MOUNT OMEI
[Sidenote: BUDDHIST MONASTERIES]
Very few of the buildings now existing on Mount Omei can boast of
antiquity, for a damp climate and the ravages of fire have in the past
made short work of their fragile timbers. The monasteries are humble
structures, being simply one-storied bungalows of wood. Compared with
the richly-carved teakwood _wats_ of Siam and _kyaungs_ of Burma, they
are unpretentious buildings with little decoration, and what there is
possesses small artistic merit. Over the doorways and under the eaves
hang sundry massive wooden boards, resplendent with richly-gilded
characters, giving the name of the monastery and brief quotations from
the Buddhist scriptures. Most of the tablets containing inscriptions or
quotations have been presented by devout pilgrims, but the periodical
regilding of the characters is paid for out of the corporate funds. The
interiors are generally more imposing; for every monastery on Mount
Omei is also a temple, and the decoration of the halls containing the
images of the Buddha and his saints is generally on a fairly lavish
scale. The larger temples have a series of such halls one behind
the other, with courts or quadrangles intervening, the sides of each
quadrangle being occupied by the monks' living quarters. There are also
spacious quarters for visitors. The office in which the financial and
other secular affairs of the monastery are administered is generally a
small room on the left side of the first hall of images, corresponding
to a room on the other side which is used as a kind of porter's lodge.
In the latter room the monks spend a great deal of their time in the
cold weather, and sit huddled round a charcoal brazier. From the
middle of the room they can see, through the open door, every one who
enters and leaves the temple by the main entrance; and one of them is
generally deputed to attend on every group of visitors or pilgrims.
All pilgrims bring their own food with them--the Chinese their rice,
and the Tibetans their _tsamba_; but those whose appearance entitles
them to respect, or who have given a substantial donation to the funds
of the establishment, are invited to drink tea and eat sweetmeats, and
warm themselves by the charcoal fire. The Buddhistic injunction to
avoid taking life is rigorously obeyed on Mount Omei by visitors as
well as residents, all of whom conform to a strictly vegetarian diet.
The only persons who ever disregard this rule are some inconsiderate
Europeans. Small subscriptions--generally in the form of copper
"cash"--are placed on an offertory plate, or on the altar table in
front of one of the principal images, and are deposited there by the
pilgrims after they have finished their devotions. Those who wish to
leave a permanent record of their visit, or whose donation exceeds
a _tael_ (say three shillings), inscribe their names or paste their
cards in the subscription book, with a statement of the amount of their
donations. An ingenious plan has been devised to relieve pilgrims of
the necessity of carrying large quantities of coin up the mountain, and
at the same time to invalidate excuses of want of money. In the town
of Omei-hsien, where every pilgrim spends the night before beginning
the ascent, he is visited by a banker or broker, who offers him little
paper notes or chits called _fei tzŭ_, bearing various face-values from
ten taels down to one hundred cash (about twopence). They are printed
from wooden blocks, and in many cases the amount of money represented
is inserted in writing. The pilgrim selects as many _fei tzŭ_ as he
thinks he may require or can afford, and pays over their face-value to
the banker. The notes are handed as occasion requires, or benevolence
prompts, to the temple treasurers, or are deposited on the altars, and
are received in the temples as readily as coin. When a considerable
collection of them has been made in any monastery they are sent down
to the banker, who deducts his very small commission and settles
the account either by sending silver in return, or by crediting the
monastery with the amount in his books.
[Sidenote: MONASTIC ENDOWMENTS]
The monasteries naturally vary in size. Some of them are the homes
of a score or more of monks and acolytes, while the smaller ones
shelter but three or four. When a monastery is destroyed by fire
or other cause, its elderly or infirm inmates lodge themselves
temporarily in one of the neighbouring religious houses, while the
more energetic go forth on a pilgrimage--sometimes as far as the
Eastern sea-board--carrying with them a donation book for the purpose
of collecting funds for rebuilding. When the monastery arises again
from its ashes it is practically a new foundation with new endowments,
even its name being sometimes altered. In spite of the apathy
concerning religious matters that strikes every European observer as
characteristic of China to-day, it is a significant fact that large
subscriptions for religious purposes can always be obtained from the
Chinese layman notwithstanding his protestations of contempt for the
monastic ideal and for the idle and useless lives led by the vast
majority of Chinese Buddhist monks.
Passing by the Pao-ning monastery, which is situated on the plain
between the city and the mountain-base, I visited the monasteries of
the White Dragon (Pai Lung Ssŭ), and the Golden Dragon (Chin Lung Ssŭ),
and stopped for the night at the Wan-nien Ssŭ, formerly the White Water
Monastery of P'u Hsien. This is one of the largest establishments on
the mountain, and its written history goes back to the third century,
if not further. It contains many objects of interest, the chief of
which is the life-size bronze elephant discovered, or rather first
described, by Baber. The very curious spiral-roofed brick building
in which it stands--believed by Baber to have been erected by Hindu
Buddhists not later than the sixth century of the Christian era--is
unfortunately so small and shut in that it is impossible either to
photograph the elephant or to view it from a proper standpoint. Baber
believed that this edifice was, next to the Great Wall, the oldest
building in China of fairly authentic antiquity, and he considered that
the elephant was the most ancient bronze casting of any great size in
existence,--perhaps fifteen centuries old. I have some reason, however,
to doubt the alleged antiquity of both building and elephant.[50] Upon
the animal's back is a bronze statue of P'u Hsien P'u Sa (Samanta
Bhadra Bodhisattva), who, as I have said, is supposed to have come from
India to Mount Omei on an elephant. Among modern curiosities at the
Wan-nien Ssŭ is a small alabaster image of Gautama Buddha, which was
recently brought from Burma by a Chinese Buddhist monk who had been on
pilgrimage to the shrines of Mandalay and Rangoon. The same pilgrim
presented a coloured print of the great Shwe Dagon pagoda at Rangoon,
which is regarded by the monks of Wan-nien as a precious work of art,
though its intrinsic value is, of course, trifling. There is also, in a
separate building called the Hai Hui T'ang,[51] a supposed tooth-relic
of Buddha, which is treated with strange lack of reverence.[52] But it
is only an elephant's molar, and the monks know it.
