^155:+ It will be well to keep a few dates in mind. The first Persian Temple (whether Zoroastrian or Manichaean is not quite clear) was erected at Singanfu, in 621, three years after Kaotsu's accession. The Persian Empire, under Chosroes, II, was at the time at war with Rome (or rather Constantinople), a Persian army was on the Bosphorus. This war was a great strain on the Persian dominions, and there were other causes for anxiety. Mahomet, born 570, had announced himself as a prophet in 610, and the Hegira, from which all Mahometans date their years, took place in 672. Siladitya Harsha, whose Indian Empire extended over the whole basin of the Ganges, and who began as a warlike monarch, came to the throne A.D. 606. He, too, received an Embassy from the Persians, which he housed in a Monastery near Multan, and massacred after entertaining them liberally. This must have been before his conversion to Buddhism which seems to have been about 645. (V. A. Smith, Early History of India). The Persians were evidently looking everywhere for helpful allies.

^156:* Shotoku Taishi's political activity may be said to have begun with the battle of Shikisen in 587, when the Shinto supporters were crushed. He became Crown Prince in 593, proclaimed Buddhism in 595, promulgated his Constitution of 17 Articles in 604, rent his celebrated letter to the "Emperor of the West" (Yangti of Sui) in 609 and died in 621. With him may be said to end the Korean period of Japanese Buddhism.

^156:+ Korea, divided into several small states, was fluctuating in allegiance between China and Japan. Yangti of Sui sent an expedition to Korea (A.D. 615), and Shotoku was much concerned to preserve Japanese influence in the peninsula.

^157:* With a few exception, the early books translated by the Buddhist missionaries of the Han period (ended A.D. 220) and of the era of confusion which followed, were so badly done as to be practically unintelligible. Kumarajiva, a native of Kushe, with apparently both Chinese and Indian blood in his veins, arrived at Changan in A.D. 406, and inaugurated a new era of translation. Amongst the hooks of which he provided fresh translations were the Sukhavati Vyuhas and the Hokekyo. Kum. therefore marks a new period in the history of the Chinese Buddhism.

^157:+ Not even with Kumarajiva's efforts could Buddhism in China be brought into a satisfactory condition. Bodhidharma's efforts were devoted to introducing a form of Buddhism which should not depend upon books, but teach men by contemplation to get straight to the heart of Buddha.