The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-05
CHINA's SEARCH FOR A GOD.
The Accident That Carried Buddhism
Instead of Christianity Into the
FIOwery Kingdom.
By Edgar Mels.

By Edgar Mels.
Had the embassy of Emperor wing-te,
A. d. s.. of the Ming dynasty gone fifteen
hundred miles further in its journey in
| search of the incarnated God, China
would have been one of the greatest ma
lions in the world, and all the present
trouble would have been avoided. The
story OF the search for the incarnated
God and its strange ending forms one of
the most remarkable chapters in the his
tory of remarkable people. 1t is not
merely chat the China of nineteen hun
dred years ago should seek the light, but
that in so doing 1t should miss the object
of that search completely and yet stun
bic across a new and better religion.
that is the most remarkable thing.
In order to properly understand the
conditions leading to search for the in
carnated God il will be necessary to go
little into the history of China of
that day. The Ming dynasty. which ruled
then, had brought China out of a slough
of despond into which II had sunk be-
cause of the terrible corruption into which
the precepts of CONTIGUOUS and Lao-tZe
had fallen. These two great teachers
were to China what Marcus Aurelius An
tonius was to the Romans. All three
taught the value of good, the necessity
upon the same proposition. After the
death of the Chinese philosophers their
teachings became corrupted unit Confu-
cianism became another name for ceremo-
NAL usage, and Lao-tzesm, under the
name of Taoism, a worship of spirits.
1t was then, when China was the most
highly civilized nation, when 1t counted
gunpowder among its inventions, that the
Ming rulers sougt TO find the true relig-
IA ehi in
of spirits or ceremouials. While still dis
cussing the matter rumors spread far and
near that new prophet-the incarnation
of the real God-had appeared in the Far
West Strange stories were whispered
beneath the breath of the marvellous
power of this new God-how he had raised
the dead and had performed other mira
| Giles. This eventually reached the ears
| of the Emperor. Calling the literary and
scientific men before him he demanded
| to know their opinions.
| After long consultation 1t was decided
to send an embassy TO the incarnated
God, with rich offerings. and to ask him
| to come to China to preach the true
! word. SO a great caravan of richly deco
! rated camels was gathered, and magnifi-
| cent offerings loaded upon their backs.
| There were superb silks, glittering and
| precious stones, the choicest incense. mag
nlficent ivory carvings and the finest pro-
| ducts of all China. Attended by a huge
| retinue of coolies and servants and SOL
! diers the embassy, consisting of China
most learned men, started south. along the
| coast line, for, in those days, 1t was not
| safe to travel TOO far inland. Days and
weeks the caravan travelled. Each day
| prayers were offered to the incarnate God
On went the cavalcade. passing beyond
the boundaries of China, into the unknown
land beyond. Everywhere the mission
went the word of the search was passed
and soon a huge army entered India.
Once there the stories of the incarnate
! God became more circumstantial. and
| with renewed courage the ambassadors
pressed on. AT last Southern India. was
| reached and a positive clue discovered
| az least. so the embassy thought. Yet
the natives had heard of great prophet
| He had performed miracles and had dis
| appeared in q miraculous manner, none
| knew whittier. He had lived and was
born on an island south of India. across
the water. which the Chinese dreaded.
But strong as was the fear of water,
the desire to accomplish their purpose was
stronger and so, in rude boats, they set
sail for Ceylon. The weather favored
them, and soon they set foot on the ISL
and home of the unknown prophet. There,
where the knowledge of his existence was
still fresh in the minds of the people,
where the Bo-tree or Tree of knowledge.
where he had gained inspiration, was still
standing, where his personality was not
yet forgotten, the ambassadors gained
their knowledge of-Buddha, Gautama
Siddartha, the All-Wise.
They had set out to find the incarnate
God. Christ, the Savior, and had found
Buddha. To their minds the precepts
of Buddha offered attractions far supe-
rior to those Of Confucius or Lao-tze. and
90 the return journey was begun, after
leaving the presents and offerings at
Buddha's shrine at Kusinara. Then they
returned home and spread the new creed
far and wide. To-day there are more
than 30, O0O, 600 Buddhists in China.