National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Part iv]   FROM CH`IEN-FO-TUNG, TUN-HUANG

1455

No. of fois. 20. All, except fols. 7 and 8, written in Upright Gupta chars. ; fols. 7 and 8, in Cursive Gupta, added later to compensate loss of two orig. leaves, measure only 12" X 22". In upper L. corner, a small red and green coloured fig. of sitting Buddha, within a black ink circle.

Contents : Aparimildyuli-sûtra, ed. by Prof. Sten Konow in MS. Remains of Buddhist Literature, pp. 289-329. No. 53, Hoernle Reg. 13$" x 22". Pl. CL.

Ch. lviii. 007. Roll, complete ; of hard dun-coloured paper mended at lower end. Inscr. on obv. with Chin. writing; on rev. with 7r H. of fine Cursive Gupta, showing a series of syllabaries, as explained in J.R.A.S., 191i, pp. 452 ff. and Pl. I. No. 54, Hoernle Reg. i o' 9" x i or. Pl. CXLV.

Ch. lxviii. cox. Pôthi, incomplete, in Khotanese and Upright Gupta. Only one complete fol.; on coarse yellowish paper; 1 2 II. black ink writing on page; letters, from I° to r. Marginal and guiding lines in faint black ink ; so also inner circlet, 2$" diam., 9" off L. edge. 'A small piece torn out of upper side. Fol. No. 255 on L. margin of rev.

Contents : some Buddhist canonical text, not identified. No. 55, Hoernle Reg. 302° x 124". Pl. CXLVIII.

Ch. c. ool. Roll, complete, of gigantic size ; thick tough dun-coloured paper; small portion, perhaps 3" or 4°, torn off top. Inside, wholly covered with writing, mostly in Upright, exceptionally in Cursive Gupta chars. and in corrupt Sanskrit or in Khotanese language. Outside, blank, except for parti-coloured figure at top, representing two geese facing each other, standing on two lotuses intertwined, and holding budding stalks in their bills.

Contents : three Buddhist texts, in Upright Gupta and corrupt Sanskrit ; also three statements, in Cursive Gupta script and Khotanese language ; finally, short series of salutations, in Upright Gupta and corrupt Sanskrit; for details, see J.R.A.S., 1911, pp. 471 ff. No. 56, Hoernle Reg. 7o' to" x toy". Pl. CXLVI.

Ch. C. 002. Roll, complete; ordinary dun-coloured paper damaged at top and elsewhere. Inscr. on obv. with Chin. writing ; on rev. with alphabetic and syllabic tables in Gupta chars.

The interest of this roll is that it shows the procedure in a Buddhist monastic school An old Chinese roll was used as a sort of ' Exercise book' for beginners in writing. There are altogether 113 lines of writing. The initial 35

lines begin with illegible scrawls ; then very disorderly series of alphabetical radicals, omitting the cerebrals, but gradually improving. Now comes, on 11. 36-40, a complete so-called ` Siddham' or table of alphabetical . and numeral radicals, followed on 11. 41-9 by a syllabary, though not complete, but only from ka, kâ, etc., down to jha, jha, etc. The whole very carefully and calligraphically written without guiding lines, evidently as a pattern, by the master, to be copied by the pupil.

Then, on 11.50-9z, come 17 copies written by the pupil with guide-lines, and showing progressive skill ; at first more or less disorderly, afterwards (from 1.64) in good order. These copies, however, include only the alphabetical radicals, from ka to kha. Then, on Il. 92, 93, comes the date of the exercise : Ihye ni hvi fi naunye ksanna (9th period) asa salya (horse-year) nlain Jara male (Jara month) daiauye hale (tenth day). Then, on 11. 93-104, comes another series of five copies, less well done, perhaps by another pupil. Next, 11. 105-109, a copy of the full table of alphabetical and numeral radicals, but in more or less disorder. Finally, on I. Ix o, comes the master's calligraphic pattern of the statement: Sidham ntanla inajsa va pyit,cti, i. e. ` thus it has been heard by me ', followed, on 11. I IO—I 3, by four copies of that statement, done by the pupil.

That an old Chinese roll was used in this way is shown by the circumstance that the roll was already damaged, by holes which the pupil had to avoid in copying ; cf. 11.6o, 63, 7o, etc. No. 57, Hoernle Reg. 9' 9" x to".

Ch. cvi. ooi. Document, complete, on coarse thick yellowish paper. Inscr. on obv. with 31 II. Cursive Gupta; on rev. with 8 11. of same, followed by 15 II. large Tib. writing, running in opposite direction ; and again followed by 9 11. of slightly smaller 'Fib. writing, but running reversely, i. e. in the same direction as the Cursive Gupta at top of page.

Cursive Gupta writing careless and difficult to decipher, e.g. ni much like p; language Khotanese. Begins with a date : madala salya Cvâvaja mafte beslinye haled, ' in the Madala year, the Cvâvaja month, the twentieth day '.

On 1. 8 from bottom, a phrase is deleted, another substituted in Tib. chars., showing that the Cursive Gupta and Tib. portions are contemporaneous. No. 29, Hoernle Reg. 2' 02" X 13". Pl. CXLVIII.

V.—REMAINS OF PÖTHIS AND DOCUMENTS IN SANSKRIT AND
KHOTANESE, FROM SITES OF FARHAD-BEG-YAILAKI AND KARA-YANTAK

(See above, pp. 1247 sqq., 1253 sq., 1262)

F. 1. a. i. Wooden tablet, inscr. on both sides with Skr. charm (mantra), in lokas, and in large Upright Gupta chars. 5 II. each side; part almost illegible. The mantra is in faulty language and metre. No. 6o, Hoernle Reg. 1' x 4" X â". Pl. Cu.

F. 11. i. i. Wooden tablet, complete, oblong with one end pointed ; inscr. on either aide with 3 11. writing in Kho

tanese and Upright Gupta. Apparently a list of names. No. 61, Hoernle Reg. 84" x 11".

F. n. i. 006. Wooden tablet, complete, but broken into numerous small pieces ; inscr. on one side only with 7 11. writing in Khotanese and Upright Gupta. Purport not determined. No. 62, Hoernle Reg. 9' x 31".

F. 11. i. 007. Wooden tablet, apparently complete, but