1922.] Concerning a Bon Image. 207 
or forcibly converted, or did not manage to hide their views and 
practices. They went chiefly to the outskirts of the country ; 
and Amdo (Kham), Byang, gege’, Kongpo, moe", Sikkhim 
and Bhutan are mentioned as the places where they mostly 
settled. This is given as the reason why the Bon religion 
flourishes most on the frontiers of Tibet. It is significant that 
a similar reason is attributed to the establishment of a seat of 
learning in Kham, especially Derge, as to Buddhist traditions. 
The erudition of Derge is ascribed to the emigration of the 
Buddhists under Langdarma’s persecution, and it is said that 
these early fugitives took with them not only valuable tradi- 
tions of learning and doctrine, but priceless books and images 
as well. 
Very valuable details a the second episode, sed 
conversion of Tisrongdetsan the banishment of the Bo 
pos are to be found in nie 66-68 of the SUicy gc aNSIS" 
Qzc", or in full = ao “Ay Sf RAN RT 
gq ie rams‘ 
connection aes the question of bloody sacrifices, al- 
oe to above, it is worth while to record an interesting 
tradition, that the name Gshen-rab, m.45; <q, of the Founder 
of the Bon religion, ean mean ‘‘the great butcher,” the 
seat mora par excellen 
were, nevertheless, several Tibetans with strong Bon 
beliefs. They hid the nature of their writings, it is said, by 
the introduction of Buddhist terminology, and especially 
AN, aa a" an aN ‘ey, a contemporary of Vairocana, Padma- 
sambhava, and ienstigdebst, introduced many Buddhist 
terms into Bon writings to save them from annihilation. On 
the other hand, Vairocana, out of a spirit of diplomacy and 
compromise, introduced Bon terms into his own writings, both 
originals and translations, with a view of making them more 
readily acceptable to the people of the old belief. He seems 
to have succeeded in attracting the Bon-pos in this manner to 
a considerable extent, but the result of both methods has been 
the exceedingly hybrid nature of the terminology and sig fr 
of the present N eo and Bon literatures and cults. The 
Lishihi gurkhang, ay gay ee) AC’, mentions a few equations 
between Bon and ‘‘ modern”’ terminology. 