[Sidenote: FLORA OF MOUNT OMEI]
Wan-nien Ssŭ is situated at a height of about 3,500 feet above the
sea-level. The summit of the mountain (11,000 feet[53]) is therefore
still a long way off; but as I succeeded in reaching it on the evening
of the day on which I left Wan-nien Ssŭ, in spite of the fact that
the path was often obliterated by snow and ice, I satisfied myself
that the difficulty of the climb has often been much exaggerated. In
dry weather, indeed, there is no reason why a healthy man of average
physical vigour should not accomplish in one day the whole climb from
base to summit: though such a feat of endurance would prevent him
from paying much attention to the objects of interest on the way. The
mountain sides are luxuriantly wooded, and it is only when the path
approaches the edge of a precipice or a steep slope that any extensive
view can be obtained during the greater part of the ascent. The silver
fir, evergreen-oak, pine, cypress, laurel, birch, chestnut, spruce,
_nan-mu_, maple (several species) and _camptotheca acuminata_ are all
to be met with, and there are innumerable flowering plants and ferns;
but the character of the flora naturally varies a great deal at the
different altitudes. On the exposed parts of the summit there is little
but dwarf bamboos, junipers and rhododendrons, though in sheltered
places I noticed the silver fir, liquidambar, yew, willow, pirus, and
several kinds of shrubs. Other trees, like the alder, Chinese ash,
and banyan, are confined to the plain or to the lower slopes. The
banyans[54] of the Omei plain are magnificent trees, some of them of
enormous girth.
Below Wan-nien Ssŭ I left behind me spring warmth and sprouting
vegetation. By the time I had reached a height of 4,000 feet there were
patches of snow on the roadside; 2,000 feet higher all visible trace of
the path was gone, icicles hung from the leafless trees, while small
acolytes from the monasteries, clad in their wadded winter garments,
were busily sweeping away the snow in front of the gateways. When I
left Omei-hsien my thermometer registered 64° Fahr. At Wan-nien Ssŭ the
temperature had sunk to 49°; on the summit of the mountain there were
13 degrees of frost after sunset.
The next temple to Wan-nien Ssŭ is the Kuan Hsin Ting,[55] a poor
building which was apparently in sole charge of a child of nine. The
next is the Hsi Hsin So.[56] These words may be interpreted as "The
Haven of the Tranquil Heart," but they also mean "The Pilgrim's Rest,"
for _hsi hsin_ are the words used to translate or explain the Sanskrit
term _sramana_,[57] an ascetic or monk. The records of the mountain
explain the name by saying that when the pilgrim reaches this place, he
can no longer hear the growlings and mutterings of the "dusty world":
his heart therefore becomes as peaceful as his surroundings. In the
building is a large image of Maitrêya, the "Buddha of the Future," who
is supposed to be in the Tushita heaven, awaiting incarnation.
[Sidenote: ARAHATSHIP]
Passing by the Ch'ang Lao P'ing[58] temple, the next is the Ch'u
Tien,[59] otherwise known as the Tsu Tien. _Tsu_ is a kind of red-eyed
duck, and the allusion is to the duck-like shape of a neighbouring
rock. The temple contains rather life-like images of the eighteen
_lo-han_.[60] These Chinese words represent the Sanskrit _arhat_ or
_arahat_, "venerable" or "worthy." We meet with arhats in the oldest
Buddhist scriptures. They were the worthiest and most enlightened
of Buddha's disciples; men who fully understood the doctrine as it
was delivered to them by their master, and accepted it as a final
statement of truth. Arahatship, as we have seen in the last chapter,
is the goal aimed at by all true Buddhists, and implies a release from
all delusion, ignorance and sorrow. In technical language the arahat
is the man who has acquired the "four distinctive qualifications"
(_patisambhidâ_) and has attained the state of "final sanctification."
In the hands of the Mahayanists the arahats come to be persons
possessing magical powers,[61] such as that of moving without support
through space, in which respect they are the nearest approach to the
mysterious Tibetan beings invented by the self-styled "theosophists":
but arahatship as an ideal becomes altogether subordinate to that
of Bodhisattship, the state of the holy man who, having arrived at
the stage next preceding that of Buddhahood, voluntarily refrains
from taking the final step, in order that he may remain as a teacher
and saviour among men. In the Chinese Buddhistic system there are
several classifications of the arahats or _lo-han_: we find them in
groups of twelve hundred, five hundred, eighteen and sixteen. The
twelve hundred are only met with, so far as I am aware, in books; but
many large temples in China contain images of the five hundred. In
Canton, for example, there is what Europeans have rather foolishly
named the Hall of the Five Hundred Genii. Some wag once fancied he
saw a resemblance in one of the figures there to Marco Polo, and for
some reason or other the idea struck the professional Canton guides
as such a happy one that for many years past they have been in the
habit of deluding thousands of European and American travellers with
the belief that Messer Marco has been turned into a Chinese "god." The
mistake assumes a somewhat grotesque character when we remember that,
according to the Chinese belief, each of the five hundred lo-han is
destined at some remote period to become a Buddha.[62] In the majority
of Chinese temples--as in those of Mount Omei--the number of lo-han
represented by images is only eighteen; but there is a difference of
opinion among the followers of different schools as to the identity
of two of these. In Korea and Japan the temples generally contain
sixteen lo-han, while Tibetan Lamaism sometimes recognises sixteen and
sometimes eighteen.[63] The two extra ones seem to have been added as
an after-thought by Chinese Buddhists in comparatively modern times.
