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” Upon this, from a historical point of view, very slender foundation, has been built up the immense fabric of masses and offer- ings for the dead which we shall now examine more closely. It is of course well known that from the most ancient times the Chinese have been brought up to reverence deeply their ancestors. This had to be taken into account, and some arrangement made to meet this need. Anything that could help dutiful sons in their obligation to the dead, was as a matter of course welcomed by the Chinese. There was much in Buddhism that tore the individual away from society and from kith and kin, so it really was necessary to have something positively constructive to mollify and conciliate the more critical Chinese and those who were Confucian sympathizers. It had not escaped the notice of the Buddhists that the Nestorian Church, largely because of its solemn masses ‘seven times a day for both the living and the dead,” had obtained a strong hold on the people. They had also seen with wonder the “seven times seven” days’ festival with the closing fiftieth day of feasting, which gathered together the Nestorian monks and priests in prayer for the dead and the living, an- nually. When one adds to this the fact that during the seventh and eighth centuries, new mystical mantra writings filled with magic formule and incantations [88] MASSES FOR THE DEAD found their way from India to China, it can be under- stood just why this period should see such a rise and development of masses for the dead, as had not been marked before. There is one man especially in this period, whose name is inseparably connected with the rapid develop- ment of masses for the dead. This is Amogha Vajra, (Chinese: Pu-k‘ung Chin-kang, 4% 2 & Wil). He was a monk, who came over from northern India to China in the year 719, with his great teacher Vajra Bidhi (Chinese: Chin-kang Chih, & fil #7). In 732 he suc- ceeded his master as patriarch of the Yogacharya School. Between 741 and 746 he was sent to India by the Emperor Hsiian Tsung, to get more Buddhist writings. The two succeeding emperors also held him in high esteem and when he died in 772, after a long and active life, he received the hitherto unheard-of posthumous title of “Minister of State for the King- doms of the East.” He stood so high that all three emperors, at their coronations, had their crowns sprinkled with holy water by his hand. As a matter of fact, leaders of the Nestorian Church also had this honour on several occasions. With statesman-like understanding, Amogha quickly saw that it was important to outshine the Nestorians, if possible, in the arrangements for the masses for the dead.1 When one examines more closely the ritual which he issued, there can be no doubt that he and his helpers copied the rituals of the Nestorian Church 1He lived side by side with the Nestorians in Sian, where it is a well- established fact that the Buddhist monk Prajna himself, translated one of the Buddhist scriptures, in collaboration with the Nestorian priest Adam. [89] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM in many places. We can see this by a careful com- parison of the Nestorian “Song of the Saints” and the “Baptismal Hymn,” so beautifully translated in Pro- fessor Saeki’s book. ; They had, however, much more material than this at their disposal. There was the whole of Mahayna’s vast store-house to draw upon, and in addition to this the translation of the rather obscure mantra literature which had newly arrived from India, with its fantastic magic formule and incantations. Further, they had no scruples about the kind of ideas and beliefs they introduced. It was no wonder that Mahayana’s masses for the dead went beyond any that had ever been heard of before, not only in the pomp of their externals, but also in the extravagant and fantastic nature of their content. After fifty years of work in China, Amogha had got so far that he was able to arrange his “opening night”’ for the great drama which has since become so well known in the East—the “Feast for the Wandering Spirits’ —that ceremony which later under the name of “ Yii-lan-p‘én”’ (Gh Bi 3%), or “YVii-lan-p‘én Hui” (xh. Bel 4% €r) (Sanskrit: Ullambana), has gone its way down through the centuries and has gathered together so many millions in religious ecstacy. Before we describe this ceremony in detail, we shall cite an example of the way in which the rather slender historical foundation for these masses which has said to have been discovered in the first primitive Buddhism, was further built upon. 90} MASSES FOR THE DEAD The story of how Maudgalyayana (Chinese: Mo-ho- mu-chien-lien, } iJ A #f #1, or Mu-lien, 9 ##), one of Sakyamuni’s disciples, the pious son, saved his mother, is now popularly told in China as follows: A pious mother, who had always been