Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/227

 Nam-wa Monastery and the Sixth Patriarch. 223 priest, called in Chinese Sung-kau-no-lo-pat-tak, after having visited the old monastery in Canton, came in the course of his travels to Tso-kai, the little stream which rises in the Dog-Ear Ridge six miles to the east, and flows down past the monastery. As he drank of the water, he noticed its peculiarly delightful flavour, and said, "This is in truth like the water of the western para- dise. There must be a sacred spot here." Then looking at the clustering hills around he sighed, and exclaimed, "Ah! this is a reflection of the Gemmy Forests of the western paradise ! >> Calling the people of the neighbourhood together, he told them there would arise a famous Buddhist institution on the spot. Two years later the governor of the district opened a road to the place, and a small shrine was built, called Po-lam, "Gemmy Forest," but it was not until a century and a half later that the prophecy was fulfilled. Turning now to seek the man who brought fame to the place, we find him in the person of Luk-tsó, the sixth and last patriarch of the Buddhist Church in China. The founder of the Buddhist hierarchy in this empire is called Bodhidhasma, and is known in China as Tat-mo, which some believe to be the name of the Apostle Thomas, stolen by the Buddhists to represent their apostle. He came in the fourth century, and from him the headship of the Church was transmitted through a succession of patriarchs, the sacred vestments of their office consisting of a robe and a bowl. This line suddenly came to an end near the close of the seventh century, in the death of Luk-tsó, the sixth in succession from Tat-mo.