Chau Ju-Kua - University of Oregon Libraries

1,21 LNDIA. 1 1
bis life. "When lie goes forth he rides on horseback, and his saddle and bridle
are thickly set with dark gold (,|^ ^) and silver. His followers, three hun-
dred in number, arc armed with spears and swords.
His consort wears a gold embroidered scarlet dress with large sleeves.
5 Once a year she shows herself in pubhc, when considerable bounty is given
to the poor.
win this country there is holy-water (^ y\x.) which can still the wind
and waves. The foreign traders fill opaque glass bottles with it, and when
they suddenly get in a rough sea they still it by sprinkling this water on iU ^.
10 It is said that «during the reign of Siian-wu of the Posterior "Wei dyn-
asty (A. D., 500— 515), T'i6n-chu sent envoys with a present of swift
horses (^ ,^). It is said that their country produces (|ij)
leopards, camels (^),
hons, sables,
rhinoceros, elephants, tortoise-shell, gold, copper,
iron, lead and tin, gold embroidered rugs (^ i^ ^ )& ^ ^ Ij )j jpo-tie
15 (Q ^) and fa-tong (^| ^|). There is a stone hke talc (^ -^), but of
a reddish colour; when split it is as thin as a cicada's wing; when put to-
gether the pieces look like silken gauze. There is the diamond (^ ||||J ^),
which looks like fluor-spar (^ ^ ^), but which will not melt, though
exposed to the fire an hundred times». It can cut jade-stono'.
20 There is sandal-wood (^ ^) and other aromatic woods, sugar-cane,-
sugar (:^ ^) and all kinds of fruits. They trade yearly with Ta-ts'in and
Fu-nan (^ ^). They use cowries as a medium of exchange. They are
clever jugglers. They have bows and arrows, armour, spears, flying-ladders
(^ ^)» ^*P^ (^ M)^ ^^^ ^^^° *^® contrivances called the «wooden-oxen»
25 and the «gliding-horses» (;^ yet ^ ^ M); they are cowards in battle. They
are good astronomers and calculators of the calendar (^ ^ or astrologers).
They all study the Si-tau-chang-shu (^ # # #) [Note: A gap of
seven characters occurs here]. They use the leaves of the pei-to (^ ^) as
paper*.
30 In the periods chong-hian (A. D. 627—650) and fien-shou (690—
692) of the T'ang (this country) sent envoys with tribute (to our Court). In
the yung-Jd period (of the Sung, A. D. 984—988) a priest, by name Lohu-na
{M ^ t^p), arrived (in Ts'uan-chou) by sea; he called himself a native
of T'ien-chu. The foreign traders (# |^),
considering that he was a foreign
35 priest vied with each other in presenting him gold, silks, jewels
(^ f^),
and precious stones, but the priest had no use for them himself. He bought a
piece of ground and built a Buddhist shrine (^ ^ij) in the southern suburb
of Ts'iian-chou; it is the Pau-lin-yuan (gf ;j^ |^) of the present day \
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