Art. II.—On an Ancient Buddhist Inscription at Keu-yung kwan, in North China

A. Wylie

doi:10.1017/S0035869X00156746

Art. II.—On an Ancient Buddhist Inscription at Keu-yung kwan, in North China

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011

A. Wylie

Article contents

Extract
References

Get access

Rights & Permissions

Extract

Travellers from the city of Peking to the town of Kalgan on the great wall of China, must make the journey by the rugged defile known as the Nankow Pass. Five miles north of the entrance, where the village of Nankow stands, is the smaller village of Keu-yung kwan. Fortifications there run up the steep slopes of the mountains on both sides of the valley; and besides arched gateways at the two ends of the village, the highway passes under a limestone archway of a much more striking appearance. This is covered with mythological and symbolic sculptures of obviously Indian origin. The tradition of the natives in the neighbourhood asserts it to have been the basement story of a pagoda which stood there; and the name by which it is still designated, Kwŏ keae t'à, “Pagoda crossing the street,” bears out the statement. We are told that this pagoda, though erected for the benefit of the locality, proved an object of such terror to the superstitious Mongols, coming south from their native wilds, that they could not be induced to pass under the ominous-looking structure; and thus it was found necessary in the early part of the Ming dynasty, to remove the upper stories of the erection; the policy of the government being to conciliate and attract these wild nomades.

Type: Original Communications
Information: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , January 1870 , pp. 14 - 44

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00156746 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1870

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

^{page 15 note 1} Halde, Du. “Description Géographique, Historique, Chronologique, Politique, et Physique de la Chine, etc.” Hague. Tome iv. p. 108Google Scholar.

^{page 15 note 2} Ibid. Tome iv. p. 447.

^{page 15 note 3} Travels, vol. i. p. 350.

^{page 15 note 4} Voyage à Péking à travers la Mongolie. Tome i. p. 315.

^{page 15 note 5} Vol. xvii. p. 346.

^{page 15 note 6} Tsëen yen t'ang kin shĭh wăn pa wei sŭh. “Supplement to the Tsëen-yen Hall metal and stone inscription appendices,” by Tsëên Tá-hin.

^{page 15 note 7} The Rev. J. Edkins, of Peking, in anticipation of my arrival, had come to the Mongolian plateau to meet me, but being a fortnight too early, he left a note for me at Kalgan, which, however, I never received. In that note he called my attention to the inscription on the arch, which he had observed in passing.

An engraving of the arch has recently been published by Professor Pumpelly, who saw it in the spring of 1863. In his new work, “Across America and Asia,” he thus describes the place:—“The next morning, leaving the plain, we entered the narrow valley, winding for several miles through a desolate gorge, enclosed by lofty walls and yellow cliffs of limestone. The mountain torrent, which at certain seasons dashes wildly through the valley, makes the construction of a durable road almost impossible, and it was only with difficulty, and with faith in the sure feet of our horses, that we managed slowly to pick our way through the long and narrow valley of sharp-edged boulders and masses of fallen rock. After several miles of this work we came to a point where the remains of an ancient road rising some distance above the bed of the valley was preserved along the mountain side. Ascending this by a long flight of steps, of highly polished blocks of limestone, granite, and porphyry, we passed through a gateway in an inner branch of the great wall, and came soon after to a beautiful white marble arch built during the Chin dynasty. This structure is remarkable from the fact that while its blocks are cut for a circular arch, the inner surfaces are hewn to produce a ceiling of semi-hexagonal form. It is interesting also to the student of the Chinese language, from the fact that the interior contains inscriptions in an ancient Chinese character. As Dr. Pogojeff wished to photograph this monument, we remained here till the next day, etc.”

In the Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal, vol. ii. p. 190, are the following remarks in the journal of a missionary lady who lately passed Keu-yung kwan on her way to Kalgan:—“The inner line of the great wall is at the entrance to the Nankho, and three or four branches cross it. We passed through ten gateways. These are double, as is customary with cities. The wall is dilapidated in some places, but the gateways are all solidly built, and in good repair. One was very fine, having much carved work, and inscriptions in six different languages. One of these European scholars cannot read.”

^{page 16 note 1} Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New series, No. 1, pp. 133–136.

^{page 18 note 1} Mr. Edkins identifies the Shen sect with the Jains of India.

^{page 18 note 2} In another ritual, the Yu kea yen kow, “Flaming mouths of the Yoga,” in the possession of W. Lockhart, Esq., the same is given with the abbreviated title Tsung shing chow, “Prayer to the honoured diadem.”

