Note 297:11 — Chapter XXIX

"There are few names among the men of the West that stand forth as saliently as Gotama Buddha, in the annals of the East. In little more than two centuries from his decease the system he established had spread throughout the whole of India, overcoming opposition the most formidable, and binding together the most discordant elements; and at the present moment Buddhism is the prevailing religion, under various modifications, of Tibet, Nepal, Siam, Burma, Japan, and South Ceylon; and in China it has a position of at least equal prominence with its two great rivals, Confucianism and Taouism. A long time its influence extended throughout nearly three-fourths of Asia; from the steppes of Tartary to the palm groves of Ceylon, and from the vale of Cashmere to the isles of Japan." (R. Spence Hardy: Buddhist Leg. p. xi.)