May and June of 1934, was the period when D. T. Suzuki visited China to study the climate of Chinese Buddhism of the time. Based on his photographs, articles written after the trip and other related materials such as records of his interviewing activities in Beijing, by examining the places he visited, people whom he had met and historical documentations, the present paper attempts to present aspects of modern Chinese Buddhism as well as the history of exchanges between Chinese and Japanese Buddhist scholarship. The first section of the paper will state the aim of this study. The second section is on the contact between Suzuki and Hu Shih where exchanges of their Chan Studies will be looked at. The third section will examine his research on Chan Buddhist materials in Beijing as well as interactions with other Chinese scholars. The fourth section describes the situation of Chinese Buddhism as observed by him in Beijing. The fifth section is an investigation into the monasteries and monastics which Suzuki met during his visit. The sixth section considers the significance of Suzuki’s visit.