^{page 20 note 1} The italics represent the restorations, which are illegible in the Sanscrit.

^{page 20 note 2} Dr. Haas corrects this to abkishinches.

^{page 20 note 3} Dr. Haas adds m here.

^{page 20 note 4} Dr. Haas thinks the inscription is in error here, and that the preceding six words should end in ne instead of ni.

^{page 20 note 5} Dr. Haas thinks this word should be mahâmati.

^{page 20 note 6} I understand that sbu is an impossible combination in Sanscrit; and although the Sanscrit character is missing on the stone, yet the several transcripts in the other characters are so distinct that I do not feel at liberty to abandon it. Dr. Haas suggests viṣvataḥ, or more correctly viṣvato.

^{page 21 note 1} Dr. Haas proposes to correct this to mahâmudre.

^{page 21 note 2} The canons of Sanscrit orthography would require these two words to be combined thus—trailokyâdhishṭhite.

^{page 21 note 3} Da here seems to be redundant.

^{page 21 note 4} This word is doubtful. Dr. Haas suggests bhûyishṭha.

^{page 21 note 5} Dr. Haas corrects this to vajrapaṇe.

^{page 21 note 6} Om is the mystic name of deity among the Hindus, and generally forms the commencement of a prayer.—Klaproth. Fragmens Bouddhiques, p. 30.

^{page 21 note 7} “I originally suggested bhûr bhuvah svar, the so-called three vyâhṛitis or mystical syllables pronounced before every daily prayer, but am forced to believe that we have here to read bhûr om, bhûr om, bhûr om. True, I have never read bhûr alone as an exclamation, but always the whole triumvirate together, which is very natural if their allegorical meaning is ‘the three worlds, Earth, Atmosphere, and Heaven.’ Still in this place all the different transcripts seem clearly to point towards bhûr om. The Sanscrit character for it (in the Yu ha yen ków) is unique, and could never be read for two syllables, although it contains enough of the different elements [om, bhu or bhû, r] to be considered a sort of monogram. The principle, however, is quite new to me, as I never met with an instance of it in manuscripts.” (Dr. Haas.)

^{page 22 note 1} Lit. “The welcome one,” a title of Buddha.— Burnouf. Introduction à l'histoire du Boudhisme Indien, p. 77.

^{page 22 note 2} Lit. “Come in like manner,” a generic designation of Buddha. —Ibid. p. 76.

^{page 22 note 3} Lit. “Seal,” a personification of certain Buddhist signs made with the fingers.—Vassilief. Le Bouddisme, p. 143.

^{page 22 note 4} The Ushnisha is generally understood to be an excrescence on the skull. The word also means “a turban,” “the curly hair with which Buddha was born,” and “the hair on the head tied in a knot.” —Burnouf. Le Lotus de la bonne loi, p. 558.

^{page 22 note 5} Lit. “Mind,” a personified attribute.

^{page 22 note 6} It is impossible to get any sense out of these ejaculations.

^{page 22 note 7} Lit. “Thunderbolt,” a personification.

^{page 22 note 8} A modified form of Vajra.

^{page 23 note 1} Svâhâ is generally left untranslated. Its use is analogous to “Amen.”

^{page 23 note 2} Lit. “The Fortunate,” a title of Buddha.—Schlagintweit. Buddhism in Tibet, p. 4.

^{page 23 note 3} Name of the future Buddha.

^{page 23 note 4} Name of a Bodhisattva.

^{page 23 note 5} Ditto.—Vassilief. Le Bouddisme, p. 267.

^{page 23 note 6} The subduer of evil spirits.—Schlagintweit. Buddhism in Tibet, p. 114.

^{page 23 note 7} The god of wisdom.— Ibid, p. 65.

^{page 23 note 8} Name of a Bodhisattva.

^{page 23 note 9} Ditto.

page 23 note * “These syllables have no sense in themselves, and are merely repetitions of the first syllable of the name invoked in each phrase, with a nasal sound affixed to it. Perhaps it means that a stop is to be made for meditation on the particular merits of each Bodhisattva. But it may also be an abbreviation, indicative of the repetition of the whole formula.” (Dr. Haas.)

^{page 24 note 1} See Vassilief's “Le Bouddisme,” translated by La Comme, p. 141, passim.

^{page 24 note 2} Introduction à l'histoire du Bouddisme Indien, p. 540.

