AT THE VILLAGE OF YÜ-CHIA-K'UANG (see p. [398]).
A MOUNTAIN STREAM AND HAMLET (see p. [395]).
From this mountain can be seen practically the whole of the leased territory of Weihaiwei, laid out as it were like a map or—as the Chinese would say—like a chessboard. The summit is a ridge which slopes southward and northward to the two beautiful valleys of Yü-chia-k'uang and Chang-chia-shan. Once or twice a year a priest ascends the mountain from a temple far down on the western slope, and having reached the summit he burns a few sticks of incense and recites some Taoist prayers. Occasionally a villager climbs the mountain to return thanks to the Jade-Imperial-God or the spirit of the mountain for granting him success in some family matter or in business: but ordinarily the little group of gods on the hill-top are left in quietness and solitude. The Taoist devotee is not disturbed by uneasy feelings that he is neglecting his deities: loneliness and peace amid beautiful hills and valleys are or ought to be his own ideal, and the gods whom he has made in his own image can surely ask for nothing better.
Of Buddhism in Weihaiwei not a great deal need be said. Some of the beliefs and superstitions which have been dealt with in this book belong, indeed, as much to Buddhism as to Taoism, but the Buddhism is of a kind that would not be recognised in south-eastern Asia. There are some so-called Buddhist temples, each tenanted by a single priest and a pupil or two, and proofs are not wanting that many centuries ago the sites of some of these rather dilapidated buildings were occupied by flourishing little monasteries: but Buddhism has long been a decadent religion in Shantung, and, considering the corrupt state into which it has fallen in northern China, its disappearance as a power in the land is not to be regretted. Judging from the inscriptions on a few old stone tablets it appears that Buddhism in the Weihaiwei district reached its most flourishing state during the T'ang period (618-905 A.D.). At that time, indeed, Buddhist activity throughout China was very great, for though the faith often underwent persecution or was treated with chilling neglect, it enjoyed from time to time the goodwill and patronage of the highest and most influential persons in the land.
It was during this period that many famous pilgrims travelled from China to India—the Holy Land of Buddhism—in search of books and relics, and some of them left accounts of their travels which are among the treasures of Chinese literature. This was, indeed, one of the most glorious epochs in Chinese history. It was a period during which the Empire, under a succession of several able and highly-cultured rulers, enjoyed a prosperity-political, social, literary, artistic—that it has never quite attained in any succeeding age. The prosperity seems as a rule to have affected every class of the people and every corner of the Empire: even the comparatively poor and bleak regions of eastern Shantung shared in the good fortune that radiated from the brilliant capital of an Empire which—though the fact was undreamed of by the young nations of Europe—was undoubtedly the mightiest and most highly civilised state then existing in the world.
The existence of large Buddhist monasteries generally indicates a fertile and populous tract of country, for a large assemblage of monks accustomed to live to a great extent on the free offerings of the people can hardly expect to be received with open arms in a region that is inhabited by a sparse and poor population. The monasteries of Weihaiwei, then, were always small—none probably harbouring more than six to twelve monks. But, like Buddhists elsewhere, the monks who came to this part of the Empire took care to select for their dwelling-places the most charming and picturesque sites available. The best or one of the best of these little establishments was known as Ku Shan Ssŭ—the Monastery of the Ku Hill. It was founded between the years 785 and 804, and part of it still exists as a small temple pleasantly situated at the foot of the hill from which it takes its name. Close by is the famous Buddha-tree of which mention has been made.[394] Not far away from the temple, and immediately in front of the British District Officer's official quarters, there is a natural hot spring that bubbles out of the sandy bed of a shallow stream. One can imagine how, eleven hundred years ago, the little band of gowned monks, released for an hour from the contemplation of Nirvana or the service of the Lord Buddha, would wend their way in the twilight hour down to the edge of the ravine to lave their reverend limbs in those delicious waters. The spring is still a daily source of joy to hundreds of men and boys from the neighbouring villages, but the monks are all gone.
WÊN-CH'ÜAN-T'ANG.