China: Her History and Development 215 



a future life supplied to him and his 

 people what was lacking in Confucian- 

 ism. Ming-ti was a practical, business- 

 like monarch and went about the prop- 

 agation of Buddhism as he did the pro- 

 mulgation of new laws and the collection 

 of additional taxes. In that wa}^ it was 

 given an impetus that enabled it to 

 spread throughout all China. It un- 

 doubtedly tended to raise the moral 

 standard of the people and nation, and 

 hence was a direct influence on the 

 growth of the kingdom. The Buddhism 

 of today in China bears little resemblance 

 to the purer Buddhism of Ceylon or 

 Siam. 



The King of Siam, who is the ex officio 

 head of the Buddhist church of the 

 world and one of the ablest and most 

 progressive statesmen in Asia, often told 

 me while I was the American Minister 

 at his court, that the Buddhism of China 

 was such only in name and was inex- 

 tricably mixed with Taoism and Confu- 

 cianism. The Chinese emigrant to Siam 

 is at home in its Buddhist temples, but 

 the Siamese who goes to China is not at 

 home in Chinese temples. 



There is a passing thought in this con- 

 nection that almost staggers us. Sup- 

 posing Emperor Ming-ti 's embassy in 

 search of a religion had journe3'ed to 

 Palestine instead of to India and brought 

 back Christianit}"? It taxes the imagina- 

 tion to picture the effect on China, on 

 Asia, and on the w^orld at large, if it 

 had come in its purity. On the other 

 hand, we are forced to ask with equal 

 astonishment at the possibilities : What 

 would have been the effect on Chris- 

 tianity if it had been taken in those 

 early days by the Chinese as their offi- 

 cial religion ? 



THE COMING AND EXPULSION OF 

 CHRISTIANITY 



But Chistianity did come to China 

 long before the day of modern mission- 

 aries. Christianity was taught and fos- 

 tered for one hundred and fifty years 



during the middle ages of China, be- 

 tween 600 and 800 A. D. The Nesto- 

 rians, who taught the new religion to 

 China, thrived for nearly two centuries, 

 or until 781 A. D. About 1625 A. D. 

 the famous Nestorian monument was 

 unearthed in the province of Shensi, 

 Williams, in his "Middle Kingdom," 

 holds that the Nestorians came as early 

 as 500 A. D. He says that the monu- 

 ment, is "the only record 3^et found in 

 China itself of the labors of the Nesto- 

 rians, ' ' and yet it is one of the most 

 perfect of the ancient monuments of 

 China. The inscription tells us that a 

 priest named Olopun came from the 

 distant west, guided by the "azure 

 clouds" of China, bringing with him 

 the ' ' True Scriptures. ' ' The emperor, 

 one of the most powerful of the Tang 

 dynasty, gave him a cordial reception 

 and ordered the Scriptures translated 

 and promulgated. In an official edict he 

 said : ' ' I^et it have free course through 

 the empire. ' ' 



Unfortunatel)^ for its lasting influence 

 it came under the ban which the Taoists, 

 about A. D. 850, proclaimed against 

 Buddhism through the agency of an 

 hostile emperor. The effort to crush 

 the Buddhists included the Nestorians, 

 and only the monument remains. If 

 sufficient time had passed for Chris- 

 tianity to have spread itself as had 

 Buddhism, this one attack would not 

 have ended its life in Cathay until 

 again revived by American and Euro- 

 pean missionaries. It is an interesting 

 coincident that the Nestorians were ap- 

 parently most severely persecuted in 

 the same section of China where many 

 American and European missionaries 

 were recently massacred. 



Before leaving the subject of religions 

 I would add, in response to the general 

 inquiry about missionary work, that I 

 honestly believe, after six years' expe- 

 rience in Asia in both official and private 

 capacities, and after spending much time 

 in China, not only along the coast, but 



