dated chinese manuscripts in stein collection vol 8-1

8/9/2019 Dated Chinese Manuscripts in Stein Collection Vol 8-1

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Dated Chinese Manuscripts in the Stein Collection

Author(s): Lionel GilesSource: Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol. 8, No. 1 (1935),pp. 1-26Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the School of Oriental and AfricanStudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/608098

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BULLETINOF THE

SCHOOLOF ORIENTALSTUDIESPAPERS CONTRIBUTED

Dated Chinese Manuscripts in the Stein CollectionBy LIONEL GILES

(PLATE I)II. SEVENTH CENTURYA.D.

SOON after the rise of the T'ang dynasty, the Parinirvana Siutraseems to have lost its popularity, and in the second half of theseventh century its place is definitely taken by the Lotus Sftra. Outof a total of fifty-six dated texts, no fewer than twenty-nine aresections of this work. The appearanceof Taoism in the shape of threehitherto unknown " sitras " (to borrow a convenient Buddhist term)is interesting but not surprising under a dynasty which extendedspecial favour to that ancient and much-corrupted cult. It is hardlypossible to dignify with the name of religion such a strange medleyof magic, legend, and gross superstition; and one cannot believe thatits scriptures were regarded very seriously by any large section ofthe community.Altogether, the old atmosphere of simple faith and piety whichwas so noticeable in the earlier centuries is now becoming moreattenuated. The introduction of the tabulated colophon (see year671 and following) is symptomatic of this decline in true religiousspirit. Here, in place of the prayer on behalf of a deceased relativeor a living sufferer, or an unselfish offering made in the interests ofsentient existence as a whole, we find only a formal enumeration of thepersons, lay or clerical, responsible for the production of the manu-script roll. The religious element seems to have been squeezed out.

VOL. VIII. PART 1. 1


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LIONEL GILES-This process continues in the ensuing centuries; for, though thenumber of dated documents shows a large increase, the old type ofcolophon becomes steadily rarer.A.D. 601 (SvI).S. 2048. ~ I_ 4 *She lun chang, ch. 1. The titleappears in the middle of the colophon, and is written in the samehand. There are three different translations of the Mahayana-samgraha-sastra (N. 1183, 1184, 1247) and two commentarieson them(N. 1171). Though the present work is styled a commentary (6j)in the colophon, it appears to be rather an outline or resume of thesastra.

Colophon: tl ;:R A -,f E 'Ji f9^ m~ K ; kf i i ~ ~ : [forf-'] it 4T a "On the 28th day of the 8th moon of the 1styear of Jen-shou [30th September, 601] the novice Shan-tsang ofthe Ch'ung-chiao Monastery at Kua-chou copied the She lun suin the Pien-ts'ai Monastery at the capital [Ch'ang-an] in orderthat it might be circulated to the end of time. Word-for-wordrevision completed."Kua-chou is the modern An-hsi, east of Tunhuang. Neither ofthese monasteries is mentioned again in the Stein MSS. ~* { " theend of the dynasty" is understood to be synonymous with the endof time. Alas for human anticipations! The Sui dynasty wasdestined to last only 17 years longer. The roll, made of thin golden-yellow paper, is about 34 ft. long, 28 cm. wide. The handwriting is afine specimen of cursive or semi-cursive.602 (Sui).S. 3548. ~ I;ji4A fE *Chung a han ching (Madhyamagama-sitra), ch. 8, p'in 4, nos. 2 (end only) -4. This correspondsto N. 542(33-35), K. xii. 9. The number of characters in the sections differsslightly from the figures given in the modern recension.

Colophon: t: + n - Hffl a + E WC A x X X i q t ffi rx A A - ^iFpq j WIf a " Copied by the scribe Chang Ts'ai on the 20th dayof the 12th moon of the 2nd year of Jen-shou [6th February, 602].25 sheets of paper used. [Only 10 complete sheets remain.]Revised by Seng-kai, priest (sramana) of the Ta-hsing-shanMonastery. Again revised by Fa-kang, priest of the Ta-chiMonastery."

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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTION

The life of Seng-kai will be found in Hsii kao seng chuan, ch. 26;K. xxx. 2, f. 177r?. The Ta-hsing-shan Monastery is mentioned inthe colophons of several other Stein MSS. a is used here for a orThis is one of the finest MSS. in the Collection, the handwriting

being as nearly perfect as one can imagine. The roll is composed ofthin, crisp, golden-yellow paper of excellent quality, and measuresabout 16 ft. by 26 cm.603 (SmI).S. 4553. J j ;ffi ] . _I *Ta t'ungfang kuang ching, ch. 1(out of 2 or 3). This is really a Buddhanama sutra, though the titledoes not seem to suggest it, and probably apocryphal. Contrary tothe usual practice, the invocations are not numbered.

Fei-jn, having with piousntent cut off a portion of her expendituren clothes and other goods, has reverently caused a section of the

Fff2~1~45~t ~Ms~ 1~ i a A-PiA -a AA* X E

4Ta ngi ang a ing to b opied,yinghat as a consequenceOn the 14th day ofeven previous incarnations, he3rd yearentsof hobegothein this life, anderynasty31stnowivingMarch,03] theresoeverthey arereborn,g-hum aymee tuddha and hearious Law, falling in with goodrixpendsand

associates and ther goods, has reverently causre-incarnation f theTa she'ngfang kuaq,gchi?nyo be copied, praying that as a consequenceher parents of seven previous incarnations, the parents who begother in this life, and her family now living, wheresoeverthey arereborn,may meet Buddha and hear his Law, falling in with good friends andassociates; and that after their span of earthly re-incarnation iscompleted they may be reborn in the Kingdom of limitless longevityin the Western Regions; and that all living beings of the universemay be included in this prayer. Also offered by the female devoteeJen-shih-shih, who gave help towards the copying as a means ofconversion to the faith. Offered with steadfast heart by Fei-jen'sson Lii Sheng-tsun. Offered with constant heart by her daughterA-man, who also prays in the same sense as the above prayer."It appearsthat Ling-hu was the donor's maiden name, while thatof her husband was Lii.This is a very good MS. on thin yellow paper, rather discoloured.The roll is over 181 feet long, 25 cm. wide.

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LIONEL GILES-604 (SuI).S. 4162. { 1 1 ; Yu p'o sai chiehching (N. 1088), ch. 2,p'in 10-12. There is no general title at the beginning.

