvation4 ,christianity asserts that   
salvation is  possible only through the 
intervention of ,god4 ,the incarnation1 
the life1 death  and resurrection of    
,jesus and his work in the world through
 the ,holy ,spirit on  the one hand are 

the expression of ,god's solicitude for 
man1 and1 on the other  hand1 correspond
 to the deep need which men of all ages 
have felt1 for a power  above           
themselves4 ,from the early stages of   
magic to the highest reaches of         
religion we find this constant factor   
recognized by human groups all over the 
world4 ,they bear witness to a power    
above themselves to whom they           
continually  appeal4 ,in ,christianity  
we find this main tendency enunciated   
most clearly4 ,the  individual cannot   
save himself4 ,mankind cannot save      
itself4 ,both must rely upon  the       
assistance of the divine power which    
started this universe on its way and    
which is the ever present creative      
force4    ,christianity1 moreover1 has  
established the community of believers  
including  all classes and conditions of
 men4 ,herein each one may realize      
himself4 ,herein  also he may realize   
the kind of community which is friendly 
to his highest  aspirations for himself4

 ,herein he has the opportunity to      
transmute the  instincts above mentioned
 into forces which make for the larger  
development of  his own person and the  
well-being of the community4            
,accordingly1 as ,christians face       
,buddhists1 they can do so with the     
consciousness that this great religion  
has been reaching out after the light   
which shines brightly in our ,christian 
religion4 ,they have the assurance not  
only that they have a message which     
brings fulfilment to the ideas of the   
,mahyna1 but also that it has prepared  
the way for the hearts of the ,chinese  
to receive the highest message of       
,christianity4          ,,appendix ,i   
,,hints ,,for ,,the ,,preliminary       
,,study ,,of ,,buddhism ,,in ,,china    
,the student should read and inwardly   
digest the booklet of ,k4 ,j4 ,saunders4
    ,he should follow the directions    
given in ,appendix ,one of that book1   
,this  procedure is important because   
the ,hnayna ,buddhism and the life of   

,buddha are  the background of ,buddhism
 in ,china4    ,then he may take        
,hackmann's ,buddhism as a ,religion    
7,no4 #ae74 ,this will  give a general  
orientation4 ,this may be followed with 
,r4 ,f4 ,johnston's  ,buddhist ,china   
7,no4 #bj74 ,along with this he may read
 ,suzuki's  ,awakening of ,faith 7,no4  
#cb71 and also his ,outlines of ,mahyan 
,buddhism 7,no4 #cc74 ,mc,govern's      
,introduction to ,mahyan ,buddhism 7,no4
  #bc7 will illuminate the philosophical
 background of ,buddhism1 and ,eliot's  
,hinduism and ,buddhism 7,no4 #ac7 will 
add historical perspective4    ,the     
translation of ,mahdydna ,sutras by     
,beal and in the ,sacred ,books of  the 
,east will give him some of the sources 
for the doctrines held in ,china4 ,he   
may begin as the ,buddhist missionaries 
did with the sutra of the ,forty-two    
sections and then take up the ,diamond  
,sutra1 and then completing the sutras  
in  ,vol4 #ei and the ,catena of        
,buddhist ,scriptures4    ,for the study

 of the ethical side he will find ,de   
,groot's ,le ,code du  ,mahyna en ,chine
 very helpful4 ,for the study of the    
sects ,eliot1 ,vol4 ,,iii1  pp4 #cjc-cbj
 ,northern ,buddhism 7,no4 #ad7 will be 
helpful4    ,in all his study he will   
find ,eitel's ,handbook of ,chinese     
,buddhism 7,no4  #ab7 indispensable4 ,he
 must1 however1 make a ,chinese index in
 order to be able  to use the book4     
,contact with monks will be helpful and 
is quite necessary in order to          
appreciate the human problems of the    
work4          ,,appendix ,,ii  ,a      
,,brief ,,bibliography      #a4 ,,beal1 
,s4 ,abstract of ,four ,lectures upon   
,buddhist ,literature in  ,china4       
,london1 ,triibner1 #ahhb4    ,lecture  
,,ii1 on 8,method of ,buddha's ,teaching
 in the ,vinaya ,pitaka10 and ,lecture  
,,iv1 on 8,coincidences ,between        
,buddhism and ,other ,religions10       
especially  desirable4    #b4 ----      
,buddhism in ,china1 ,london1 ,s4 ,p4   
,c4 ,k1 #ahhd4    ,the best             

comprehensive account of ,chinese       
,buddhism1 written by an authority4     
#c4 ---- ,catena of ,buddhist           
,scriptures1 from the ,chinese4 ,london1
 ,triibner1  #ahga4    ,a good          
introduction to ,chinese ,buddhism from 
the sources4    #d4 ---- ,the ,romantic 
,legend of ,skya ,buddha4 ,london1      
,triibner1 #ahge4    ,recounts ,buddha's
 history from the beginning to the      
conversion of the ,ksyapas  and others4 
#e4 ---- ,texts from the ,buddhist      
,canon ,commonly ,known as ,d           
hammapada4 ,london1 ,triibner1 #ahgh4   
,pocket edition1 #aijb4    ,these       
8,scriptural ,texts10 translated from   
the ,chinese and abridged1 are usually  
connected with some event in ,buddha's  
history4 ,this translation has ,indian  
anecdotes1 illustrating the verses4     
#f4 ,,couling1 ,s41 editor4 ,the        
,encyclopaedia ,sinica4 ,shanghai1      
,kelly   ,walsh1 #aiag4    ,contains1 on
 pages #fg-ge1 a number of brief        
articles upon ,buddhism in ,china4      

