Procedimientos para garantizar la calidad de las prácticas externas y los programas de movilidad

May 7, 1932

I HAVE told you of the Han dynasty in China; and of the coming of Buddhism; and of the invention of printing; and the introduction of the examination system for choosing public officers. In the third century after Christ the Han dynasty ends and the empire is divided up into three States. This period of division into " The Three Kingdoms ", as they are called, lasts for

several hundred years, till China is reunited again and made into a powerful single State by a new dynasty, called the Tang Dynasty. This was early in the seventh century.

But even during this period of division Chinese culture and art continued in spite of Tartar attacks from the north. We are told of large libraries and of fine paintings. India continued to export not only her fine cloth and other goods, but her thought and religion and art. Many Buddhist missionaries went to China from India, and they carried with them the traditions of Indian art, and it is possible that Indian artists and master-craftsmen also went. The coming of Buddhism and of new ideas from India had a great effect on China. China of course was and had been a highly civilized country. It was not as if the religion or thought or art of India went to a backward country and took possession of it. In China this had to come up against China's own ancient art and ways of thought. The result of the impact of these two was to produce something different from either—something with much of India in it but still essentially Chinese and moulded according to the Chinese pattern. Thus the coming of these thought-currents from India gave an impetus and a kick to the artistic and mental life of China.

In the same way the message of Buddhism and of Indian art went farther east to Korea and Japan, and it is interesting to see how these countries were affected by it. Each country adapted it to suit its own particular genius. Thus although Buddhism Nourishes in China and Japan, it bears a different aspect in each country; and both these perhaps differ in many ways from the

Buddhism that went out from India. Art also varies and changes with the skies and with the people. In India we have now, as a

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people, forgotten art and beauty. Not only have we not produced anything of great beauty for long, but most of us have even forgotten how to appreciate the beautiful. How can beauty and art flourish in a country which is not free ? They wither away in the darkness of subjection and restraint. But already, with the vision of freedom before us, our sense of beauty is slowly waking up. When freedom comes you will see a great revival of art and beauty in this country, and I hope this will sweep away the ugliness of our homes and our cities and our lives. China and Japan have been more fortunate than India and they have preserved still a great deal of their sense of beauty and artistry.

As Buddhism spread in China more and more Indian Buddhists and monks went there, and Chinese monks travelled to India and to other countries. I have told you of Fa-Hien. You know also of Huien Tsang. Both of these came to India. There is a very interesting report of the journey of a Chinese monk named Hui Sheng across the eastern seas. He came to the capital of China in 499 A.C. and said that he had visited a land, which he called Fu Sang, several thousand miles east of China. East of China and Japan there is the Pacific Ocean, and it is possible that Hui Sheng had crossed this ocean. Perhaps he visited Mexico, for in Mexico there was even then an old civilization.

Attracted by the spread of Buddhism in China, the head and 115

patriarch of Indian Buddhism, whose name or title was Bodhidharma, sailed from South India for Canton in China. Perhaps the gradual weakening of Buddhism in India induced him to go. He was an old man when he went in 526 A.C. With him and after him went many other monks to China. It is said that in one province of China alone—Lo-Yang—there were at this time more than 3000 Indian monks and 10,000 Indian families.

Buddhism had another period of revival in India soon after, and as the birthplace of the Buddha and the place where the sacred writings were, India continued to attract pious Buddhists. But the glory seems to have departed from Buddhism in India, and China now becomes the leading Buddhist country.

The Tang dynasty was started by the Emperor Kao Tsu in 618 A.C. Not only did he unite the whole of China, but he spread his authority over an immense area—over Annam and Cambodia in the south and right up to Persia and the Caspian Sea in the west. Part of Korea was also

included in this mighty empire. The capital of the Empire was Si-an-Fu, a city which was famous in eastern Asia for its splendour and culture. Embassies and commissions came to it from Japan and southern Korea, which was still free, to study its arts, philosophy, and civilization.

The Tang Emperors encouraged foreign trade and foreign visitors. Special laws were made for the foreigners who settled or came to China, so that they might be judged according to their own customs wherever possible. We find especially the Arabs settling down in South China, near Canton, about 300 A.C. This was before Islam came—that is, before the birth of the Prophet Mohammad. With the help of these Arabs an overseas trade developed and was carried in Arab as well as Chinese ships.

You will be surprised to learn that the census—that is, the counting of people in a country so that its population may be known—is a very old institution in China. As long ago as 156 A.C. it is said that a census took place. This must have been during the time of the Hans. The counting used to be by families and not by individuals. Each family was roughly supposed to have five persons in it. According to this reckoning China had a population of about 50,000,000 in 156 A.C. This is not a very accurate method, of course, but just remember that this census is quite a new thing in the West. I believe the first census was held in the United States of America about 150 years ago.

In the early days of the Tangs, two other religions appeared in China—Christianity and Islam.

Christianity was brought by a sect which had been declared heretic and driven away from the West. They were called Nestorians. I wrote to you some time ago of the disputes and fights between Christian sects. It was as a result of one of these disputes that the Nestorians were driven away by Rome. But they spread in China and Persia and in many other parts of Asia.

They came to India also and had some success. But later other branches of Christianity and Islam swallowed up the Nestorians and there is little trace of them left. I was

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greatly surprised to find a small colony of them at a place in South India which we visited last year. Do you remember ? Their bishop entertained us to tea. He was a delightful old man.

It took some time for Christianity to reach China. But Islam came more swiftly. It came, indeed, a few years before the Nestorians and during the lifetime of its Prophet. The Chinese Emperor received both the embassies—Islamic and Nestorian—with courtesy and listened to what they had to say. He appreciated their views and showed favour impartially. The Arabs were permitted to build a mosque in Canton. This mosque still exists, although it is 1300 years old, and is one of the oldest mosques in the world.

So also the Tang Emperor permitted the building of a Christian church and monastery. The contrast between this tolerant attitude and the intolerance of Europe in those days is very marked.

It is said that the Arabs learnt the art of making paper from the Chinese and then taught it to Europe. In 751 A.C. there was a battle in Turkestan in Central Asia between the Chinese and the Muslim Arabs. The Arabs made several Chinese prisoners, and these prisoners taught them how to make paper.

The Tangs lasted for 300 years, till 907. A.C. These 300 years are said by some to be China's greatest period, when there was not only a high level of culture, but a high level of general happiness for the people. Many things that the West got to know much later, the Chinese knew then. Paper I have already mentioned. Gunpowder was another. They were good engineers, and generally, in almost every particular, they were far in advance of Europe. If they were so far ahead, then why could they not keep ahead and lead Europe in science and discovery ? But Europe gradually crept up to them, like a youth overtaking an elderly person, and was soon ahead, in some respects at any rate. Why this kind of thing happens in the history of nations is a most difficult question for philosophers to ponder over. As you are not yet a philosopher who will worry about this question, I need not worry either.

The greatness of China during this period had naturally great influence over the rest of Asia, which looked up to China for guidance in art and civilization. India's star was not shining very brightly after the Gupta Empire ended. As usual, however, progress and civilization in China led to too much luxury and easy living. Then there was corruption in the State, and this made heavy taxation necessary. And so the people got fed up with the Tangs and put an end to their dynasty.

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