Colophon: : - Al tf M - -4 i -ppE$ -A 5rtfe - g. t L t/ PSFI for I] a,: f 3 - BF i mt"On the 8th day of the 4th moon of the 4th year of Jen-shou[llth May, 604] Ying (?) Wei-chen, on behalf of his deceased father,caused sections to be copied of the Yu p'o sai ching, the Kuan ting,the Shan o yin kuo, the T'ai tzu ch'engtao, and the Wupo wen shih ;he has also had made an image of Avalokitesvara, and a 49 ft. banner,to the end that all living beings of the universe may eventually achieveBuddhahood."; is not a recognized surname, and it is almost certainly a mistakefor g : see the next entry. Kuan ting is doubtless N. 167. Shan o yinkuoching is an apocryphalsftra of which a dozen copies are preservedin the Stein Collection: see Kyoto Supplement, A. i. 4 (e). T'ai tzuch'eng tao (" The Crown Prince attaining enlightenment") is a lifeof Sakyamuni Buddha. Wu po wen shih means "Five hundredsubjects of inquiry" and is evidently a doctrinal work.Another very good MS. on golden-yellow paper. The roll is19 feet long, 26 cm. wide.604 (Sui).S. 4570. (a ] | 7 *Yu p'o sai chieh, ch. 6. This isp'in 24 (1)of N. 1088. It has a colophon very similar to the preceding, and ofexactly the same date: f/ , IN - V j AKHi g A tX


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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTIONthat of the texts as well, though it is somewhat smaller in the presentroll, which is only 42 feet long and 24-5 cm. wide.606 (Sui).S. 2598. X* K ! & X *Ta pan nieh p'an ching, ch. 16. Thiscorresponds to N. 113, K. viii. 5, from about the middle of ch. 16to a point near the beginning of ch. 17. There is a touching colophon,which is not very easy to translate: . A I kA A t f1 R B&V R -A t eA t A -e E SB #Af Ia; E -EL pJ ,) " In the ping-yin year, the 2nd of Ta-yehin the Great Sui dynasty [A.D. 606], the bhikshu Shih Shan-tsang, onbehalf of his deceased mother the Lady Chang, has reverently causeda copy of this sutra to be made for circulation, as an act of worship.Overcome with feelings of desolation and bitter grief that cannotbe assuaged, full of painful yearnings that can never cease, he venturesto seek help from the great compassion of Buddha, that the latter mayput forth his limitless power. He prays that the virtue of these fewwritten characters may bring expectation of happiness to his motheramong the shades, and that the merit acquired by half a gatha mayhelp her along the road of spirituality. May the sound of the Lawnever fade away, may the Yii-ling (?) be constantly handed down.Thoughthe fire in the kalpa [of destruction] be fierce, may the DragonPalace still abide. May the beings produced through the four kindsof birth in the six paths of existence all alike exhibit surpassingkarma."We have already met with Shan-tsang in the colophon to S. 2048(A.D. 601); he was then a novice, now he is a full-fledged bhikshu.- _ and + % are instances of meiosis; he is evidently referringto the section of the sfutra hat has just been copied, though it happens,curiously enough, that there is no gatha at all in ch. 16. ,i i " FishRidge " contains some allusion that I have not succeeded in trackingdown. i XJ "the kalpa of destruction " is the third of the fourperiods of universal evolution and decay. The three major calamitieswhich then appear are fire, flood, and wind. The Dragon Palace isthe abode of the Dragon King at the bottom of the great ocean; itwas once visited by Buddha, who preached the Law there. 1S 4 isa pleasing variation of the usual ~- _t ; the four kinds of birth arefrom womb, egg, damp, and metamorphosis.


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LIONEL GILES-This is a fine regular MS. on golden-yellow paper, about 19 feet

long.608 (Sui).S. 2419. j | * f *Miao fa lien hua ching (Saddharma-pundarika-sftra), ch. 3, p'in 5, 6.Colophon: X EB l Ha PM [ i1[?for 0]1 i? +-F AM e e eS_ ! M 5 X -SH A id V X Hi it " On the 15th of the'4th moon of the 4thyear of Ta-yeh [3rd June, 608] Wang Shih, Lii-shuai of Tun-huangChiin, reverently had copies made of single sections from the Niehp'an, Fa hua, and Fang kuang on behalf of his deceased mother, inorder to confer happiness on her honoured soul through this act ofsurpassing merit, and praying that she may avoid the three lowerpaths of sentient existence and rise to the seven states of purity;and that all beings endowed with perception in the six paths oftransmigration may be steeped in the ocean of pious vows(pranidhana)."At first sight, j ij 3WBiI would seem to be two names (MasterLii and Master Wang); but I think it is more likelv that the firstOj#has been mistakenly written for gip, a rii being the title, createdunder the Sui dynasty, of a high military officer known until then as~ii j IS: see Tz'u yiian, 9p 193c. The ] ,: (or ar) are theseven characteristics of bodhi: discrimination of true and false,zeal, joyfulness, discarding of all grossness of body or mind, powerof remembrance,power to keep the mind in a given realm undiverted,indifferenceto all disturbances of the sub-consciousmind.This is a good MS. on light yellow paper, over 131 feet long.612 (Sui).S. 2295. Recto: ' -:- K ft * Lao tzu pien hua ching.This " sitra on the Incarnations of Lao Tzu " is our first dated Taoisttext. It is not included in the existing Taoist Canon.

Colophon: 7k I /A F- E Et- 1 H E E A, 0,H ^ E W o J 9 A X i a t o M M A o R,{AS h' " Copiedby the scribeWang Ch'ouon the 14th day of the 8thmoon of the 8th year of Ta-yeh [14th September,612]. Four sheets ofpaper used [showing that only a few columns are wanting to ourroll]. Again revised by a Taoist priest of the Mystic Temple in theMystic Capital. Paper-dyer, [ ]. Copied in the Secret BooksDepartment."

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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTIONFor ;, cf. S. 3548 (A.D. 602). The use of t (dark, mysterious,profound) is affected by Taoists for anything appertaining to theirreligion. Here no more seems to be meant than a Taoist temple atthe capital, Ch'ang-an. For i, cf. T'ang shu, ch. 47, f. 3 v?% at % Ki E A A CC"eight makers and dyers of paper."Accordingto the Tzu'iyuan, the term is now applied to the mountingof scrolls and pictures. The name of the dyer has been omitted here.Verso (in an inferior hand): Extracts from other Taoist, or semi-Buddhist, texts.This is a fine MS. on yellow paper, 61-feet long.616 (SuI).S. 2605. ft X ~ IJ i e 8t *Fo shuo chin kang pan joching. This is the end portion only of Kumarajiva's translation ofthe Diamond Sftra (N. 10). The usual form of the title is a WMe a , tEi~.Colophon: -k Pr A +t - J -f - E. H

"AM * am WN M AA A[?for~] 2 V X mi11 W A t - 2 I X WP5 '1ij ,m M ~ " On the 23rd day of the 7th moon of the12th year of Ta-yeh in the Great Sui dynasty [9th September, 616]the female lay devotee [upasika] Liu Yiian-ching reverently causeda copy to he made of this sfutra,praying that by this slight act ofmerit, when it is read aloud on behalf of all living beings, all thosewho hear it may reverently believe, and awaken to the unreality ofsuffering, and that those who read it may hold fast to its preceptsand all rise to enduring felicity. She also prays that she herselfmay soon quit this desert frontier region and speedily return to theImperial capital; that the barriers of her sin may be broken down,and that manifold blessings may descend upon her."This fragment, of thin light yellow paper, is not more than 2? feetlong. The text and colophon are in the same hand. It is our firstdated example of the Diamond Sutra, which in Kumarajiva's trans-lation was to be by far the most popular of all the short sftras pre-served at Tunhuang. Yet out of several hundred manuscripts only 21are complete.626 (T'ANG).S. 4635. S~ Iffi J X B ~ . _X T'F*Ssu fen lii shanfan pu ch'iiehhsing shih ch'ao, ch. 1 (2). &J pIj

X fM H " Compiled by the sramana Skya Tao-hsuan." This

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LIONEL GILES-is a Vinaya commentary, chapters 8-12, which will be found (togetherwith further commentary by j7 fl Yiian-chao of the Sung) inK. Suppt. A. lxix. 2 and 3. Of the 30 chapters, nos. 8-12 occur againin S. 726, and others in S. 2328, 2525 (these have the preface andtable of contents), 4533, and 5404. It seems doubtful whether theauthor can be the famous Tao-hsiian who, though living at this time,belonged to the ijfi j] Hsi-ming Monastery and died as late as 667in his 72nd year: see Sung kaosengchuan, ch. 14, no. 1.

