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I am delighted to have
the opportunity to contribute in some
measure to this outstanding and unusual
exhibition of Buddhist art.
According to Buddhist
scriptures, the Buddha was born in Lumbini,
near the small city of Kapilavastu on
the Indo-Nepalese border, in the 6th century
BC. He lived and preached primarily in
what is now the state of Bihar in India.
He achieved Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya
and gave his first sermon at Sarnath.
Soon after his death, his followers gathered
at Rajagriha for the first general council.
The second council was held in Vaishali
one hundred years after the death of Buddha.
The third one is said to have been held
in Pataliputra during the time of the
Mauryan king Ashoka (273-232 BC), who
was responsible for vigorously propagating
the religion across India. Given the huge
spread of Ashoka's empire, from the Himalayas
in the North, to Assam in the East, Baluchistan
in the West and Andhra Pradesh in the
South, the Buddhist monks were free to
move throughout the whole area and spread
the Buddhist teachings.
Buddhism first spread
outside of India to Sri Lanka, and later
to other countries in the east. While
it is not certain exactly when Buddhism
reached China, with the opening of the
Silk Route in the 2nd century BC, missionaries
and pilgrims began to travel between China,
Central Asia and India. The first known
record of Buddhism in China dates back
to the 2nd century BC. A Buddhist community
is recorded at the court of a Han prince
in the 1st century BC.
Just as Xuan Zang brought
the first Buddhist scriptures from India
to China and permanently linked the two
civilizations 14 centuries ago, I hope
that the artifacts on display here will
rekindle the age-old links and reinvigorate
the shared heritage between our peoples.
I applaud Champion Technology
for its initiative in organising this
exhibition on its 20th anniversary in
Hong Kong, even as the HKSAR is celebrating
the 10th anniversary of its reunification
with China.
L. D. Ralte
Consul General of India in Hong Kong
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