#g4 ,,de ,,qroot1 ,j4 ,j4 ,m4 ,religion 
of the ,chinese4 ,new ,york1 ,macmillan1
  #aijj4    ,pages #afd-bbc contain a   
summary of the main facts about ,chinese
 ,buddhism by an  authority4    #h4 ----
 ,sectarianism and ,religious           
,persecution in ,china4 #b vols4 ,j4    
,mller1 ,amsterdam1 #aijc-aijd4         
,treats from sources ,confucianism's    
persecution of ,buddhism and other      
sects4 ,see  ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,index1 under  
,buddhism1 p4 #egb4    #i4 ,,dore1      
,,henei4 ,researches into ,chinese      
,superstitions4 #f vols4 ,tusewei       
,press1 #aiad-aibj4    ,a well          
illustrated miscellany of superstitions 
of all ,chinese religions showing       
indistinctly their interpenetration by  
,buddhism4 ,for ,buddhism proper1 see   
,vol4  ,,vi1 pp4 #hi-bcc4    #aj4       
,,edkins1 ,j4 ,chinese ,buddhism4 #b;d  
edition4 ,london1 ,trbner1 #ahic4    ,a 
very full account of ,buddhism as seen  
by a ,sinologue of the last generation4 
#aa4 ,,eitel1 ,e4 ,j4 ,buddhism3 ,its   

,historical1 ,theoretical and ,popular  
,aspects4 ,hongkong1 ,lane1 ,crawford   
and ,co41 #ahhd4    ,written by an      
observant scholar and descriptive of    
,buddhism of ,south ,china  especially4 
#ab4 ---- ,handbook of ,chinese         
,buddhism4 ,presbyterian ,mission       
,press1  ,shanghai4    ,this is a       
,sanskrit-,chinese dictionary1 a reprint
 of the second edition of #ahhh  without
 the ,chinese index necessary for       
identifying ,chinese ,buddhist terms4   
#ac4 ,,eliot1 ,,sir ,,charles4 ,hinduism
 and ,buddhism1 ,an ,historical ,sketch4
 #c  vols4 ,edward ,arnold and ,co41    
#aiba4    ,this is a valuable           
contribution to our knowledge of        
,buddhism by an experienced  student4   
,the parts especially related to        
,chinese ,buddhism are ,vol4 ,,ii1 pp4  
#c-ajf2 ,vol4 ,ill1 #bbc-cce4    #ad4   
,,jetty1 ,a4 ,gods of ,northern         
,buddhism4 ,oxford1 ,clarendon ,press1  
#aiad4    ,this work is helpful in      
identifying images in the temples1      

though unfortunately  few of those given
 are ,chinese4    #ae4 ,,hackmann1 ,h4  
,buddhism as a ,religion4 ,london1      
,probsthain1 #aiaj4    ,gives a general 
view of ,buddhism from first-hand       
investigation4 ,for ,chinese  ,buddhism 
see pp4 #bjj-beg4    #af4 ,,hastings1   
,,james4 ,the ,encyclopedia of ,religion
 and ,ethics4 ,new ,york1  ,scribners1  
#aijh4    ,articles ,asvaghosa1         
,bodhisattva1 ,china 7,buddhism in71    
,mahyna ,missions  7,buddhist74    #ag4 
,,hume1 ,r4 ,e4 ,the ,living ,religions 
of the ,world4 ,new ,york1 ,scribners1  
#aibd4    ,a clear comparative study of 
these religions in the light of         
,christian  standards4    #ah4 ,,inglis1
 ,j4 ,w4 8,christian ,element in        
,chinese ,buddhism40 ,international     
,review of ,missions1 ,vol4 ,v1 #aiaf1  
pp4 #ehg-fjb4 ,an excellent article by a
  veteran missionary and scholar of     
,manchuria4    #ai4 ,,johnson1 ,s4      
,oriental ,religions ''' ,china4        
,boston1 ,houghton1 ,osgood  ,co41      