[Sidenote: LOTUS-FLOWER]
Above the Temple of the Red-eyed Duck comes the Hua Yen Ting.[64]
As already mentioned, the name _Hua Yen_ is that of a famous sutra
"discovered" by Nāgārjuna. The temple contains the eighteen lo-han and
figures of Sakyamuni Buddha and the two Bodhisattvas P'u Hsien and
Manjusri.[65] Behind these three central figures is a small Kuan Yin
(Avalokiteçvara). On leaving this temple the road strikes downwards for
a short distance, and, soon after recommencing the ascent, we arrive
next at the monastery known as the Lien Hua Shih[66] ("Lotus Flower
Stone"), where there is a holy relic consisting of the curiously
shaped stone from which the place derives its name. I found a number
of Tibetan pilgrims rubbing coins on it; the coins to be afterwards
carefully preserved as charms. The stone is said by the monks (on
no authority that I can discover) to have been brought up from deep
waters by miraculous agency, and to have floated on the surface like
the flower of the lotus. The lotus myth in Buddhist cosmology is based
on a very picturesque allegory, with which most of my readers are
probably acquainted. Its meaning has been accurately described in the
following words by E. J. Eitel, who, though he possesses the usual
bias against "heathendom," is a fairly sympathetic writer on Buddhist
subjects. "The idea conveyed in this flowery language of Buddhism is of
highly poetic and truly speculative import, amounting to this: that as
a lotus flower, growing out of a hidden germ beneath the water, rises
up slowly, mysteriously, until it suddenly appears above the surface
and unfolds its buds, leaves, and pistils, in marvellous richness of
colour and chastest beauty of form; thus also, in the system of worlds,
each single universe rises into being, evolved out of a primitive germ,
the first origin of which is veiled in mystery, and finally emerges
out of the chaos, gradually unfolding itself, one kingdom of nature
succeeding the other, all forming one compact whole, pervaded by one
breath, but varied in beauty and form. Truly an idea, so far removed
from nonsense, that it might be taken for an utterance of Darwin
himself."[67] Visitors to Buddhist temples cannot fail to observe how
frequently the lotus allegory has been made to subserve religious and
artistic purposes, and we have seen in the last chapter how it has
been associated with the story of the beginning of P'u Hsien's worship
on Mount Omei. The images of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are nearly
always represented as sitting or standing in the centre of a huge open
lotus, and even P'u Hsien's elephant stands on the same sacred plant.
As regards the stone in the Lien Hua monastery, I may add that it does
not bear the smallest resemblance to a lotus or any other plant, and
apparently it is not supposed to do so. Its original crude shape has
evidently never been tampered with, though its surface has been worn
smooth by constant rubbing.
[Sidenote: "OM MANE PADME HOM"]
Into the same temple another stone--not a sacred one--has found its
way. It is a huge boulder, many tons in weight, that was brought down
the mountain side some years ago by an avalanche, and crashed into the
back of the main hall, where, for superstitious reasons--and perhaps
because its removal would be a matter of immense difficulty--it
has been allowed to remain. On a hanging scroll above the central
images I noticed a Chinese transliteration[68] of the well-known
Tibetan formula, "_Om Mane Padme Hom_ (or _Hung_),"[69] generally
translated--but this is a controversial matter--"Hail! The Jewel in the
Lotus." The first word _Om_ or _Aum_ is the well-known sacred syllable
of Brahmanism; practically it is simply a _syllaba invocationis_.
The Jewel may mean the Buddha, or his Law (Dharma), or the Buddhist
Church (Sangha), or all three combined, or more probably signifies
Avalokiteçvara (the Chinese Kuan Yin and Japanese Kwannon), who in
Lamaism is supposed to be incarnated in every successive Grand Lama.
But, as a matter of fact, very few of the Tibetans who mutter the
sentence as they walk or turn it in their prayer-wheels, or carve it on
stones and rocks by the wayside, can give any clear idea of what they
mean by it. Like the Chinese _Nam-Mo_ (or _Nan-Wu_) _O-mi-to-Fo_[70]
("Praise be to Amitabha Buddha"), it is regarded as a kind of _dhâranî_
or mystic spell, the constant repetition of which will lead the
believer to a life of bliss in Sukhâvatî, the Western Paradise. The
only Chinese whom I met on the mountain besides the residents were
Buddhist monks on pilgrimage, and the invocation to Amitabha was
constantly on their lips; the other was repeated with equal persistence
by the Tibetan pilgrims. During part of my climb the mountain was
enveloped in a thick mist, which muffled the sound of footsteps; but
there was seldom a moment that I did not hear one or other of these
mystic sentences floating weirdly in the air above me or below.
[Sidenote: WHITE CLOUDS MONASTERY]
A steep climb soon brought me to the Hsi Hsiang Ch'ih[71] ("The
Elephant's Bath"), where a temple has been built close to a pool
of water where P'u Hsien's famous elephant is said to have bathed
after his long journey. The temple contains images of Sakyamuni
Buddha, P'u Hsien and Manjusri. Behind them, in the same hall, are
three beautifully gilded figures, larger than life-size, representing
Amitabha Buddha attended by Kuan Yin and Ta Shih Chih[72] Bodhisattvas.
These are the three beings who are supposed to preside over the Western
Paradise; their images are therefore frequently found together,
Amitabha always in the centre. In another hall is an image of Kuan Yin
unattended.