Colophon: J) ; IL $ + ) f J. X X, X +{sp; "Preparation completed in the Ch'ung-i Temple at the WesternCapital [Ch'ang-an] during the summer of the 9th year of Wu-te ofthe T'ang " [626]. This is followed by another column of characterswhich do not seem to yield any connected sense. Both title andcolophon are written in red ink.The roll is about 59 feet long, and composed for the most part ofa very thin fibrouspaper, unstained. The last five sheets are coarserand thicker than the rest. The gap of ten years between this rolland the last seems to reflect the disturbances which accompanied thechange of dynasty and which lasted until Li Shih-min was firmly inthe saddle; even then, the output of sutras continues to be noticeablysmaller than before.627 (T'ANG).S. 2231. *Ta pan niehp'an ching, ch. 39 (corresponding o K. viii.6, ch. 39 and beginning of ch. 40).This is a fine MS. on thin yellow paper of the sixth century. Thefollowing colophon, added perhapsa century later, is carelessly writtenin another hand: % ; 3Xk i - t. ~ X ---AsNA -il g m 7*\ An aN m rtS o A xTC A - j E\ * R fL [for nt ]"Ling-hu Kuang-ho, having in his possession an old tattered copy ofthe Nirvana satra, has had one section of it repaired, so that it maybe read and recited on behalf of all living beings, and that those whohear the sound of it may never fall into the three unhappy states ofexistence or the eight calamities; and he prays that they may beholdAmida Buddha. Repairs completed on the 8th day of the 2nd moonof the 1st year of Cheng-kuan" [28th February, 627].Ling-hu Kuang-ho is also recorded as the possessor of S. 539,containing a section of the Chin kuang ming ching. For the eightcalamities, cf. S. 3935 (A.D. 583). The roll is over 28 feetlong.

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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTION628 (T'ANG).S. 1218. *Ta pan nieh p'an ching, ch. 12 (N. 113, K. viii. 5, butending somewhat sooner than the modern text).There is a note at the end in cursive script: ~$- n- H ~ N f ? "Note made by So Ho-fa on the22nd day of the 2nd moon of the 2nd year of Cheng-kuan" [1st April,628]. This, like the preceding colophon, must have been writtenmany years after the sftra had been copied, for the latter is inmarkedly archaic handwriting which can only be assigned to thefirst half of the sixth century. It is a fine bold MS.on thin dark yellowpaper, making a roll over 11- feet long.637 (T'ANG).S. 2838. | g j Wei mo ch'i ching, ch. 3, p'in 10-14.(N. 146.) This is our earliest dated specimen of the Vimalakirtti-nirdesa-sfitra, which is one of the half-dozen most popular sfitrasfound in Tunhuang. It is a very fine MS. on thin light brown paper,smooth and compact, but rather brittle. The first sheet, made ofcoarse yellow paper, contains the beginning of the chiian in an inferiorhand of much later date. The roll is nearly 32 feet long, discolouredin parts, and patched here and there at the back.It appears from the colophon, which is composed in a moreelaborate style than usual, that this copy was made to the order of adaughter of a secondary concubine of " eh'ii Wen-t'ai, whowas at that time King of Kao-ch'ang. The country was conqueredby the Chinese three years later, when the dynasty came to an end.See j H Kao ch'ang, by jW3 l Huang Wen-pi, ff. 16, 17.

Colophon: { I ~ 0 W?i o R; f x o': o, ?J Lt I N kX iJ* N 3 u K S ffiX 2 99 M 3m t - V m % %M

S s ctX 2 m -W E 9 aMS g ;s mg m+ g & 'S '94 A N LA a * A M t W 0 At ~; R : Nfi B] N - cCopied by the scribe Ling-huShan-ku. Revised by the Master of the Law Ts'ao Fa-hui.

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LIONEL GILES-Sanctioned by the Director of monastic diet in the LotusSchool, the fully ordained monk and Sramana in charge of affairs,Fa-huan. On the 3rd day of the 5th moon of ting-yu, the 14thyear of Yen-shou [1st June, 637], a female devotee (upasika)makes obeisance and surrendersher life, to abide forever in the Tri-ratna. Having heard of the flayed skin and the split bone, and bearingin mind the dictum of the Mahasattva about losing the body andsacrificingthe self, she seeks the mystic significance of Prajai. Now,she knows that the true inspiration of the Holy Teaching, as set forthin the Golden Compositions and the Jade Records [i.e. the preciousBuddhist scriptures], is hard to be grasped by eye or by ear; yet,since it is worthy of honour and veneration, this disciple, who hascome to birth as the descendant of a princely house and has grown upin the recesses of the palace, depending on the love and indulgenceof the King her father, and receiving instruction and admonition fromher mother, his consort, so as to be deeply imbued with the richinfluence of the Law, has on that account caused a copy to be madeof this siitra, with the intention of turning to it for guidance day byday, reciting it morning and evening. And this small stock of meritshe begs respectfully to offer to her royal father, praying that hissacred person may enjoy peace and happiness, and that all his wishesmay be fulfilled. She prays, too, that her deceased ancestors whohave lived in the remote past, and all those connected with her byblood and kinship, may see the face of Buddha and hear his Law,and be reborn in the Pure Land; that the remaining years of theDowager Consort[i.e. the King's mother] may be lengthened, and theglory of the Royal Consort be augmented; that the Heir-Apparentand the other princes may enjoy protracted longevity; that thievesand robbers may be driven away and dispersed, that disease andpestilence may be abolished, that the people may feel the mercy ofkindly protection, and all men experience the joys of prosperity;and that all classes of beings possessing the breath of life and endowedwith consciousness and perception may alike be freed from the sourcesof suffering, and together rise to attain the wonderful fruit [of bodhiand nirviaa]."'Fa-huan appears again as directing or authorizing the tran-scription of S. 409 (N. 130), in exactly the same formula. 7 ; isthe last regnal period of the e Ch'ii dynasty at Kao-ch'ang(A.D. 624-640). *IJ Ji i & the story goes that in one of gakya-muni's previous incarnations a Brahman said to him: "I have here

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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTION 11a gatha containing the Holy Law. If you truly love the Law ILwillgive it to you." He replied: "I truly love the Law." The Brahmansaid: "If you truly love the Law, you must use a piece of your skinas paper, and write the gatha with your blood instead of ink. ThenI will give it to you." gakyamuni immediately did what he wastold--breaking a bone, flaying his skin, and writing with his blood.See k c tI T-, Ta chih tu lun, ch. 16, p'in 27.639 (T'ANG).S. 3888. Recto: ; tjXy It * *Ta fang tengju laitsang ching (N. 384).Colophon: t --4, +* -t J+ El o _.-o I t.I + - 0 oe "Dated the 10thday of the 7th moon of the 16th year of Yen-shou [14th August,639]. Copyist, Kung Ta-tzi. 12 sheets of paper used. [Only threeremain.] Revised by T'an-hsien, Master of the Law."This is another Kao-ch'ang roll, on similar paper. It is only 3 feetlong. Verso: Extracts from Wei mo ch'i ching (N. 146), p'in 7, in anindifferent, sprawling hand.641 (T'ANG).S. 4284. 7t ( v. ( *Ta fantg pien fo pao en ching(N. 431), ch. 7.