the most scrupulous vegetarian, fell sick, probably the result of excessive asceticism. She tried all kinds of cures, but all were in vain. Then one of her sons came to her and said that he could help her, if she would be willing to eat meat. The mother refused most vehemently. In spite of this the son prepared a dish which resembled vegetarian food but contained a little meat. She ate it and was soon quite well again. One of the slaves in the house told the truth of the matter to another son, Mu-lien, and he, fearing lest his mother had thereby lost all hope of salvation, told her. She, secure in her innocence, denied it, calling upon all the gods to bear witness to the fact that she had not eaten meat. In the dramatic presentation of the story which is most often given (it is one of the loveliest dramas on the Chinese stage), the mother is represented as saying, “Tf I have eaten meat, I pray that all the gods may cast me down into the deepest hell!” Immediately blood streams from her nose, mouth, and eyes, and the devil-hangmen draw her away to hades. Mu-lien does everything in his power to rescue her. He lays upon himself all kinds of tortures in order to expiate her sin, but everything seems in vain. One night he sees her in his dream; her clothes are in tatters and her countenance bears traces of the [91] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM greatest suffering. He sees how the hangmen in hades steal the money and the food that he has burned for her support. He hears her suppliant cry, “Come and help me.” Thereupon he determines to go to hades (die). He wanders through the various zones in the kingdom of death, and after a long and persistent search finds her. She has been placed in a great cauldron where she is to be dismembered and cooked. He casts himself down before the devil-executioner and beseeches him to be allowed to take the torture upon himself. This is permitted, at least for a time. In the dramatic presentation, one sees Mu-lien, appearing in the various torture scenes, always strong and firm. But when his need is the greatest, Buddha reveals himself in light and glory, and makes known the happy news that his mother can be saved if a body of monks will come together, and perform a mass for her soul. So after a while, one sees a row of monks drawn up solemnly before the figure of Buddha, and after the chanting and the musical instruments have sounded for some time, the gates of hell spring open, releasing the happy son with his redeemed mother. The scene closes with a high-pitched song of praise. “The Feast for the Wandering Souls’? As we now attempt to give a description of the ceremonies which down through the years have been performed for the release of the wandering and lost spirits, it is natural to take first the “Feast for the Wandering Souls,” or “‘Yii-lan-p‘én Hui” (ck BM 2% 7), which has already been mentioned. [92] MASSES FOR THE DEAD The main object of this ceremony is to conduct the souls as rapidly and safely as possible over the vast sea of want, hunger, thirst, and torment, which they got into when death overtook them, because of their sins. This has given rise to the expression “tu chung- shéng t‘o-li k‘u-hai” (#2 2 AE We BIE #%), “to help all creation across the sea of pain,’ used in China again and again in speech and writing. When a man dies, if there are any rich relations, pious and conscientious sons and daughters, widows or younger brothers, who can start the machinery, the whole matter can be arranged quite quickly. They simply order so many masses to be said in some temple or monastery, or allow the chief room or courtyard in their homes to be temporarily made over into a prayer hall (“tao-ch‘ang,”” 34 4%), where monks can chant their masses by the day, or even by the week. Often, however, there are no relatives to come to the help of the dead, or their poverty is such that nothing sufficient to meet the case can be done. If this happens, the monks, together with pious and phil- anthropic people, step in and help. Ever since the time of Amogha, it has been looked upon as a particularly meritorious act to contribute towards making the great “feast for the wandering souls”’ as splendid as possible. Without doubt, much true sympathy and religious fervor is expressed in these acts. On the other hand, this feast is frequently used in a quite shameless way for personal gain or self-aggrandizement, money is coined out of it, and the whole business takes on such [93] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM a noisy and theatrical tone that its religious significance almost completely vanishes. The observance of this festival is regulated partly by the calendar, as it goes by the ten-, twelve-, or fifteen- year periods in the old Chinese cycle of years. In addition, there may be special cases of necessity which call for extra observances.