The Bahá'í Faith was first introduced in China during the lifetime of its Founder, Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892). China has long been considered by the Bahá'í Faith as a country with great future, but also spiritually, having the capacity to be "a bright candle of the world of humanity" "promot[ing] the principles of divine civilization." Also `Abdu'l-Bahá made reference in 1917 to making arrangements to travel himself to Kashgar in western China to teach the Chinese people and had obtained a passport but was prevented from going by the Ottoman authorities. The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying mostly on the World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 6000 Bahá'ís in 2005.