JOURNAL 
OF THE 
ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL. 
Part I.—HISTORY, LITERATURE, &e. 
No. II.—1882. 
Contributions on the Religion , History dfc., of Tibet.—By Baboo Sarat 
Chandra Das, Deputy Inspector of Schools , Darjiling. 
(Continued from page 75). 
VIII.—RISE AND PROGRESS OF JIN OR BUDDHISM IN CHINA. 1 
CHAPTER I. 
BlIDDniSM INTRODUCED FROM INDIA. 
Me-tse religious sect. —Previous to the spread of Buddhism in China* 
there arose certain religious sects which possessed something in common with 
Buddhism. One of those sects was called Me-tse after the name of its 
founder. It enjoined every man to devote himself to the service and 
welfare of others even at the sacrifice of his own interests, life and body; it 
also taught that the nature of the soul from the beginning is pure and 
immaculate, and that only at times it suddenly becomes perverted by ad¬ 
mixture of impurities produced by evil thought and action. 
Li-ye-tse religious sect .—The second in importance among the non- 
Buddhist religions is that of Li-ye-tse, who taught that all things depend 
for their existence and development on mutual coherence and support. 
During this period, there having existed no communication with India, 
not a word of Buddha’s name or religion was known in China. But 
Li-ye-tse, by his power of foreknowledge, wrote in his own work that in the 
West there would appear a self-created noble sage, the performer of 
great deeds, capable at will of engaging in the highest degree of meditation, 
and passing beyond the region of speech, who would be called by the name 
Translated from Difb-tliah selkyi Melon, See Vol. L, p. 187, note 1. 
M 
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