bing conditions for ordination were
followed by no periods of reaction. But the vitality of Buddhism is
shown by the fact that these restrictions merely led to an increase of
the secular clergy, not legally ordained, who in their turn claimed
the imperial attention. Ch'ien Lung began in 1735 by giving them the
alternative of becoming ordinary laymen or of entering a monastery but
this drastic measure was considerably modified in the next few years.
Ultimately the secular clergy were allowed to continue as such, if
they could show good reason, and to have one disciple each.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 591: See _B.E.F.E.O._ 1910, Le Songe et l'Ambassade de
l'Empereur Ming Ti, par M. H. Maspero, where the original texts are
translated and criticized. It is a curious coincidence that Ptolemy
Soter is said to have introduced the worship of Serapis to Egypt from
Sinope in consequence of a dream.]

[Footnote 592: [Chinese: ] No doubt then pronounced something like
Vut-tha.]

[Footnote 593: [Chinese: ] or [Chinese: ]]

[Footnote 594: [Chinese: ]]

[Footnote 595: [Chinese: ]]

[Footnote 596: [Chinese: ]]

[Footnote 597: [Chinese: ]]

[Footnote 598: [Chinese: ]]

[Footnote 599: See Chavannes, _Les documents Chinois decouverts par
Aurel Stein_, 1913, Introduction. The earliest documents are of 98
B.C.]

[Footnote 600: The Wei-lueh or Wei-lio [Chinese: ], composed between
239 and 265 A.D., no longer exists as a complete work, but a
considerable extract from it dealing with the countries of the West is
incorporated in the San Kuo Chih [Chinese: ] of P'ei-Sung-Chih
[Chinese: ] (429 A.D.). See Chavannes, translation and notes in
_T'oung Pao_, 1905, pp. 519-571.]

[Footnote 601: [Chinese: ] See Chavannes, _l.c._ p. 550.]

[Footnote 602: See Francke, _Zur Frage der Einfuhrung des Buddhismus
in China_, 1910, and Maspero's review in _B.E.F.E.O._ 1910, p. 629.
Another Taoist legend is that Dipankara Buddha or Jan Teng, described
as the teacher of Sakyamuni was a Taoist and that Sakyamuni
visited him in China. Giles quotes extracts from a writer of the
eleventh century called Shen Kua to the effect that Buddhism had been
flourishing before the Ch'in dynasty but disappeared with its advent
and also that eighteen priests were imprisoned in 216 B.C. But the
story adds that they recited the Prajnaparamita which is hardly
possible at that epoch.]

[Footnote 603: Sam. Nik. v. 10. 6. Cf. for a similar illustration in
Chuang-tzu, _S