Chau Ju-Kua - University of Oregon Libraries

1,23 MECCA. ] 25
jewels and precious stoues. Then also is the House adorned anew with silk
brocade.
Farther oif there is the tomb of the Buddha. Continually by day and
night there is at this place such a brilliant refulgence (p; ^) that no one
5 can approach it; he who does loses his sight.
Whosoever in the hour of his death rubs his breast with dirt taken
from this tomb, will, they say, be restored to life again by the power of the
Buddha.
Note.
10 The journey from Mirbat on the H^dramaut coast, through the Tehama (south-west coast
of Arabia) to Mecca was the old trade-route of the Sabeans, it is presumably the one referred to
in our text.
The whole of this chapter is taken from Ch6u K'tt-fei (3,2*'). He says: aThere is the country
of Ma-kia, which is reached if one journeys for eighty days and more westward by land from the
15 country of Ma-li-pa. It is the place, where the Buddha Ma-hia-wu (Mohammed) was born. In the
House (^ ~)j ^) of the Buddha, the facings of the walls of the rooms are of precious stones
(^)-of every colour. Every year, when the anniversary of the Buddha's death comes roiind, all
the princes of the Ta-shi send people bearing presents of jewels, gold and silver, and they cover
the House (yjf ^^ i. e., the Kaaba) with silk brocades. Yearly the (various) countries (of the
20 Ta-shi) come here to visit the House and to offer prayers. Furthermore the high officials of these
countries are not deterred by a journey of a myriad U; they all assemble to worship the House.
ccFarther off (literally, Bbehind» .:i^) there is the tomb of the Buddha, where day and
night there is such a brilliant refulgence that no one can approach it, those who do shut their
eyes ('^ BM' ^^^ ^^^ ^y- '* ^* ^^'"^ ^^^^ '^ ^ ^^'^ ^^ dying and takes some dirt from oif this
25 tomb and smears it on his breast, he is restored to life, so great is the power of this Buddha!»
Chou K'ii-fei is, so far as lam aware, the first Chinese author who wrote of Mecca. The
T'ang-shu (22l'',23) speaks of Mohammed (|$ =|n[ ^) and of Medina (^ Jjjj ^|5), of the
Black Stone of the Kaaba, but not of Mecca. It gives, however, some interesting information about
Islam which our author might with advantage have incorporated in his work^ Among other
30 things, it speaks of the five daily prayers to the nSpirit of Heavenu (^^ )Iiw)i ^°^ of the
mosques, which it calls li-t'ang (mp ^), and which can hold many hundreds of people. aHere
every seven days the king from a high seat speaks to those below saying: 'Those who die fighting
shall be born in Heaven; those who kill an enemy shall receive happiness)).
The oHouse of the Buddha)) of Chou's text is not the Prophet's birthplace (Maulid el Naby)
85 in Mecca, but the oHouse of Allah» (Bayt Ullah), better known as the Kaaba or ocube housei);
the Chinese name
{~fj ^) has the same sense. In the Yuan and Ming periods Mecca was
called «The Heavenly square)) (^ ~^)j ^^ abbreviation of the earlier name.
Burton, Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, II, 278 says that the birthday of the
Prophet (twelfth of the month Eabi' el Auwal) is celebrated in Mecca with great festivities, feasts,
40 prayers and perusals of the Koran.
On the brilliant light which is said to emanate from the tomb of the Prophet, con£ what
Barthema, who was in Medina in 1503, says ofit in his travels (Purchas, His Pilgrimes, IX, 66).
When visiting the tomb of the Prophet, the Elders who accompanied him and the Captain of his
party suddenly cried out; awe asked what was the cause of that exclamation. The Elders
45 answered: Saw you, not the lightning which shone out of the Sepulchre of the Prophet Mahumet,
Our Captaine answered, that he saw nothing; and we also being demanded, answered in like
manner It is therefore to be understood, that none other shining came out of the
Sepulchre, than a (iertaine flame which the Priests caused to come out of the place of the Tower
spoken of here before, whereby they would have deceived us)). . .
,