Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/96

84 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. dying at last in the mountains of Thibet. The Maho- metans were already widely diffused, opening for them- selves adroitly, by their commerce, a way into those countries of the remote East, which they could not sub- jugate by their arms. They traded in India, in Ceylon, in the Straits of Sunda, on the coasts of China, and even into the interior of the empire, where they pro- mulgated, in perfect liberty, the doctrine of the Koran. The Chinese saw the Manicheans and the Fire-wor- shippers rushing into their country in crowds, and the Buddhists especially arriving in countless caravans. A powerful reaction had taken place against them in India ; Brahminism had pursued them everywhere, and forced them to expatriate themselves ; and they fled by thousands to seek a refuge amongst the populations of Tartary, Thibet, and China, where already Pantheism and the subtle philosophy of Buddhism had made con- siderable progress amongst the disciples of Lao-tze and Confucius. During the period referred to in the inscription of Si-ngan-Fou, China was governed by the celebrated dynasty of Thang, whose princes were for the most part enlightened and tolerant men, who endeavoured to keep up friendly relations with foreign countries. It was under their rule that the Arabs and Persians kept up such continual communication by land and sea with the Celestial Empire. The Emperor Tai- Tsounor whose edict in favour of toleration for the Luminous Religion we have already mentioned, does not speak of Christianity like a man convinced of its truth ; nor, indeed, does he of any other religion. He is an eclectic philosopher, who affords a hospitable reception to all kinds of creeds with equal benevolence and equal