The next temple is known as the Great Vehicle[73] or Mahayana
monastery. Here are images of Sakyamuni, Manjusri and P'u Hsien,
who are also constantly associated in this manner; and behind them,
facing in the opposite direction, is a large Maitrêya, the Coming
Buddha. After a fairly steep ascent thence and a short descent the
path rises to the Pai Yün Ku Ch'a[74] ("The Old Monastery of the
White Clouds")--which at the time of my visit I found to be a most
appropriate name. Here there is a colossal sedent image of Chang
Liang,[75] a warlike hero who died in the second century of our era,
after he had made an ineffectual attempt to achieve immortality by
starving himself. He was subsequently canonised by the name of Wên
Ch'êng.[76] In another hall are Sakyamuni Buddha, Manjusri and P'u
Hsien, supported by the eighteen lo-han. In ascending to the next
temple, the Lei Tung P'ing,[77] all pilgrims are expected to preserve
absolute silence. The Lei Tung or Thunder Cavern is that which shelters
the irascible Dragon of rain and thunder, to whom I referred in the
last chapter. An inscription that hangs in the temple apparently refers
to his controlling powers over lightning and rain-clouds.[78] The
slightest sound of the human voice, either in laughter or in speech, is
liable to produce a terrific whirlwind and thunderstorm.
[Sidenote: TEMPLE OF THE PRINCE ROYAL]
Next above this perilous locality comes the Chieh Yin Tien[79]--the
Temple of Amitabha. The words _chieh yin_ mean "to receive and lead,"
and are applied to Amitabha because he it is who is supposed to assist
the faithful to reach the Western Heaven in which he reigns. The
first hall contains a richly-gilded colossal statue of this Buddha,
standing upright. Behind him is a figure of Wei To[80] (_Vêda_), a
Bodhisattva who is regarded as a _vihârapâla_, or tutelary deity of
the Buddhist monkhood. He is responsible for seeing that the recluses
do not suffer through lack of nourishment, and that the monastery
is properly supplied with necessaries. The second hall contains the
eighteen lo-han in bronze. There are also the usual images of Sakyamuni
and his attendant Bodhisattvas, and a colossal gilded P'u Hsien sitting
on a lotus on the back of a white elephant. In the right-hand corner
of this well-populated hall is another triad of divinities: Yo Shih
Fo,[81] a mythical Buddha who dwells in an eastern world, with Ti Tsang
and Kuan Yin Bodhisattvas on his left and right. This is a favourite
Buddha in China, and is supposed to hold in the East a position
somewhat analogous to that of Amitabha in the West. In the popular
imagination he has replaced the Motionless (_wu tung_) Buddha Akchôbhya
(A-ch'u-p'o) and is worshipped as the healer of sickness. Ti Tsang[82]
is one of the great Bodhisattvas, like P'u Hsien, Ta Shih Chih and
Manjusri. The principal seat of his worship in China is in the province
of Anhui. He is the benevolent being who seeks to save human beings
from the punishments of hell. His prototype is said to have been a
Siamese prince.
A steep ascent from this interesting monastery leads to the Ku T'ai
Tzŭ P'ing,[83] the "Ancient Temple of the Prince Royal." It is said
that this building is named after a prince of the Ming dynasty, but
the monks of to-day prefer to regard the T'ai Tzŭ as Sakyamuni Buddha
himself, in the character of Prince Siddharta, son of the king of
Kapilavastu. The figure representing him is attired in real robes,
richly embroidered. On his right is P'u Hsien, seated on a white
tuskless elephant. As already mentioned, P'u Hsien's elephants are
generally characterised by their six tusks. On the prince's left is
Kuan Yin; and behind these three central figures are images of Ti
Tsang, Ta Shih Chih, Wên Ch'êng (Chang Liang) and Manjusri, all of whom
have been described.
[Sidenote: TAOIST DIVINITIES]
The next is the Yung-ch'ing Ssŭ[84] or Eternal Happiness monastery.
Here a many-armed Kuan Yin faces the entrance, and behind him (or
her) is an Amitabha. The only new figure among the rest is that of
Bodhidarma or Ta-mo, the St Thomas of the Catholic missionaries.[85]
He sits cross-legged with the first finger of the right hand raised.
A small P'u Hsien is seated on an elephant with four tusks, the other
two being lost. In this hall I observed some heaps of broken statues
in bronze and iron, the remains of a ruined temple. From here a level
path leads to the K'ai Shan Jou Shên Tsu Shih Tien,[86] which, as the
name partly indicates, contains a gruesome relic in the shape of the
mummified body of a former abbot, attired in the robes he wore in
life. The dried shrunken face has been lacquered with great care, and
no one would guess that the figure was not made of clay or bronze.
