452 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



32, 33. Bowls (a pair), evertect, of thin white K'anghsi porcelain decorated with the 

 eighteen Lohan or Jrhats in groups, very delicately painted in vermilion. 

 Mark us in No. 26. Height, 2f inches; diameter, 6 inches. 



In his " Hand-book of Chinese Biiddliism," Dr. Eitel states that the orig- 

 inal meaning of Arliai (" deserving") is overlooked by most Chinese 

 commentators, who explain the term as though it were written Arihat, 

 "destroyer of the enemy," i.e., of the passions, and "not to be re- 

 born," i. e., exempt from transmigration. A third explanation, based 

 on the original conception, is "deserving of worship." The Arhat 

 is the perfected Arya, and can therefore only be attained by passing 

 through the different degrees of saintship. It implies the possession 

 of supernatural liowers, and is to be succeeded either by Buddhaship 

 or by immediate entrance into Nirvana. In popular acceptation, 

 however, it has a wider range, designating not only the perfected 

 saint, but all the disciples of S'S.kyamuni, and thus it includes not 

 only the smaller circles of eighteen and five hundred disciples, but 

 also the largest circle of one thousand two hundred. 

 The first Sutra (that of forty-two sections) was translated into Chinese 

 in the year A. D. 67, during the time of the Later or Eastern Han 

 dynasty, whose capital was at Loyang in Honan province, by Kas'- 

 yapa Matanga, a disciple of S'A,kyamuni, who entered China with 

 Han Ming-ti's embassy on its return from Badakshan. By its means 

 the Buddhist doctrines first became known in China. Such transla- 

 tions from the Sanskrit form the earliest and still continue to be the 

 most important part of Chinese Buddhistic literature; but from the 

 fifth century onward they have been supplemented by original com- 

 positions in the Chinese language from the pens of native adherents 

 to that religion. During the first eight centuries of the existence of 

 the Buddhistic religion in China the smallest circle of S'Akyarauhi's 

 disciples comprised the same number as in India, sixteen, which was 

 increased under the T'ang dynasty, in the ninth century, A. D., by 

 the enrollment of two additional disciples to its present complement 

 in China — eighteen. 

 34, 35. Bowls (2), everted, of thin white K'anghsi porcelain. Replicas of Nos. 32, 33, 



but of larger size. Mark, same as in No. 26. Diameter, 6| inches. 

 36. Wine-cup, tall, everted, of thin white K'anghsi porcelain; ornamentation: Be- 

 tween borders of Grecian pattern are diamond-shaped panels containing the 

 pa-kwa, in deep-blue uuder transparent glaze. Mark, as above. Height, 3 

 inches ; diameter, 3i inches. 



Thejja-fcHfl, or eight diagrams, are the combinations which may be formed 

 of three lines, whole or divided into two equal parts. They are stated 

 to have been developed by Fuh-hi, the legendary founder of Chinese 

 polity, who is believed to have lived from B. C. 2852 to 2738 by aid 

 of a plan or arrangement of figures revealed to him on the back of a 

 "dragon-horse." These eight figures, which can be traced back to 

 the two primary forms representing the first development of the Yin 

 and Tang (the primordial essences) from the Ultimate Principle, 

 together with certain presumptive explanations attributed to Fuh-hi, 

 were the basis, according to Chinese belief, of an ancient system of 

 philosophy and divination during the centuries preceding the era of 

 Wen Wang (twelfth century B. C), but of which no records have 

 been preserved beyond the traditional names of its schools. Wen 

 Wang, the founder of the Chou dynasty, while undergoing imprison- 

 ment (B. C. 1144) at the hands of the tyrant Shou, devoted himself 

 to study of the diagrams, and appended to each of them a short ex- 



