Mandalay to Momien / A narrative of the two expeditions to western China of 1868 and 1875 under Colonel Edward B. Sladen and Colonel Horace Browne

APPENDIX I.

A Note by Bishop Bigandet on Burmese Bells.[42]

Bells are common in Burma, and the people of that country are well acquainted with the art of casting them. Most of the bells to be seen in the pagodas are of small dimensions, and in shape differ from those used in Europe. The inferior part is less widened, and there is a large hole in the centre of the upper part. No tongue is hung in the interior, but the sound is produced by striking with a horn of deer or elk the outward surface of the lower part. No belfry is erected for the bells; they are fixed on a piece of timber laid horizontally, and supported by two posts, at such a height that the inferior part of the bell is raised about five feet from the ground.

The largest specimens of Burmese art are the two bells to be seen, the one at the large pagoda of Rangoon, called Shuay Dagon, and the other at Mengoon.

The first was cast in 1842, as recorded by the inscription on it. The weight of metal is 94,682 lbs.; its height, 9½ cubits; its diameter, 5 cubits; its thickness, 15 inches. But during the process of melting, the well-disposed threw in copper, silver, and gold in great quantities. It is supposed that in this way the weight was increased one-fourth.

The bell of Mengoon was cast at the beginning of this century. In shape and form it resembles our bells of Europe. It is probable that some foreigner residing at Ava suggested the idea of giving such an unusual form to that monumental bell. Its height is 18 feet, besides 7 feet for hanging apparatus. It is 17 feet in diameter, and from 10 to 12 inches in thickness. Its weight is supposed to exceed 200,000 lbs.[43] In the interior, large yellowish and greyish streaks indicate that considerable quantities of gold and silver have been thrown in during the process of melting. No idea can at present be had of the power of the sound, as its enormous weight has caused the pillars that support it partially to give way. To prevent a final disaster, the orifice of the bell has been made to rest on large teak posts sunk in the ground and rising about 3 feet above it.

[42] From ‘The Legend of the Burmese Buddha,’ by Bishop Bigandet, Rangoon.

[43] It will be observed that these figures are in excess of those given by Colonel Yule, which I have quoted in the text.

APPENDIX II.

Translation of a Chinese Document, which purports to account for the Origin and Establishment of Mahommedanism in China. By Colonel Sladen.

The chief queen of the emperor Tanwan adopted a child and called him Anlaushan. In time the child developed into a man of extraordinary comeliness and wonderful intellect.

The queen was enamoured; and the adopted son became her paramour.

Anlaushan soon rose to distinction. His abilities were of the highest order, and raised him at once to fame and influence. The queenly passion was not disclosed; but suspicion had been sufficiently roused to make it prudent on the queen’s part to get rid of her lover, and defeat all signs of illicit intercourse.

Anlaushan was accordingly accused of being privy to a conspiracy to dethrone the emperor. The influence of the queen prevailed to obtain a conviction, and her favourite was banished from the royal capital.

But the injustice of his accusation and a sense of wrongs roused Anlaushan to action, and induced him to become in reality a leader of rebellion. He lost no time in collecting a large force with which he was able to make head against the government, and successfully encounter the troops of the emperor. In time he had approached within a league of the capital, and city and palace were alike threatened.

The emperor Tanwan in this emergency adopted the suggestion of his vizier Kanseree, and despatched a mission to Seeyoogwet, and implored foreign aid. A force of three thousand men was sent, under the command and guidance of three learned teachers, who arrived in due time at Tanwan’s capital. By their aid Anlaushan was defeated and eventually captured.

The rebellion was at an end, and the foreign contingent left China, to return to its own country. Here, however, a difficulty arose. Their rulers refused them admittance, and alleged as a cause for doing so, that it was against the constitution of the country to receive back men who had come into contact with pork-eating infidels. They had herded in fact with pigs and infidels, and could no longer be regarded as unpolluted subjects, or as fit members of a society which held pork in religious detestation.

They returned therefore to China, and became permanent sojourners in a foreign land. They are the original stock from which Mahommedanism has sprung up in China, in various communities, and under several denominations, &c.

APPENDIX III.

