“Conversion to what? To the disregard of objective existences, and to absolute quiescence of the individual. And why? Because every external phenomenon is like a dream, like a vision, like a bubble, like shadow, like dew, like lightning, and should be regarded as such.” * * * * * In A.D. 520 Bôdhidharma came to China, and was received with honour. He had been the son of a king in Southern India. He taught that religion was not to be learnt from books, but that man should seek and find the Buddha in his own heart. Just before his arrival Sung Yün had been sent to India to obtain more Buddhist books, and had remained two years in Kandahar, returning with 175 volumes. Then, in 629, HSÜAN TSANG set out for India with the same object, and also to visit the holy places of Buddhism. He came back in 645, bringing with him 657 Buddhist books, besides many images and pictures and 150 relics. He spent the rest of his life translating these books, and also, like Fa Hsien, wrote a narrative of his travels. This brings us down to the beginning of the T‘ang dynasty, when Buddhism had acquired, in spite of much opposition and even persecution, what has since proved to be a lasting hold upon the masses of the Chinese people. BOOK THE THIRD _MINOR DYNASTIES_ (A.D. 200-600) CHAPTER I POETRY--MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE The centuries which elapsed between A.D. 200 and 600 were not favourable to the development and growth of a national literature. During a great part of the time the empire was torn by civil wars; there was not much leisure for book-learning, and few patrons to encourage it. Still the work was carried on, and many great names have come down to us. The dark years between A.D. 196 and 221, which witnessed the downfall of the House of Han, were illumined by the names of seven writers, now jointly known as the Seven Scholars of the Chien-An period. They were all poets. There was HSÜ KAN, who fell under the influence of Buddhism and translated into Chinese the _Pranyamûla shâstra tikâ_ of Nâgârdjuna. The following lines are by him:-- “_O floating clouds that swim in heaven above, Bear on your wings these words to him I love... Alas! you float along nor heed my pain, And leave me here to love and long in vain! I see other dear ones to their homes return, And for his coming shall not I too yearn? Since my lord left--ah me, unhappy day!-- My mirror’s dust has not been brushed away; My heart, like running water, knows no peace. But bleeds and bleeds forever without cease._” [Sidenote: K‘UNG JUNG--WANG TS’AN]