A meeting of members was held on Wednesday afternoon at the Society's rooms, Museum Road, for the purpose of hearing us read a paper by Dr. de Groot, late of Amoy, on "The militant spirit of the Buddhist clergy." Mr. N. J. Hanne, President occupied the chair.
Dr. deGroot's interesting paper contained a very exhaustive acc different instances recorded in Chinese history in which the Buddhistic clergy engaged in actual warfare. Many of the clergy distinguished thems-Ives so much in this new capacity, that they were even put command of larve forces. They engaged sometimes in defence of the throne against rebels, and in other instances they sided with the insurgents; while in other cases they took up arms simply to put down local disturbances, or to defend their temples or to repulse the attacks of the Japanese. They showed great fi indomitable forrit inducement was "fered him to take up the cause of the rebels, he answered: 'Our law have pi dynasty my promise' and he cheerfully suffered death by the sword. Another Buddhist priest, the octogenarian Yuen-tsing, being made prisoner, was condemned to have his foot chopped off. Not only did he show no fear, but when the executioner failed in his stroke, he taunted him for his want of strength and put his limb in a better position so that the work might be done properly.
Besides engaging in warfare the monks have often practised. warlike arts in times of peace. The convent of Shao-lin was famous for its cultivation of fencing, and a manual on that art was published by one of its inmates prior to the seventeenth century. In the Ch'ung-cheng period (1628) when a rebellion broke out.in Honan the Governor entrusted the drilling of a body of troops he had raised tu the monks of Shao-shih.
After quoting these instances Dr. de showed how contrary they are to the 6 of the whole of the Buddhist teaching, which not only forbids killing and the encourage-went, of killing, but looking on at murder, ug all these crimes with tie parajita (expulsion), individual guilty of ing saved. imes the Budd-histie doctrine forbids even the frequenting of armies or the carrying of messages between hostile forces." The respect for life extended to all living things, and this ciple is pushed to such an extreme that joined even to sacrifice one's life for the sake of other beings and to give om body to hungry tigers. {v is this prineip! according to Dr. de Groot, which accounts for the " warfare of the Buddhist Wars in China have always been carried on in the most merciless manner, whole regions have been devastated and the inhabitants destroyed without regard tw sex or ngo, To prevent such reckless carnage, the monks momentarily relinquished—their ce to their rules forbidding all strife and even the possession and use of weapons, To this must be added the spirit of devotion to all authority, from the father to the Emperor, which is the basis of Chinese society and has been cordially accepted by the Buddhists in China, who, therefore, would in obedience to such " sentiment consent to take up arms to defend the sovereign, and in certain odses When rival claims were dubious, even to defend " usurper whom they might consider as the rightful aut bority.
The Chairman remarked that the interesting paper just read, showed that Bud-his like all other religions had not huan able to adhere strictly to its principles. All religions were founded upon universal benevolence and forbade bloodshed, but in many cases circumstances were such that men to defend all that they. held most dear had to employ force and shed blood to put down lawless violence.
Dr. Eakins sid that Dr. de Groot hud referred to the circumstance that writers on Chinese Buddhism had not mentioned the aiilitant spirit of the Buddhist clergy, In fact they are now pexcoable and indisposed to fight. The Chinese government does not look to them to furnish recruits to the army. Ovnfucianisin regards them as bookworms or white ants which waste the wealth of the state without in any way adding to it. This is seen in the Sacred Edict where the Buds diiists are as community cundemued on this ground. Dr. de Groot had in his paper unearthed many passages which show that formerly the Buddhists have actually taken a share in the military defence of the State, but this has if fairly considered been only accidental, and on the whole the Buddhist priests must he viewed as belonging to the hon-fighting portion of the community, and they are fae from being regarded us the natural defenders of the public tranquillity Mr. Volpicelli said that Dr. de Grovi's paper showed up Buddhism in " new light, and took away somewhat from the rated claims of its supporters. opposed that Buddhism was an except mal religion which had never violated its stringent rules, On his voyage homeward he had had' frequent conversation with an enthusiastic Civgalese Buddhist, Mr. Daumuapala. This gentleman, comparing Buddhism with Christianity, claimed for
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.