and III. For the Lanja
printed text see the last facsimile in I, also III. p. 34 and _Bibl.
Budd._ XIV (Kuan-si-im Pusar), pp. vi, vii. Another copy of this Lanja
printed text was bought in Kyoto, 1920.]

CHAPTER XLV

CHINA (_continued_)

SCHOOLS[790] OF CHINESE BUDDHISM

The Schools (Tsung) of Chinese Buddhism are an intricate subject of
little practical importance, for observers agree that at the present
day all salient differences of doctrine and practice have been
obliterated, although the older monasteries may present variations in
details and honour their own line of teachers. A particular
Bodhisattva may be singled out for reverence in one locality or some
religious observance may be specially enjoined, but there is little
aggressiveness or self assertion among the sects, even if they are
conscious of having a definite name: they each tolerate the deities,
rites and books of all and pay attention to as many items as leisure
and inertia permit. There is no clear distinction between Mahayana and
Hinayana.

The main division is of course into Lamaism on one side and all
remaining sects on the other. Apart from this we find a record of ten
schools which deserve notice for various reasons. Some, though obscure
in modern China, have flourished after transportation to Japan: some,
such as the T'ien-t'ai, are a memorial of a brilliant epoch: some
represent doctrines which, if not now held by separate bodies, at
least indicate different tendencies, such as magical ceremonies,
mystical contemplation, or faith in Amitabha.

The more important schools were comparatively late, for they date
from the sixth and seventh centuries. For two or three hundred years
the Buddhists of China were a colony of strangers, mainly occupied in
making translations. By the fifth century the extent and diversity of
Indian literature became apparent and Fa-Hsien went to India to
ascertain which was the most correct Vinaya and to obtain copies of
it. Theology was now sufficiently developed to give rise to two
schools both Indian in origin and merely transported to China, known
as Ch'eng-shih-tsung and San-lun-tsung.[791]

The first is considered as Hinayanist and equivalent to the
Sautrantikas.[792] In the seventh century it passed over to Japan
where it is known as Ji-jitsu-shu, but neither there nor in China had
it much importance. The San-lun-tsung recognizes as three authorities
(from which it takes its name) the Madhyamikasa