Chinese literature — A Reader’s Guide

APTER I. From Ch'ang-gan to the Sandy Desert II. On to Shen-shen and thence to Khoten III. Khoten--Processions of Images IV. Through the Ts'ung Mountains to K'eech-ch'a V. Great Quinquennial Assembly of Monks VI. North India--Image of Maitreya Bodhisattva VII. The Perilous Crossing of the Indus VIII. Woo-chang, or Udyana--Traces of Buddha IX. Soo ho-to--Legends of Buddha X. Gandhara--Legends of Buddha XI. Takshasila--Legends--The Four Great Topes XII. Buddha's Alms-bowl--Death of Hwuy-king XIII. Festival of Buddha's Skull-bone XIV. Crossing the Indus to the East XV. Sympathy of Monks with the Pilgrims XVI. Condition and Customs of Central India XVII. Legend of the Trayastrimsas Heaven XVIII. Buddha's Subjects of Discourse XIX. Legend of Buddha's Danta-kashtha XX. The Jetavana Vihara--Legends of Buddha XXI. The Three Predecessors of Sakyamuni XXII. Legends of Buddha's Birth XXIII. Legends of Rama and its Tope XXIV. Where Buddha Renounced the World XXV. The Kingdom of Vaisali XXVI. Remarkable Death of Ânanda XXVII. King Asoka's Spirit-built Palace and Halls XXVIII. Rajagriha, New and Old--Legends Connected with It XXIX. Fâ-Hien Passes a Night on Gridhra-kuta Hill XXX. Srataparna Cave, or Cave of the First Council XXXI. Sakyamuni's Attaining to the Buddhaship XXXII. Legend of King Asoka in a Former Birth XXXIII. Kasyapa Buddha's Skeleton on Mount Gurupada XXXIV. On the Way Returning to Patna XXXV. Dakshina, and the Pigeon Monastery XXXVI. Fâ-Hien's Indian Studies XXXVII. Fâ-Hien's Stay in Champa and Tamalipti XXXVIII. At Ceylon--Feats of Buddha--His Statue in Jade XXXIX. Cremation of an Arhat--Sermon of a Devotee XL. After Two Years Fâ-Hien Takes Ship for China

Introduction Translator's Preface Dramatis Personae Prologue Act First Act Second Act Third Act Fourth

[_Translated into English by William Jennings_]

PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES

_j_, as in French. _ng_, commencing a word, like the same letters terminating one. _ai_ or _ei_, as in _aisle_ or _eider_. _au_, as in German, or like _ow_ in _cow_. _é_, as in _fête_. _i_ (not followed by a consonant), as _ee_ in _see_. _u_ (followed by a consonant), as in _bull_. _iu_, as _ew_ in _new_. _ui_, as _ooi_ in _cooing_. _h_ at the end of a name makes the preceding vowel short. _i_ in the middle of a word denotes an aspirate (_h_), as _K'ung_=Khung.

The strangest figure that meets us in the annals of Oriental thought is that of Confucius. To the popular mind he is the founder of a religion, and yet he has nothing in common with the great religious teachers of the East. We think of Siddartha, the founder of Buddhism, as the very impersonation of romantic asceticism, enthusiastic self-sacrifice, and faith in the things that are invisible. Zoroaster is the friend of God, talking face to face with the Almighty, and drinking wisdom and knowledge from the lips of Omniscience. Mohammed is represented as snatched up into heaven, where he receives the Divine communication which he is bidden to propagate with fire and sword throughout the world. These great teachers lived in an atmosphere of the supernatural. They spoke with the authority of inspired prophets. They brought the unseen world close to the minds of their disciples. They spoke positively of immortality, of reward or punishment beyond the grave. The present life they despised, the future was to them everything in its promised satisfaction. The teachings of Confucius were of a very different sort. Throughout his whole writings he has not even mentioned the name of God. He declined to discuss the question of immortality. When he was asked about spiritual beings, he remarked, "If we cannot even know men, how can we know spirits?"

Yet this was the man the impress of whose teaching has formed the national character of five hundred millions of people. A temple to Confucius stands to this day in every town and village of China. His precepts are committed to memory by every child from the tenderest age, and each year at the royal university at Pekin the Emperor holds a festival in honor of the illustrious teacher.