List of Nats, or Deities, worshipped by the Kakhyens; obtained from Native Sources by Colonel Sladen.

1. Ngka nat; Burmese, Me nat; Eng. God of Earth.—He is worshipped on the occasions of digging gold or other mines, founding a village, and sowing paddy. The offerings made are buffalo, hogs, fowls, dried fish, and liquor (sheroo). The worship must be celebrated by the entire population of a village, and for four days next ensuing no work nor journey must be undertaken.
2. Mooshen or Mofitwa nat or nats. These are husband and wife, called respectively Sharoowa and Modai-pronga. Burmese, Thakya-meng; Eng. the King of Gods.—Worshipped on the occasion of clearing fields, cutting rice crop, and founding a village. The offerings made are a young male buffalo or bull, hog, cocks, eggs, rice, dried fish, and liquor, with gifts of a silk putzo and women’s ornaments. The worship is celebrated by the tsawbwa and the whole village, and cannot be offered by a private person.
3. Numsyang or Noon-shan nat or nats; Burmese, Yuwa-saun; Eng. the Village Guardians.—These are male and female, the eastern portion of a village being under the custody of the former, and the western of the latter. They are worshipped twice a year; also on the occasion of any epidemic or of war, and at the foundation of a new village. The offerings are as already mentioned, but the victims must be male, and the worship is celebrated by the tsawbwa with all his people.
4. Chan nat; Burmese, Me nat; Eng. the Sun.—Also two, husband and wife. Worshipped by chief and people at the time of clearing fields and harvesting. The offerings are red fowls, boiled rice, eggs, dried fish, bread, and liquor, with gifts of one gong, a red putzo, and masculine ornaments.
5. Sada nat; Burmese, La nat; Eng. the Moon.—Worshipped as foregoing. Offerings, boiled rice, dried flesh and fish, eggs, and four bamboo flasks of liquor, with gifts of feminine clothes and ornaments and a silver pipe stem.
6. Ning-foi, or Pomp-woi; Burmese, Le nat; Eng. the Air.—Worshipped in sickness, time of war, when going on a trading journey, clearing fields, or founding a village. Offerings, buffalo, cow, hog, fowls, &c., with gifts of putzo, gong, and silver.
7. Ning-gon-wa nat; Burmese, Byama nat; the Hindoo Brahma.—Regarded as the “chief tsawbwa after death.” Offerings, bread; gifts, flowers, silk putzo, and eight bamboos of liquor.
8. Boom nat; Burmese, Toung nat; Eng. the God of Mountains.—Worshipped in sickness, and when clearing fields or founding a village. Offerings, buffalo, cow, hog, &c.
9. Mŭm Sŭn; Burmese, Soba nat; Eng. the Rice God.—Worshipped for growth of rice crop, and sometimes in sickness. Offerings the same as to the Moon.
10. Chegah nat; Burmese, Lay-khyan-saun; the Field and Garden Keeper.—Invoked to protect them. Offerings of buffalo and cows, of which the skin is burned and the flesh boiled. Propitiated also with offerings of tobacco. Said to inflict disease in the skin and eyes.
11. Waroom nat; Burmese, Ana nat; Eng. the God of Disease.—Worshipped during sickness, chiefly small-pox and cholera. Offerings, buffalo, &c.
12. Khakhoo Kha-nam; Burmese, Yei nat; the God of Water.—Worshipped on the occasion of any one being drowned; sometimes in sickness. Offerings, two buffaloes, two hogs, two fowls, &c.
13. Tsethoung nat; Burmese, Tou nat; Eng. the God of Forest.—Worshipped on the occasion of founding a village, clearing fields, war, and sickness. Offerings, a hog, a goat, &c.
14. Ngkhoo nat; Burmese, Aing nat; the Home God, or God of Ancestors.—Worshipped in all cases of sickness. Any one wishing to migrate to another state hangs a bamboo of liquor on a post and invokes him. New rice is also offered him at harvest. Offerings, buffalo, cow, &c.
15. Ndong nat; Burmese, Aing-peen nat; the God of the Outside of Home.—Believed to reside in the house, but worshipped outside if one of the family is killed in war, or by drowning, fall from a tree, or the bite of a tiger or snake. Offerings, buffalo, &c.
16. Mo nat; Burmese, the same; the God of Heaven.—Four brothers, viz. Moung-lam, Khreenwan, Seen-lap, Mou-sheeing, and a sister, Boung-fwoy, the Thunder Goddess. A very high god of the Kakhyens, worshipped by those who desire profit in trade, victory in war, or children; also on occasion of founding a village and of sickness. Sacrifice, buffalo, cow, hog, and fowls—all which must be white—dried fish, eggs, and liquor.
17. Lessa nat; Burmese, Tesey, or Tuhsai; the ghost of a person murdered by the dah, supposed to cause disease.—Offerings, buffalo, &c., and boiled rice, curry, liquor, exposed in baskets.
18. Needang nat; Burmese, Meima Tesey; the compound spectre of mother and unborn child.
19. Hau-saing nat; Burmese, Taroup nat; the Chinese god.
20. Khokhamla; Burmese, Sing-buring; the last king.
21. Phee Lomoon; Burmese, Soung; the witch, believed to be able to destroy life.

