国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

App. G]   TIBETAN DOCUMENTS FROM CHINESE TURKESTAN   1465

seems to be a smaller weight, but it is probably more than an ounce, as we find it described in Jäschke's Dictionary. A bre is a still smaller weight, four pints according to Jäschke. As stated above, there are two

kinds of bre, the boor-bre and rgya-bre, viz. the Tibetan and the Indian (or Chinese) bre. Also the word rdo gram seems to signify a weight. Silver was probably counted by dbyavi or bars, whilst for gold and jewels the word zito (= rs ounce) is used. Of great interest is the following equation, found in one of the documents : zlzo of gold = 3 zho of silver.°

Among the articles forwarded in trade, or taken as taxes or as spoil of war, we find the following mentioned kinds of grain are, gro, wheat ; rias, barley ; khre and chi-thse, two kinds of millet ; rta-bra-bo, horse-buckwheat ; 'abras may stand for ` rice ', although it may as well be translated by ` fruit ' ; 'abras-skam would be

dry rice ' or ` dry fruit ' ; rtsa, grass or fodder, is also repeatedly mentioned. The words ` black   white ', or

red ', in connexion with kinds of grain, may refer to black or white barley or wheat, or to red rice, etc. Favourite products of the garden were : la-phug, radishes ; rgun, grapes ; kham, dried apricots ; perhaps even carrots. Products of the flocks were : mar, butter ; thud, cheese ; zhun-mar, melted butter, probably the Indian

; dried yak-meat. I may mention that great stores of ` old meat ' and ` old butter ' play an important part in the Kesar-saga. sPod, spices, were required for the preparation of dishes. sKyerns, beverage, is probably the name of the ordinary Tibetan beer prepared of green barley. It was required for weddings and for the New Year's festival, and kept in tlrul (skyerns-thul), leather bags. A particular kind of beer may have been the sog-skyems, Mongolian beer. Of fabrics we hear at least of two kinds, viz. snam, the ordinary woollen cloth of Tibet, and men-thri, a kind of cloth which has not yet been specified. Pha-Msa seems to stand for plzad-tlrsa, coarse sackcloth. Thsos-bal is probably dyed wool ; glan are carpets, perhaps the felt-carpets of Turkestan.' Of mineral articles the following are mentioned : soda, copper (at any rate zang-bu, copper kettles), gold, silver, turquoises, pearls, corals. rDzeu seem to be clay-pots ; but what skyogs are cannot yet be decided ; they may be cups or ladles.

Looking at the animal world, we notice that practically all the animals mentioned in the documents are used for transport. Of horses, a particular breed, that of Amdo, is mentioned in one of the fragments. This is of particular interest, because this breed is of great fame even nowadays. Mules and donkeys were hired out, and quarrels arose about the latter. Goats, and probably sheep also, had to carry loads—in particular, wool. Camels, yaks, and oxen are not so often mentioned. It looks as if yaks, as well as horses, were occasionally used for sacrifices. As regards horses, the local name rncliibs yon gyi-sde, province of the horse-sacrifice, would point in that direction. From some documents we learn that horses suffered occasionally from epidemics.

Although the documents containing Buddhist literature are not included in the collection with which my inventory deals, we get a few glimpses at the religious state of Tibet in the eighth century. Judging from personal names, Buddhism was not yet powerful at the time of the documents. Buddhist priests are mentioned occasionally, but the title bla-ma (with the feminine article ma) is never found. Titles like rje-bla or sku-bla may refer to priests, but we are not certain. The most common title used for priests is ban-de, but also dge-'adun and btsund pa are found. Nuns are called ban-de-mo or btsurz-nro. Other titles used for higher ranks of Buddhist priests are rnkhan po, abbot, and chos-rje, prince of religion. A Buddhist temple is called gTsug-lag-khang. Theg-khang-raying, old house of the vehicle, seems to be the name of a monastery.

The Bonpo priests were apparently known as Bonpo, lha-myi, mrngau (sorcerer); perhaps also as g Yon-len, `taking the left'. The latter name may refer to their custom to keep the honoured person or object on their left when circumambulating him or it. Also the Bonpo form of the Svastika is repeatedly found among the documents.

Although a few religious charms occur in the collection, the 5,,t maxi padnte hrim formula has not yet been discovered. Om à hürn was apparently popular, and vadzra paxi phat can also be traced.

Religious ceremonies are referred to, but we do not yet know whether they were in every case performed by Buddhist or Bonpo priests. The word sku-rim (a religious ceremony in time of illness, practically the exorcising of the spirits in the illness) is found several times. A sman you seems to be an offering to a wean or evil spirit ; chab-yon is a ' water offering'. As stated above, yaks were apparently offered according to one document, and a local name makes horse-sacrifices probable. Before starting on a journey an astrologer was apparently asked

6 Marco Polo records exactly the same relative value of gold and silver for Western Yunnan at the close of the thirteenth century; cf. Yule, Marco Polo, ii. pp. 79, 95.—STEIN.

1374

7 Carpet-weaving was an ancient art of Khotan ; cf. Ancient Khotan, i. p. 134.-STEIN.

9A