^{page 25 note 1} The Tibetan characters were invented by Thumi Sambhota, the Prime Minister of Srongtsan Gampo, King of Tibet, from the Devanagari alphabet, about the middle of the seventh century.—Schlagintweit. Buddhism in Tibet, p. 65.

^{page 25 note 2} This is a Sanscrit name Bâshpah, which is transferred into Chinese by the characters Pa-sze-pa and Pa-kĭh-sze-pa. Pallas writes the name Pagba. Remusat gives it Phaspa, Paspa, Bâschpah, and Pa-sse-pa, in different places of his Recherches sur les langues Tartares. Klaproth uses Bhâchbah, as the Tibetan transcript of the original Sanscrit. Pauthier uses Passe-pa.

^{page 26 note 1} Sammlungen historischer Nachrichten über die Mongolischen Völkerschaften, vol. ii. p. 358.

^{page 26 note 2} Ibid. vol. ii. plate 22.

^{page 26 note 3} When on a visit to the great lamasary Yung-ho-kung, in Peking, I observed in one of the temples a pall inscribed in the common Tibetan character, with a horizontal heading in a character which was unknown to me. I thought it of sufficient interest to take a copy of it, which I give here:—

Subsequently, when I saw Pallas' work for the first time, I was surprised to find my copy almost identical with his plate, except that he gives an additional portion at the beginning and end; but he gives no explanation of what are the characters. I conclude, from examination, that they are simply the alphabet, and have identified the greater number with tolerable probability; believing that the additional ones given by Pallas are compounds.

^{page 27 note 1} Plate 7.

^{page 27 note 2} Forschungen im Gebiete der älteren religiösen, politischen, und literarischen Bildungsgeschichte der Völker Mittel Asiens.

^{page 27 note 3} Recherches sur les langues Tartares, p. 193.

^{page 28 note 1} Mémoires relatifs à l'Asie, tome ii.

^{page 28 note 2} Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, vol. ii. p. 1, etc.

^{page 29 note 1} Journal Asiatique, 5^e serie, pp. 527–558.

^{page 29 note 2} Ibid. p. 526.

^{page 29 note 3} Ibid. pp. 527–558.

^{page 29 note 4} Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, part v. pp. 101–108 and 5 plates.

^{page 29 note 5} The Confucian temple was afterwards burnt down, and this slab was broken and otherwise injured by the fire. When Shanghae was retaken by the imperialists, the temple was rebuilt in another part of the city, and most of the old tablets found a place in the new erection. This place was afterwards used as a lodging for the British officers during the military occupation of that city; and in their little arrangements to make things comfortable, all the inscribed tablets in the walls had been covered with plaster and whitewash. The Mongolian slab I could never find again, and on a visit to the place in company with Dr. Lamprey, he told me he had seen the stone in question used as a block for chopping on.

^{page 30 note 1} Part v. pp. 65–81.

^{page 30 note 2} I may be allowed here to notice some confusion that has taken place in the printing of that article. The cut of the coin to note ‖ on page 55 is erroneously placed as note * on page 58. The note marked ‖ at the foot of page 55 should be referred to the word Pĭh, in the third line of page 56. The Mongol letter p, placed on its side, thus , on page 64, should be . The four Mongol characters at the top of page 65 are upside down. Engravings of some of these coins may be seen in an article by C. B. Hillier, on “Chinese Coinage,” in the Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, part ii., 1848–50, pp. 105–110; also in the works of De Chaudoir, Endlicher, and others, on Chinese numismatics. A special article by Pauthier, on one of these coins, appeared in the Journal Asiatique, 5^me serie, tom. xv. pp. 321–337, 1860.

^{page 30 note 3} Vol. xix. pp. 5–47.

^{page 31 note 1} Vol. xix. pp. 461–471.

^{page 31 note 2} Remusat, Recherches sur les langues Tartares, p. 29, passim.

^{page 31 note 3} Klaproth, Abhandlung über die Sprache und Schrift der Uiguren, p. 53.

^{page 31 note 4} Davids, Grammaire Turke, p. xvi.

^{page 31 note 5} Remusat, Recherches, etc. p. 284.

^{page 32 note 1} Mélanges de Géographie Asiatique, pp. 223, 224.

^{page 33 note 1} Davids, Grammaire Turke, p. xviii.

^{page 33 note 2} Ibid. p. xviii; Klaproth, Abhandlung über die Sprache und Schrift der Uiguren, pp. 54, 55.