It is not the only mummy on the mountain. From here a short steep
path leads to the Eagle-wood Pagoda,[87] a monastery named after a
miniature nine-storied bronze pagoda, the gift of a Ming empress. The
next temple bears the imposing inscription of "The August Guard of
the Gate of Heaven,"[88] where there is a large Sakyamuni with the
usual attendant Bodhisattvas. Next comes the Ch'i T'ien Ch'iao[89]--The
Bridge of the Seventh Heaven--where there is a small temple in which
the three Bodhisattvas--P'u Hsien (in the middle) and Manjusri and
Kuan Yin (on the right and left)--sit in a row in front of a solitary
image of Sakyamuni. The next temple is the P'u Hsien Pagoda,[90] where
the patron saint of Mount Omei, as is natural, occupies the place of
honour in the middle of the hall facing the entrance. Behind him is
Amitabha, and at the back of the hall, right and left, are Sakyamuni
and Kuan Yin. On the left side of the hall is an image of one of the
favourite personages in the Chinese theogony--Ts'ai Shên, the "God of
Wealth."[91] This god is so popular in China that Buddhism could not
afford to neglect him, but as he is really a Taoist divinity he is only
allowed to appear in a Buddhist temple as an act of grace. The same may
be said of Kuan Ti,[92] the God of War, Lung Wang[93] the Dragon Raja
or Naga-king, and the San Kuan.[94]
From this temple a short walk over a wooden-paved path, kept clear
of snow by sedulous sweeping, leads to the Hsi Wa Tien[95]--the
Pewter-Roofed Hall. At one time there were three "halls," with roofs of
pewter, bronze and iron respectively. The metal roofs have vanished,
though the names remain. "Pewter-roof" is specially appropriate to a
Buddhist monastery, for pewter is the only metal that Buddhist monks
may--in theory--possess. Each monk is supposed to carry a pewter-headed
staff when he goes on pilgrimage or on his begging-rounds; and when he
lodges at a monastery he is said to _kua hsi_, which literally means
"to hang up the pewter." In south China there is a spring called the
Pewter Spring, because it bubbled up at the bidding of a thirsty monk
who struck the ground with his staff.
Another short climb brought me at last to the summit of Mount Omei,
where, at a height of about 11,000 feet, I found welcome and rest in
the spacious monastery that proudly describes itself as "The Golden
Hall of the True Summit."[96]
Though I was not expected by the monks--for my two soldiers had failed
to keep up with me in spite of my efforts to send them on as my
ambassadors--I was at once made comfortable in a large, clean apartment
on the first floor; and when my hosts heard that I was a humble student
of their religion they soon provided me with as ample a vegetarian
banquet as I could have desired, and treated me with great kindness.
[Sidenote: "THE GLORY OF BUDDHA"]
An hour after my arrival I stood outside the temple gateway watching
the sun set below a wild white ocean of clouds that laved the mountain
side about 2,000 feet below me and turned the summit of Mount Omei
into a snow-draped island. The air rapidly grew bitterly cold, and I
was glad to seek warmth indoors by the side of my charcoal fire. My
dilatory escort, carrying my modest baggage, came wearily in just as it
began to grow dark.
The next morning held in store a wonderful surprise. The vast ocean of
white clouds had entirely disappeared, and the wide country that lay
far below me was bathed in the glory of brilliant sunlight. The sun
rarely reveals himself in his full splendour in Ssuch'uan--so rarely
that when he does so the dogs are said to bark at him[97]--and on
Omei's summit sunshine is rare even for Ssuch'uan; but by good fortune
it was on one of those exceptional occasions that I spent there the
whole of one memorable day.
There are several monasteries on or near the summit. The one in which I
lodged for two nights is crowned with a gilded ball that scintillates
on its roof. Just behind the various buildings of this monastery is the
tremendous precipice from the edge of which fortunate pilgrims witness
the phenomenon known as the "Glory of Buddha."[98] As mentioned in the
last chapter, this is the appearance of a gleaming aureole floating
horizontally on the mist a few thousand feet below the summit. This
beautiful phenomenon, to which is probably due the special sanctity
of Mount Omei, has not yet been quite satisfactorily explained. It
has been likened to the famous Brocken Spectre, and to the Shadow of
the Peak in Ceylon, but the brilliant and varied colours of "Buddha's
Glory"--five colours, say the Chinese--give it a rainbow-like beauty
which those appearances do not possess.[99] The pious Buddhist pilgrim
firmly believes that it is a miraculous manifestation of the power and
glory of the Buddha--or of his spiritual Son P'u Hsien--and is always
much disappointed if he has to leave the mountain without catching
a glimpse of it.[100] The necessary conditions of its appearance
are said to be a clear sky above and a bank of clouds below, and as
those conditions were not fulfilled for me I must sorrowfully confess
that I cannot describe the spectacle from personal experience. But
the circumstance that deprived me of that privilege enabled me to
have a superb view of the surrounding country. Nearly 10,000 feet
below me to the north and east lay the rich rolling plains of central
Ssuch'uan; to the south the silver streak of the Ta Tu river and the
wild mountains that enable the mysterious Lolo races to maintain their
solitary independence; slightly to the south-west appeared the huge
mass of the Wa mountain, with its extraordinary flat summit and its
precipitous flanks; and, grandest sight of all, clear and brilliant
on the western horizon stood out the mighty barrier of towering peaks
appropriately known by the Chinese as the Ta Hsüeh Shan--Great Snow
Mountains. Those are the peaks--some of them 20,000 feet high, and
more--that keep watch and ward over the lofty Tibetan plateau on the
one side and the rolling plains of China on the other: the eastern
ramparts of the vast Himālayan range, whose icy fingers seem ever to
grope outward into the silent abyss of space as if seeking to grasp the
fringe of a mightier world than ours. Even at a distance of nearly 100
miles as the crow flies the pinnacles seemed too lofty to be real; but
it was pleasant to know that a few weeks hence I should be in the midst
of the great mountains, perhaps learning something of their hidden
mysteries.
