CHINESE BUDDHISM. 53 i 



origin, as well as its founder, is so far back, as the annals of his- 

 tory go, as to be shrouded in mystery, and even by many attrib- 

 uted to mythology, yet that it still lives and thrives as the most 

 widely accepted religion none can deny. A reason for this fact 

 must be sought in other directions than the perversity and igno- 

 rance of human minds, which incline men to accept absurd beliefs 

 as a substitute for truth, as many assert. 



There must be somewhat in a system of religion or philosophy 

 which accords with human experience, and which tends to better 

 the condition of life, and to foster hope, in order that a decade of 

 centuries may pass without witnessing any diminution of its 

 power. It is not sufficient to assume that its being a system of 

 ingeniously woven myths is sufficient to account for its ready 

 acceptance by unintelligent and unscientific Oriental minds. For 

 even New York and London, as well as other centers of intelli- 

 gence in our own civilization, have their rapidly growing theo- 

 sophical societies, whose members include men of intelligence. 

 These have formulated, according to their own fancies largely, 

 what they are pleased to call a Buddhist creed ; and, while they 

 do not build temples, and ornament them with wooden images of 

 their patron saint, as do their Oriental brethren, yet they none 

 the less ardently declare their belief in the cardinal teachings of 

 the system. 



There is a tradition among Chinese scholars that, not far from 

 the beginning of the Christian era, a rumor reached China that a 

 great reformation was going on to the westward, and the emperor 

 sent a committee to investigate the matter and report. The com- 

 mittee went overland through Burmah into India, inquiring at 

 each stage of their journey as to the reports. In this way they 

 encountered the promulgators of the Buddhist faith, who, on 

 learning the object of their visit, informed them that their jour- 

 ney was at an end, and that they had found the true religion. On 

 investigating the subject, the committee returned and made a 

 favorable report ; whereupon the emperor announced that the 

 religion of Buddha was good for the people, and adopted it of- 

 ficially as one of the state religions of the empire. From that 

 time the Buddhist missionaries found China a " field already white 

 for the harvest/' and it was at once recognized as the chief re- 

 ligion of the people, and has continued such ever since. Some 

 scholars in China believe that it was the founding of Christianity 

 that had reached their country ; and that, had the committee 

 continued their journey farther, China would have been among 

 the first nations to adopt the Christian religion, instead of, most 

 probably, the last people now likely to adopt it as a nation. The 

 idea opens the way to much speculative fancy, but it lies outside 

 the purpose of this paper to pursue it. 



