CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. Page 3, note 1. Chu-fă-lan is restored to Gobhinanda, or Gobananda, Page 5, line 8. For "King-kwong" read "Kin-kwang." When I say "a translation of Dhammapada," I can- Page 20, line 13. Dharmâkshaya may also be restored to Dharmâkshara, or Dharmaraksha. Page 31, line 25. For “Śâkra” read “Śakra," and in all subsequent cases, Page 95, line 2. For "Asvaghosha" read "Asvaghosha," and in all subsequent cases. [For many mistakes in accents the author requests his readers' 95), Wilt by wit all, come sceptical opinions of Fu-yi, in which the writer brings a mass of evidence to show that Buddhist books were known in China before the time of She Hwang-ti (B.C. 221). This monarch, as is well known, claimed to be the first universal emperor. This claim he put forth in the twenty-sixth year of his reign as Chêng Wang. He built the Great Wall and destroyed all the books; and Fa-lin con 1 The Buddhist Tripitaka, as it is known in China and Japan. A Catalogue and Compendious Report. By Samuel Beal, 1876. A FOUR LECTURES. LECTURE I. EARLY TRANSLATORS OF BUDDHIST BOOKS IN CHINA. THE object of these Lectures will be to bring before you some notices respecting Buddhism and Buddhist books in China and Japan. The phrase "Chinese Buddhism," as it is sometimes used, is misleading. We might as well speak of "Chinese Christianity." Buddhism and Buddhist books in China are the same as they were in India; and, with respect to the latter at least, the same as they now are in Ceylon. For I can have no doubt that the books belonging to the Buddhist Canon, as it is known in that country, will be found, with few exceptions, to exist in China; and to this I shall call your attention hereafter. The mere circumstance of these books being translated into Chinese cannot alter their character, any more than the translation of our own Sacred Books from the Greek or Hebrew can alter theirs. It is still a question when Buddhism was introduced into China. There is a work (Po-tse-lun, Catalogue,1 Case lxxxvii. p. 95), written by one Fa-lin, to confute the sceptical opinions of Fu-yi, in which the writer brings a mass of evidence to show that Buddhist books were known in China before the time of She Hwang-ti (B.C. 221). This monarch, as is well known, claimed to be the first universal emperor. This claim he put forth in the twenty-sixth year of his reign as Chêng Wang. He built the Great Wall and destroyed all the books; and Fa-lin con 1 The Buddhist Tripitaka, as it is known in China and Japan. A Catalogue and Compendious Report. By Samuel Beal, 1876. A tends that among these were the Buddhist Scriptures (k. i. p. 10). He also records the anecdote (which appears also in the great Encyclopædia of Kang-hsi, sub "Shih-kia") that in the time of She Hwang there was a foreign Buddhist priest, Li Fang, who, with seventeen companions, came to China with Buddhist books for the purpose of converting the king. The emperor, however, shut them up in prison. In the evening six men (of superhuman character) came and with their diamond maces opened the prison doors and brought the captives out. On this the emperor was filled with fear and worshipped them. This fable need not be accepted. Fa-lin contends that both Confucius and Laou Tseu spoke of Buddha; he says that once Confucius was asked if he was a Holy man (shing), to which the sage replied that he was not. What, then, are the three kings (wang) Holy men? To which he replied they were wise men, but not holy. What, then, are the five kings (ti) Holy men? To which he replied they were virtuous and truthful, but not holy. What, then, were the three emperors (hwang) Holy men? To which he replied they were prudent, but not holy. And when he was asked, Who, then, is the Holy man? then Fu-sze, greatly moved, said, "The western region has a Holy manwithout striving he is self-governed (without confusion); he speaks not, and yet is the truth (or, sincere); he teaches not, and yet his own conduct how deep! how deep!" Then, with respect to Laou Tseu, he quotes various writers to show that he was identical with Buddha. One says, "The Master, transforming himself, went to India, and entered Nirvāna;" another says, "The Master of the Laou people (i.e., the Taouists) was Śâkya Muni." Again, he contends that the falling rocks and stars in the reign of Chwang Wang, of the Chow dynasty, were the portents that occurred at Buddha's birth. But all these notices and contentions may be dismissed as more or less fabulous, and we may be content to place the introduction of Buddhism into China about the time of the first diffusion of the Christian doctrine in the West. Whether there be any connection between these two events is, I still think, an open question; one thing, at least, we know, that it was just at the time when Buddhism was brought to China that the dispersion of Jews and Christians occurred consequent on the troubles in Judæa. Du Halde and the old writers may not be wrong, then, in supposing that some knowledge of great events, other than the teaching of Buddha, had reached China at this time, and led to the mission to India about which I now proceed to speak. The Vision of Ming Ti. During the after-Han dynasty of the family Liu, which reigned at Loyang (the eastern capital), there appeared to Ming Ti, the second emperor, in the third year of the Yung P'ing period (i.e., A.D. 60) [the cyclical characters being Kang Shin], in a dream, a golden flying figure, above his head the glory of the sun and moon, which hovered above the vestibule of the palace. On inquiry, the historiographer, Fu-yih, said he had heard that there was a Divine Being (Shin) in the West, called Buddha, who had come down to earth, and that the dream had something to do with this. Accordingly, A.D. 64 [Shin tseu], the emperor selected from his officers Ts'ai Yin, Ts'in King (the rank Poh sse), Wang Tsun, and others, all numbering eighteen men, to go to the West to inquire about the religion of Buddha. Yin and the rest coming to the country of India invited Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmananda1 to return with them, who, using a white horse for carriage, came back with books, pictures, and an image of Sâkya Buddha, A.D. 67, to Loyang. The emperor rejoiced at the event, erected a temple, called the White Horse Temple, which was finished on the first month of the fourteenth year of his reign, A.D. 71. On this occasion the Taouist priests of the Five Mountains,? Shen Sin and others, being dissatisfied, sent a deputation to the emperor exhorting him to have their respective merits tried. On which occasion the emperor, having called an assembly before the southern gate of the White Horse Temple, the Taouist priests put their sacred books and religious paraphernalia (spiritual treasures) on the eastern altar; the 1 So I restore Chu-fă-lan. The prefix Chu (Indian) is not a component part of his name. 2 Five high peaks, worshipped in China, viz., Tung-yoh, in Shantung; Sai-yoh, in Shensi, south of the capital; Nan yoh, in Hunan, near the centre; Pih yoh, in the south-west of Chihili; Chung yoh, in the west of Honan, near the Yellow River. |