"The Charmana who practises piety, may compare himself with the
long-haired ox, which, laden with baggage, is making its way through
a marsh; it dares look neither to the right nor to the left, but goes
straight on, hoping to get clear of the mud and to reach a place of
rest. The Charmana, regarding his passions as more terrible than
this mud, if he never diverts his eyes from virtue, will assuredly
attain the height of felicity."

We will not prolong these extracts. The few we have given will suffice
to convey an idea of the matter and manner of this book, which is
accepted as an authority alike by the Bonzes and the Lamas. It was
conveyed from India to China, in the 65th year of the Christian era, at
the epoch when Buddhism was beginning to make its way in the Celestial
Empire. The Chinese annals relate this event in the following terms:--

"In the 24th year of the reign of Tchao-Wang, of the dynasty of the
Tcheou (which corresponds to the year 1029 B.C.), on the eighth day
of the fourth moon, a light, coming from the south-west, illumined
the palace of the king. The monarch, beholding this splendour,
interrogated concerning it the sages who were skilled in predicting
the future. These presented to him the books wherein it was written,
that this prodigy would announce that a great saint had appeared in
the west, and that in a thousand years after his birth, his religion
would spread into those parts.

"In the 53rd year of the reign of Mou-Wang, which is that of the
Black Ape (951 B.C.), on the fifteenth day of the second moon, Buddha
manifested himself (_i.e._ died.)--A thousand and thirteen years
afterwards, under the dynasty of Ming-Ti, of the dynasty of the Han,
in the seventh year of the reign of Young-Ping (A.D. 64), on the
fifteenth day of the first moon, the king saw in a dream, a man of
the colour of gold, glittering like the sun, and whose stature was
more than ten feet. Having entered the palace of the king, this man
said, 'My religion will spread over these parts.' Next day, the king
questioned the sages. One of these, named Fou-Y, opening the annals
of the time of the Emperor Tchao-Wang, of the dynasty of the Tcheou,
pointed out the connection between the dream of the king and the
narrative in the annals. The king consulted the ancient books, and
having found the passage correspond