DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.649#0088
ITS INTRODUCTION INTO EASTERN TIBET. 63
volved in darkness and myth. The first attempts ap-
parently led to very unsatisfactory results; at least, the
monastery which is reported to have been erected in
the year 137 B.C. on the slopes of the Kailas range
seems to have been soon abandoned and to have fallen
into ruins.1 The legends attribute the conversion of the
Tibetans to Buddhism to the Dhyani Bodhisattva Avo-
lokitesvara, the celestial son of Amitabha, whose chosen
land is Tibet; many of the rulers and priests who took
an active part in the consolidation of Buddhist faith in
this country were regarded by its inhabitants as in-
carnations of these two sacred persons.
We here give the following as a narrative of some
historical facts intimately connected with Buddhism.2
In the year 371 a.d. there suddenly appeared five
foreigners before the king Thothori Nyan tsan, who in-
structed him, how he might use for the general welfare
1 Las3en, "Ind. Alterthumskunde," Vol. II., p. 1072.
2 See Csoma's Chronological Table, extracted from an historical book
written by Tisri, the regent at Lhassa in the year 1686 a.d.; in the notes,
Csoma adds further details from other original books. See his "Grammar,"
pp. 181—98.—Ssanang Ssetsen, "Geschichte der Ostniongolen," aus deiu
Mongolischen iibersetzt von I.J. Schmidt; Chapter III., treats of the history
of Tibet from the years 407 to 1051 a.d. The annotations to Ssanang Ssetsen
contain translations from the Bodhimdr, and other Mongolian books. " Chro-
nologic Bouddhique, traduite du Mongol," par Klaproth. Fragments
Bouddhiques = Nouveau Journal Asiatique, 1831.—The data of these three
authors differ as far as the eleventh century, from which period Csoma's and
Klaproth's lists agree, saving a constant diversity of two years, which results
from the circumstance that the one counts from the Tibetan era, whilst the
other brings the data in accordance with the Chinese years (see Chapter XVI.).
In the text I have adopted Csoma's dates, with the single exception of the
time of Srongtan Gampo's birth, which, it is more probable, took place in the
year 617 a.d. (Klaproth and Ssanang Ssetsen), instead of the year 6^7. See
Koppen, "Die Religion des Buddha,'' Vol. II., p. 54. In the notes I have
added the dates given by Ssanang Ssetsen and Klaproth.
volved in darkness and myth. The first attempts ap-
parently led to very unsatisfactory results; at least, the
monastery which is reported to have been erected in
the year 137 B.C. on the slopes of the Kailas range
seems to have been soon abandoned and to have fallen
into ruins.1 The legends attribute the conversion of the
Tibetans to Buddhism to the Dhyani Bodhisattva Avo-
lokitesvara, the celestial son of Amitabha, whose chosen
land is Tibet; many of the rulers and priests who took
an active part in the consolidation of Buddhist faith in
this country were regarded by its inhabitants as in-
carnations of these two sacred persons.
We here give the following as a narrative of some
historical facts intimately connected with Buddhism.2
In the year 371 a.d. there suddenly appeared five
foreigners before the king Thothori Nyan tsan, who in-
structed him, how he might use for the general welfare
1 Las3en, "Ind. Alterthumskunde," Vol. II., p. 1072.
2 See Csoma's Chronological Table, extracted from an historical book
written by Tisri, the regent at Lhassa in the year 1686 a.d.; in the notes,
Csoma adds further details from other original books. See his "Grammar,"
pp. 181—98.—Ssanang Ssetsen, "Geschichte der Ostniongolen," aus deiu
Mongolischen iibersetzt von I.J. Schmidt; Chapter III., treats of the history
of Tibet from the years 407 to 1051 a.d. The annotations to Ssanang Ssetsen
contain translations from the Bodhimdr, and other Mongolian books. " Chro-
nologic Bouddhique, traduite du Mongol," par Klaproth. Fragments
Bouddhiques = Nouveau Journal Asiatique, 1831.—The data of these three
authors differ as far as the eleventh century, from which period Csoma's and
Klaproth's lists agree, saving a constant diversity of two years, which results
from the circumstance that the one counts from the Tibetan era, whilst the
other brings the data in accordance with the Chinese years (see Chapter XVI.).
In the text I have adopted Csoma's dates, with the single exception of the
time of Srongtan Gampo's birth, which, it is more probable, took place in the
year 617 a.d. (Klaproth and Ssanang Ssetsen), instead of the year 6^7. See
Koppen, "Die Religion des Buddha,'' Vol. II., p. 54. In the notes I have
added the dates given by Ssanang Ssetsen and Klaproth.