Colophon:- fi B+ -- ~i $ A A Hr ;;-r- t r t ^ -? A X m fl S PR *q5 eT;?Aa en e S X W -*Saim % +X W:9 9 2 12;mfi [for M] ^ $ S * 2 t n t Xg1 ~ ! , , m EJ "Now, on the 8th day of the 7thmoon of the 15th year of Cheng-kuan[19th August, 641], the discipleof Bodhisattva-pratimoksa Hsin Wen-hsiang, who lost his home andbecame a waif, separatedfrom his parents, and neither party knowingwhether the other were alive or dead, has reverently caused a sectionof the Pao en ching to be copied on behalf of his gracious father andhis deceased mother, following it with a prayer that wheresoever hisparents may be reborn they may meet Buddha and hear the preach-ing of his Law, and that they may always be born in an honourablestation of life, without passing through the three unhappy states ofexistence or the eight calamities. He also prays that his own futureparents and kinsfolk in this world may never be parted from him,that virtuous prayers may be granted, and that all may come to acondition of perfect enlightenment."


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LIONEL GILES-

- tfi are the rules found in the suitraof that name (N. 1096),taken from the i a , Fan wang ching. For the eight calamities,see Bull. SOS. VII, p. 831.This is a good bold MS. on crisp golden-yellow paper, somewhatdifferent in texture from that of the Sui. The roll is over 151 feet long.652 (T'ANG).S. 3394. *Wei mo ch'i ching, ch. 2, p'in 7-9. There is no colophonbeyond the following note: 7;X % - $ t+3A fit -IS 7C ~ " Acquired by the Buddhist disciple Teng Yuanon the 15th day of the 5th moon of the 3rd year of Yung-hui " [26thJune, 652].This is a very good, well-spaced MS. on rather soft yellow paperof excellent quality. The roll is about 191 feet long.659 (T'ANG).S. 5181. I{j ~J f i E *Fo hsing hai tsang ching, ch. 1. Thisis an apocryphal sfitra on "the accumulation of knowledge andwisdom", the full title { ; ,1 M H W Iffi i A,Bbeing given in S. 2169, where the whole of chiian 1 is preserved.There are also two copies of chiian 2, contained in S. 4000, S. 4103.Note at the end: P I j) -f- i[ H f Ji ;? t X; "The 25th day of the 8th moon of the 4th year ofHsien-ch'ing [16th September, 659]. The Buddhist disciple of purefaith [upasaka]So Huai-tao." This person may be the owner orcopyistor both.

Theroll is over 23 feet long, and made of paperof very good quality,stained a rich yellow. The handwriting is less elegant than in thepreceding roll, but large and clear.663 (T'ANG).S. 4656. 4 *I chiaoching. This is N. 122, a sitra spokenby Buddha just before entering Parinirvana, with abbreviated title.The colophon is written in the same hand as the text of thesutra: M--

X _ AS 0H A

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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTION 13Here it is recorded that the sfutrawas copied to the order of thetrue believer Liu Ching-an and his family, and completed on the 23rdof the 12th moon of the 2nd year of Lung-shuo [6th February, 663].As several passages, including an elaborate exordium on the subjectof the Dharmakaya, are decidedly obscure, I shall leave the translationto those more deeply versed in Buddhist terminology. One strikingpiece of hyperbole, however, may be noticed: a single recitation, itis said, of the speech that issued from the Buddha's " golden mouth "surpasses in value the sacrifice of as many lives as there are grains ofsand in the River Ganges!The roll, made of thin buff-coloured paper, is nearly 6 feet long.The handwriting is only moderately good.668 (T'ANG).S. 4496. *Miaofa lien hua ching, ch. 3, p'in 5-7.Colophon: -, ---W H-ft

j,, "On the 23rd day of the 11th moon of the 1st year of Tsung-chang [31st December, 668] the Buddhist disciple Yin Chih-chu, onbehalf of his parentsnow living and his parents of previous incarnations,reverently caused a section of the Fa hua ching to be copied for circula-tion, as an act of worship."A good MS. on a rich golden-yellow paper of the best quality.Length of roll, 301 feet; width, 25-5 cm.670 (T'ANG).S. 3655. *Miao fa lien hua ching, ch. 7. This is only a fragment,26 by 24 cm., from the end of p'in 24.

Colophon: ; m SL ( J CKt:t t ;_. " Reverently made to the order of Ts'ui An-chii on behalfof his deceased elder sister, Madame Chung, in the intercalary 9th[moon] of the 1st year of Hsien-heng [20th Oct.-17th Nov., 670]."671 (T'ANC).S. 2215. *Miaofa lien hua ching, ch. 2, p'in 3, 4.Colophon: ,i xf X -T- 'E It H X t~ i IilJAXA " Copy reverently made to the orderof the disciple Fan Huai-hsin on behalf of his deceased wife Chao andhis deceased nephew [brother's son] A-nu, in the 12th moon of the1st year of Hsien-heng [17th Jan.-14th Feb., 671]."At the end of this colophon a note has been scrawled in very faintink: gj, JL " Received by Tung Hung-chi." This is a neat,well-spaced MS. on yellow paper.


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LIONEL GILES-671 (T'ANG).S. 5319, 84, 3079. *Miaofa lien hua ching, ch. 3, p'in 5-7; ch. 5,p'in 15-17; ch. 4, p'in 8-13. These three rolls form part of a seriesin which the colophon is cast into tabular form. That of S. 5319 runsas follows:-A _v - i X =- H i# T T" a

