Mr. Cressy's Lecture to the Royal Asiatic Society Mr. E. H.., Cressy, sp. of Hangchow, lectured before a large group of the members of the Royal Asiatic. on April 27 on the subject of the bringing of Bud-diiism to China from India especially treating of the lives and characters of the Chinese pilgrims who went to India to learn of the Buddhistic religion. The period during which this took place Mr. Cressy placed as approximately from 400 to 700 A.D. The low limit was placed at 335 when it first became lawful for a Chinese to become a Buddhist monk, the highest limit at 966 inthe Sung Dynasty. However, for all practical purposes, the period during which 80 or 100 pilgrims went to India, was established as the height of Buddhistic activity in China.
Curna FROM ITs UNIFICATION, In speaking of the historic background of the time, Mr. Cressy traced China from its unification in the Tsin dynasty to the break-up after the Han, when barbarians were constantly encroaching from the North. It was interesting to no that the Golden Age in India dated from 320428 A.D., that in China, which existed during the Tang dynasty and up to the Sung, from 600-990, that of Japan from 900 1200, these dates corresponding with the coming of Buddhism in each case. The period with which the lecturer was concerned was that between 400 and 600 A. D.
The question of why Indian culture should be exported in the form of civilization by Buddhism which was a heresy was brought up and it was explained that Buddhis was more foot loose and free from caste restrictions and that at the same time it epitomized the Indian spirit. The nature of Indian thought which was the development of thought in an abstract way made it more universal and a type fitted to spread. Also, at the same time, the Tang Dynasty period in China was a most tolerant one and international in character.
There were in China. at that time Zoroastrians,, Nestorians, Jews, Indian monks and Japanese. The Indian monks numbered some 3,000. The number of Protestants in China to-day is numbered at 6,000, _including the wives of the missionaries, so that on comparison in actual number of workers and in proportion to the population, it would seem that there were more Indian monks in China in the year 600 than there are Protestants today.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.