The Detroit times., 1910-08-25
SOCIETY FOLKS
COLLECT IMAGES
Washington Men and Women, Caught
by Fad, Get Queer Carvings
of Buddha.

WASHINGTON. Aug. 2.-No So
ciety salon or boudoir In Washington
Ia now complete unless the placid !
face of Buddha Is there. On the eve
of the great revival of the Buddhist
faith In Japan and China, Buddha,
a faith that has more than $50 mil
lions of devotees throughout the
world. has been caught on the high
tide of fadism In the nations capital.
Many and unique are the examples
of wood and stone images which have
found their way here. No religious
Significance Is attached to the pos
session Of the god Of the Orientals,
however. Many of the society lead
ers possess them merely because 1t
is cutie the thing.
S0ome of the society folk. but they
are In a minority, go as far as TO de-
clare that the restful countenance
of the sitting Buddha. In meditation.
or the reclining Buddha, portrayed
as entering Nirvana, bring a soothing
influence, and that the upright mill
tant figure of the standing, or preach
ing Buddha, signifies to them new
hope.
are Mrs. William Murray Crane. wife
of the senator from Massachusetts;
Mrs. George Howard, Mrs. Clarence
Moore, wife of the master OF the
hounds. of the smartest fox pack In
the dlstrict; Mrs. Franklin Ellis, and
among the society and clubmen,
Frederick May, well known In New
York: Rush Marshall, the architect;
Charles v. Wheeler and Larz An
derson are the possessors OF collec-
lions of Buddhas.
Sell For Good Prices.
Buddhas range from the tiny ivory
amulet, which one may purchase from
the takers at Atlantic City, OF little
worth or value, to the great golden
sleeping Buddha of Siam, $50 feet long,
before which thousands OF half-clad
brown men and women creep daily.
Yet the finer examples, many OF
which stand In palatial residences OF
Washington millionaires, sell for good
prices. Hundreds of dollars some OF
them bring.
nWashington society women. said
B. r. Collins, q veteran collector or
Washington, ARE perhaps not quite
such extreme faddists % their New
York neighbors, but within the past
year the desire for Buddhas and for
jade amulets has been remarkable.
There are lots of things which come
into the United States without a
shadow Of moral right to justify their
presence, ana the Buddhas are the
most notable example. Forty or fifty
years ago many were imported. The
presence of so many OF the smaller
Japanese Buddhas here Is easily ex-
planned. The little gods were hung In
their black lacquered cases in front
of the doorways Of the Japanese
homes Sailors on shore leave would
go through a village and despoil
whole streets.
Then, too, a Buddha is distinctly
a church adjunct in the Orient. Where
in civilized countries memorial win
dows are placed in churches, in
China, Japan and India Buddhas are
placed in the temple as memorials
to the illustrious dead. More often,
with the connivance Of a priest, these
little images were taken from their
inches and sold. Really good exam
pies of Buddha are now becoming
scarce.
Buddha, Not q God, but Teacher.
"Buddha was not regarded as a
god even by his followers" the col
lector continued. HE was to them
nothing by a great teacher. who had
suffered and meditated until he at
tanned the highest state OF which
man Is capable. X
His period Of meditation under
the 30 tree at Buddha Gaya, about
1875 miles from Benares, Is depicted
In the sitting Buddhas. Here he sat
for six years In penance and morti-
fcation. He became a living skeleton,
was naked and covered with dirt and
was soon the object OF contempt In
the surrounding villages said the
collector Angels and devils tempted
him. Hydra-headed demons fired vol
leys of poisoned arrows at him, but
before they could pierce him they fell
as lotus flowers at his feet. Throngs
of beautiful women, from girlhood to
maturity, came before him, but they
were powerless against him"
The movement toward the revival
of Buddhism Is fairly afoot In China
and Japan. In India, where Buddha
lived, there Is, strangely enough, not
one Buddhist In 1000 natives. The
impetus was given by the discovery
near Pashawur, in Arghanistan. OF
the ashes of the great leader. The
relics, which have been declared au-
thentic, were presented to those Of
Buddhist faith by the British authori-
ties In India.
According to the accounts which
have come from India, the discov-
cry was the work of a Frenchman,
named Foucher, who came into In
dia to study Buddhism. He found
manuscripts which told Of the burial
of Buddha's ashes under huge pa
coda In the mountain Businesses OF
Peshawur.
Although the scientist. Foucher, un-
dertook to locate the tower and did
SO. the British authorities were called
TO his aid. The ruins OF the tower
were located two years ago, and In
dictate from their size that the edifice
which stood there was larger than
any known Buddhist pagoda. For
nearly a year and a half excavations
were made before the relic chamber
was found, twenty feet below the
stone floor OF the pagoda. The room
was stone walled and small, and was
built. according to archaeologists, all
q 400 vaarof aQO