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MAY, 1885.1
living creature. At first we read the Taouists there had a bad time of it, and were much persecuted, the physican Lo-Sheng having especially persecuted them, but on one occasion as he was passing the Temple he was thrown from his horse and broke his leg, when he was moved to repentance and begged pardon. By degrees the demoniacal influences also disappeared. A-li-sien now told the sage that the southern route was very stony and sandy, with little grass and water, and their party being numerous their horses would suffer considerably, and there would be much delay. Ch'ang-Ch'un therefore advised that they should divide the party into 3 sections. He sent six of his disciples in advance, and seven days later started himself with six others and was accompanied by the most respectable people in the place, who shed tears as he departed. A few days later five more of his disciples set out. They travelled day and night through a sandy, barren country, and eventually reached the northern frontiers of Hia or Tangut, where they were joined by the disciples who had been left behind. In July 1223 he reached Yu-Yang-Kuan, a defile leading through the In-shan range north of Kuku-khoto. Thence his journey through northern China was a continuous ovation. "Invitations succeeding each other like the spokes of a rolling wheel." He eventually arrived at the temple of Ch'ang-tien-kuan on the 7th of the 1st month of 1224, three years after he set out. He lived at Peking till 1227 when he died, in the very same month as Chinghiz Khân himself. A large concourse of Taouists assembled there and built a monastery to hold his remains. This monastery still exists west of Peking, is known as Po-yün-kuan, and is the principal Taonist monastery in China."
For the account of the journey above described I am under complete obligations to Dr. Bretschneider. It is assuredly one of the most extraordinary incidents in Asiatic history that Chinghiz Khân, the scourge of God, should in the very middle of his terrible career be visited at his own request by the professor of such a harmless and humane philosophy as Taouism, should listen patiently to its transcendental vagaries, and treat its pro
CHINGHIZ KHAN AND HIS ANCESTORS.
The chronology of Chinghiz Khan's monuments, as described by Rashidu'd-din and by Ch'ang Ch'un's biographer, involves a discrepancy of 12 months. Rashidu'd-din makes Chinghiz resolve to return home in
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fessor with such tenderness. This is surely remarkable, and pictures an aspect of Chinghiz Khân's character which has not been very much considered; and yet he seems, like some other great conquerors, to have been attracted by religious discussions. Thus De la Croix tells us that when he was visited by some deputies from Balkh, he ordered them to send him some men who knew the country well, and he conferred with them on the antiquities of Balkh, &c., and especially on the doctrines of Zoroaster. They told him he had been king of their country, that he alone of all mankind had laughed when he was born, that he first studied the stars and magic, and had so many disciples in the latter science that they were known as magi, who acted as priests and teachers to the Fire-worshippers of the Medes, Persians and Bactrians, and that their chief occupation was to take care that the sacred fire in each household was not allowed to go out, &c. De la Croix does not mention his authority for this story, but he doubtless found it in some eastern writer. Mirkhond tells us a similar story about Bukhara, viz., that after Chinghiz had recrossed the Oxus on his way home he ordered the Sadr-i-Jahân to send him some persons well versed in the Muhammadan religion. He accordingly sent him a Kazi named Ashraf, and a preacher, to whom Chinghiz asked some pointed questions about their religion. He inquired what their faith was and what the Musalman law prescribed. They replied that the Musalmans believe in one God who has no equal. Chinghiz replied that he believed the same. He went on to inquire about other matters, when they replied that the Almighty had sent a messenger with a yarligh and paizah to teach his followers what was right, and to forbid them to do what was wrong. The Emperor replied that he believed this also, for he said, "I am the servant of God, and I also send out my messengers in all directions to make known my wishes, while I punish my warriors in many ways." They went on to say that he, Muhammad, prescribed that. the namáz or prayer should be said on different occasions, and that they should fast one month in every year. He approved of this, saying it
the spring of 1223, spend the summer of 1223-4 near Samarkand, and start on his return in 1224, which in fact agrees with the Yuan-shi, but the Si yu ke dates the same events 12 months earlier. De la Croix, pp. 339.
