English
SCRIPTURES FROM THE CITINESE. 387 Scripture was removed by its reduction to a written form (and therefore all occasion for /ear removed), is certaiulv not improbable. And (3.) we may add that the island of Poo- to in China, which term is but another form of Potaloka, is inhabited by priests devoted to the woi-ship of Kwan-yin ; and one principal mode of denoting their devotion to this Bodhisatwa is by collecting from every quarter written or printed characters of whatever description they may be, and reverently preserving them from destruction. We only add that in Nipal the Scriptures are frequentlv called " Buddha vachana"; whilst " the poorest individual who visits the valley from the north is seldom without his Pothi (book), and from every part of his dress dangle " charms," made up in slight cases, the interior of which exhibits the neatest workmanship in ijrint."^ We may gather, then, with some degree of probability, that up to the time of the translation of the " Saddharma pundarika" into Chinese (about a.d. 300), the name of Kwan-yin, as explanatory of the peculiar character of Ava- lokiteshwara, was uuknown, and that it was then introduced as a translation of the Sanscrit " samantamukha.^' But we know, from the brief Silti'a which stands at the beginning of Hiouen Thsang's version of the " Prajna paramita," that Avalokiteshwara was regarded with much reverence at the time when that work was composed, and we cannot place that date later than Nagardjuna, or about the time of Kanishka (40 a.d.) ; so that we may reasonably suppose that the Chinese were not unacquainted with the name " Avalo- kiteshwara" even before the translation of the Lotus of the Good Law into their language. Kwan-yin is regarded as the " son of Amitabha," which appears to mean that " sound" or '' the word" is eternal. It is impossible to separate the conflicting theories of the Buddhists and the Brahmans, which, during the period we are now considering, appear to have become hopelessly ' Hodgson, ColJectfid Enanys, pp. l.'i, 17. fc2 388 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST interming'led. The Brahmans doggedly maintained the eter- nity of the Vedas, and to prove that eternity they insisted on the eternity of sound ; the Buddhists^ denying the authority of the Yedas, nevertheless equally insisted on the eternity of their "Amitabha/' from whom proceeded, or by whom was generated, the merciful Bodhisatwa Kwan-yin, the " Voice" or the " AVord," that is ever}' where diffused.^ There are a vast number of books or small tracts printed in China I'elating to Kwan-yin. It is beyond the limits of the present work to allude to these. The most complete exposition of the worship of this divinity is found in the sixth book of the Surafigama Sutra. From that account it would seem that the Bodhisatwa Kwan-yin received his in- spiration from a former Buddha of the same name, and that the title he bears is significant of his "perfect intelligence^' and " perfect manifestation"; in other words, of the " mani- festation of perfect intelligence. '^ The Sutra then proceeds to shew how this manifestation is effected, viz., by a mystical in-turning of the soul upon itself. All external influences being destroyed, so that there is no longer beginning or end, birth or death, then the joy-thought is produced, and the " self" manifested. " In a moment the truth is arrived at, and the two excellences of all Being realised, viz., the infinite power (lih) and the infinite love of the Supreme." The book then proceeds to shew under what fomns Kwan-yin, by the power he possesses, manifests himself objectively to those who invoke him. There are thirty-two distinct modes of manifestation named, in each of which his purpose is to bring deliverance to difierent classes of crea- tures, from the highest to the lowest. Hence he is called the " Deliverer" or the " Rescuer"; and he is said to have vowed with an oath to save completely (kih pa) all that breathes. The exposition then proceeds to shew how he '' gives deliverance from fear" (abhayanidada) in fourteen cases, which are successively mentioned ; and lastly, it ex- ' It seems, to me at least, evident that there was an infusion of Neo- riatonism into Southern Budrlhisni at an early period. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 389 plains the character of four superior excellences (endow- ments) possessed by Kwan-yin, by virtue of which he is able to carry out his great object of saving- the whole uni- verse. Afterwards the Dharaui are recited by which these wonderful results ai'e attained. From this account it appears that in a mystical sense Kwan-vin is the ideal of an in-dwellino- Divine conscious- nesSj which maybe evoked by processes of a pui^ely mechanical nature. There is, however, another exposition of this cultus less mystical, and therefore more intelligible, commonly met with in China and Japan. This is an extract from the Lotus of the Good Law (miau-fah-lien-hwa), being, in fact, the twenty-fourth chapter of Burnouf^s translation, relating to '^samantamukha." In the Chinese it is generally known as the " Pho-miin" or the " Manifestation Section," and is very generally read by the masses of the people. I have before me two copies, printed in Yedo, of this section of the complete work ; and as a translation of it will throw light on the whole subject, and at the same time illustrate in some degree the version of Burnouf from the Sanscrit, I shall pi'oceed to render it into English. 4. KWAN-SHAI-YIN-PUH-SAH-PHO-MUN. "At this time the Bodhisatwa Akchayamati immediately rose from his seat, and having bared his shoulder, and bent his right knee, with closed hands he stood before Buddha, and spoke as follows : " Woi'ld-honoured one ! ^ Whence and for what reasons is the name of Kwan-shai-yin derived ? " Budda replied to Akchayamati Bodhisatwa thus: "Illus- trious youth ! though there were untold millions of creatures in the universe all suffering' from miseries incident to their several conditions, they need only hear this name of Kwan- shai-yin Bodhisatwa, and with ' one heart ' invoke it, and Kwan-shai-yin immediately perceiving the sounds of the ' Rendered by Buruouf " Bhagavat." 300 A CATKNA OF BUDDHIST voice SO pronounced,^ sliall deliver them all. If those who thus hold to the repetition of this name of Kwan-shai-yiu, should happen to fall into a great fire, the fire should have no power to burn them ; because of the eminent spiritual power of this Bodhisacwa. If again they should be washed away by a wild river torrent ; invoking this name, they shall at once be landed on a shallow spot. If again, an incalcul- ably large body of people were to embark on the wide ocean with the intention of seeking for gold or silver, or crystal (lew-le, glass), or opal (c^hay k^hen), or cornelian (ma-lo), or coi-al {san-hoo),or amber (hoo-pih), or the true pearl and similar gems ; and if, perchance, there were to rise a black wind, which should drive their ship towards a country in- habited by Rakshasis ; if, amidst all this number of persons there were only one to invoke the name of Kwan-shai-yin Bodhisatwa, all these persons should obtain deliverance from this misery of the Rakshasis. For these reasons, therefore, is the name Kwan-shai-yin given. " If, again, there were a man just on the point of being murdered, and if he were to invoke the name of Kwan-shai- yin, the weapon held by the person about to attack him, should suddenly break in two, and he should be delivered. And if, again, the entire chiliocosm were crowded full of Yakshas and Rakshasas desirous to come and vex man- kind, on hearing this name of Kwan-shai-yin invoked, all these wicked spirits should be unable even with their evil eyes to see the forms of men, much less to hurt them. " If, again, for example, there were a man who Avas fast bound with fetters, or manacles of iron or wood, whether he were really guilty of crime or not, let him only invoke the name of Kwan-shai-yin Bodhisatwa, and at once his fetters shall fall off, and he forthwith be set free. " If again, the whole chiHocosm were full of robbers much to be feared, and if there were a merchant prince in com- pany with a body of other merchants Avho carried very pre- ' This explanation is wanting in the French version. SCRJPTCRES FROM THE CHINESE. 391 cious jewels, and if whilst goiu^ along a narrow defile, there were to be only one man amongst them, who should recite these following words : " Illustrious companions ! fear not, nor be afraid.