Thibet, Rkligion of. The religion of Buddha was introduced into Thibet under king Srongstan Gampo, in A.D. 617-698, by priests from Sinde. These priests brought with them the art of writing, and translated the sacred books of the Indian Buddhists into Thibetan, and their monasteries became the centres of learned edu- cation and professional skill. In the 11th century, the Bompa religion (the old worship of evil daemons) was once more established, but after eighty years the Bud- dhist priests again came into power. These priests, in the 14th century, had become mere jugglers; and then arose a reformer, the monk Tsonkhapa, born in 1355, in the district of Amdo, where is now the famous monas- tery of Kunbum. He opposed the tricks and pretended miracles of charlatanism, and undertook the task of unit- ing and reconciling the dialectical and mystical schools of Thibetan Buddhism. His innovations were never universally acknowledged. In the 15th century, Gednu- Dub, provost of a large monastery, claimed to be an in- carnation of Buddha, and assumed the title of the "very costliest teacher ocean." The Mongols called him Gyas- to, or Dalai Lama, the " priest ocean," and thus was in- augurated Lamaism (q. v.), which became the establish- ed religion of the coimtry. The election of the grand lama, although by lot, has been so managed as to pre- vent any child from being elected which might be dis- agreeable to the Chinese government. The last elec- tion took place in 1875, and a child from the western boundary, towards Ladak, was elected, which seems to indicate a decrease of the Chinese influence. Thibet is greatly oppressed by its ecclesiastical system. The number of monasteries and monks is almost incredible. Eighteen thousand live in and around Lassa; on an average every thirteenth, and in some places every sev- enth, man is a monk, and must be provided for by oth- ers. The poverty of the people is very great, their moral depravity still greater. Between 1854 and 1864 some French missionaries attempted to establish a Ro- man Catholic station at Bonga, in South-eastern Thibet, but were violently assailed by the lamas, and, unpro- tected b_v the Chinese authorities, they were obliged to leave. All other efforts to introduce Christianity have also failed ; indeed, so jealous of Europeans are the au- thorities that they are rarely even admitted into the country. See Lamaism.
Thibetan Version. The vast and mountainous tract of country in wliich the Thibetan language is spoken lies directly north of Hindustan, from which it
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is separated by the Himalaya ^Mountains. Its eastern frontiers border on China; to the west it extends as far as Cashmere, Afghanistan, and Tnrkestan ; wliile on the north it is bounded by the countries of the Turks and the Mongols. It is, for the most part, comprised within tlie Chinese empire; the western pans, however, appeiir to be independent of China. On account of tiie extreme jealousy of the Chinese government, Thibet has hitherto been almost inaccessible to foreigners, and our knowledge of the country is in consequence extremely limited.
In 1816 an attempt was made by the Church Mis- sionary Society to furnish the Thibetans with a version of the Scriptures in their own language, but, unhappily, this important undertaking ultimately proved abortive. The matter rested until the year \f<43; when Dr. Hiiber- lin. an agent of the Uritisli and Foreign Bible Society, after journeying through Thibet, again forced the neces- sity of a Thibetan version upon the attention of Chris- tian societies. Dr. Hiiberlin states, as the result of his observations and inquiries in Thibet, that ''as far as the Thibetan language is spoken and the Lamas have any sway, so far literature exercises an important influence on tlie people. If there were a versit)n of the Scriiitures in the Tliibetan language, thousands of volumes might annually be sent into tlie interior of Asia from tive dif- ferent points along the immense frontier of British In- dia; and the millions of jieople speaking that language, and inquisitive as the Chinese are, might thus have a profitable opportunity of being maiie acquainted with the things that belong to their salvation." In spite of this encouraging fact, the object advocated by Dr. Hii- berlin moved very slowly, for not until 1856 do we read of an eftort made towards translating the Gospel of St. Matthew, which in 1863 was published by the Mora- vian Mission at Kyelang. About the same time, a Bible society for the Punjab, with its headquarters at Lahore, was formed, and one of the projects entertained by that society was the translation of the Scriptures into tiie Thibetan, which had already been commenced by Moravian missionaries. The difficulties, however, were very great, and the work of translation was naturally very slow. Hence we need not be surprised that about five years after the publication of the Gospel of St. Mat- thew those of John and Mark were published, while up to date the New Test, has not yet been completed. See Bible of Every Land, p. 20 sq. (li. P.)
Thief (~i5, KKiirrr^Q). Among the Hebrews, the restitution that was required in case of theft was double the amount taken (Kxod. xx, 3-8). If a sheep, however, was stolen, and had been slain or sold, fourfold was required; or if an ox, a fivefold rcstitutiim was to be made. The reason of this distinction was that sheep, being kept in the desert, were more exposed than other animals to be stolen ; and oxen, being so indispensabh' necessary in an agricultural community, could not be taken from their owners without great injury and pe- culiar aggravation (xxii, 1). In case the thief was un- able to make the restitution demanded by the law, he was Sf)ld, with his wife and children, into servitude (ver. 3; 2 Sam. xii, 6; 2 Kings iv, 1 ; com p. (Jen. xliv, 17). In later times, the fine is thought by some to have been increased (Prov. vi, 30, 31). Whoever slew a thief who was attempting to break a house at night, i. e. any hour before sunrise, was left unpunished, since he did not know but that the thief might have a design upon his life, and he was unable also, owing to the darkness, to identify and thereby bring him to justice (Exod. xxii, 2). See Thkft.