For the past two thousand years China has been in close association with some of the highest thoughts of India.
Chinese records have given 61 A.D. as the date when Ming-ti, the Emperor of China, dreamt of a golden man flying into his palace. This was interpreted by the sages of the age as Lord Buddha entering China and bringing peace and solace to the Middle Kingdom.
Since then Indian Pandits and wise men have collaborated with Chinese men of letters in transmitting scriptures and philosophies to the Chinese race in a continuous flow of translations from Sanskrit to Chinese.
Indian thought has permeated every part of Chinese life which has been enlivened in manifold ways.
In the following pages we reproduce a unique set of Chinese poems and pictures on Ahimsa. The sensitivity of the calligraphed words and the power of the simple drawings on the pages opposite are unparalleled in India. Neither the Buddhists, nor the Jainas, nor the Vaishnavas have anything similar to offer. It was left to the Chinese genius to catch the cruelty that is being perpetrated on the poor creatures, whether for food, fun or sport, wittingly or unwittingly, and to portray the same with the power and refinement of a gentle and magnanimous soul.
To The Rescue
One crab has lost its legs.
Two crabs come to its rescue,
And carry it on their sympathetic backs.
These tiny creatures have the sense
Of love and compassion.
Of this why does man not take notice?
The Bereaved mother
Even the beasts have feelings of mother an child.
A dog knows how to protect its young.
And a cow how to caress its calf,
The mother hen closely watched and protects her fledgelings.
And it is said that an eel is always precautions to ward off
The danger that may entangle its young ones.
But men, merely to gratify their tongue,
Kill and separate others’ dear ones.
All dumb creatures suffer the pinch of pain as much as men.
The only difference is that men cry with tears.
For Pity’s Sake, Look Out!
The giraffe is said to be a very kind animal.
Endowed with divine intelligence,
It neither walks on growing grasses not steps on living insects.
Oh We all ought to take notice
That when we walk, we be ever careful,
Lest, knowing or unknowing,
Tiny creatures be tramples under our feet.
By so doing we can keep our kind heart
And guiltless conscience growing.
Heedless Torture
(the victim is a dragon-fly)
Teach the children carefully,
When they are young,
To cultivate a good heart,
And harm nobody.
And when a sympathetic heart is being enlarged,
One has paved the way to the sages.
A Painful Parting
The flower has fallen from its stalk.
The sun is about to plunge into darkness.
The cry of a painful parting is heard.
It makes me feel my heart breaking.
A Harrowing Spectacle
The spectacle is too lamentable to withstand,
Viewing it one’s heart breaks.
There are no words for it,
But only tears.
Last Night’s Catch
You said it was the success of the last night!
It was merely a crime.
You should repent and confess your misdeed.
Your prime obligation is to have a good soul,
And the virtue of kindness to all.
“They Are The Eyes Of Equals”
-Turginev
Compare and observe:
Your flesh is the same as mine.
The difference lies only in name:
I am a dog and you a man,
The distinction between us is in our form.
In essence we are comrades,
We possess a common soul.
Unfortunately I can’t offer any more info on the illustrations or original author of the poems because the text included at the beginning of the post was pretty much the only info offered. Hope you enjoyed.
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