AlAK XXLa R1 , I, 44Xi X W t ,J 43 m A A A e1JP-+t t :c J AFt -kmST i A

"Copied by the scribe Ch'6ngTu on the 22nd of the 5th moon of the[18 remain.] Dyer of sftras, Wang Kung. Carefully perused by thebhadantas Ling-pien, Chia-shang, Hsiian-tse, Ch'ih-shih, Po-ch'en,and Te-hsiin. Superintended by Hui-li, the active director, and Tao-ch'eng, the spiritualdirector(mahasthavira)ofthe T'ai-yiian Monastery.First revision by the copyist Ch'engTu; secondrevision by Ta-tao, andthird revision by Chih-an,both priests of the Ta-tsung-ch'ihMonastery.Hsiang I-kan, p'an kuan, etc. Under the general superintendence ofYii Ch'ang [a high official at Yung-hsing Hsien, i.e. Ch'ang-an],etc."Contraryto what one might expect, the actual copying of sutras seemsto havebeendonemoreoften by a laymanthan by amonk. Here Ch engTu is entitled A z "scribe" as well as m X " sftra copyist ",and also dignified by the unusual addition of g to his name. For~H, see under the date 612. above. Hui-ii is the well-knownpriest who compiled the life of Hsiian-tsang (N. 1494) six years beforethe date of this MS. His name appears in many other colophons ofthis Collection. In Sung kao seng chuan, ch. 17, no. 3, it is given asa ~, but as it is also stated that he became active director of theT'ai-yiian Monastery,there can be no doubt as to his identity. Accountsof Chia-shang and Tao-ch'eng will be found in the same work, ch. 4,no. 9, and ch. 14, no. 2, respectively. Two strokes are omitted in thecharacter -tf for reasons of taboo, -tjr being the personal name ofthe second T'ang emperor. S. 84 and S. 3079 are dated the 16th and

14


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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTION 1518th November, 671, respectively. In both, the copyist and firstreviser is -1 ~~ Kuo Te, the dyer is $ A A Hsieh Shan-chi, thesecond reviser is ~ X Fa-hsien, and the bhadanta ji 4~ Shen-fuis one of the readers. In S. 84, - i P'u-ting appears as third reviser,in S. 3079 ,, f1 (for {It) Ssui-k'an. All the rest are the same as inS. 5319.These are all finely written MSS. on thin, crisp, dark yellow paper,exceedingly hard and smooth, but with a tendency to brittleness.672 (T'ANG).S. 4209, 4551. *Miao fa lien hua ching, ch. 3, p'in 5-7; ch. 4,p'in 8-13. These two rolls continue the series with tabulated colophons.The former is dated the 17th May, 672, the copyist and first reviverbeing Xi ; *i Chao Wen-shen, the second reviser ~ | Chih-tsang, and the third reviser t4 * Chih-hsing. The latter is datedthe 25th September, 672, the copyist and first reviser being I1 J; #Liu Ta-tz'ui,the second reviser jfI LHsing-li, the third reviser ' ipHui-ch'ung. The other names are as found in S. 84. S. 4209 is saidto be composed of 19 sheets of /J,, i, fj " little hemp paper "; butthe material appearsto be exactly the same as that of S. 5319 and therest of the series.672 (T'ANG).S. 36. ]J ' :W $ *Chin kang pan jo po lomi ching (N. 10). Another roll with tabulated colophon similar to thepreceding. The date is the 19th June, 672, and the copyist, ;; i4Wu Yiian-li, is called t t : "writer in the clerkly styleattached to the left division of the CrownPrince's staff". The threerevisions were all done by Hji Hsiao I. The roll is 131 feet long.673 (T'ANG).S. 2573, 312. *Miao fa lien hua ching, ch. 2, p'in 3-4; ch. 4,p'in 11-13. A continuation of the series of the Lotus Sutra. Thetwo colophons are exactly the same, except that the former is dated1st November and the latter 5th November, and that in S. 2573,through an oversight, the name of Hui-li is omitted, while that ofTac-ch'eng is repeated. I f H Feng An-ch'ang is the copyist,the name of the dyer is given as j ; Hsieh Chi (cf. S. 84 and S. 3079),the first revision was done by , fig Huai-fu of the *Cj4 m Ta-chuang-yen Monastery, the second and third by ~ , Hsiian-chenof the |f HtJ Hsi-ming Monastery, and the p'an-kuan is now :Li Te. Mr. Clappertondescribes the paper of S. 312 as follows: " Adark buff paper of very even texture. Thickness -004 inch. This sheet


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LIONEL GILES-looks like a wove paper, as there is no sign of laid lines when lookingthrough the sheet. The laid lines can be seen indistinctly by reflectedlight. Very smooth surface, without hairs. A short-fibred hard paper,the fibres being shorter than in any other paper examined up to thisdate, and the look-through of the paper is also very much closer.Very evenly felted, and might easily pass for a close-wove paper.Composition: Paper mulberry."674 (T'ANG).S. 456, 3348. *Miaofa lien hua ching, ch. 3, p'in 7; ch. 6, p'in 22,23. Two companionrolls, both somewhat mutilated, dated the 2nd ofthe 8th moon of the 5th year of Hsien-heng [7th Sept.] and the 25thofthe 9th moon of the 1st year of Shang-yiian [29th Oct.], respectively.The seeming discrepancy is explained by the fact that the nien-haowas changed to Shang-yiian in the 8th moon. In S. 3348, half thecolophon is missing. a a Hsiao Ching is the copyist, t y Chih-yen of the ~i 4; Fu-lin Monastery the first reviser, 4f fHsing-kuei and j fit Huai-tsan, of the Hsi-ming Monastery, thesecond and third. The p'an kuan i m N Li Shan-te is evidentlythe same person as Li Te in the preceding rolls. Comparethe case ofHsieh Chi, above, who also figures as Hsieh Shan-chi.675 (T'ANG).S. 1515. % _ ,H *Wu liang shou kuan ching. Thisis the Fo shuo wu liang shoufo ching of N. 198, K. x. 4. i. The roll inits present state begins at the end of the 7th of the 16 f meditations.Colophon: * )J ;- i - 3i a - /A Ef f^ -Tt fWr*I A WC ff jLI CARI A)s X , X fi nAFa KXEm An X ff aI s 9 / At m i fi mP9I Em m J9 ? " On the 28th day of the 4th moon of the2nd year of Shang-yiian in the Great T'ang dynasty [28th May, 675]the Buddhist disciple and upasika the Lady Chang, with pious intent,has reverently caused copies to be made of the Wu liang shou kuanching and the Kuan yin ching, praying that this act of merit may,firstly, benefit our Divine Emperor and Empress, to the indefiniteprolongation of their sovereign influence, and secondly, affect herparents of seven previous incarnations and all the living creatures ofthe universe, so that they may escape from the gates of afflictionand one and all ascend to the wondrous realms of purity."The roll is 141 feet long. Apart from other considerations, theheavily oiled yellow paper and fine handwriting would make it fairly

16


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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTION 17certain that the Shang-yiian period here mentioned is not the laterone of 760-1. The Kuan yin ching is ch. 25 of the Lotus Sfitra, oftenregarded as a separate work. The emperorin question is Kao Tsung,and the empress is the notorious j Il]JJ Wu Tse-t'ien, who subse-quently usurped the throne for over 20 years.676 (T'ANG).S. 114. *Miaofa lien huc ching, ch. 7, p'in 24-28.

