Buddhism and Buddhists in China | Page 2

many high-minded, devout, and earnest souls who live an idealistic life. Christianity ought to make a strong appeal to such minds, taking from them none of the joy or assurance or devotion which they possess, but promoting a deeper, better balanced interpretation of the active world, a nobler conception of God, a stronger sense of sinfulness and need, and a truer idea of the full meaning of incarnation and revelation.
It is our hope that this fresh contribution to the understanding of Buddhism as it is today may be found helpful to readers everywhere.
The Editors.
_New York city, December, 1923._
The Committee of Reference and Counsel of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America has authorized the publication of this series. The author of each volume is alone responsible for the opinions expressed, unless otherwise stated.

CONTENTS







CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTORY
II. THE ENTRANCE OF BUDDHISM INTO CHINA
III. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BUDDHISM AS THE PREDOMINATING RELIGION OF CHINA 1. The World of Invisible Spirits 2. The Universal Sense of Ancestor Control 3. Degenerate Taoism 4. The Organizing Value of Confucianism 5. Buddhism an Inclusive Religion
IV. BUDDHISM AND THE PEASANT 1. The Monastery of Kushan 2. Monasteries Control Fêng-shui 3. Prayer for Rain (a) The altar (b) The prayer service (c) Its Meaning 4. Monasteries are Supported because They Control Fêng-shui
V. BUDDHISM AND THE FAMILY 1. Kuan Yin, the Giver of Children and Protector of Women 2. Kuan Yin, the Model of Local Mother-Goddesses 3. Exhortations on Family Virtues 4. Services for the Dead
VI. BUDDHISM AND SOCIAL LIFE 1. How the Laity is Trained in Buddhist Ideas 2. Effect of Ideals of Mercy and Universal Love 3. Relation to Confucian Ideal 4. The Embodiment of Buddhist Ideals in the Vegetarian Sects 5. Pilgrimages
VII. BUDDHISM AND THE FUTURE LIFE 1. The Buddhist Purgatory 2. Its Social Value 3. The Buddhist Heaven 4. The Harmonization of These Ideas with Ancestor Worship
VIII. THE SPIRITUAL VALUES EMPHASIZED BY BUDDHISM IN CHINA 1. The Threefold Classification of Men under Buddhism 2. Salvation for the Common Man 3. The Place of Faith 4. Salvation of the Second Class 5. Salvation for the Highest Class 6. Heaven and Purgatory 7. Sin 8. Nirvana 9. The Philosophical Background 10. What Buddhism Has to Give
IX. PRESENT-DAY BUDDHISM 1. Periods of Buddhist History 2. The Progress of the Last Twenty-five Years 3. Present Activities (a) The reconstruction of monasteries (b) Accessions (c) Publications (d) Lectures (e) Buddhist societies (f) Signs of social ambition 4. The Attitude of Tibetan Lamas 5. The Buddhist World Versus the Christian World
X. THE CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO BUDDHISTS 1. Questions which Buddhists Ask 2. Knowledge and Sympathy 3. Emphasis on the ?sthetic in Christianity 4. Emphasis on the Mystical in Christianity 5. Emphasis on the Social Elements in Christianity 6. Emphasis on the Person of Jesus Christ (a) As a Historical Character (b) As the Revealer (c) As the Saviour (d) As the Eternal Son of God 7. How Christianity Expresses Itself in Buddhist Minds 8. Christianity's Constructive Values
APPENDIX ONE, Hints for the Preliminary Study of Buddhism in China
APPENDIX TWO, A Brief Bibliography

BUDDHISM AND BUDDHISTS IN CHINA

I
INTRODUCTORY
A well known missionary of Peking, China, 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 monastery. The beautiful courts of the temple were filled by a throng of invited guests and spectators, waiting to watch the impressive procession of candidates, acolytes, attendants and high officials, all in their appropriate vestments. No outsider was privileged to witness the solemn taking by each candidate for the priesthood of the vow to "keep the Ten Laws," followed by the indelible branding of his scalp, truly a "baptism of fire." Less private was the initiation of the lay brethren and _sisters,_ more lightly branded on the right wrist, while all about intoned "Na Mah Pen Shih Shih Chia Mou Ni Fo." (I put my trust in my original Teacher, S?kyamuni, Buddha.)
The missionary was deeply impressed by the serenity and devotion of the worshipers and by the dignity and solemnity of the service. The last candidate to rise and receive the baptism of branding was a young married woman of refined appearance, attended by an elderly lady, evidently her mother, who watched with an expression of mingled devotion, insight and pride her daughter's initiation and welcomed her at the end of the process with radiant face, as a daughter, now, in a spiritual as well as a physical sense. At that moment an attendant, noting the keen interest of the missionary, said to him rather flippantly, "Would you not like to have your arm branded, too?" "I might," he replied, "just out of curiosity, but I could not receive the branding as a