Page:The Awakening of Japan, by Okakura Kakuzō; 1905.djvu/28

 thirteenth century. The classic civilizations of China and India shine the brighter by contrast with the night that has overtaken them since that disastrous irruption. The children of the Hwang-ho and the Ganges had from early days evolved a culture comparable with that of the era of highest enlightenment in Greece and Rome, one which even foreshadowed the trend of advanced thought in modern Europe. Buddhism, introduced into China and the farther East during the early centuries of the Christian era, bound together the Vedic and Confucian ideals in a single web, and brought about the unification of Asia. A vast stream of intercourse flowed throughout the extent of the whole Buddhaland. Tidings of any fresh philosophical achievement in the University of Nalanda, or in