Colophon: _L ; P, ? 4? R A i it: "Reverently copied to the order of the upasaka Chang Chin-ch'e on behalf of his deceased younger sister in the 3rd year of Shang-yiian."8 may simply be a title of respect, as in the case of Ch'eng Tu:see S. 5319 (A.D. 671). The name of the upasaka would then be ChangCh'e. For all we know, the "deceased younger sister " may be noother than " the Lady Chang" who was herself causing suitrasto becopied in the previous year.This is a fine MS., rather exuberant in style, on yellow paper ofexcellent quality.676 (T'ANG).S. 2181, 1456, 3361, 2637, 4168, 1048. *Miao fa lien hua ching,ch. 2, p'in 3, 4; ch. 5, p'in 14-17; ch. 1, p'in 1, 2; ch. 3, p'in 7;ch. 3, p'in 5-7; ch. 5, p'in 14-17.I have arranged this series of rolls according to date. All areimperfect or badly mutilated at the beginning. The scribes are laymenand all different, but the paper-dyer is the same in each case, namelyHsieh [Shan-] chi: see years 671 (S. 84) and 673. Li Te is still thep'an-kuan, but the general superintendent is now X j i YenHsiian-tao. S. 2181 is a fine MS. dated the 1st June, but the greaterportion of p'in 3 has been added in a different hand. S. 1456 is datedthe 29th June; the monk who is responsible for the three revisionsof the text bears the curious name of a a Fa-chieh (Dharmadatu,the universe, things in general, or their underlying cause) and hailsfrom the 4{t t Hua-tu Monastery: this was a temple of the ThreeStages sect founded by , ff Hsin-hsing. S. 3361 is dated the11th September, and S. 2637 the 13th September. The copyist ofthe latter text, ef X Jen Tao, might be taken for a monk, but thathe was a member of the


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LIONEL GILES-the 20th October. For S. 1048, dated the 15th December, 21 sheetsof " little hemp " were used. It is a thin, crisp, brownish-yellow paperof even better quality than usual at this period.676 (T'ANG).S. 513. *Chin kangpan jo po lo mi ching. This, though four yearslater in date (29th April, 676), may be regarded as a companion rollto S. 36. The copyist is g : I Ou-yang Hsiian-che.677 (T'ANG).S. 4353, 2956, 3094. *Miao fa lien hua chin, ch. 1, p'in 1, 2;ch. 7, p'in 27, 28; ch. 2, p'in 3, 4.These are three fine MSS. on the familiar brownish-yellow paper.S. 4353 was copied on the 2nd January, and S. 2956 on the 29th ofthe same month, both by fE A Wang Chih-wan of the Hung-wen Kuan. The revisers and readers, too, were the same in each case.S. 3094 was copied on the 26th June by ll , gji Liu I-shih, andrevised three times by l]Ji Liu Yen.678 (T'ANG).S. 3135. it ~ f - * ~ *T'ai hsiian chen i pen chiching, ch. 2. There are four other rolls in the Stein Collection contain-ing parts of this Taoist sitra, which does not appear to be included inthe present Canon. Taoism was in the ascendant during the T'angdynasty, the rulers of which claimed to be descended from Lao Tzu,though it suffered a little set-back under the more Buddhisticallyinclined Empress Wu. The colophon is an amusing example of theslavishness with which the devotees of this bogus religion aped theideas and phraseology of their rivals, the Buddhists: ' I J ---j ifc ~~t : ~il1n v :mm^/\ -t: o11 A.:A -eI:: H _im *AAat aI.I ;"On the 22nd of the 3rd moon of the 3rdyear of I-feng [18th April, 678]the female official of the Three Profundities, Kuo Chin-chi, reverentlycaused a section of the Pen chi ching to be copied on behalf of herdeceased Preceptor, in order that he might be helped and benefitedby the resultant stock of surpassing happiness, praying that his pathmight coincide with that of the Nine Hsien ('Immortals '), and thathis spirit might travel to the Eight Blessed Regions."The works constituting the Taoist Canon fall into three maindivisions which are called Ja " Grottoes " or " Profundities ", corre-sponding to the three Pitaka of the Buddhists. They are: (1) J(j5 the section of Profound Purity; (2) InJ& $1]he section ofProfoundMystery; (3) fi j4 IS the section of Profound Spirituality.

18


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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTION 19The first is supposed to embody the teaching of ~jx ; i t thePrimordial Heaven-honoured One, the other two that of k _J ;tthe Most Exalted Lao Chiin (Lao Tzui).It is interesting to find a group of Nine Immortals mentionedinstead of the familiar Eight. The cult of the Nine appears to havebeen widespread,for we find the following passage in the A Jj1f tTeng choufu chih, ch. 18, f. 20: " Sung dynasty: the Nine Immortalswith one eye between hem. One of the Nine had the sight of one eye,the other eight were blind. They got the one-eyed man to lead them,and they begged in the streets as they went. At night they halted underthe V a Guests' Bridge in the north-west of the city [of Teng-chou,Shantung]. No one knew who they were. After a time, the prefectof the city met them at the bridge and issued a proclamation concern-ing them. But suddenly the Nine underwent transformation andvanished. Wherefore the name of the bridge was changed to a I4Ying-hsien (i.e. ' Welcoming the Hsien ')." There is also a long accountin ji 114 - ,g Shen hsien t'ung chien, vii, sec. 7-8, of magicalfeats which they performed in the presence of the first Han emperor.In this work they are said to have been brothers, belonging to the fpjHo family. A mountain near the city of Foochow is still called JL t4 ll.The /. J form a counterpart to the Buddhist Pure Land. Thenumberis doubtless suggested by A )j the eight points of the compass.After the colophon, there is a note in red ink: Ja " "[ ] recorded."This is a fine MS. on rich yellow paper. The roll is about 14 feet long.684 (T'AN : usurpation of the Empress Wu).S. 2863. [*Miao fa lien hua ching, p'in 25.] The beginning ismutilated, but only slightly imperfect. There is no title at the end.Colophon: 3 H ^- / ~i

A ; [ 4 { R A N i " Copied and recorded by thedisciple So Jen-chieh on the 5th of the 6th moon of the 1st year ofWen-ming [22nd July, 684]. He prays that his parents of sevenprevious incarnations, as well as the father and mother who begothim [in the present life] may be reborn in the realm of AmitabhaBuddha in the Western Regions, and that [the merit acquired] mayalso be shared by his brothers and sisters. Such is the virtuous prayerhe would constantly utter."r] lasted from the 2nd to the 9th moon of this year. It was thefirst nien-hao taken by the usurping empress, and as such is ignoredby official historians, who continue to use Chung Tsung's year-title


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LIONEL GILES-

g ] until his restoration in A.D. 705. The colophon is written inthe same uncultivated hand as the text of the sutra, which does notsuggest a professional copyist. The paper is coarse and undyed, butfairly tough. The roll is about 8- feet long, and 27-5 cm. wide.688 (T'ANG: usurpation of the Empress Wu).S. 194. *Miao fa lien hua ching, ch. 1, p'in 1, 2.Colophon: A # g $ * 3 * f '-M A-


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DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTION 21

