Page:Horæ Sinicæ, Translations from the Popular Literature of the Chinese (horsinictran00morrrich, Morrison, 1812).djvu/60

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Translations from the Chinese.

he enquired of all his ministers respecting it, one said, "In the West there is a deity whose name is Foe: is it he of whom your majesty has dreamed?"

Messengers were then sent to the kingdom Tien-lo, to enquire respecting their religion; to obtain their books, and bring some of their Sha-muen, [priests.]

The Sha-muen said that Foe was fifteen cubits tall, of a yellow golden colour, his neck large, and that he shone like the sun and moon. He is capable of endless transformations. There is no place to which he cannot go; he can understand all things, and he greatly commiserates, and delivers, the multitude of living men.


The above account is accompanied by an engraving, representing Foe, sitting cross-legged on a pedestal, and two of his pupils by his side. Around the head of each are diverging rays of light.

They speak of three appearances of Foe: the first, Nan-mo-o-mi-to-foe, who presided over the state of things that preceded the present heavens and earth. The se-