University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

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80 'THE LINGUIST sixty seven strong, including our Dean and his mcther Mrs. Keen and Dr. Reichelt, an authority on temples and ceremonies and other things Buddhistic, who acted as our official guide. After a train ride of two hours and aclimb over' a Chinese highway CFootpathJ for six miles we reached the monastery set in a rambling grove of trees high up on a mountain ridge. After the lunch in the refectory-an experience to many of us-one of the chief priests conducted us from one hall and courtyard to another. Dr. Reichelt interpreted and explained. ' The Monastery of Pao I-lwa Shan is one of the oldest and most noted of the Buddhisqmonasteries in China. Some ofthe buildings are said to be about two thousand years old. At the time of our visit some six hundred monks and priests were quartered there. At certain times of the year especially during the ordination ceremonies- of the priests, two thousand and more priests assemble at this one place. We were shown the ordination platform, said to beagift direct from Heaven, where the candidates are required to recite whole volumes of Buddhist literature from memory without a mistake- X1Vhen the candidate to the priesthood accomplishes this task his head is shaved and the nine or twelve holes are burned in the top of his head, which is a sign that he is a full fledged member of Buddha and is on his way to Nirvana. XVe saw some ofthe priests in their living quarters, which are small, dark and smelly. In such places they study and memorize their manuscripts. Further in our rounds we came to the great kitchen where enormous quantities of rice are cooked. It was a cold day with llurries of snow and there was much stamping of feet to keep warm. But we thanked the courteous priest for his kindness set out forthe six mile hike to the station- And the train was two hours late. But it was great day, not to be forgotten. And the lessons of it will linger in our minds. For the task that lies before us was made clearer by the moreimtimate glimpses into the strength of the Buddhist order and into the devotion of its adherents. Yet despite the persistence of Buddhism, it has failed to save the people or the civilization. 5 '., ,, :fgpfliii f p ,tglll aM'e'Z if 45321 H ,pf L fan- H w

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fgrove of trees, the largest in the vicinity of Nanlcing. On October OUR TRIP TO PAO HWA SHAN 79 -as this. The historic resting place of the iirst emperor of the Ming dynasty--Hung WVL1 U368-98D was visited. The royal way to the tomb lined on each side by massive animals, elephants, camels, horses and others,carved in stone aroused our curiosity. Set, as they are in 'the common places of peasant farming, they seemed to recall a -glorious past, about whicl1 we want to know more. s KN Attention! Ready for a 'l1ike Then there was Spirit Valley where rests an ancient temple in a .21 we took the wall. Mounting the massive city wall that surrounds Nankingat the I-Ian Si Men gate we walked along the top to the South 'Gate, Nan Men. From the wall the ancient city of Nanlcing' spread out before us. The curved oriental roofs of the public buildings discernable in the film of haze at once distinguished the landscape from one of the Occident. This wall is 21 miles in length, is IO to 20 feet wide and from I5 to 50 feet high. It is constructed entirely of large, dark grey burned brick. Not sufficient wood material exists in the region to burn so large a number now. It would appear that about 500 years ago when the wall was constructed that the mountains and hills must have borne a heavier cover of trees than at present, for coal was not in use then, to supply sufficient fuel for the burning. Then there were numerous temples visited, such as Kuling An and the Monastery, Buh Gy Go, the Temple of Confucius and others. OUR TRIP TO PAO HWA SHAN. Saturday, November 25, was finally fixed for the visit to the celebrated monastery at Pao I-Iwa Shan. The weather man had a grouch. If we had tried to pick a very disagreeable day we could not have succeeded better. But despite wind and weather we went

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GOING TO PEKING S1 PEKING OR PERISH. i 5 ln the preceding paragraphs we have tried to give the reader an Idea of the pleasant and profitable way in which we spend some of our time outside of school hours. The trip to Peking, which is becoming an annual affair was the best of all. Without going into detail, we will give a resume of our experiences and the places visited. Peking or Pet-ish, was our slogan, and we saw Peking. There is no doubt about that, and Peking also saw us, eighty-seven Strong. To accommodate this number of passengers arrangements were made for two private cars. Barring the absenqe of a few panes of glass which allowed the wind and rain to enter, we managed very nicely. A person can sleep on the hard side of a board if he is tired enough. What did we care about rain and cold of our first day's journey? A bad start, a good ending? Didn't we come into Peking in grand style, with our private car attached to the finest express train in China? Trulyg there's no rest for the wicked' and the good people of the North China Language School saw to it that we were kept busy. For the benefit of future parties who will make this trip, we give Z1 list of the most important places visited. First on the list comes the beautiful Temple of Heaven and Altar of Heaven, the Temple of Agriculture, Lama Temple, Confucian Temple, Gbservatory, British Legation, Central Park, Forbidden City and Museum, Bell Tower. Drum Tower, Great Wall, the P.U.M.C., Summer Palace, jade Fountain, Winter Palace, Coal Hill, Hall of Classics, North China Language School, Y. M. C. A., and countless Curio shops, rug factories and stores of all descriptions. VVe were privileged to at- tend two receptions given for our special benefit 5 one by his Exellency President Li of China and the other by the students of the Language School. We also had the good fortune of meeting General Feng Yu- Hsiang at his camp near Peking. General Feng is known as the Christian General of China, and it was a pleasure to see for ourselves the fine type of man he really is. He is exerting a great influence Overhis own men, and its affect will be felt throughout the whole country before long. China needs many leaders of just this type of men. men who have the welfare of their country at heart and who are not afraid to-stand up for the principles of right and justice. The success of our trip to Peking is largely due to the untiring efforts of Mr. Petrus, Mr. Barkman and others of the North China Language School, Dr. Liu and Mr. Crouse of the Methodist Mission and others. We are very grateful to them for the kindly interest through their willingness to help us at all times. .Louis C. Bvsriitn. A