"Thebhikshu iS han-si oft Ln u Nnn awe of te" The bhikshuni Shan-hsin of the Ling-hsiu Nunnery, aware of theunreality of the body, the shallowness of perception, and the illusorynature of suffering, has therefore, on behalf of her deceased mother,cut down her personal effects over and above the [necessary] threegarments, and reverently caused a section of the Fa hua ching to becopied, praying that through the merit of this virtuous act her mothermay avail herself of the resultant stock of happiness and be reborn inthe Pure Land, in the highest grade of the highest class, and mayat the present moment enjoy peace and comfort; also, that all sentientbeings may participate therein, and together taste the wonderful fruit[of bodhi and nirvana]. Copied on the 29th day of the 3rd moon ofthe 2nd year of T'ien-shou [2nd May, 691]."The Ling-hsiu Nunnery is mentioned several times in the SteinMSS. From a list of monasteries and nunneries given in S. 2614 v?,which may date from the tenth century, we learn that it then containeda total of 142 inmates, comprising 99 k: ) J] nuns who had takenthe full vows, 29 i X M probationers (siksamana), and 14 i+ Jnovices (sramanerika), of whom two were senior and twelve junior.- ;~ are the three regulation garments ( k sasaya) worn bymonks and nuns, consisting of a vest or shirt, an upper garment, anda " patch-robe ", reaching from the shoulders to the knees and fastenedround the waist.-There are three classes of sentient existence in thePure Land, upper, middle, and lower, each similiarly divided intothree grades, making nine in all.-This is the earliest dated MS. inwhich we find the new characters adopted in 689 by the Empress Wuon the recommendation of a minister called #- : Tsung Ch'in-k'o. As will be seen by reference to Plate I, the characters in theabove colophon which appear in their altered form are , [, $,f,, and l . Of these, 4 does not occur in the list of 12 charactersgiven in T'ang shu, lxxvi, 10 v?, and repeated with a little variationin Tzuichih t'ung chien, cciv, 19 v?, and Kang mu, xli, 106-7. On theother hand, it does occur in the list of nineteen new characters givenby *-11 l f Hsiian ho shu p'u (reproduced n T'u shu chi ch'eng,xxiv, 1, f. 9 r?), and also in the list of sixteen given by Cheng Ch'iaoin his T'ung chih, ch. 35, f. 13 r?. The latter points out, however,that the altered form is not really new, but derived from the archaicscript. This MS. is a small fragment only about 1 foot long. Thehandwriting is very clear and good.


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LIONEL GILES-

692 (CHOU:usurpation of the Empress Wu).S. 238. ~ M 3 AX ; f t *Chin chen yii kuangpa chingfei ching. This is another Taoist sfitra which is no longer tobe found in the Taoist Canon. It is devoted principally to the descrip-tion of various deities, and blank spaces have been left in the text fortheir portraits.Colophon: Au;i C m ]5 Ji + Ha M ,,t $"Copied by the scribe Wu Chung on the 13th of the 5th intercalarymoon of the 1st year of Ju-i [2nd July, 692] to the order of Chih-suiof the Ch'ing-tu Monastery, with his colleagues Ssui-chieh,Chu-yung,and Chi-ch'ien. 18 sheets of paper used." [10 of these remain.]This colophon well shows the distinction in meaning between ]and j. The names of the Taoist monks are rather strange, e.g. Chi-ch'ien means " Shun-money ". Ju-i lasted from the 4th to the 8thmoon of this year, inclusive. The Empress Wu characters in thecolophon are 1r, f), and H. In the text of the sfutra,the ordinaryforms of all three occur several times.

A fine MS. on bright yellow paper of particularly good quality.The roll is 161 feet long.694 (CHOU:usurpation of the Empress Wu).

S. 3542. Mt; M |,%E **Fo shuo a mi t'o ching. This isthe first dated example of the so-called " smaller Sukhavati-vyfha "in Kumarajiva's translation (N. 200), which always remained far morepopular than the later and fuller translation by Hsiian-tsang (N. 199);of the latter there is but a single copy in the Stein Collectionas opposedto several dozen of the other.

Colophon: i i. _ H - H= - f;i M /, [Et ES - R " On the 1st day of the 6th moon of the3rd year of Ch'ang-shou[28th June, 694] the Buddhist disciple MasterTi reverently caused a copy to be made of the Amita Siitra."Three of the Empress Wu characters occur here: $, q, and H.A good MS. on soft yellow paper. Roll about 51 feet long.694 (CHOU: usurpation of the Empress Wu).S. 5176. *Miaofa lien hua ching, ch. 3, p'in 5-7.

Colophon: * J - a *-fia A t * ~ m - " On the 7th day of the4th moon of the 3rd year of Ch'ang-shouin the Great Chou dynasty[6th May, 694] Seng Huai-chen of the Ta-yiin [Great Cloud]

22


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^-;^:,. * ,:\.r;-:,^.^~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~::: *,:- - .. :::---- i-:-.:, - --:1 :.-__:-:-~~. _~_.1~1 1||i^|:...i*i_iiiiii?r-iyiy^ll^-^i......... **'!"1i i!i!ii~/.....J-"i!

i ;.. . . . . . . ~li~i:lli~iz

ii,~~ii~ii!111.,~i~?,^-:^^^ :.:..:^ :i::;^m^ :^:S^:U-:.? ...^~ ! !

:::::i::^ : ::

i-. --~~~~~~~~~i- ii:i:i:i:iiiii~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i::- -:I :i:ii~~~~~~~''"""'~~'?'"z'~'~ii!iii~~iii,i!ii!iii!iiiiii!ii!iiiii?iiii11ii-i:iii~~~~~~~~~~7)SL.~~~~~~~~~~

iiii!iiiiiiii~!i~i~i~t

^.i^'K^ -^^^asi^

FOUR COLOPHONS SHOWING "EMPRESS Wu CHARACTERS , DATED A.D. 691 (S.

700 (S. 87). From right to left.

!!iiiiiiiii~i?iii~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r,iii:iii~:iiiii:i: - -:-i iii~111JiiiiiiillI,:~ ~~ ~ ? ,pi,ii_i-~---iii-iI~-::::i:i:i::iii%?11i!iiiil iiiiiil:: :::,i : i -:~

FourOLOPHONSHOWING "EMPRESSUHARACTERS, DATED A.D.691 (S.700.:: 87., -~~i;--i::ro r:igh to ef


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Monastery reverently caused a section of the Fa hua ching to becopied on behalf of his deceased mother."The name of the dynasty had been changed from T'ang to Chouby order of the Empress in 690. The same three new characters occur

again in the colophon.A very good, well-spaced MS. on rich yellow paper. Roll about301 feet long.695 (CHOU: usurpation of the Empress Wu).S. 2278. f41~& W i , *Fo shuo pao yii ching (Ratna-varsa-suitra), ch. 9. This is the only copy of N. 151 in the Collection. Itcontains the longest and most elaborate of the tabulated colophons,beginning thus: : * : A$ e, JRL TXn HEl e M a -"e 4 "Translated at the Fo-shou-chi Monastery on the 3rd day, chi-ch'ou, of the 9th moon, the firstday of which was ting-hai, of the 2nd year, kuei-ssiu,of Ch'ang-shouin the Great Choudynasty [7th October, 693]."The characters 41, )J, 3, and f are written in the new style.The Fo-shou-chi (Buddha-given Record) Monastery stood inside the4 g Chien-ch'un Gate at the capital. Its original name a eChing-aiwas changed by Huai-i after the buildings had been extended.The colophon continues: *C 1 JM 4 *:C , '(i Hi* *