[Illustration: "JIM" ON THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT OMEI. [_To face p. 102._]
[Sidenote: THE OMEI PRECIPICE]
The narrow gallery behind the monastery from which one watches for
a manifestation of Buddha's Glory is carefully railed, for a fall
from this spot would mean a sheer drop of more than a mile down the
face of a precipice which, as Baber has remarked, is perhaps the
highest in the world. Many are the stories told by the monks of men
and women who in moments of wild religious exaltation have hurled
themselves down to win death and paradise in one glorious instant by
throwing themselves into the bosom of their Lord Buddha: true stories,
which have well earned for this terrible precipice the name of "The
Rejection of the Body."[101] Less sinister names which have been given
it are the Diamond Terrace and the Silvery Boundary,--the latter[102]
perhaps because Mount Omei is regarded as the eastern buttress of the
Great Snow Mountains; or perhaps the words refer to the view of those
mountains on the western horizon. Near the edge of the cliff are the
remains of a once famous bronze temple, which was several times struck
by lightning and has never been restored since the date of the last
catastrophe. Some of the castings are exceedingly fine and well worthy
of preservation. A Chinese proverb says that Heaven grants compensation
for what the lightning has destroyed,[103] but in this instance it
seems to have failed of fulfilment.
The temple at which I stayed harbours about twenty monks and acolytes,
and visitors both lay and monastic are constantly coming and going. I
observed there the performance of an interesting custom, whereby the
monks who come on pilgrimage from distant monasteries produce papers
of identification and have them stamped with the seal of each of the
monasteries they visit. As their journeys are made that they may "gain
merit," not only for themselves but also for the religious communities
which they represent, it is important that on their return they should
be able to produce duly authenticated certificates that they have
actually attained the objects of their pilgrimage. In many cases
the establishment visited also grants Buddhist tracts or plans of its
own buildings. One such crude plan--representing the mountain of Omei
with its principal religious houses--is reproduced here on a reduced
scale. The monastic seal (in red in the original) appears at the top.
Some yellow-robed monks from a large monastery near Pao-ning-fu in
north-eastern Ssuch'uan, and a small group of lamas from Litang, on
the Tibetan border, were having their papers sealed at the time of my
arrival at the Golden Summit.
[Illustration: CHINESE PLAN OF MOUNT OMEI, SURMOUNTED BY THE SEAL OF
THE MONASTERY OF THE GOLDEN SUMMIT. [_To face p. 105._]
[Sidenote: BUDDHIST MATINS]
During my day's rest I attended two religious services, besides a
"choir-practice" of young boys who had not yet become fully-fledged
monks. The services were well intoned, and, considering one's strange
surroundings, had a singular impressiveness. The ordinary daily prayers
are very simple, consisting in little more than repeated invocations
of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas: they are "praises" rather than prayers.
The ordinary Morning Service or Matins (Tsao K'o)[104] begins with a
procession of monks into the principal hall or chapel--_Ta hsiung pao
tien_,[105] "The Precious Hall of the Great Lord (or Hero")--where,
after circling round the central figure of Sakyamuni, keeping one bared
shoulder towards the image, they take their seats on low benches on
left and right. In front of Sakyamuni are lighted candles and burning
sticks of incense. The service then begins by the general invocation,
_Nam Mo Pên Shih Shih Chia Mou-ni-Fo_:[106] "Praise to our Lord
Sakyamuni Buddha." This is followed by _Nam Mo Tan Lai Mi Lei Tsun
Fo_:[107] "Praise to the Honoured One Maitrêya, the Buddha that is to
be." The Buddhas of the past and future having thus been honoured, a
bell is sounded to announce a change in the manner of address, when
somewhat similar phrases of adoration, interspersed with short hymns
of praise, are sung in honour of some of the great Bodhisattvas,
those selected at the service attended by me being the following,
in the order named: _Wên Shu Shih Li_[108] (Manjusri, the Lord of
_Ta chih_,[109] Great Wisdom); _P'u Hsien_[110] (Samanta Bhadra, the
patron saint of Mount Omei); _Hu Fa Chu T'ien P'u Sa_[111] (all the
Bodhisattvas, Defenders of the Faith); _San Chou Kan Ying Hu Fa Wei
To Tsun T'ien P'u Sa_[112] (the Honoured Bodhisattva Wei-To,[113] the
Distributer of Rewards and Punishments throughout the three Continents,
Defender of the Faith); _Jih Kwang Pien Chao_ and _Yüeh Kuang Pien
Chao_[114] (the Bodhisattvas of the Far-Shining Light of the Sun and
of the Moon--who are regarded as attendant on Yo-Shih Fo, the Healing
Buddha of the East); _Tsêng Fu Ts'ai Shên_[115] (the Bodhisattva who
increases happiness and wealth--the Chinese "God of Wealth"[116]); and
finally _Shih Fang P'u Sa_[117] (the Bodhisattvas of the Ten Quarters
of the Universe).
[Sidenote: BUDDHIST VESPERS]
The most interesting part of the service consists in the short
"lections" of extracts from the scriptures, which take the place
of the lessons and sermons of Christian churches. The lections are
followed by short hymns, some of which have been specially composed
for liturgical purposes and are not to be found in the sacred books.
Several processions and prostrations take place during the service. The
intoning when heard from some distance is often not unlike a Gregorian
chant, but the words are uttered rather too quickly, especially in the
constantly-repeated invocations.
The Evening Service or Vespers (Wan K'o[118]) begins with a solemn
invocation to the mythical Buddha of the Western Paradise, the sublime
Amitabha.[119] Then follow the praises of Yo Shih Fo, the Healing
Buddha, who "averts calamity and lengthens human life."[120] Two
Buddhas, as in the Morning Service, having thus been invoked, the
next to be lauded are a new selection of the great Bodhisattvas, in
the following order: _Kuan Yin_ or _Kuan Shih Yin_, the "Goddess of
Mercy," and _Ta Shih Chih_, the Bodhisattva of Great Strength,[121] the
two who under Buddha Amitabha preside over the Western Paradise; _Ti
Tsang Wang_,[122] who saves men from the terrors of hell; _Wei To_,
Defender of the Faith--the only divinity whose name is included in both
Morning and Evening Services; _Chia Lan Shêng Chung P'u Sa_[123] ("the
holy Bodhisattvas, Protectors of the Monasteries," of whom Kuan-Ti,
the Taoist "God of War," is one); _Li Tai Tsu Shih P'u Sa_[124] (the
Patriarchs, the Bodhisattvas of Successive Ages); _Ch'ing Ching Ta Hai
Chu P'u Sa_[125] (all the Pure Bodhisattvas of the Great Ocean: _i.e._
of life and death or continual metempsychosis).
