270 THE REV. W. ST. CLAIR TISDALL, D.D., ON 



lotus-flower as his throne. On his right is usually Ananda, 

 . . and on his left Kasyapa . . . Very frequently one 

 of the Buddhist Triads is represented, such as the Buddha of 

 the Past, of the Present, and of the Future ; or, again, 

 Ainitabha often forms the centre of a group of other 

 avatars* Before this central shrine in the larger temples and 

 monasteries, matins at 3.30 a.m. and evensong at 5 p.m. are 

 sung antiphonally by a choir of priests, and here the chief 

 prostrations and offerings are made, and fortunes are ascertained 

 by drawing lots before the idol. Here through the mingled 

 influences of the awe inspired by these gigantic, silent images 

 of the Buddha, and of bribes of sweets and other gifts 

 mysteriously placed by parents and grandparents in the little 

 hands as from the god, idolatry is stamped, sometimes indelibly, 

 on the minds of China's children. There is an ambulatory 

 behind this central shrine, and here the image of Kwan-yin, the 

 goddess of Mercy, is placed, and largely resorted to by the 

 worshippers." 



It is held by some students that wandering Buddhist monks 

 from Northern India came into contact with China as early as 

 the secondf century before our era. Be this as it may, there 

 seems to be truth in the tale that, in a.d. 61, the Emperor 

 Ming-ti, having in a dream beheld a golden image hovering 

 over his palace, sent envoys to the West in order to find out 

 whether the dream meant that a great Teacher had appeared 

 there, whose teachings it behoved him to know. Instead of 

 going on until they met with a Christian Apostle or Evangelist, 

 these envoys halted on reaching a Buddhist monastery in North 

 India, where they accepted the Mahayanistic doctrines, and, 

 returning to China after six years' absence, brought with them 

 some Buddhist monks, who began to teach their doctrines at 

 court, and to translate some of their Sacred Books into Chinese. 

 Under Pioyal patronage the new tenets spread rapidly, — the 

 more so because they not only harmonised with Taoism, but 

 also because the teaching they gave about a Western Paradise 

 which all might easily enter after death formed a great 

 attraction. 



It is not known precisely what Buddhist Sutras were the first 

 translated into Chinese, but, speaking generally, as far as is at 

 present known, no Buddhist work was published in China until 

 & considerable time after the beginning of our era. In fact, 



* This use of the word is not quite correct, 

 t Cf. Moore, History of Religions, p. 79. 