#ahgh4    ,pages #hjj-hcc give a        
comprehensive summary by a student of   
comparative  religion4    #bj4          
,,johnston1 ,r4 ,f4 ,buddhist ,china4   
,new ,york1 ,dutton1 #aiac4    ,a       
well-written1 interesting book4 ,the    
author knows his subject1 and is held in
  high esteem by ,buddhists in ,china4  
#ba4 ,,keith1 ,a4 ,,berriedale4         
,buddhist ,philosophy in ,india and     
,ceylon4  ,oxford1 ,clarendon ,press1   
#aibc4    ,a study of the historic      
development of the ,buddhistic          
philosophy in ,india and  ,ceylon which 
throws much light on the ,mahyna4       
#bb4 ,,lodge1 ,j4 ,e4 ,chinese ,buddhist
 ,art4 ,asia1 ,vol4 ,,xix1 ,june1 #aiai4
    ,some of the choicest half-tones    
illustrating its character accompanied  
by  interesting descriptions4    #bc4   
,mc,g,o,v,e,r,n1 ,w4 ,m4 ,an            
,introduction of ,mahyna ,buddhism4     
,dutton1 #aibb4    ,though written from 
the point of view of ,japanese ,buddhism
 it gives a good  treatment of          

metaphysical and psychological aspects  
of the ,mahyna system4    #bd4 ,m,,ller1
 ,f4 ,,max4 ,sacred ,books of the ,east4
 ,vol4 ,,xlix1 ,buddhist1  ,mahyna      
,texts4 ,oxford1 ,clarendon ,press1     
#ahid4    ,a book of sources necessary  
for understanding ,northern ,buddhism4  
#be4 ,,parker1 ,e4 ,h4 ,china and       
,religion4 ,new ,york1 ,dutton1 #aije4  
,a sketch of ,buddhism by a scholar long
 resident in ,china is found in ,chapter
  ,,iv4    #bf4 ,,paul1 ,c4 ,t4 ,the    
,presentation of ,christianity to       
,buddhists4 ,new ,york1  ,board of      
,missionary ,preparation1 #aibd4    ,a  
carefully prepared study of ,buddhism   
from the viewpoint of missionaries      
working in ,buddhist lands4    #bg4     
,,reichelt1 ,k4 ,l4 8,special ,work     
,among ,chinese ,buddhists40 ,chinese   
,recorder1 ,vol4 ,,li1 #aibj1 ,july     
issue1 pp4 #dia-dig4    ,an article by a
 pioneer in work among ,buddhists1 of   
rare insight and sympathy4    #bh4      
,,richard1 ,t4 ,the ,awakening of ,faith

 in the ,mahyna ,doctrine4 #b;d         
edition4 ,shanghai1 #aiah4    ,a loose  
translation by a very large-hearted and 
sympathetic student with an  irenic     
spirit4 ,see #cb below4    #bi4         
,,richard1 ,t4 ,guide to ,buddhahood2   
,being a ,standard ,manual of ,chinese  
,buddhism4 ,shanghai41 #aijg4    #cj4   
,,saunders1 ,k4 ,j4 ,epochs of ,buddhist
 ,history 7,haskell ,lectures71         
,chicago ,university ,press1 #aibb4     
,a good summary of the main developments
 in ,buddhism4    #ca4 ,,stauffer1 ,m4  
,t4 ,the ,christian ,occupation of      
,china4 ,shanghai  ,continuation        
,committee1 #aibb4    ,the introductory 
section contains articles upon ,china's 
religions4    #cb4 ,,suzuki1 ,t4        
,a'svaghosa's ,awakening of ,faith in   
the ,mahyna4 ,chicago1  ,open ,court    
,publishing ,co41 #aijj4    ,a far more 
accurate translation of this work than  
,no4 #bh above4    #cc4 ---- ,outlines  
of ,mahyna ,buddhism4 ,chicago1 ,open   
,court ,publishing  ,co41 #aijh4        

,while written from the ,japanese point 
of view it is necessary to the          
understanding of ,chinese ,buddhism4    
#cd4 ,,watters1 ,t4 8,buddhism in       
,china40 ,chinese ,recorder1 ,vol4 ,,ii1
 #ahgj1  pp4 #a-g1 #ch-dc1 #fd-fh1      
#ha-hh1 #aag-abb1 #ade-aej1 ,shanghai4  
,a valuable series of articles by an    
excellent ,chinese scholar1 discussing  
the  history1 persecutions1 and various 
,buddhas of ,china4    #ce4 ,,wei1 ,f4  
,c4 ,m4 8,salvation by ,faith as ,taught
 by the ,pure ,land ,sect40  ,chinese   
,recorder1 ,vol4 ,,li1 #aibj1 pp4       
#cie-dja1 #dhe-dia4    ,a good article  
on the sect whose ideas have spread over
 ,china and ,japan4    #cf4 ,,wieger1   
,l4 ,bouddhisme ,chinois1 #b vols4      
,ho-,kien-,fou1 ,roman ,catholic        
,press1 #aiaj-aiac4    ,this contains   
the ,chinese text and ,french           
translation of the life of ,buddha as   
known to ,china2 also the ritual        
observed in ordination4 ,a useful source
 book4