558 - A Thousand Lives Away: Buddhism In Contemporary Burma & Buddhism In China: A Historical Survey

A Thousand Lives Away:
Buddhism In Contemporary Burma
By Winston L. King
238 pp. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1964. $5.25.

Buddhism In China: A Historical Survey
By Kenneth Ch'en
560 pp. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1964. $12.50.

Students of Buddhism who have known of the work of these scholars have been eagerly looking forward to these two volumes. Together they make an exceedingly valuable contribution to the study of Buddhism. The first is a remarkable analysis of contemporary Buddhism in Burma, a representative Theravada country. The second is a well organized, readable history of the development of Mahayana Buddhism in China.

Winston King in two previous volumes (Buddhism and Christianity:

559 - A Thousand Lives Away: Buddhism In Contemporary Burma & Buddhism In China: A Historical Survey

Some Bridges of Understanding, Westminster; In the Hope of Nibbana: An Essay On Theravada Buddhist Ethics, Open Court) has established himself as the most reliable contemporary interpreter of the classical Buddhist tradition. In many ways this volume is the most valuable of the three. Much of the material here presented is not available in detail in any other place; and his summary or organization of other areas (such as Theravada's cosmological ideas) can hardly be duplicated for clarity, accuracy, and balance of presentation.

The opening chapter deals deftly with a matter which has led many westerners astray in their study of Asian expression generally and Buddhism in particular-the matter of the positive experience which is affirmed or interpreted in a mysterious negative terminology. This is followed by an equally perceptive chapter on the differences between Literary and Export Buddhism, Popular Pagoda Buddhism, and the Traditional Orthodoxy of the monks and better informed laymen, This subject, in the past, has either been ignored or exploited, but seldom accurately described with a view to sympathetic, yet critical, understanding. It is in this kind of delicate situation that Dr. King's integrity as a scholar and ability as an expositor are seen at their best.

Valuable chapters follow on Buddhist cosmology and eschatology, adjustments and apologetic as an ancient faith comes to terms with modern scientific method, and ways in which Buddhists understand the "person and work" of the Lord Buddha.

The final chapter on meditation is one of the most valuable since it is an area of special investigation by Dr. King. An appendix includes his careful report of his experience in a Buddhist meditation center. This is, next to an actual stay in a center itself, the most helpful report and analysis this reviewer has seen. Anyone with a serious interest in Theravada Buddhism will surely want to avail himself of Dr. King's rewarding study.

Kenneth Ch'en's Buddhism in China is valuable for other reasons. Here we have a skillful ordering of two thousand years of Buddhist history in China in a single volume, combining fascinating detail and readability with responsible historical writing.

The account begins with the rise of Buddhism in India and its spread to China in the first century A.D. Then follows a description of the growth and domestication of the new faith and its relationship to subsequent dynasties. The major space is given, rightly, to what he calls "The Apogee," the climax, under the T'ang Dynasty. Then follows the decline and the vicissitudes of Buddhism in the modern period.

The great strength of this history is the way Buddhism is seen in relationship to the wider Chinese cultural context, especially Confucianism

560 - A Thousand Lives Away: Buddhism In Contemporary Burma & Buddhism In China: A Historical Survey

and Taoism, and the detail given as to life in the monasteries, duties of the monks and nuns, significance of the temple, impact upon social life, rise and development of the various Buddhist Schools and the Chinese Tripitaka.

The Glossary, List of Chinese Names, and Bibliography adds greatly to the reference value of the book. It is encouraging to know that this is the first in a series to be known as the "Princeton Studies in the History of Religions."

These books are both substantial helps to an understanding and appreciation of both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

Paul D. Clasper
Drew University
Madison, New Jersey