After having learned a great deal from Indian Buddhism, China developed her Buddhist schools, of which Tien Tai was one. The name Tien Tai is of Chinese origin. It is different from the names of other schools such as Avatamsaka and Dharmalakshana, which are taken from the Sanskrit language.
There was not much contact between India and China during the Monghul rule in India. Moreover the political developments in the later centuries in the two countries further prevented closer intercourse between the two countries. The old cultural relationship was not resumed until 1924 when Gurudev Tagore went to China.
Gurudev Tagore visited China at the invitation of Peking University Teachers' Association. Gurudev Tagore who was accompanied by Dr. Kalidas Nag, Sri Kshiti Mohan Sen and Sri Nanda Lal Bose, was warmly welcomed. His 63rd birthday was celebrated in the biggest auditorium in Peiping. Prof. Liang Chi-chao, President of the Association, acted as the Master of Ceremonies and eminent artists, litterateurs and philosophers like Dr. Carsun Chang (Chairman of the Democratic Socialist Party), Liang Shou-ming (Leader of the Rural Reconstruction Party), Yen Hui-ching (the then Minister of External Affairs), Dr. Hu Shih (Ex-Ambassador to the United States of America) and others were there. The best description of the Sino-Indian ties was given by Prof. Liang Chi-chao at the above-mentioned function. In the course of his speech, Prof. Liang Chi-chao said: "India did not covet anything of China. They taught us to embrace the idea of absolute freedom-that fundamental freedom of mind which enables it to shake off the fetters of past tradition and habit as well as the customs of the particular contemporary age, that spiritual freedom which cast off the enslaving forces of material existence. In short, it was not merely that negative aspect of freedom which consists of ridding ourselves of outward oppression and slavery, but that emancipation of the individual from his own self, through which men attain liberation, peace and fearlessness.
"They taught us the idea of absolute love-that pure love towards all living beings which eliminates jealousy, anger, impatience, disgust and emulation, which express itself in deep pity and sympathy for the foolish, the wicked and the simple, that absolute love, which recognizes the inseparability of all beings: 'the equality of friend and enemy,' 'the oneness of myself and all things.' This great gift is contained in the Buddhist Tripitaka. The teaching of those seven thousand volumes can be summed up in one sentence: 'Cultivate sympathy and intellect, in order to attain absolute freedom through wisdom and absolute love through pity.'''
As the guests of the Chinese people, Gurudev Tagore and his party traveled extensively in China and visited Honan, Shensi, Shansi, Nanking and Shanghai. Tagore's visit to China had made a deep impression on the Chinese people. He loved China and was loved by the Chinese people. Many of his works were translated into Chinese and left an indelible imprint on modern Chinese literature.
After that, Gurudev became an ardent lover of China and understood China well. Professor Tan Yun-shan of Santiniketan remarked: "I found in the modern world two great savants who knew China and her people and culture best: one was Gurudev, another is Bertrand Russell. But, after all, Russell is a Westerner and Gurudev is an Easterner. A Westerner's comprehension of an old eastern country like China and her people and culture anyhow cannot be so deep, so intense, real and genuine as that of an Easterner."
Tagore expressed his understanding of the Chinese culture as follows: "Can "anything be more worthy of being cherished than the beautiful spirit of Chinese culture that has made them love the things of this earth, clothe them with tender grace without turning them materialistic? They have instinctively grasped the secret of the rhythm of things-not the secret of power that is in science, but the secret of expression. This is a great gift, for God alone knows this secret. I envy them this gift and wish our people could share it with them."
After his long tour of China Tagore returned to Singapore where he found Prof. Tan Yun-shan, who was deeply impressed by Gurudev's vision of revived cultural COntacts. Prof. Tan Yun-shan with the assistance of President Chiang Kai-shek, Rev. Tai Hsu and Dr. Tai Chi-tao, the then Director of Examination Yuan, formed a Sino-Indian Society in India. Tagore became its first President. In China also the Sino-Indian Society was organised with Dr. Chu Chia-hwa as its President. At the time of the in auguration of the Society in Santiniketan in 1934, Tagore sent the following message to the Chinese people in China: "My friends in China, the truth that we received when your pilgrims came to us in India, and ours to you, - that is not lost even now. What a great pilgrimage was that! What a great time in history! It is our duty to-day to revive the heroic spirit of that pilgrimage following the ancient path which is not merely a geographical one, but the great historical path that was built across the difficult barriers of the race difference, and difference of language and tradition, reaching the spiritual home where man is in bonds of love and cooperation."
It was under Tagore's guidance and direction and a big donation of Rs. 100,000 (one lakh) from Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, that the Society founded a Cheena Bhavana at Santiniketan in 1937, with Prof. Tan Yun-shan as its Principal from the very inception.
Gen. and Mme. Chiang Kai-shek, during their visit to India in 1942, went to Santiniketan. "' Thus, Tagore with his spirit of universal love, has established an everlasting friendship with the leaders and people of the Republic of China.
Of late much interest has been aroused both in China and in India for the revival of Sino-Indian cultural collaboration and intercourse, such as the exchange of scholars between the two countries, the establishment of scholarships by the Government of the Republic of China in India for Indian students to study Chinese culture and history, the opening of departments of Chinese language in at least three universities in India (Universities of Allahabad, Visra-Bharati and Calcutta), Dr. S. Radhakrishnan's visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese Government in 1945, and Dr. Carsun Chang's visit to India in 1949 as Dr. Radhakrishnan's counterpart.
With a view to better understanding between India and China, Chinese scholars have written many books on Indological studies. A number of Chinese Bhiksus and Bhiksunis in India have built five monasteries in the Buddhist holy places like Sarnath, Buddgaya, Kushinagar, Nalanda and Swarawasti.
On the occasion of Tagore's centenary anniversary, let us prostrate with veneration at the feet of this great poet and carry out his ardent wish for a great future for the Chinese and Indian people.
Tagore once said: "As the early bird, even while the dawn is yet dark, sings out and proclaims the rising of the sun, so my heart sings to proclaim the coming of a great future which is already close upon us. We must be ready to welcome this new age."