denounces the slaughter for food of the ox which tills the soil. Some
lines of doggerel to this effect, based upon the Buddhist doctrine of
the transmigration of souls and put into the mouth of an ox, have been
rendered as follows:--

My murderers shall come to grief,
Along with all who relish beef;
When I'm a man and you're a cow,
I'll eat you as you eat me now.

Fire Worshippers.--Mazdeism, the religion of Zoroaster, based upon the
worship of fire, and in that sense not altogether unfamiliar to the
Chinese, reached China some time in the seventh century A.D. The first
temple was built at Ch'ang-an, the capital, in 621, ten years after
which came the famous missionary, Ho Lu the Magus. But the lease of life
enjoyed by this religion was of short duration.

Islamism.--Mahometans first settled in China in the year of the Mission,
A.D. 628, under Wahb-Abi-Kabcha, a maternal uncle of Mahomet, who was
sent with presents to the Emperor. The first mosque was built at Canton,
where, after several restorations, it still exists. There is at present
a very large Mahometan community in China, chiefly in the province of
Yunnan. These people carry on their worship unmolested, on the sole
condition that in each mosque there shall be exhibited a small tablet
with an inscription, the purport of which is recognition of allegiance
to the reigning Emperor.

Nestorians.--In A.D. 631 the Nestorian Church introduced Christianity
into China, under the title of "The Luminous Doctrine;" and in 636
Nestorian missionaries were allowed to settle at the capital. In 781