Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3Eliot, Charles
Religion
Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3
Eliot, Charles
Asia -- Religion; Buddhism; Hinduism
[Footnote 581: This indicates that the fusion of Buddhism and Hinduism
was less complete than some scholars suppose. Where there was a
general immigration of Hindus, the mixture is found, but the Indian
visitors to China were mostly professional teachers and their teaching
was definitely Buddhist. There are, however, two non-Buddhist books in
the Chinese Tripitaka. Nanjio Cat. Nos. 1295 and 1300.]
[Footnote 582: It has been pointed out by Fergusson and others that
there were high towers in China before the Buddhist period. Still, the
numerous specimens extant date from Buddhist times, many were built
over relics, and the accounts of both Fa-hsien and Hsüan Chuang show
that the Stupa built by Kanishka at Peshawar had attracted the
attention of the Chinese.
I regret that de Groot's interesting work _Der Thüpa: das heiligste
Heiligtum des Buddhismus in China_, 1919, reached me too late for me
to make use of it.]
[Footnote 583: The love of nature shown in the Pali Pitakas
(particularly the Thera and Therî Gâthâ) has often been noticed, but
it is also strong in Mahâyânist literature. _E.g._ Bodhicaryâvatâra
VIII. 26-39 and 86-88.]
[Footnote 584: See especially Watters, _Essays on the Chinese
Language_, chaps, VIII and IX, and Clementi, _Cantonese Love Songs in
English_, pp. 9 to 12]
[Footnote 585: [Chinese: ]]
[Footnote 586: I cannot refrain from calling attention to the
difference between the Chinese and most other Asiatic peoples
(especially the Hindus) as exhibited in their literature. Quite apart
from European influence the Chinese produced several centuries ago
catalogues of museums and descriptive lists of inscriptions, works
which have no parallel in Hindu India.]
[Footnote 587: There are said to have been four great schools of
Buddhist painting under the T'ang. See Kokka 294 and 295.]
[Footnote 588: Preserved in the British Museum and published.]
[Footnote 589: [Chinese: ] of the [Chinese: ] dynasty.]
[Footnote 590: [Chinese: ]
CHAPTER XLIII
CHINA _(continued)_
HISTORY.
The traditional date for the introduction of Buddhism is 62 A.D., when
the chronicles tell how the Emperor Ming-Ti of the Later Han Dynasty
dreamt that he saw a golden man fly into his palace[591] and how his
courtiers suggested that the figure was Fo-t'o[592] or Buddha, an
Indian God. Ming-Ti did not let the matter drop and in 65 sent an
embassy to a destination variously described as the kingdom of the Ta
Yüeh Chih[593] or India with instructions to bring back Buddhist
scriptures and priests. On its return it was accompanied by a monk
called Kâśyapa Mâtanga[594], a native of Central India. A second
called Chu Fa-Lan[595], who came from Central Asia and found some
difficulty in obtaining permission to leave his country, followed
shortly afterwards. Both were installed at Loyang, the capital of the
dynasty, in the White Horse Monastery[596], so called because the
foreign monks rode on white horses or used them for carrying books.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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