"Buddha's Glory" is not the only marvel that the fortunate pilgrim
may hope to behold when he reaches the Golden Summit. Night, on Mount
Omei, has its treasures hardly less glorious than those of day. These
take the form of myriads of little lights, moving and glimmering like
winged stars in the midst of an inverted firmament. They are known as
the Shêng Têng (Holy Lamps),[126] and have been described to me--for
alas! I saw them not--as brilliant specks of light darting hither
and thither on the surface of the ocean of mist on which in daytime
floats the coloured aureole. A fanciful monk suggested to me that they
are the scintillating fragments of the "Glory of Buddha," which is
shattered at the approach of night and reformed at the rising of the
sun. Foreigners have supposed that they are caused by some electrical
disturbance; but the monk's explanation, if the less scientific of the
two, is certainly the more picturesque.
[Sidenote: DESCENT OF MOUNT OMEI]
The monastery in which I was entertained is probably the largest on
the summit, but by far the most famous is its neighbour, the Hsien Tsu
Tien,[127] which is believed to occupy the site of the original temple
to P'u Hsien that according to the legend was built by P'u Kung in
the Han dynasty after he had tracked the lily-footed deer to the edge
of the great precipice and had beheld the wonderful sight thenceforth
known as the "Glory of Buddha." The temple contains a large sedent
image of the patron saint, and behind it is a terrace from which may
be seen the manifold wonders of the abyss. Not far from this building
is the Monastery of the Sleeping Clouds,[128] and further off are the
temples of the Thousand Buddhas (Ch'ien Fo) and the White Dragon.[129]
I regretfully left the summit of Mount Omei on my downward journey
early on the morning of 10th March, and, after many a slip and sprawl
on the snow, reached the Wan-nien monastery in the afternoon. Here I
spent a night for the second time, and continued the descent on the
following morning. Just below the temple of the Pai Lung (White Dragon)
which I had already visited, the road bifurcates; and as both branches
lead eventually to Omei-hsien, I naturally chose the one that was
new to me. By this time I had left far behind me the snow and icicles
of the higher levels, and had entered a region of warm air and bright
green vegetation. The change was startling, as though by some magic
power the seasons had been interchanged.
"I dreamed that as I wandered by the way
Bare winter suddenly was changed to spring,
And gentle odours led my steps astray,
Mixed with a sound of waters murmuring."
Shelley's dream would have been realised on the slopes of Mount Omei.
Between the bifurcation of the roads and the foot of the mountain there
are a number of monasteries, few of which possess any feature calling
for special remark, except the romantic beauty of their situations. The
most conspicuous are the Kuang Fu Ssŭ,[130] or "Monastery of Abounding
Happiness"; the Lung Shêng Kang,[131] or "Mountain Ascending Dragon,"
from which there is a splendid view of the Golden Summit; the Kuan Yin
Ssŭ,[132] or "Monastery of Avalokiteçvara"; the Chung Fêng Ssŭ,[133]
"Half-Way Monastery"; and the Ta O Ssŭ,[134] the "Monastery of Great
O" (_i.e._ Omei Shan, Mount Omei), which is a spacious building, often
visited by holiday-making Protestant missionaries from Chia-ting. After
passing this building the downward path leads across a small bridge,
called the "Bridge of the Upright Heart" (Chêng Hsin Ch'iao[135]),
to the monastery named Hui Têng Ssŭ[136] ("The Spiritual Lamp"), from
the neighbourhood of which the view of the mountain summit is of
exceptional beauty. A charming road leads thence past several other
monasteries, down to the level plain, whence the walk to Omei-hsien is
easy. Before I reached the city the great mountain had vanished from my
sight and I never saw it again: from peak to base it had disappeared
into impenetrable mist. There was only the soft sound of a distant
monastery bell to assure me that somewhere in the clouds the sacred
mountain might still be looked for not in vain.
[Sidenote: DEPARTURE FOR YA-CHOU-FU]
I have dwelt long upon the Buddhistic associations of Omei; and perhaps
the reader is wearied by an account of temples and of forms of belief
that he considers grotesque and uncouth. I should be sorry if I were
to leave him with the impression that Omei possesses no interest
beyond the glimmer that is shed upon it by the Light of Asia. If every
monastery were to crumble into dust, if the very memory of Buddhism
were to be swept utterly away from the minds of men, Omei would still
remain what it was before the first Buddhist recluse had built there
his lonely hermitage--it would still be a home of portent and mystery,
the abode of nameless spirits of mountain and flood, the source of
inspiration to poet and artist, the resort of pilgrims from many lands,
each of whom--whatever his faith--would find, as he gazed from the edge
of the Golden Summit into the white abyss below, a manifestation of the
Glory of his own God.
FOOTNOTES:
[50] See Note 6 (p. 414).
[51] 海會堂
[52] See Note 7 (p. 417).
[53] This is the usually accepted estimate; but Sir A. Hosie has
recently stated it to be only 10,158 feet.
[54] _Ficus infectoria._
[55] 觀心頂.
[56] 繫心所.
[57] Literally, "the quelling of the passions."
[58] 長老坪.
[59] 開山初殿. See Note 8 (p. 418).