APPENDIX IV.

Note by Professor Douglas on the Deities in the Shan Temple at Tsaycow, in the Hotha Valley.

The objects of worship contained within the walls of this temple are well worthy of note, more especially as they illustrate the curious manner in which the deities representing the various faiths of Chinamen—Buddhist, Taouist, and Confucianist—are often intermingled. As the subjoined list shows, Buddhas, Buddhisatwas, Devas, Arhans, and Buddhist patriarchs, stand side by side with “True Men,” “Masters of Heaven,” and princes of the Taouist faith; while Confucianism finds a solitary representative in the Deva of Scholarly (i.e. Confucianist) Youths (No. 15). This grouping together of the deities of the “Three Religions” might appear strange to those unacquainted with the phases which these faiths have assumed in China. From the first, however, Taouism was but another form of Buddhism, and the gradual weakening, which has been going on for centuries, of the distinctive doctrines of the two sects, together with the introduction of purely Chinese superstition into both, have tended to obliterate the uncertain line of demarcation which originally separated the one from the other. Indeed, the power of absorption, whether of races or of creeds, which so peculiarly belongs to the Chinese, has served to fuse together the dogmas of Buddha and Lao-tsze with the teachings of Confucius to such an extent that, as far as the masses are concerned, they may be treated as the foundations of a common faith, and the objects set apart by each for worship are to be found not unfrequently standing in positions of equal honour—as in the present instance—in the national Pantheons.

