there were some scholars who studied Buddhism in connection with
Taoism and Confucianism, and led a secluded life. To the last class
of scholars belonged Chwen Hih (Hu dai shi), known as Chwen the
Great. He is said to have been accustomed to wear a Confucianist
hat, a Buddhist robe, and Taoist shoes. It was in A.D. 534 that he
presented a memorial to the Emperor Wu, in which he explained the
three grades of good. "The Highest Good consists," says he, "in the
emptiness of mind and non-attachment. Transcendence is its cause,
and Nirvana is its result. The Middle Good consists in morality and
good administration. It results in a peaceful and happy life in
Heaven and in Earth. The Lowest Good consists in love and protection
of sentient beings." Thus his idea of good, as the reader will see
without difficulty, is the result of a compromise of Taoism and
Buddhism. Sin Wang Ming (Sin-o-mei, On the Mind-King), one of his
masterpieces, together with other minor poems, are still used as a
textbook of Zen. This fact unmistakably proves that Taoist element
found its way into the constituents of Zen from its very outset in
China.


All that he had to do was to wait for an earnest seeker after the
spirit of Shakya Muni. Therefore he waited, and waited not in vain,
for at last there came a learned Confucianist, Shang Kwang (Shin-ko)
by name, for the purpose of finding the final solution of a problem
which troubled him so much that he had become dissatisfied with
Confucianism, as it had no proper diet for his now spiritual hunger.
Thus Shang Kwang was far from being one of those half-hearted
visitors who knocked the door of Bodhidharma only for the sake of
curiosity. But the silent master was cautious enough to try the
sincerity of a new visitor before admitting him to the Meditation