Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/91

79 EVIDENCE OF AUTHENTICITY OF THE MONUMENT. 79 continues thus: — "It was then, at this epoch, that the building of the temples of Ta-Thsin was commenced. The inscription says : ' In the kingdom of Ta-Thsin there was a man of superior virtue, named O-lo-Pen. In the ninth year of the period Tching-Kouan (636), he came to Si-ngan-Fou. In the seventh moon of the same period (638), a temple of Ta-Tshin was built in the street of Justice and Peace (T-ning). O-lo-Pen is the same as O-lo-Sse, of whom Min-Khieou speaks. In the beginning, the temple was called the temple of Po- Sse. In the period I-Fong (676— 679) it still retained its ancient name, but in the fourth year Tien-Pao (745) its name was changed into that of temple of Ta-Thsin." Tsien-che, in his examination of the luminous doc- trine, passes in review the various religions which have come from foreign countries and been propagated in the empire. He speaks especially in detail, and by no means in a tone of eulogy, of the Manicheans, or disci- ples of Mo-Ni (Manes), and of the worshippers of fire, or disciples of Zoroaster. After declaring that these doctrines are false and perverse, he continues thus : — " As to the luminous doctrine, which has spread like a river, its professors are the most intelligent of all the barbarians above-mentioned ; they understand the cha- racters (Chinese), but they flourish in their language, and tell quantities of lies. In reality, they do not differ from the Manicheans and worshippers of fire.* We believe these quotations sufficient to prove posi- tively that Chinese authors were, long before the existence of the Jesuits, perfectly well acquainted with the monument of Si-ngan-Fou, and the propagation of the Christian religion in the Celestial Empire. After
 * Tsien-chi-King-Khiao-Khao, vol. viii. lib. 18. fol. 8.