hi-lung,[617] was an ardent devotee and gave general
permission to the population to enter monasteries, which had not been
granted previously. This permission is noticeable, for it implies,
even at this early date, the theory that a subject of the Emperor has
no right to become a monk without his master's leave.

In 381 we are told that in north-western China nine-tenths of the
inhabitants were Buddhists. In 372 Buddhism was introduced into Korea
and accepted as the flower of Chinese civilization.

The state known as the Former Ts'in[618] had its nucleus in
Shensi, but expanded considerably between 351 and 394 A.D. under
the leadership of Fu-Chien,[619] who established in it large colonies
of Tartars. At first he favoured Confucianism but in 381 became a
Buddhist. He was evidently in close touch with the western regions and
probably through them with India, for we hear that sixty-two states
of Central Asia sent him tribute.

The Later Ts'in dynasty (384-417) had its headquarters in Kansu and
was founded by vassals of the Former Ts'in. When the power of Fu-Chien
collapsed, they succeeded to his possessions and established
themselves in Ch'ang-an. Yao-hsing,[620] the second monarch of this
line was a devout Buddhist, and deserves mention as the patron of
Kumarajiva,[621] the most eminent of the earlier translators.

Kumarajiva was born of Indian parents in Kucha and, after following
the school of the Sarvastivadins for some time, became a Mahayanist.
When Kucha was captured in 383 by the General of Fu-Chien, he was
carried off to China and from 401 onwards he laboured at Ch'ang-an for
about ten years. He was appointed Kuo Shih,[622] or Director of Public
Instruction, and lectured in a hall specially built for him. He is
said to have had 3000 disciples and fifty extant translations are
ascribed to him. Probably all the Tartar kingdoms were well disposed
towards Buddhism, though their unsettled condition made them
precarious residences for monks and scholars. This was doubtless true
of Northern Wei, which had been growing during the period described,
but appears as a prominent home of Buddhism somewhat later.

Meanwhile in the south the Eastern Tsin Dynasty, which represented the
legitimate Empire and ruled at Nanking from 317 to 420, was also
favourable to Buddhism and Hsiao Wu-Ti, the ninth sovereign of this
line, was the first Emperor of China to become a Buddhist.

The times were troubled, but order was gradually