[60] 阿羅漢.
[61] In the early Buddhist scriptures we learn that super-normal powers
were even then supposed to be characteristic of the arhats, but it was
generally considered undesirable to put such powers to the test.
[62] See the Saddharma-Pundarîka, translated by Kern in the _Sacred
Books of the East_, vol. xxi. The Chinese version is known as the Miao
Fa Lien Hua Ching (妙法蓮華經).
[63] See an article on this subject by T. Watters, in the _Journal
of the Royal Asiatic Society_, April 1899. See also Edkins, _Chinese
Buddhism_, pp. 249 and 394-395.
[64] 華嚴頂.
[65] Manjusri (文殊師利) is a Bodhisattva who in China is practically
worshipped as the God of Wisdom. Like Ti Tsang, Kuan Yin and others,
he is supposed to have had a human prototype, or rather to have been
incarnated in the body of a historical personage. But the truth
probably is that any person of superlative wisdom was liable to be
identified by his admirers with Manjusri. There is an interesting
reference to him in I-Tsing's _Records of the Buddhist Religion_,
translated by J. Takakusu (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896), p. 169. The
translator comments on the fact that Manjusri was even by the people
of India supposed, at one time, to be somehow connected with China,
and the actual place of his residence was identified as Ping Chou in
Chih-li.
[66] 蓮花石.
[67] _Three Lectures on Buddhism_, pp. 60-61.
[68] 唵嚤呢叭□吽.
[69] ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ
[70] 南無阿彌陀佛.
[71] 洗象池.
[72] 大勢至.
[73] 大乘寺. See Note 9 (p. 418).
[74] 白雲古剎.
[75] 張良.
[76] 文成.
[77] 雷洞坪.
[78] 掣電飛雲.
[79] 接引殿.
[80] 韋陀 or 護法韋陀: _Veda Fidei Defensor_--a Hindu deity who was
regarded as one of the protectors of the four "Continents" of the world
or Universe.
[81] 藥師佛, whose common title _Lui Li Fo_ (琉璃佛) translates the
Sanskrit _Vaidūrya_, _lapis lazuli_. This precious stone seems also to
have been associated with a favourite Assyrian deity, Ênu-rêstū.
[82] 地藏.
[83] 古太子坪.
[84] 永慶寺.
[85] See above, p. 66.
[86] 開山肉身祖師殿.
[87] 沉香塔. The aloes or eagle-wood is so-called because it sinks
(_ch'ên_) in water. It is supposed to be the aloes-wood mentioned in
the Bible.
[88] 威鎮天門.
[89] 七天橋.
[90] 普賢塔.
[91] 財神 or 財帛星神.
[92] 關帝.
[93] 龍王.
[94] 三官.
[95] 錫瓦殿.
[96] Chêng Ting Chin Tien (正頂金殿). There is another Chin Tien or
Golden Temple on the summit of a range of mountains north-east of
Tali-fu in Yunnan (the Chi Shan) which is also a noted centre for
Buddhist pilgrimages. A short account of the temples of this mountain
is given in a Foreign Office Report by the late Mr Litton. (China, No.
3: 1903, pp. 4-6.)
[97] 日出則犬吠.
[98] 佛光.
[99] A somewhat similar phenomenon, described as an "anthelia," may
be witnessed in Ceylon. Sir James Emerson Tennent, in his _Ceylon_
[Longmans: 1859, 2nd edition], states that phenomena of this kind
may have "suggested to the early painters the idea of the glory
surrounding the heads of beatified saints." He adds this description:
"To the spectator his own figure, but more particularly the head,
appears surrounded by a halo as vivid as if radiated from diamonds.
The Buddhists may possibly have taken from this beautiful object their
idea of the _agni_ or emblem of the sun, with which the head of Buddha
is surmounted. But, unable to express a _halo_ in sculpture, they
concentrated it into a _flame_."--Vol. i. 72 _seq._
[100] See Note 10 (p. 419).
[101] 捨身崖. There is a similar Suicide's Cliff near the summit of T'ai
Shan. _Shê shên_, it may be remarked, has a double meaning.
[102] 銀色界.
[103] 雷打天補.
[104] 早課.
[105] 大雄寶殿. The first two characters, rendered Great Lord or Hero,
represent the Sanskrit Vîra, used as the epithet of a Buddhist saint.
[106] 南無本師釋迦牟尼佛.
[107] 南無當來彌勒尊佛.
[108] 文殊師利.
[109] 大智.
[110] 普賢.
[111] 護法諸天菩薩.
[112] 三洲感應護法韋陀尊天菩薩.
[113] 韋陀.
[114] 日光 and 月光遍照菩薩.
[115] 增福財神.
[116] See above, p. 99.
[117] 什方菩薩.
[118] 晚課.
[119] 極樂世界阿彌陀佛.
[120] 消災延夀藥師佛.
[121] 大悲觀世音 and 大勢至 (Avalokiteçvara and Mahâsthâma: see footnote,
p. 72).
[122] 地藏王.
[123] 伽藍聖衆菩薩. The two first characters represent the Sanskrit
Sanghârâma, the park or dwelling-place of monks, equivalent to a
_vihara_ or monastery.
[124] 歷代袓師菩薩.
[125] 清淨大海諸菩薩.
[126] See Note 11 (p. 419).
[127] 先祖殿. See Note 12 (p. 420).
[128] 峰頂卧雲庵.
[129] 白龍池.
[130] 廣福寺.
[131] 龍昇岡.
[132] 觀音寺.
[133] 中峰寺. See Note 12 (p. 420).
[134] 大峨寺. See Note 12 (p. 420).
[135] 正心橋.
[136] 慧燈寺.