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

of rNam-par-snang-mdzad, immediately above the ground. Their low position indicates
that they were meant for people accustomed to sit on the floor cross-legged. The
inscriptions are of varied character. One of them is historical ; it speaks of the found-
ation of the Tabo monastery about nine hundred years ago, and of people who were con-
nected with that event. The other inscription is admonitory ; I feel inclined to call it
" blessing and cursing," but there is more of cursing in it than of blessing. It speaks of
the many punishments to be inflicted on such lamas as do not live up to the standard of
the law. There is no end of chopping off members of their bodies. I wonder if these re-
gulations were ever carried out. To return to the historical inscription : It tells of a
renovation of the Tabo monastery by Byang-chub-'od, priest-king of Guge, forty-six
years after the monastery had been founded by Lhayi-bu Byang-chub-sems-dpa ('Byang-
chub-sems-dpa, the son of the gods'). The latter name is evidently that of the king of
Ladakh, who is mentioned in the Ladakhi chronicles as one of the early rulers of that
country. He is spoken of with much respect in this inscription. His advice was repeatedly
asked by the king of Guge, and thus the inscription confirms the statement of history,
that the kings of Ladakh were the recognised suzerains of the Guge princes. Besides
these two royal names, the inscription contains also those of the two most important lamas
of the period, viz., Rin-chen-bzang-po, and Atîśa, the latter being called Phul-byung, which
is his Tibetan name, as already stated by Jäschke. The inscription says that Rin-chen-
bzang-po was made a 'light of wisdom' by the agency of Atîśa. This is apparently a re-
ference to the controversy between the two lamas, which ended with Rin-chen-bzang-po's
acknowledgment of Atîśa's superiority. Of this event we read in the historical book
dPag-bsam-ljon-bzang. As this inscription was evidently written in the times of king
Byang-chub-'od, c. 1050 A.D., it is of the utmost importance for Tibetan palæography.
The type of its writing is different from that of earlier datable documents, as well as
from later ones, say, of Tsong-kha-pa's time. It, therefore, enables us to distinguish
manuscripts or inscriptions of the 11th century. Of this important question, I will treat
later on, when we shall have examined several more records of the same times. Besides
these two important inscriptions, there are many more of the same period on the walls
around, and as there are also numerous objects of art and paintings in this large hall,
it would require at least a full month to do it justice from an archæological point of
view.
The gTsug-lag-khang is a smaller hall with frescoes, to the left of the principal hall.
Most of the pictures refer to the story of Buddha's life, beginning with the descent of the
white elephant from heaven. On both sides of the door were painted the four Lokapālas,
as we find them so often. On the right and left wall there was the medicine Buddha
with his followers, Śakya thub-pa, Rin-chen-zla-ba ; Myang-ngan-med-mchog-dpal ; Chos-
grags-rgya-mthsoi-dpal ; gSer-bzang-dri-med ; mNgon-mkhyen-rgyal-po and mThsan-legs.
Most of the pictures in this hall were furnished with explanatory inscriptions in modern
Tibetan. Like all the remaining halls, it had apparently been renovated in a sweeping
way. All the ancient frescoes and inscriptions had been scratched off, and new pictures
painted on the old walls.