X " The bhadanta and sramana Huai-i of the Ta-pai-ma (GreatWhite Horse) Monastery supervised the translation."Huai-i was a favourite of the Empress Wu, and a notoriousscoundrel. He was a native of % ,, Hu Hsien near Ch'ang-an, andhis original name was jg| /bJI Feng Hsiao-pao. Noted for his sizeand physical strength, he was taken by the Princess Ch'ien-chin(f , & _t) into the Palace, where he soon became the secretlover of the Empress. In order to divert suspicion from his comingsand goings, she had him ordained as a Buddhist priest and made himDirector of the White Horse Temple. She also forced ~ 4 HsiehShao, son-in-law of the Princess T'ai-p'ing (; 2i5 ), to adopthim into his clan, and he was thenceforth popularly known as P ofthe Preceptor Hsieh. Huai-i now gave himself up to all kinds oflawlessness and debauchery, and a brave censor who ventured toimpeach him was waylaid and beaten almost to death. He wasappointed to superintend the reconstruction of the Pjj _Ming T'ang,and his services were rewarded by the titles of A . # ;kC _gCommander-in-chiefof the Left division of the Imperial Guard, andX N &^ Duke of Liang. After a military expedition against the


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LIONEL GILES-T'u-chiieh had added to his honours, he was employed with a numberof other monks in forging a so-called * e ,f Great Cloud Sfitra,in which the Empress was extolled as an incarnation of Maitreya.But seeing his influence begin to wane with the rise of a new favourite,in a fit of jealous anger he set fire to the Ming T'ang and the Templeof Heaven, also newly erected, and both were burnt to the ground.Though his share in this crime was hushed up, his ever-increasingarrogance alienated the Empress, and the discovery of a treasonableplot finally led to his being seized and strangled. This happened atthe end of 694, only six months before the date of this MS. The aboveaccount is taken from Chiu t'ang shu, clxxxiii, 15-16.Colophon (continued): ] P : prq* & - % pt O FP t SE E i 3 % , n ~ * " Sanskrittext publishedand explained by the sramana Dharmaruchiof SouthernIndia; Sanskrit text conjointly published by Fan-mo, royal envoyand sramana of Central India."

By order of the Empress, Dharmaruchi's name was afterwardschanged to zf M i j. Bodhiruchi, and it is under this name thathe appears in Sung kao seng chuan, ch. 3, no. 4.Next come four monks who played an active part in the translation,one as interpreter (M 1A), one as check-interpreter (| n ),and two as verifiers of the Sanskrit ( X3). Here we findXwritten in the new style.Two monks appear to have taken down the words in actual dicta-tion (E 5E), two g 3 " sewed together " or linked up the composi-tion, and no fewer than nine j - verified the meaning. A Brahmanpriest verified the translation, and a Brahman minister with a Chinesename, J p Li Wu-ch'an, acted as interpreter. Here E is writtenin the new style. Three Brahmans and a native of ] Xj , Ch'ing-shan Hsien in A +F1Jung-chou (Shensi) copied the Sanskrit text.The minister i 4 A Li Shen-kung, shang-fang in charge of thecraftsmen (fi5 ~)j _ f), prepared the materials (K), i.e. paper,ink, and dye. Shang-fang was the name of an officer concerned witharticles destined for imperial use. The list concludes with the namesof two specialists on manuscripts and composition, and two specialcommissioners.Then follows what may be regarded as the real colophon, writtenin a much larger hand (see Plate I): f, _e x; $ A M

Xt J ~; ~j a "Collated and copied by the monk Tao-li,

24


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cognizant of merit, on the 8th day, i-yu, of the 4th moon, the 1stday of which was mou-yin, of the 1st year, kuei-wei, of Cheng-sheng[26th May, 695]. Examined and revised by his friend the monk Fa-lin."Cheng-sheng fell in Z A i-wei, not kuei-wei, and did not last thefull year. It is strange to find such a mistake in this elaborate colophon.The Empress Wu characters are Xp, H., *, q, and E . At thevery end of the roll, which is about 22 feet long, are the characters-+ -- "16 ", probably referring to the number of sheets, of whichonly fourteen, however, remain. Paper and handwriting are bothvery good.695 (CHOU:usurpation of the Empress Wu).S. 5005. ~ of I *Yao shih ching. This is N. 171, K. ix. 9. f,with an abbreviated title.Colophon: :* J? e _Ax1 * p n, + A/- H f ff- P[ ff Pr $j "Reverently copied by the Buddhistdisciple of pure faith Lang Hsing-hsin on the 18th day of the 4th moonof the 1st year of Cheng-shengin the Great Chou dynasty [5th June,695].5"

The Empress Wu characters are the same as in the preceding roll.A good MS. on good yellow paper. Roll 15 feet long.696 (CHOU:usurpation of the Empress Wu).S. 217. a ej & 4 *Kuan shih yin ching. This is anothername for Miaofa lien hua ching, p'in 25.Colophon (see Plate I): ae _ $ E Xf +:EL Ai 9 -IR Na 1:4;f:3& a

"On the 15th day of the 1st moon of the 2nd year of T'ien-ts'e-wan-sui [23rd February, 696], the Buddhist disciple of pure faith YinSsiu copied out the Kuan shih yin ching in one roll on behalf of hisparents now living and his parents of seven previous incarnations,as well as on his own behalf and that of the multitude of living beingsin the universe." The Empress Wu characters are E, , E,I,and E.A good MS. on dull buff paper partly dyed yellow. Roll about41 feet long.700 (CHOU:usurpation of the Empress Wu).S. 87. *Chin kang pan jo polo mi ching (N. 10).The colophon (see Plate I) has a more worldly flavour aboutit than usual: B- NA - l * If 11* i-1 #? RIm 0 1 & ^ M ^^-I ^


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26 DATED CHINESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STEIN COLLECTION

ne 2d d* f he m ionteaofS "" On the 23rd day of the 5th moon of the 3rd year of Sheng-li[14th June, 700] Yin Jen-hsieh, Assistant Commissionerat Ta-sheng-pa-ku, shang-chu-kuo,and k'ai-kuo-kung of Nan-yang Hsien, causedthis sfitra to be copied on behalf of the Holy and Divine SovereignLord of the Golden Wheel, his parents of seven previous incarnations,and all the members of his family, great and small. He made a vowthat if he was promoted to the sixth official grade he would have oneroll copied every month, and that if he was promoted to the fifth gradehe would have two rolls of a siutracopied every month. But for along time, owing to warlike operations, paper and ink have not beenprocurable, so that he did not fulfil his vow. Now at last, materialshaving been procured, he has been able to have this copy made, tobe unrolled and read on behalf of all without exception."

Nan-yang Hsien is in Honan, but the name Ta-sheng-pa-kusuggestsa place outside the borders of China proper. The cakra, wheel ordisc, is an emblem of sovereignty, and the , % 3E or Golden WheelKing is the highest of the cakravartin, a conqueror of the universe.The Empress Wu, on whose behalf the siutrawas copied, had assumedthe even higher title in the text. Her special characters in this colophonare _S, If, )I, H, and g. Note the different form of fJ, whichalso occurs in other MSS.This is a very good MS. on bright yellow paper, but the first sheethas been added in a different hand. The roll is about 15 feet long.(To be continued.)

dated chinese manuscripts in stein collection vol 8-1

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