1882.] 
of Jin or Buddhism in China. 
89 
the birth of Buddha, Buddhism was brought to China. On an auspicious 
day, in the third year of his reign, Mindhi saw in a vision, that a saintly 
personage with a golden complexion, bright as the sun, full three fathoms 
high, approached his throne from the direction of heaven. In the following 
morning Mindhi communicated the night’s dream to his ministers, one of 
whom named Eu-ye informed him, that there existed a certain prophecy about 
the appearance of a great noble sage in India, of the description that the 
king gave, and he begged to ascertain if it was not so. The king referred 
to the ancient records, and computing the dates, found that just 
1010 years had elapsed. Exceedingly delighted with this remark¬ 
able coincidence, he despatched a messenger of the name of Wah- 
tsun to India, in search of the doctrine of Buddha. During that time, 
there lived in India two great Arhats, one called Matanga who was 
born of the race of Kasyapa, and the other named Bharana Pandita. 
The Chinese messenger besought them to visit his country, in order to spread 
the benefits of Buddhism among the teeming millions of his countrymen. 
The Arhats welcomed the invitation and equipped themselves for the journey. 
A few volumes of sacred scriptures, chiefly of the Mahayana school, 
several portraits and some sacred relics, all of which they packed on a 
white horse for conveyance, completed the church necessaries with which 
they marched towards that distant land. They entered China by the 
southern route and were received by the Emperor at a place called Lou-yo- 
khyi in southern China. Accompanied by Wan-tsun, the messenger, they 
arrived at the palace, while the king, with the greatest demonstration of 
reverence, approached to receive them. They presented to the king all 
that they had brought from their country. The king expressed himself 
well pleased with the presents, and especially with the image of Buddha 
which bore a striking resemblance to what he had seen in his vision. The 
Indian Arhats performed some miracles which served to strengthen the 
monarch’s faith in Buddhism. He built a large temple called Peima-ssi 
and engaged his two Indian guests for conducting religious service therein. 
Seeing this, the priests of Lo-u-kyun, 6 whose religion was then prevalent in 
China, remonstrated against the king’s encouraging the new doctrine. They 
said that it would be improper to introduce an alien creed dissimilar to the 
ancient religion and practice of the country. They also exhibited many 
prodigies to convince the king of the superiority of their religion over Bud¬ 
dhism. The king, wavering much, at last decided that he should test the 
merits of both, by casting their respective religious scriptures into fire : 
whichever passed the ordeal successfully by being untouched by the fire, 
should have his patronage. It so happened that all theTo-u-se 6 books were 
burnt and the Buddhist volumes remained undamaged. The king being 
convinced of the impositions of the To-u-se priests, ordered that their high 
6 [Referring to the Bon religion of China, see p. 112, Ed.] 