The following is a list of the eighty deities who are enthroned in the temple:—

1. Yun lai tseĭh teen = the Deva of the Gathering Clouds.
2. Jĭh kung tsun teen = the honoured Deva of the Sun Palace.
3. To wăn tsun teen = Vaishravana.
4. Keen-na-lo Wang tsun teen = the honoured Deva, the King of the Kinnaras.
5. Ta hĕh tsun teen = Mahâ Kala.
6. Sing kung tsun teen = the honoured Deva of the Star Palace.
7. Tae suy tsun teen = the Chinese Cybele.
8. Luy shin tsun teen = the honoured Deva of Thunder.
9. Hoo-kea-lo Wang tsun teen = the honoured Deva, King Hoo-kea-lo.
10. Po-kiĕh-lo-tsew (?) tsun teen = the honoured Deva Po-kiĕh-lo-tsew (?) (Bhaskaravarna?).
11. Same as No. 8.
12. Lŭh chai pă Wang tsun teen = the honoured Deva, the Eighth King of the Six Fasts (?).
13. Hing ping kwei Wang tsun teen = the honoured Deva, the Disease-transmitting Demon King.
14. Hwa-kwang-meaou-keĭh-tseang tsun teen = Manjusri.
15. Joo tung te teen = the Imperial Deva of Scholarly (i.e. Confucianist) Youths.
16. San chi tsun teen = the Glory-scattering honoured Deva.
17. Mi-tseĭh-kin-kang tsun teen = the Vajra-holding honoured Deva.
18. Mo-le-che tsun teen = Maritchi.
19. Să chin jin = the True Man Să (Taouist).
20. Kŏ chin jin = the True Man Kŏ (Hang?) (Taouist).
21. Yuh te = the Jade Ruler (Taouist).
22. Chang Teen sze = the Master of Heaven Chang (Taou-ling?) (Taouist).
23. Heu chin keun = the Prince Heu (Taouist).
24. Ho-le-te-nan tsun = Hariti.
25. Yen-lo te teen = Yama.
26. Kwei tsze moo teen = the Demon Terrestrial Deva.
27. Poo-te-shoo teen = Buddhisatwa Druma.
28. Keen-lo te teen = the Firm and Strong Terrestrial Deva.
29. Mo-he-lo tsun teen = Maheshvara.
30. Kwang mŭh tsun teen = Virupaksha.
31. Tsăng chang tsun teen = Virudhaka.
32. Chĭh kwŏ tsun teen = Dhritarashtra.
33. Same as No. 8.
34. Kwan shing te teen = the God of War.
35. Te shĭh tsun teen = Buddha.
36. Ta fan tsun teen = Brahma.
37. Tsze tung te teen = the Deva of the Tsze and Tung Trees.
38. Ta peen teen = the Great Deva of Disputation.
39. Kung tĭh tsun teen = the honoured Deva of Good Works.
40. Hoo fa tsun teen = Dharmarakshita.
41. Heuen teen shang te = The Sombre-Heaven God.
42. Pin-too-lo tsun-chay = the Arhan[44] Pin-too-lo.
43. Choo-cha-pwan-to-kea tsun-chay = the Arhan Choo-cha-pwan-to-kea.
44. Fa-na-po-sze tsun-chay = the Arhan Fa-na-po-sze.
45. Na-kea-mow-na-lo tsun-chay = the Arhan Na-kea-mow-na-lo.
46. Pwan-to-kea tsun-chay = the Arhan Pwan-to-kea.
47. Fa-chay-fŭh-to-lo tsun-chay = the Arhan Fa-chay-fŭh-to-lo.
48. Po to-lo tsun-chay = the Arhan Po-to-lo.
49. Soo-pin-to tsun-chay = the Arhan Soo-pin-to.
50. Peen-nŏ-kea-fa-tso tsun-chay = the Arhan Peen-nŏ-kea-fa-tso.
51. Kan heen = the Watching-the-Righteous (Deity).
52. Kea-che = Kâsyapa.
53. Chay-nŏ Fŭh = the Protecting and Answering Buddha.
54. Shŭh-kea Fŭh = Sakya Buddha.
55. Pe-loo Fŭh = Vairoshana.
56. A-nan = Ananda.
57. Wăn choo = Mangusri.
58. Pin-tow-loo-to-chay tsun-chay = the Arhan Pin-tow-loo-to-chay.
59. Kea-kea-po-tĭh-to tsun-chay = the Arhan Kea-kea-po-tĭh-to.
60. Nŏ-keu-lo tsun-chay = the Arhan Nŏ-keu-lo.
61. Kea-le-kea tsun-chay = the Arhan Kalika.
62. Shoo-foo-kea tsun-chay = the Arhan Shoo-foo-kea.
63. Lo-hoo-lo tsun-chay = the Arhan Lo-hoo-lo.
64. Yin-këĕ-to tsun-chay = the Arhan Yin-këĕ-to.
65. A-she-to tsun-chay = the Arhan Asita.
66. King-yew tsun-chay = the Arhan King-yew.
67. Tă-ma tsoo sze = the Patriarch Dharma.
68. Kea-lan Poo-să = the Sam̃ghârâma Buddha.
69. Same as No. 41.
70. Kwan-yin Poo-să = Avalokites’vara.
71. Wăn-chang te keun = the God of Literature.
72. Hoo-fă Wei-to = Veda, the Defender of the Law.
73. Tsëĕ yin Fŭh = Amita.
74. Same as No. 3.
75. Same as No. 30.
76. Same as No. 32.
77. Same as No. 31.
78. Has no name attached.
79. Shwuy ho kin kang = the Water and-Fire-Varja-(throwing Deity) [an impossible title].

[44] Arhan, Professor Douglas informs me, has the same signification as the term rahan, used by me in the text.—J. A.

APPENDIX V.

Vocabulary.