Rockhill,
Journey, 289, Et Passim.; Land Of The Lamas, 217-218; Grenard, Mission
Scientifique, II.
407 seqq.
- H. C.]
There is an indication in Koeppen's references that the followers of the
Bon doctrine are sometimes called in Tibet Nag-choi, or "Black Sect,"
as the old and the reformed Lamas are called respectively the "Red" and
the "Yellow." If so, it is reasonable to conclude that the first
appellation, like the two last, has a reference to the colour of clothing
affected by the priesthood.
The Rev. Mr. Jaeschke writes from Lahaul: "There are no Bonpos in our part
of the country, and as far as we know there cannot be many of them in the
whole of Western Tibet, i.e. in Ladak, Spiti, and all the non-Chinese
provinces together; we know, therefore, not much more of them than has
been made known to the European public by different writers on Buddhism in
Tibet, and lately collected by Emil de Schlagintweit.... Whether they can
be with certainty identified with the Chinese Taosse I cannot decide, as
I don't know if anything like historical evidence about their Chinese
origin has been detected anywhere, or if it is merely a conclusion from
the similarity of their doctrines and practices.... But the Chinese author
of the Wei-tsang-tu-Shi, translated by Klaproth, under the title of
Description du Tubet (Paris, 1831), renders Bonpo by Taosse. So much
seems to be certain that it was the ancient religion of Tibet, before
Buddhism penetrated into the country, and that even at later periods it
several times gained the ascendancy when the secular power was of a
disposition averse to the Lamaitic hierarchy.
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