^{page 33 note 3} Klaproth, Abhandlung, etc. p. 56.

^{page 34 note 1} See Remusat's Recherches, etc. p. 154. Pallas, Sammlungen, etc. vol. ii. p. 356. Klaproth, Abhandlung, etc. p. 57.

^{page 35 note 1} Langlès, in Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Royale, tom. v. Klaproth, Abhandlung, etc. p. 56. In his Mémoires relatifs à l'Asie, tom. ii. p. 318, he gives a facsimile of this alphabet.

^{page 35 note 2} Klaproth, Abhandlung, etc. p. 57.

^{page 35 note 3} See “Mémoires sur les relations politiques des princes Chrétiens, et particulièrement des rois de France, avec les empereurs Mongols.”

^{page 35 note 4} Tome v. article 9. 1848.

^{page 36 note 1} I only know of the existence of one inscription in this character, and as there is no translation of it in Chinese or any other language, it remains at present a dead letter. The following five characters are preserved with their interpretation in the Chinese “Topography of Ching-tih prefecture.” I (as used by the emperor); . An imperial order; To run; Horse; Urgent. The history of the Leaou dynasty speaks of an edict having been engraved on stone, in the characters of the Tsitans, Turks, and Chinese, but I am not aware if that inscription is still extant.

^{page 37 note 1} Suh wan heen t'ung k'aou, book 184, p. 31. De Mailla, Histoire générale de la Chine, tom. viii. p. 390.

^{page 37 note 2} Kin she, book 2, p. 14. Hung Këen luh, book 214, p. 14.

^{page 37 note 3} Suh wan heen t'ung k'aou, book 184, p. 31. Tung keen kang muk Suh peen, book 10, p. 42.

^{page 37 note 4} Kin she, book 3, p. 27. Hung keen luh, book 215, p. 13.

^{page 37 note 5} Wan yuen kŏ shoo mŭh, book 18, p. 2.

^{page 38 note 1} He says: “When the friends of science shall have undertaken scientific journeys, for the purpose of exploring the great public and private libraries of China, libraries whose number is immense, and the preservation of which has been the object of the greatest care and attention, we shall doubtless find the greater part of the literary monuments for which we are now anxious, and a number of others, which will prove so many revelations in the midst of this old Chinese world, whose destiny on earth may probably have been to preserve to us vestiges of primitive and forgotten ages in the history of the globe.”—Revue Orientale et Amirécaine, 1^e serie, tom. vi. pp. 386, 387.

^{page 39 note 1} This work was reprinted during the present dynasty, in a collection entitled E poo sow ke. It was also reprinted in a reduced form in the Che pŭh tsŭh chae ts'ung shoo, published in the 18th century. The same inscription is reproduced in the Kin shŭh tsŭy pëen, published in 1805. It is noticed in several other works on lapidary inscriptions.

^{page 39 note 2} Asiatische studien, p. 41.

^{page 39 note 3} See Journal Asiatique, 5^e série, tom. 17, p. 532.

^{page 40 note 1} Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 17, pp. 331 passim.

^{page 40 note 1} “Revue Orientate et Amerécaine,” 1^re série, tome 6, pp. 379–387.

^{page 40 note 3} The accompanying cut, taken from a Chinese brochure on coins, which has merely the title Wae kwŏ tseen wan, “Superscriptions of foreign money,” is termed a “Sanscrit character coin;” but as the character bears no resemblance to any known form of Sanscrit writing, and as it presents a strong similarity to that on the Keen-chow tablet, I am induced to think it is a relic of the Kin.

The paucity of documents in that character may warrant its insertion here. The explanatory note says: —“This Sanscrit character coin is eight-tenths of an inch diameter, and Weighs 3 choo 6 ts'an . It is copper, of a pure red colour. The superscription is undecipherable, but it bears a general resemblance to the coins of Uh-t'o and Turfan (or Tibet).”

^{page 42 note 1} It is doubtful if this syllable ought not to be yâ.

^{page 44 note 1} A reduced facsimile of the four vertical portions of the inscription, produced by photo-lithography, from the original rubbing, will appear in Col. Yule's forthcoming work on Marco Polo.

Article contents

Art. II.—On an Ancient Buddhist Inscription at Keu-yung kwan, in North China

Extract

Access options

References

Save article to Kindle

Save article to Dropbox

Save article to Google Drive

Reply to: Submit a response

Your details

You have entered the maximum number of contributors

Conflicting interests